Thus Let Us Drink Beer

Vale Brewing IPA and Wayward Brewing Hazy IPA

Vale Brewing

Originally incepted fourteen years ago as McLaren Vale Beer Company, Vale Brewing’s reputation precedes as it has not merely established itself as a veritable heavyweight on the firmament of South Australian breweries but with is boundary pushing, accolade decorated, innovative, sessionable craft beers has shown its commitment to deliver consistent brews.

As I unfortunately missed out on Vale’s Margherita Sour, which quickly sold out shortly after its release, my first exposure to Vale was via their IPA expression, which proved to be a tour de force in merging the best that New Zealand, terra australis and the US have to offer in terms of quality hops, i.e. Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy and Citra variants, the total of which results in much more than the sum of the individual components would have you think.

With the hop forward emphasis being on tropical and citrussy flavours with a distinct passionfruit note, subtle nuances of malty caramel are weaved in and rounded out by piney notes and a delicately subdued bitterness, this could be interpreted as an Australian / New Zealand balanced take on a traditional American IPA.

Given the quality of the IPA, I can only hope that Vale Brewing will confidently venture into continuing to craft exotic, bigger and higher ABV expressions.

Wayward Craft Brews

If you have remotely followed this series, the fact that with its dedication to create exciting brews that marry traditional European approaches with its own idiosyncratic twist, Wayward Brewing is one of my favourite Australian craft breweries should not come as a surprise.

With the common denominator of Wayward’s Craft Brews being that they are all about flavour, especially their releases in the realm of India Pale Ales have been consistently knocking things out of the park and having refined and calibrated the DNA of their hazy variants over the last three years, Wayward’s 2022 incarnation of their Hazy IPA is no exception:

In essence, Wayward Brewing’s Hazy IPA with its relatively tame ABV of 5.8% is the epitome of what could be classified as a sessionable IPA. Based on a foundation of Sabro, Simcoe and Citra hops, the nostrils are tickled upon approach by an tantalizing juicy hoppiness.

With barely any remnants of bitterness, what materializes on the top of the mouth is a tour de force of tropical flavours with mango and pineapple nuances taking centre stage, subtly counterpointed by hints of resinous pine accents.

While I usually reach for the bolder section in the IPA department, Wayward expertly showcases with this tweaked little number that flavours do not have to be overwhelming to tick all the boxes and leave you savouring each and every sip.

The Formative Years – Spermbirds

First incepted in 1982 in Kaiserslautern and having evolved from the fun punk band Die Walter Elf, an outfit that was more inspired by traditional British classic punk,  Spermbirds established themselves quickly as a trailblazer in the realm of catapulting Germany on the forefront of the firmament of the American hardcore punk inspired scene.

Fronted by the ex-GI Lee Hollis who introduced his other constituents to bands like Minor Threat, Misfits, Descendents, Bad Brains, the Big Boys, et cetera, the band quickly created their own idiosyncratic sound, which was heavily influenced by the attitude of bands like Angry Samoans and Agent Orange.

With the advent of the 1990s, not unlike many of their contemporaries Spermbirds underwent style and line-up changes, with Lee Hollis departing to explore ventures not unlike the more artistically inclined, progressive rock inspired post-hardcore outfit 2Bad. While it saw Spermbirds garnering some mainstream success and a departure from their trademark hardcore sounds, it did not last long before dissolving only to eventually reconnect with their roots, leading to a reunion with Hollis, resulting in them continuing their journey to this day.

Of unwavering relevance to this day not merely for the European hardcore scene are their first four albums - not merely because of their fast, furious and innovative sound and unbridled at times un-PC attitude but mainly due to the fact that they reflect the times and spirit of the nascent German hardcore scene in an authentic and most infectious form.

What’s Sumatra with You?

Mecca Coffee

While Australia is known on international terrain for its great coffee culture with a myriad of quality outlets, in its nascent stage they were few roasters that endeavours to strive for transparency and fair trading as much as Mecca Coffee did, travelling wide and far to both resolve logistical obstacles as well as do better for our planet while appreciating and honouring the efforts of the producers.

Given the aforementioned, perceiving itself as a piece of the mosaic that makes the fabric of the coffee loving community, valuing an ethical approach, sustainability and leveraging its values of authenticity, Mecca became quickly a pioneering roaster, supplying coffee to hundreds of boutique cafés up and down the east coast, including its own high-ceilinged flagship outlet, where one can stack up on Mecca’s curated range of java beans or alternatively enjoy an expertly brewed cup with seasonal house blends, espresso blends, and coffees sourced from Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. 

Apart from Mecca’s milk chocolatey core House blend, which I have grown to love as the foundation for Flat Whites, include the Maria Olimpia variant from Honduras, which with its bright and juicy blood orange and sugarcane accents lends itself particularly well to be enjoyed as a straight up espresso due its nuances not needing to rely on any interference of sugar or milk.

