Series 3 of the Hawkesbury Gazette's 12 Beers of Christmas: crafty additions to your festive feasts

White Rabbit’s White Ale:

A German style Witbier brewed originally in Healesville, Victoria before joining Little Creatures and being moved to their Geelong brewery. It has an alcohol percentage of 4.5.

The cloudy and very light colour is represented throughout the entire body of this ale, as no flavour is overly dominating.

Using interesting ingredients like coriander, juniper berry [typically found in gin] and orange peel provides a great mix of flavours.

The coriander comes through slightly in the aroma but is quickly replaced by a low bitterness low malt body.

It was the second beer released by White Rabbit and is lighter as they wanted to counteract their dark ale.

It was an early member of the Aussie craft beer movement debuting at 19 on the hottest 100 in 2010.

This white ale is not as full on as most craft beers making it an amazing companion for fresh scallops and oysters.

Stone and Wood Original Pacific Ale:

From Byron Bay and holding a 4.4 percent alcohol rating.

This pacific ale is unfiltered which allows the full flavours of its all Aussie malts and hops come through.

It has very evident passion fruit, citrus and tropical fruit flavours and aromas that are slightly offset by a hint of bitterness.

Considered to be the best Aussie craft beer on offer, Stone and Wood created the pacific ale style and perfected it.

It has always ranked in the hottest 100 beers, coming in at 14 in 2009 before the recipe was changed and it was rebranded.

It immediately hit the top three and has remained their since, coming in at number one in 2011, 2015 and 2016, second from 2012-2014 and again in 2017, as well as a third place in 2010

This brew is a perfect match for anything seafood especially a nicely cooked fish, squid or fresh prawns.

Mountain Goat Fancy Pants:

An amber ale originally from Richmond, Victoria and now from Laverton, Victoria, that has a percentage of 5.2.

A dark copper colour is noticeable in it’s rich burnt toffee malt body which comes through early in this ale.

It also has a fruitiness and a touch of spiciness that works well with the slightly toastie and gentle bitter finish.

Having started over two decades ago in 1997, Mountain Goat know what they’re doing, so when they released their Fancy Pants Amber Ale in 2014 they knew it would quickly become a part of their core range.

It placed 32nd in 2014 and stayed in the top 100 for the following two years.

A barbequed steak done anyway will be the perfect pairing for Fancy Pants.

Like a good shiraz the flavours of the amber ale will just blend and work with the steak.

4 Pines Kolsch:

A German style beer from Manly and holds an alcohol percentage of 4.6.

This brew has a very light straw colour as it is a German style golden ale.

It gives off lemon and lime aromas while still maintaining a light malty palate.

This Kolsch has a crisp and clean finish with a hint of spice that doesn’t linger too long on your taste-buds.

This has been a popular beer since its release in 2011.

It has sat in the top 10 of the hottest 100 Aussie craft beers from 2011-2015 peaking at Number four in its debut year.

It dropped to 18th in 2016 and 37th in 2017 but still holds a place as one of Australia’s top craft beers.

Despite being a German beer, Thai food is the best match for this Kolsch as they’ll provide your mouth with two very distinct but not overly intense flavours.

If you enjoyed this series and would like us to do something similar again please let us know.

Check out what our panelists had to say about these beers in the video at the top.

Make sure you check out our last two series of the 12 Beers of Christmas released on December 5 and 12.

The Hawkesbury Gazette wants to remind everyone to be safe and responsible when drinking over the holiday period.

Our tasters only had a small amount of each beer and were eating food throughout the tastings.

DrinkWise says that ‘Drinking responsibly is about drinking in moderation’.

For more information visit www.drinkwise.org.au 

Be safe, be smart and enjoy yourselves these holidays.