We make a lot of beer at the Hunter Beer Co. and those of you who have met the brewery staff will know we love brewing and we love to brew something we have never made before or just experiment with new flavours and ingredients. Usually these brews will be one-off batches and when that last schooner gets poured all that remains are the memories...

Cessnock Love Biter

A toasty.....5.9% ABV

 We would like to introduce you to our latest seasonal from the brewers and brewster @ Hunter Beer Co. The Cessnock Love Biter is an English Special Bitter and is currently available on tap in the Potters Hotel main bar and on weekends from the Beer Engine in the Brewery Bar.

 The Cessnock Love Biter has those great malt characters as a great Bitter should have - toasty, nutty and caramel, which is a great combination with the delicate apple and pear aroma's that the yeast rip out! A generous amount of Goldings hops were added for both Bitterness and Aroma to make this beer a complex little seasonal... 

 The brewers had it with a Pecan Pie, which went down a treat...

Smoked Oyster Stout 2010

At an aphrodiscally synergistic.....6.9% ABV

This beer is back again from the depths of the ocean...literally! The Smoked Oyster Stout has been available since St Patrick's Day and will be available until we're fresh out. Speaking of fresh, another dozen of fresh Port Stephens Oysters went into the boil to make this complex Stout.

Not to mention 9% of a Smoked Malt in the Mash to impart a subtle smoky flavour in the background that is intertwined with some pleasant Chocolate & Coffee notes and maybe a slight Oyster FUNK!

Oh! and to make it even more pleasurable we are serving it at Potters on a nice Nitro/Co2 blend with a sparkler that caps the beer with a dense, long lasting, biege head!

We bottled a few runs of the Smoked Oyster Stout and it will be tasting perfect by the time Winter hits. 

 Doc's Gose

This time the brewery crew have teamed up with Darren “Doc” Robinson, a very keen home brewer, to produce a wheat beer with salt, coriander and sourness.

The Gose style is a near extinct regional specialty of Leipzig, Germany and is a distant relative of a Belgian Witbier. It is a refreshing, easy to drink beer with a lot of complexity. The coriander gives the beer an herbal coriander aroma; the wheat provides a tart lemon and lime flavour and the salt give a tangy bite that suits a hot day.

Our brewers recommend this beer for anyone who wants to try something a bit different and experience a beer style that most people have never heard of. Oh yeah, they also say it pretty drinkable and at at 4% abv you can enjoy it all day long!

Crankypants IPA 6.3% ABV

A big American Style IPA. This incarnation is deceptively drinkable, so watch out for the booze. As always there is a big malt base provide plenty of balance to the 5 additions of Cascade and Chinook hops.

The Bacon Beer

A beer that smells and tastes like smoked bacon.

And better yet it tastes great, well it does if you like bacon!

This seasonal was our contribution to the Bitter & Twisted festival held at Maitland Jail in 2009 and was very popular. Bottle stock sold out in 3 days!

This was very popular and it's quite likely that the brewery crew might ahve another go at this style... stay tuned.

A stout brewed with fresh Port Stephen's oysters!

Oysters and stout have always been a great combination and this dry irish stout, brewed by Craig, has been one of the most impressive beers we have brewed this year. A very easy going stout with a hint of chocolate up front followed by a gentle smoke flavour that washes over your tongue after swallowing the beer.

An amazing beer, perhaps one that should be brewed again?

 Josh adding fresh Oysters to the boil

An Imperial Stout is the King of Beer. It should be the richest, the darkest, the most alcoholic, the biggest of all the beers.

Our Imperial Stout, at a respectable 8.2%, has highlights of ruby that somehow escape from the dark glass capped with a fine tan head. It is lush, velvety and rich with an amazing array of flavours: coffee, chocolate, raisins, cherry, plums, licorice...

One seriously complex beer for people who enjoy visiting the dark side.

Brewed with the assistance of guest brewer Dan Moloney, who likes them big and black, this beer was brewed as a birthday beer for Head Brewer Keith - some people have the best jobs!

 Christmas Cheer 09

7.3% 

Back for it's 2nd season and tasting just as good as last year. A flavourful beer thanks to the blended Plums, