Love Country & She’s No Bette Midler by Last Rites Brewing

After way too long away, Cory Loves Beer has returned in a more limited capacity.  A post a week proved a little to ambitious what with life and such.  So we’re going to give this thing another crack with a post a fortnight.

And I don’t think there’s a better way to get the blog back up and running than returning to the #1 brewery from my Top 20: Hobart’s Last Rites Brewing.

I was thrilled to discover a couple months back that Last Rites have now got a website up and running.  So no longer do you have to be lucky enough to be a Tasmanian to easily access their awesome beer.  I celebrated this fact by promptly ordering myself some She’s No Bette Midler Tasmanian Red Ale.  And I followed that up by adding some Love Country Tasmanian IPA for good measure.

She’s No Bette Midler is exactly what you want from a red ale.  It’s got that big rich malty body but without the viscous heavy taste that lesser red ales can sometimes be prone to.  But by keeping avoiding that pitfall, it leaves space for a nice little snap of hops to come through and compliment the rich maltiness.  Overall, it’s a brilliantly balanced beer.  And at only 5% ABV it’s imminently sessionable, especially on a cold winter’s night.

Love Country on the other hand is a pale, hop-driven IPA.  It’s actually got a fair bit of a tropical kick to it.  Which is pretty surprising for a beer billed as a ‘Tasmanian IPA’.  Nothing wrong with that, but suffice to say “tropical” and “Tasmanian” are not words I typically associate with one another.  But make no mistake, this is a good IPA.  Not too crazy on the tropicality and a good hoppy bite.  And just a bit more of a kick at 6.2%.

At this point I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the brilliant can design for both of these beers.  I know that for some craft beer afficionados, the “can art” is a major part of the whole fancy beer experience.  Personally, it’s what’s solely what’s in the can that matters to me.  But that being said, these are some pretty damn cool cans.

In short, theses are two great beers.  And even better, these are both part of Last Rites’ core range so you’ll be able to get your hands on these whenever you want them via their website.  And that’s a website that I check pretty much weekly to make sure I’m across any new and awesome special releases that might be in the works.  She’s No Bette Midler and Love Country are delicious.  Go buy them.  Now.

Post-Blog Post Teaser: It’s been a while, but the blog is now officially back up and running.  In addition to the usual beer and brewery posts, there’s a new and exciting endeavour that will feature in this blog going forward.  So keep an eye out as in the coming weeks for a brand new brewery post as well as the first post of this new endeavour.