Same goes for Mecca’s maple syrupy Los Rosales and José Hernán Salazar roasts: Sourced from Colombia, especially the latter with its sweetly complex melange of well calibrated bergamot and papaya florals is one of the most delicately balanced Pink Bourbon variants I have had the fortune to taste and a testament to how Mecca channels its alchemy when it comes to the curation of its beans.

Hello Coffee

Based in an area where the espresso heritage holds strong, i.e. the Australian state of Victoria, and nestled in Apollo Bay at the foot of the green hills of the Otways, the community-based specialty roasters of artisan coffees known as Hello Coffee only recently popped up on my radar.

Having started out with an intrinsic love for quality coffee and the willingness to experiment, the founders originally tracked down an old coffee roaster to practise and what started out in a shed has quickly evolved to become a veritable third place for the local community and the HQ from which Hello Coffee roasts speciality grade beans from mainly Central America, Africa but also areas that are not necessarily known for its coffee bean production, i.e. terra australis.

Ranging from light-fruity roasts for filter lovers on one end of the spectrum to darker roasts, e.g. their excellent cherry and dark chocolate  flavoured, vibrant Dark Seas roast, for milk-based drinkers, Hello Coffee offers a wide variety of nuances with its expressions, with the common denominator being the use of quality beans.

My absolute favourite of the Hello Coffee range, apart from their silky smooth The High Road roast with blueberries dancing against a backdrop of chocolatey highlights, is their Whisky Aged Single Origin variant: Sourced from Columbia and carrying the resulting full-bodied characteristics of its origin, the beans have been aged in oak whisky barrels for four weeks, resulting in a tour de force of fortified wine and preserved fruit flavours. 

I can only hope that the fine people behind Hello Coffee harbour a weak spot for Islay whiskies and consider a collaboration with whisky distilleries of the smoky and peaty variant to source barrels from.

---

images from company websites

The Formative Years – Dead Moon

After having been in bands like the Weeds and Lollipop Shoppe, Fred Cole founded the punk-influenced Rats in the late 1970s before focussing his efforts on country music and Americana. 

It was not until 1987 that he founded Dead Moon with a line-up that would remain consistent in trio form until the band disbanded in 2006, i.e. with singer/bassist Toody Cole and Fred's wife and drummer Andrew Loomis

Dead Moon dominated Portland’s independent scene and exerted an immense influence on the wider underground scene with their idiosyncratic melange of country, garage and punk music influences. Infused with Cole’s omnipresent 1960s roots, their trademark stripped down sound and rounded out with a gloomy lyrics centred around unrequited love they carve out a lane for themselves.

Given the fact that Dead Moon refused to play outside their neck of the woods in the US until the mid-1990s, they were better known in Europe and countries like Australia, where they developed a fanatic cult following from the get go.

While I have to admit that I did not click instantaneously with Cole’s high, quavering vocals when I first encountered them as a teenager, they eventually grew on me once I realized how unique their own enthusiastically expressive brand of vintage punk rock was, which was further amplified by the fact that most of their recordings have been mastered on a mono recording lathe and released on their own label Tombstone Records.

Once one delves into the back catalogue of Dead Moon, it should not prove wondrous to realize how much of an impact that had on what was to emerge as grunge in Seattle, with especially bands like Pearl Jam making no secret of the fact that they adored them.

Check out one of their late reunion shows:

Gallery Bastian and Anselm Kiefer

Gallery Bastian had not only been internationally known, renowned for their exhibition spaces and firmly established itself firmly on the firmament of art aficionados due to their astute curatorship when it comes to presenting remarkable artworks of both modern and post-war eras, but also been on my radar for the longest time.

Needless to say, when I learned about Bastian Gallery’s ongoing collaborations with Anselm Kiefer culminating in-focused exhibitions, I had to zero in on their efforts. 

What sets Bastian Gallery apart from other galleries is the fact that they are not merely focussed on the tested and tried but instead are focused on pushing boundaries and with its access, are in the position to exhibit exclusive and more recent works of well-established artists, with most of Kiefer’s more recent emissions being based on the common denominator that their physical presence is pervaded by a tangible fragility, elevated haptics and lyrical analogies. 

Bastian Gallery’s most recent Anselm Kiefer exhibition served as a christening of their newly established gallery pavilion in Berlin,  which saw Kiefer center his artworks thematically around poems of Arthur Rimbaud, explorations of metaphysical dimensions along with his trademark references to post-war Germany set against the backdrop of the historical developments in the twentieth century as well as current ones.

Bastian Gallery also has a publishing arm, which accompanies their exhibitions with dedicated catalogues, with Heiner Bastian’s monograph on Anselm Kiefer being not only being one of the more comprehensive ones but allowing a glimpse into Heiner Bastian’s approach to curation and his outlook on art at large, which is substantiated by the profound essays he penned to contextualise and pay homage to Anselm Kiefer’s oeuvre at large.

---

image from gallery website