Brass Belgium Pilsener & the Williams River, Crown Gold & the Allyn River

To the North and the North East of Dungog is the Barrington Tops National Park. There’s no shortage of rivers that flow out of the Barrington Tops, and with recent rains they are flowing healthily (for Australian rivers anyway). This BotF correspondent had a gaggle of kids to entertain, so an expedition to search for swimming holes was embarked upon. The Williams River is about 120km long and ultimately joins the Hunter. Running parallel to the Williams River (out of the Barrington Tops anyway) is the Allyn River. Both are great for lying in, and there are a couple of good places to take running jumps off.

Both provide excellent backdrops for a little beerporn, and really the scenery outdid the beers featured. The first does have a not often seen feature of a commercial beer – namely a plastic bottle. Homebrewers have used plastic for years, but other than either a Carlton Cold or a Foster’s Ice (can’t remember which) that I saw many years ago now, I can’t recall a plastic bottled beer. Brass Beer (www.brass-beer.com) claims to have been making beer for 250 years and they make two types – Belgium Pilsener and Belgium Lager. “…really easy to drink…” is their boast and that is true. There was nothing unpleasant about the Pilsener (sic) that I tried, but it was far from memorable. Other than the plastic bottle, there’s nothing to distinguish this beer.

Bizarrely, plastic bottles are pitched by Brass as being a superior to glass. They’ve racked an impressive 6 reasons why plastic is superior. 25% less impact on the environment, reduces fuel costs during distribution, more aesthetically pleasing than plastic cups at an outdoor event and no breakages. Not a bad effort – but it didn’t feel right and I’ll stick to glass thanks.

The less said about Crown Gold the better. A oncer for the @untappd 500m- soapy, forgettable.