Cowaramup Brewery

The Cowaramup Brewery is cunningly located just outside the cow-themed town of Cowaramup, which is itself cunningly located on the Bussell Highway halfway between Busselton and Margaret River. It’s set in a rural landscape quite reminiscent of Margaret River’s Colonial, and unusually for local breweries, the carpark features some modest hop bines. Apparently they’re not currently used in the beer thanks to inconsistent yields, but they’re notable for their presence, if nothing else.

The brewery is a family-owned operation, smaller than some of the others in the area, and has a homely, welcoming vibe. There’s a kids playground and outdoor section that’s a little sandy and bare at the moment, but the equipment got a thumbs up from my crack team of playground testers, and should divert the youngsters long enough to sample the beer.

Speaking of beer, they’re $7.50 for a half-pint, $10 for a full, and $12 for a tasting plate of 5 (100 mL) glasses. The food is reasonably priced & unpretentious pub grub, with most mains & pizzas around $20-$25.

Pilsener 5%

This is a hardcore German-style pils that took out the coveted ‘Best Lager’ award at the 2011 AIBA. It’s filtered to a brilliant crystal-clear pale straw colour, and has a persistent lacy head. Flinty hops fade into an assertively dry, bitter finish. For an all-malt beer the colour and body are impressively light, but with enough flavour to carry the style. This beer makes an excellent aperitif – thirst-quenching and appetite-stimulating. The German pils was never my favourite, but this is an excellent exemplar and could change my mind.

Hefeweizen 5%

The Hefeweizen is a cloudy pale yellow, with not quite enough carbonation for a bona fide Bavarian hefe. It has a relatively mild wheat yeast character, with some slight banana notes. There’s a smooth mouthfeel with sharp bubbles and a tart wheat backdrop. A little more underlying bitterness than is usual for the style, although not unpleasantly so. Altogether this is a fairly safe and inoffensive beer, but lacking enough interest to make it worthwhile as an experience in its own right. Use it to wash down the fish & chips, or leave it for the smatterers.

Best Bitter 3.8% (seasonal)

Minerally hops on the nose (it’s dry hopped with Brambling Cross). Perfectly balanced bitterness, I felt the mouthfeel could have had a little more substance to it, but for a workhorse ale it’s probably more important to avoid any hint of heaviness, so I can understand the rationale. There are solid caramel notes and fruity yeast accents to back up the herbal English hop flavours, before drying to a nice bitter finish. Quite a sessionable beer overall, although unfortunately it was served way too cold — I’d recommend buying a couple of the smaller sized glasses and letting them warm up a bit.

This beer is set to be replaced in the line-up with a Special Bitter (to a similar recipe) — I’m quite keen to see what this will accomplish as a slightly bigger beer.

India Pale Ale 6.5%

Another crystal clear, deep amber coloured beer with a long-lasting tight head. Intense herbal late hop flavours, although bitterness is not excessive. A creamy mouthfeel conveys a fruit-driven start with strong herbal grassy notes at the finish. I’m left feeling a little dissatisfied by this beer. It’s difficult to put my finger on it, but I think it’s the hop choice – I dislike herbal, earthy hops like EKG used to excess. This is probably more a personal preference, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one enough to mark it more highly. Along with the other ales, this was also served too cold.

As an unsolicited suggestion, I’d personally love to see the IPA and the other ales served at cellar temp via a traditional hand-pump to emphasise the English ale character. A sparkler would also be worthwhile to help tame some of the hop volatiles (although Jeremy would probably disagree on this point).

Porter 5.7%

The Cowaramup Porter used to be the Cowaramup Stout, but enough punters complained that it wasn’t stouty enough that the label (but not the recipe) was changed. It’s a clear ruby-brown colour, with a creamy yellow head. Intense chocolate elements yield to a beautifully balanced bitterness. At 5.7%, there’s no detectable alcohol warmth, but it’s not a sweet beer – it ends nicely attenuated with a reasonably dry finish. One of the nicest porter interpretations I’ve had recently – enjoy it on its own, or with the chocolate brownie.

I should make a special mention of Cowaramup’s weapons-grade growler system. Frustrated at the high capital costs of a bottling plant, the brewery invested in a high quality growler setup as a substitute — there are reports of their swing-top growlers lasting months before opening . While the growlers aren’t cheap ($42), the ornate bottles are impressive enough to make it worth keeping one at home for the occasional fill.

In summary, the beer lineup comes across as competent and stylistically coherent. Brewer Jeremy Good loves his English-style ales and this comes through in Cowaramup’s range. Unfortunately the ales are served too cold, and some of the late hop flavour profiles feel a little overdone, but clarity, mouthfeel and attenuation are all excellent and bitterness is consistently assertive, but not over the top. Cowaramup is well worth a stop if you’re in the area, and particularly if you’re looking for something more laid-back than the big-budget tourist traps.