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Good for what ales you

Chris Shanahan

Red Hill's Hop Harvest Ale and Hargreaves Hill Pale Ale.
Red Hill's Hop Harvest Ale and Hargreaves Hill Pale Ale.Supplied

Sydney's annual craft beer week, from October 19 to 26, offers a comparison of Spiegelau glasses versus the rest - a phenomenon Riedel exploits to the hilt in the wine industry.

There will also be beer tastings, of course, and beer and food pairings that offer rich pickings. These include a beer and pie tasting paddle - four beers, four pies - at Spooning Goats. A little more adventurously, the Welcome Hotel of Rozelle, offers beers created collaboratively by well-known craft brewers and ''some of Australia's best culinary minds'', according to the event website.

On another tack altogether, women from Hunter Beer Company and Two Birds Brewing are hosting a Ladies High Tea at Harts Pub. The two brewers will match ''an array of beers with some amazing handcrafted pastries''. For details, see sydneycraftbeerweek.com

Red Hill Hop Harvest Ale

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330ml $5.85

We're a few months past hop harvest now, but Red Hill's seasonal ale (made from its own Mornington Peninsula hops) remains available. It's a dark-amber coloured ale, featuring opulent, velvet-smooth malt, liberally seasoned with pungent, lingeringly bitter hops.

Hargreaves Hill Pale Ale

330ml $4.25

Hargreaves Hill, from the Yarra Valley, makes a pale ale leaning more to the American than British style - full bodied and featuring strong hops aromas and flavours and a lingering, assertive hops bitterness. The hops, however, harmonise with the rich, smooth malt flavours, meaning a beer of great appeal and character.

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