Tipples Beer Review 23 & Beer Saturday 22 - Black Hops Brewing Queensland Australia

So I have left the cold climate of Melbourne, Australia and headed north up to the Sunshine state of Queenslan. First stop in the Gold Caoast, about a hour’s drive south of Brisbane, where we are visiting my partner’s brother who has recently moved up here.

Understanding that I’m a bit of a fan of craft beer, he had suggested that we have a few drinks at his local microbrewery, Black Hops which I thought was an excellent idea as the brief encounters I’d had with black hops had all been very impressive.

So after lunch in a cafe and a stroll along Burleigh Beach soaking up the sun, we came of the beach, crossed a main road and wandered down a suburban street heading toward what I knew was a black painted brewery building.

Now I’ve seen some weird breweries in my days, breweries in sheds, in paddocks, old bakeries, old garages, in non-descript factories, but this one seemed to be in a 1970’s apartment building, with the brewery in the basement. What I enjoyed most of all is that there was a DJ in the corner, who looked like he had been there since 1977, he was like a perfect gold coast representative, 30% 1970’s with tight black jeans, satin shirt partly unbuttoned to reveal a tuft of chest hair 30% porn star complete, amazing moustache 40% aging surfer/solo man, and 100% awesome. He was spinning funk classics on vinyl and making it sound real cool.

But enough about the laid back surfing/pot smoking in a basement vibe, more important is the beer. We ordered the board as tasters with the specific objective of finding the best brew.

There were four standouts for me:

Pink mist which was a raspberry saison, very very refreshing perfect for a post beach walk refresher.

*Hornet IPA which was a light yellow colour, with a thin head. It looked like a lager without carbonation, The smell is grassy hops, taste is on the hoppy side feels quite a bit thinner than the 6% ABV. It was good but not as good as the Pink Mist.

Flash bang White IPA, now I don’t normally light white IPAs, but this was impressive, It was slightly cloudy, smelt like strawberry and cream lollies, quite sweet on the taste, at least at the start which fades to a gentle bitterness it was very very good.

Finally the Marzen which has a very soft mouthfeel, just the barest hints of toffee but also not too much sweetness really a very beer, perfect for the style.

So a good line up of beers, but I always believe that the best beer canges depending on what it right for the weather and the mood, so it was back to the Pink Mist for me for my first full sized brew.

Where can I get it? If you are south east Queensland you shouldn’t struggle to get Black Hops beers, outside of there you will though. But Gold Coast is a tourist mecca, and well worth a visit, so if you are up that way pop into Black Hops bar you will not be disappointed.

And as ever this post is part of Beer Saturday an awesome comp run by @detlev – check out all the details here: https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@detlev/let-s-rock-week-22-of-the-steemit-beersaturday-challenge-with-20-sbd-in-prizes
And upvote me here, or there if you’ve liked this post.