CUB has unveiled what the company is calling a new beer style for the Australian market, ‘Australian Wheat Beer’.
The Aussie Wheat Ales are a modern take on traditional wheat beers, and are tailored specifically to Australian tastes using wheat grown by local farmers. And while most Australian beer uses barley as the dominant ingredient, the Aussie Wheat Ales substitute a proportion of barley with local, premium wheat malt.
The beers were created by some of Australia’s most well-known brewers, including Matilda Bay, Mountain Goat, Pirate Life, 4 Pines and Green Beacon Brewing Co.
Phil Sexton – widely considered the father of Australian craft beer – describes Matilda Bay’s Aussie Wheat Ale as somewhere between “a pacific ale style and a Redback [the name of Matilda Bay’s German-style wheat beer]”.
“There’s a little bit of baggage with traditional wheat beers. Some people think of wheat beer as heavy tasting and that doesn’t necessarily fit our Australian lifestyle and climate,” Sexton said.
“Aussie Wheat Ale is unlike anything that you might’ve tried in the past. We’ve paired some of the country’s best brewing wheat with a new and exciting hop, Australian Eclipse, to give us a very fresh and vibrant beer that takes the wheat beer category in a very new direction.
“We make really high-quality wheat in Australia and that’s why I’m so excited about Aussie Wheat Ale. It’s a craft beer style that Australians can call their own, knowing that they’ll be supporting our farmers while enjoying a refreshing and modern Aussie beer,” Sexton added.
Mountain Goat Head Brewer Alana Rees said her brewery has been championing Aussie craft beer since 1997 and has a long history of putting its own spin on the classics.
“This beer is for a whole new generation of drinkers, made with locally-grown wheat and hops. It’s the cleanest, most sessionable beer we have ever created with a nice mouthfeel and a soft citrus note,” Rees said.
Pirate Life, Matilda Bay, Mountain Goat, 4 Pines and Green Beacon Brewing Co are part of the Carlton & United Breweries family.
