I ended up walking away with a couple of good brews to try. The Buckley’s original ale is wonderful fruity flavoured beer which has a bitter after taste. According to the website they use four malts, one Australian and three European. The hops for this beer are imported from Germany, United States, United Kingdom and Northeast Victoria.

Nothing more to say about the original ale, other than perhaps to say that Buckley’s make some of the best beers in Victoria.

The pale ale is golden in appearance, it has a fruity citrus smell, and the taste is the same. The head on this beers remained constant throughout. With its citrus taste and flavour its not to bitter and is quiet easy to drink. As the website says this brew compliments a fine Asian dish given its citrus tones, but at the same time could be enjoyed on its own.

Red Duck amber ale uses a selection of British hops. I am not going to be creative her,e because its everything as Red Ducks website describes the beer. It has both hints of caramel and toffee. The head on the glass was quiet small but remained constant throughout, the aroma is quiet malty and you will not find to much bitterness with this ale. Colour was copper in appearance. So far it has been hard to fault any brews that I have tried in this great state of VIC and this no exception.

 The Australian Ale is based on a beer style that according to Bridge Road can trace its roots back to the English Pale Ale.  Firstly, what is striking about Bridge Road beer are the labelling of the bottles which offers a scale rating of each beer based on its malt and hop profile. Australian Ale offers a rating of 1 and half for malts and Hop flavour. 

The beer itself offers a fruity smell, is straw coloured in appearance. Hints of honey are present in this ale and given its not to hard on the palate I could go a few more of these.

“A dark ale which is essentially malt driven but with the firm bitterness of whole hops to ensure balance. Subtle yet delicious, with flavour built around yeast that is allowed to go wild!”

For me the beer was as described. It has a dark golden brown appearance, you can taste the malt which give its a slight biscuit flavour, and has a fruity aroma. While its does have some bitterness about it, I didn’t find it to drink. Like everything else that comes out of the Yarra Valley this is a wonderful drop and well worth a try.

Unfortunately as you can tell from the reviews on this site I am a sucker for a good pale ale. The beer has a golden appearance with an almost none existent head. As the bottle says it has a floral aroma. The beer was malty enough for me, and I didn’t find it to be to bitter. I enjoyed this beer and would highly recommend it as one my favourite’s and is right up there with the Holgate American Pale Ale which I enjoy.

Kooinda Boutique Brewery is relatively new in the Victorian Brewing industry, its title Kooinda meaning happy place is the creation of 4 locals from Rosanna who got together and decided to create their own micro-brewery.

According to the website they produce approximately 50 Cartons of Pale ale a week. The beer received a bronze in the American Pale Ale Category at the International Beer Awards in Melbourne in February 2009.

Website description: Kooinda Pale Ale 4.7%, is a full bodied brew with a copper hue and hints of citrus in its aroma. The ale combines 3 specialty malts and finishes with a touch of bitterness on the palate.

While Kooinda is currently only producing a Pale Ale at this time they are hoping in the future to develop other varieties including a Porter and a Fruit Beer.

So what does it taste like ?

The Beer is in American pale ale style, it has very dark thick copper appearance, and was somewhat cloudy. The beer has only a slight head which maintained itself throughout the time I consumed it. Turning to aromas it had a very fruity smell, and upon tasting the beer at first was very bitter. While some reviewers have commented on the beer having a toffee caramel flavours, for me these were not apparent until giving the beer a good swish in the mouth. As I consume more of this ale, I noticed it became smoother on the palate and lost some of its rough edge which was apparent at the start.

Overall this is a good drop by a new entrant to the market and I look forward to trying Kooinda’s porter and fruit beer when they become available.

Holgate Brewhouse has been around now for a few years setting up shop at Keating Hotel, Woodend in 2002. The Hotel which includes its own brewery is well worth a visit either for a stay overnight or to drop in for a quick pint or two. A variety of beers are available including pilsners, special bitters, porters through to wheat bears. Over the years the brewery has continued to be rewarded for it efforts wining medals at the Australian International Beer Awards.

Having visited the brewery in September 2009, I got the opportunity to taste a few different beers, but my favorite by far was the MT Macedon Ale. The beer takes after the MT Macedon ranges which are located near Woodend.

The MT Macedon Ale as described on the bottle is honey coloured American Pale, and is clear in appearance. What I like about this beer is the citrus hop flavour which gives it a lemony taste which is created by the use of American Hops. The beer itself did not have much of a head, and is moderately bitter. You could also smell the malt which gave it a biscuit aroma, and in addition to the citrus flavour you could also taste caramel malt. This is by far one of my favourite Victorian beers and would recommend anyone to give it a try.