I first became aware of the Grand Ridge Brewery through their promotional stand at the Royal Melbourne Show last year.

After a day spent navigating the crowds, the free samples they were offering went down a treat, and I went looking for their product later in the independent retailers and IGAs I’d been told they would be found. Alas, there was none to be had in any bottle shop I visited.

Grand Ridge describes itself as, “Australia’s most awarded (if least known!) range of world class beers”. While the awards may be deserved, they’re certainly right about their profile – I hadn’t heard of them before, and neither had any of the retailers I spoke to. Their website describes six local owner/investors who bailed out a fledgling boutique brewery in Gippsland in the late 80s, and have been expanding their range and expertise since.

A fun way of sampling their product is the Grand Ridge Sample Pack. At $25, it is harder on the hip pocket than a six-pack of Crownies, but infinitely more rewarding. The original plan called for sampling them all in the course of a summer afternoon – shared between two that adds up to three stubbies each, hardly an insurmountable task. As it turned out though, a number of the beers we tried turned out to be too heavy, too substantial to be consumed in any significant number. No matter how ardent a beer drinker you are, you don’t want to down these one after another after the next. The flip-side to this is a depth and complexity to the flavours of most of the Grand Ridge range which justifies their prices above those of the usual yellow lolly-waters. This is a beer you savour, not skoll.

This is particularly true of ‘Moonlight’, a tea-coloured nut brown ale with practically no head when poured. Only after finishing it did we realize that this was a light beer with an alcohol concentration of only 3.3%, as the impression created was of a balanced, full-bodied beer with gentle fizz and a long satisfying aftertaste. You wouldn’t want to drink too many of these, but that can hardly be considered a bad thing. Probably best enjoyed with a meal, perhaps a dark roast or ploughman’s lunch. 15/20

We moved on to the ‘Brewer’s Pilsener’, a full strength European lager at 4.9% that was the first brew Grand Ridge produced. I’m a fan of pilsener but possibly that makes me difficult to satisfy, and this drop left me disappointed. Although the honey-like aroma was pleasing and the pour and head were pleasant enough (reminiscent of typical Australia lagers), the flavour itself was fairly unsurprising with virtually no aftertaste. If I was intending on having more I would much prefer the pilsener on offer by James Squires, which has a crispness and complexity lacking here. 12/20

In contrast to the two already mentioned, with ‘Natural Blonde’ it would be easy to drink more than one or two, which could be either reckless or great fun given its alcohol content of 4.5%. A wheat beer which is possibly more enjoyable because of its (intended) similarity to leading beer lines in Australia, I rate Grand Ridge’s effort more highly than the blondes of Bondi, James Boag’s or Fosters. There’s a sweet, zesty initial taste and a long, satisfyingly bitter finish. The label mentions coriander but this must have escaped me. There’s no information on the bottle about calorie content - the selling point of other blondes on the market - but for taste this was very well executed. 17/20

Despite the name most pale ales tend to be rich in colour, and Grand Ridge’s ‘Gippsland Gold’ proved to be a glorious orange-brown hue. Light on scent, when placed close to the nose this drop has quite a sharp and fruity smell. It is a good looking beer, with a nice frothy head that hangs around, unlike some others in the range which tend to flatten quickly, Opinions were split on the taste; I thought the taste was rather unmemorable and suitable for being had in quantity, but my companion described it as flavoursome. Lightly carbonated and easy to drink, I’d pick up a six-pack if the price was right – which might even be a few dollars more than the competition. 16/20

Next was the flagship of the range, ‘Yarra Valley Gold’. A frothy, reddy-orange brew with a toasted, grainy bouquet, this 4.9% was easy to drink with a creamy texture and delicious, bitter finish. It was this beer which first caught our attention last year and, whether with food or without, we will certainly be revisiting this particular drop. The impression left is that this is the way a beer should taste. 18/20

We finished with a ‘Black & Tan’, a mix of the ‘Gippsland Gold’ pale ale previously described and Grand Ridge’s ‘Hatlifter Stout’. Not being a great fan of stout I had misgivings about this combination, but it proved surprisingly refreshing and easy to drink. With a surprisingly mild peaty aroma and soft carbonation, it offered the richness of stout without the sticky, overwhelming taste often associated with it. 16/20

Don’t buy any of these if you are going to a party; they’re too good to share. Buy them if you care about what you drink but find gobbing off about wine pretentious. Although these beers have been reviewed on their merits, Grand Ridge do deserve extra credit for pumping some money into the rural economy, adding diversity to the market dominated by the Big Three and, hell - living out every bloke’s dream of being his own boss and spending his days tinkering with his home brew set-up.

Product distribution is limited. See www.grand-ridge.com.au for further information.

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