Australian brewer heads to AmericanCAN

Canned beer advocate, Dave Ward, is taking beers from the Australian Brewery, Sydney, to AmericanCAN, an annual festival for craft brews packaged in cans. Ward says this year’s eventg in Arizona will feature 250 canned beers from more than 70 US breweries.

Australian Brewery offers its beers in elegant, slimline cans and claims canned beer to be “better for the environment, the beer and the drinker”. It also claims to be “the only craft brewery in Australia to can exclusively”.

Ward’s comment, “Being the only Australian brewery present shows just how far ahead the Americans are in their way of thinking about beer”, sniffs of the messianic. Does he really believe canned beer and only canned beer can be best for the beer and the drinker?
He’d find little support for that proposition, despite the undoubted merits of cans.

Mount Goat Fancy Pants Ale
375ml
★★★★★ $4 (can)
Fancy Pants, an extension of Mountain Goat’s popular Hightail Ale, incorporates five malted barleys and late addition of Tasmanian galaxy hops. The colour is a deep amber-brown and the aroma leads with pungent, resiny hops, which persist through the full malty palate and lingering bitter finish.
Four-star rating

Ridgeway Brewing Bad Elf Winter’s Ale
★★★★½
500ml $8
“Ere’s to your elf”, declares the back label. And I’ll drink to any elf bearing a full, fruity, malty ale that can hold its hops. The smooth, fruity palate really is the focus of this ale, despite the assertive hops pushing through with their aromas, flavours and bitterness.
Four-and-a-half-star rating