Blackberry Bambalam by Woolshed Brewery

This week’s beer is a fantastic dark lager, Blackberry Bambalam from Woolshed Brewery.  This one is once again from South Australia (which, as a state, is seriously kicking some craft beer goals).  However, unlike other beers and breweries I’ve written about here, this one is neither from Adelaide nor the surrounding hills.  Woolshed Brewery is a relatively new entry into the craft beer market from the tiny (population of less than 200) town of Murtho in the state’s far east out by the South Australia/Victoria/New South Wales border and right on the Murray River.  And it’s a brewery that is very much now officially on my ‘to visit’ list.

I’ve railed in the past about my dislike for dark beers with funky flavours dumped into the just for the sake of it.  Relying on the heaviness and size of a dark beer’s natural flavour to cover ill-suited flavour pairings in the interests of being trendy and avant-garde is one of my big pet beer hates.

But that’s definitely not what’s happening here.  The first flavour you get when taking a sip is a tasty dark beer with even a hint of smokiness.  It’s not until after that first sip that a subtle, but rich and unmistakable blackberry wave rises up to join and complement the dark lager flavour.  It is super tasty and accomplishes the dark beer-berry flavour combo without being too heavy either.

Plus, from a superficial standpoint, it’s excellently named.  Who doesn’t love a bit of wordplay and references to Ramjam (or Spiderbait if you prefer) lyrics?

Prior to being recommended this one at my local bottle shop, I hadn’t heard of Woolshed Brewery before.  But if Blackberry Bambalam is any indication of the quality of beverage coming out of Murtho, I’m most definitely going to be tracking down more Woolshed offerings in the very near future.