Cory’s Top 20 – #16 Feral Brewing Co
Rank: #16
Location: Swan Valley, WA
Favourite Beers: Fanta Pants/Blood Nut Imperial Red IPA, Prickle Rick Pale Ale, Tusk IIPA
Previous Blog Appearances: Feral Brewing Co
The next brewery on the list is probably the best known of the Western Australian craft breweries: Cory’s Top 20 – #16 Feral Brewing Co. It is one of only two breweries on this list that is not independently owned (Coca-Cola purchased Feral a few years back). I did hem and haw about whether to include a non-independent brewery on the list. While I am a big supporter of independent breweries, but at the end of the day, Feral makes beers I absolutely love so they get a spot on this list.
I do enjoy a number of the Feral beers that you can generally find in your local chain bottle shop. Hop Hog, War Hog, and Biggie Juice are all quality beers. Especially if there’s bit of a limited craft selection at this hypothetical chain bottle shop. But those beers wouldn’t be enough to earn Feral a spot on the list.
The strength of the brewery is indisputably the special releases. These are often only available at the brew pub in Baskerville in WA’s Swan Valley. I can’t recommend stopping in highly enough (if and when all of us in the rest of Australia are allowed back into WA that is).
My favourites are those listed above (in the ‘Favourite Beers’ section funnily enough). The Fanta Pants/Red Nut Imperial Red IPA is the beer that first made me aware of Feral. It’s probably one of the hoppiest reds I’ve had which is right up my alley on multiple levels. Prickle Rick (aside from the obvious awesomeness associated with a reference to the best ever Rick and Morty episode) seamlessly blends prickly pear into a pale ale for an extremely unique flavour. Tusk is an unapologetic hop explosion. It’s like a hop vine grabbing you by both ears and screaming into your face.
But even outside of those, there’s always something unique on offer from the Mango Ganguly to the Walrus Tears. Feral’s core range is quite good. But the ones you can get from the brewpub are generally excellent and always unique. Trust me, get there if you can.