Tipples Beer Review #28 - Rogue Wave Brewing Visit - Airey's Inlet - Australia

I feel like this beer series is turning into some sort of travelogue, after spending the last couple of episodes in Queensland, I’ve returned home to Melbourne, which for my far flung readers is at the very south of the mainland of Australia. But I didn’t stay home for long. Last weekend was a friend of mine’s birthday and to celebrate we headed into the country for dinner at a restaurant called Brae – now if you are Australian or a foodie type person you might have heard of it. It is supposedly the 44th best restaurant in the world, or the 2nd best restaurant in Australia (behind Attica, almost in food obsessed Melbourne), it’s in the middle of nowhere, about 1hr 30 min west of Melburne and yes it’s amazing.

But this isn’t a post about food, rather being in Birraguura meant we were a quick 40 min drive to one of Australia’s great drives, the Great Ocean Road, as I own a convertible it’s is pretty much mandatory to go for a spin along the GOR, even if it ended up overcast and a bit rainy, so not convertible weather at all.

We are working backwards, heading back to Melbourne, starting at Forrest – where there is a Brewery, but it was 10.30am in the morning so I really couldn’t drink there. Next stop Appollo Bay, where one of the old school pubs has turned all crafty and is now called the brewhouse.

Then it was a quick stop in my spiritual home – Kennett River – now everyone in Australia seems to have a place where ‘We used to go there every summer’ Kennett River is one of those places for me, there is not much there, but if you ever drive the GOR, stop there, get out and I guarantee you, you will see a Koala in the wild, you will be instantly disappointed as Koalas don’t do anything, except sleep.

But enough with the sightseeing, get to the beer already. By the time we hit Airey’s Inlet it was lunchtime and I could justify stopping for a beer. So that brings us to Rogue Wave, which is a brewery tucked into the back of the Airey’s Inlet pub.

We ordered up a paddle with the intention of finding the best beer and having another one of those, but as you will see that went a little bit wrong.

The good end of the paddle

There were six beers on the paddle, three were pretty standard pale ales and lagers, then there were three of interest..
Mid tide mild ale - one for the drivers, at 3.2%, a good attempt at a low alcohol beer, there are some interesting roasted flavours through, but are the end of the day it feels like driving behind a campervan on the Great Ocean Road - a bit of a waste.

Cranky Mrs DIPA - after a few pedestrian brews this one brought us right back on track, Marmalade tastes shine through first and then the fade when the bitterness of the hops comes and smacks you around a bit. Absolutely what a DIPA should taste like, so balanced, so drinkable but at 8.2% not today for the driver

Ink coffee infused stout - is a Pretty good brew, the coffee flavours are at the subtle end which I prefer, it also has a great mouthfeel, very slighty and it ends with just a hint of sweetness.

So all in all something for everyone, some standard session ale and lagers for the tourist trade and then a couple of well put together fancy brews to keep the beer nerds happy - or at least enough to keep this beer nerd happy.

The not so good End

I wanted the Cranky Mrs as my full brew, which just wasn’t practical – DIPAs, a winding clifftop road and a storm (which broke whilst we were drinking) are not good combinations – give me an inner city brewery with a tram anyday.

Where can I get Rogue Wave Beers? In Victoria, Australia they have good distribution, Cranky Mrs and Moby Ale (there Pale ale) can be found at most good bottleshops and I know which one I would be choosing.

This post is my entry for Beer Saturday (Week 25) , a great comp about beer hosted by @detlev, check out the main post here https://steemit.com/beer/@detlev/celebrate-25-weeks-of-the-steemit-beersaturday-challenge-to-create-quality-content-win-20-sbd and if you liked this tale vote for it below or on my comment in the main post if you want to increase my chances of winning the competition.