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
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.
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.