By Andrew Starke
The Foster’s owned Matilda Bay Brewery has launched a coffee infused beer as a limited edition seasonal release in collaboration with gourmet coffee brand Toby’s Estate.
The full-flavoured dark ale, called Longshot, is said to have notes of coffee and malt balancing to finish with a subtle hop bitterness.
The idea was born over a beer between Matilda Bay head brewer, Scott Vincent, and gourmet coffee roaster, Toby Smith, after comparing stories about roasting malt and coffee beans.
“Our seasonal releases give us an opportunity to really explore some new flavours and up the ante when it comes to challenging our devout Matilda Bay drinkers,” said Vincent.
“It’s also a chance to experiment and stretch the boundaries on what can make a great beer.”
The name comes from Smith’s assertion that: “I’d always heard that coffee and beer made a great combination but I never imagined that one day I’d actually get the chance to team up with one of Australia’s best boutique breweries to create a beer using my own coffee beans. I always thought it was too much of a Longshot…”
Longshot has been brewed to be a challenging beer for the discerning beer drinker and is an ideal beer for food matching particularly with chocolate dishes and beef.
It will be available only from Dan Murphy’s from July 1 2010 and will be a limited release with 5,000 cases of Longshot being produced.
Traditionally Matilda Bay launches a limited edition seasonal release for summer and winter.
Previous seasonal beers have included Crema, Barking Duck and Barking Flamingo.
Matilda Bay Longshot 345ml 6 percent ABV will have an RRP of $19.99/four pack.