Any beer drinker worth their malt will tell you Mane Liquor in Belmont is the go-to for crafty brews, so we asked co-head honcho Josh Daley for 10 of the best craft beers to warm your cockles this winter…
WA is fast becoming one of the leading states in Australia when it comes to beer. Rarely a month goes by without news of a new brewery popping up. With over a decade at Mane Liquor, I’ve never seen such a busy market for beer. We have around 20+ new packaged beers being released by local WA breweries week on week. It’s a very exciting time to be drinking beer in WA.
I’ve put together a list of my top 10 picks this winter to look out for next time you’re shopping at your local. There’s something worth seeking out for every type of drinker in this list, whether you like lagers, stouts or sours…
Rocky Ridge Chunky Dates
This is a massive collaboration which was first brewed in 2020 and so popular we brewed four times the amount this year. A teaming up of Perth’s premiere cookie store Get Chunky, beer purveyors Mane Liquor, and of course Rocky Ridge. A 10% Sticky Date Imperial Stout. It’s a winter warmer and more filling than dessert at the end of the night. Easily our most popular beer throughout these colder months.
King Road Brewing IPA
This fantastic drop won a trophy at this year’s Australian International Beer Awards and for good reason! A sensational beer that doesn’t get the praise it deserves because it doesn’t have the word ‘hazy’ on the label. Believe me though, this is one worth seeking out.
Cheeky Monkey Smoothie Style Sour
Another collaboration we took part in which took inspiration from a famous brewery called Omnipollo. Our aim was to make a sour beer that was so loaded with fruit you could be mistaken for drinking a breakfast smoothie. This has 500 grams of guava and blackcurrant per litre of beer!
Nowhereman Crate Digger
Just a simple pale ale which has perfect balance and weight on the palate. Pale ale’s will always have a place in our fridges and this is one you should have year round.
Kook Choc-Milk Ale
This one is a fun drop! A collaboration between Kook and Impi Brewers which really takes you back to the days of drinking choccy milk when we were younger. Even non-dark beer drinkers will get around this.
Shelter Brewing Lager
A clean, crisp, and very quaffable lager. For the last 2-3 years, lager as a style has really dropped off people’s radars but it seems they are making a comeback and this extremely clean iteration is one worth seeking out. A very affordable fridge filler.
Beerfarm Shirazzaweiss
A yearly collaboration with LS Merchants (a natural wine slinger worth seeking out in Cowaramup), this year’s vintage is stacked with three tonnes of shiraz grapes picked from the Margaret River region. The beer was rested on grape skins for three days to ensure all the colour, tannins and complexities shine in this unusual drop.
Seasonal Brewing Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout
This collab was nearly a year in the making! A coming together of Seasonal Brewing, Besk, Mane Liquor and Starward. We brewed an enormous Russian Imperial Stout which we then placed in freshly emptied Starward Whiskey barrels for over five months. It saw the additions of Fenugreek which mimics the flavour profile of maple.
Eagle Bay Brewing XPA
Arguably the best mid-strength on the market right now. A modern, hazy-take on an XPA which sits at 3.5% and is loaded with aromatics of passionfruit and pineapple which follow through to the palate.
Blasta Unbridled Unicorn
This Double IPA is brewed using the fai.rly new hop variety, strata. It’s a magical hop that delivers layer upon layer of pulpy orange meets grapefruit meets tropical passionfruit-vibes. At 8.6% it’s not for the feint-hearted.
All these top drops can be found at any good liquor store – shop local and screw Dan Murphy’s!
Like this? Check out Perth’s Best Boutique Bottle Shops.