Beer #353 - W/C 22 November 2021
BREWERY // Perth on Australia's west coast is a long way from anywhere so people there have a pretty DIY attitude. It's the most remote city of its size on Earth being closer to Jakarta than the east coast Australian centres that are nearer New Zealand than Perth. So it's no surprise that the region was the birthplace of good beer in Australia with breweries such as Little Creatures (now owned by Kirin) opening up over 20 years ago. Otherside started life with a one-off beer contract brewed for a music festival. Co-Founder David Chitty comes from a music festival background and a colourful festival vibe runs through their beers with the core range being perfectly honed sessionable quaffers and their limited seasonal 'Experimental' range being where the freaky stuff happens. Their Fremantle brewery was formerly a convict garden (I'm not sure I want to know what that was) and their brewery bar sounds like an awesome place to spend an afternoon in the sunshine.
BEER // Otherside's Sabbath is an annual release embracing that most decadent of recent beer trends - the pastry stout. That is not (yet) an official beer style and the origin of the term comes from sardonic blog Don't Drink Beer encompassing all manner of sweet stouts made with donuts, chocolate bars, maple pancake stacks, wedding cakes and anything else brewers might think of to infuriate the purists and increase our blood sugar levels. 2021's Sabbath is a lovely smooth big bodied stout made with delicious vanilla and plenty of chocolate. There are coffee notes from the dark malts with caramel and Ferrero Rocher vibes with the vanilla adding an initial perception of sweetness. It finishes surprisingly dry and is definitely not as sweet as many beers in the style. We reckon it's a 'gateway' pastry stout that could start your journey along the dangerous path to becoming a cake-batter-beer junkie on a neverending hunt for the next dark sacchariferous hit. Welcome to your new life.
We have a few Otherside beers in stock that are moving quickly as we make room for imminent imports over the coming weeks. Grab a bargain HERE.
BREWERY // Otherside
BEER // Sabbath 2021
STYLE // Pastry Stout
ORIGIN // Fremantle, WA
ABV // 6.5%
TEMPERATURE // Slightly Cool. Around 15C
FOOD MATCH // Really? This beer is a meal itself. I suppose some vanilla icecream would pair well. Or a couple of those Stroopwafels. Maybe fried chicken drizzled in maple syrup...
VESSEL // Goblet. Tulip