My Sydney beer spy, Mr Malty, notes a trend among the city's manliest drinkers away from hops and bitterness towards mouth-puckering sour beers, such as Boon Marriage Parfait.
However, sour beers remain on the fringe for the moment and pose no near-term threat to the hops hegemony. Indeed, the growing obsession with very hoppy beers – and the search for increasingly bitter experiences – raises the question, are hops addictive?
In a Radio Brew News interview, Professor Charlie Bamforth suggested hops were habit forming rather than addictive. He noted his own increased tolerance for the uber hoppy and said: "If the word is not addictive, it is certainly pleasurable and calming."
At Popular Science, Martha Harbison concluded there is no addiction. Hops can be removed from a diet with no withdrawal symptoms, and the bittering compounds (humulones) don't affect the brain as addictive compounds do.
Petrus Dubbel Bruin (Belgium) 330ml $5.35
The label depicts St Peter with keys, and carries the slogan "The key to heaven". Certainly it's the key to pleasure: deep, glowing brown colour, topped with vigorous foam; aromas of caramel, dried fruits and spice; and a juicy, smooth, warming palate reflecting all of the above. What a satisfying winter beer it is.
★★★★½
Pikes Oakbank Sparkling Ale (Clare Valley) 375ml $3.50
A golden rule in retailing is stock rotation. Stale stock isn't good for the consumer, the retailer or the producer. But here we have it, a potentially very good beer from the Pike family's Clare Valley brewery, bought in a Canberra retail outlet. It's weeks past its best-by date and looking very sad indeed: flat, flabby just drinkable.
★★