Thus Let Us Drink Beer - Eden Brewery
Independent craft breweries in Australia are popping up not unlike mushrooms, most of which emit fantastically creative brews, others could be labelled at least in the “interesting” category, with passion for the craft seeming to be the common denominator.
Eden Brewery that that ticks the aforementioned boxes but adds a layer that a lot of its contemporaries lack, i.e. attention is paid to their and the global community, following the credo “think global – act local” with a percentage of their profits dedicated to Oxfam and a focus on sustainability and the minimisation of their carbon foot print and using renewable energy in their brewery. An approach not further wondrous given that Eden is operated by a wife and husband team at its core, who worked in the care and missionary field before.
Eden’s core range is spearheaded by their Kottbusser expression, with the former paying homage to the German Reinheitsgebot, limiting ingredients to pure essentials such as honey, molasses, oats and wheat. True to German style yet with an idiosyncratic Australian twist, this one goes down a treat after a hot day with its malty backbone, sweet highlights and well-balanced bitterness.
Phoenix D is a variant that sits well next to the Kottbusser as it adds a honey flavour to the equation. This might be an acquired taste to some, but I specifically enjoy it to complement a boilermaker with a cask strength Islay whisky.
As the name suggests, Eden Brewery’s Ponderosa IPA is a melange of piny hops from the Western region of the new world being married to locally grown barley, which results in what one would expect, i.e. hoppy fruitiness resting on a dry backbone. Would love to try this one in a can or straight from the tap, as it seemed to be bit flat from the bottle.
My favourite of Eden Brewery’s portfolio is the Birch Wit. Clocking in at 5.2% ABV, this is a wheat beer in the Belgian tradition with crispy, citrussy wheaty aromas and flavours throughout.
The golden Palm Pale Ale is more of a sessional one with its relatively low ABV of 4.5%. Heavy on galaxy hops, fruitiness is the name of the game before being rounded out by a welcome bitterness.
Looking forward to Eden Brewery’s future emissions given that they seem to have found their niche with honouring traditional brewing methods from the old world with a contemporary innovative twist.
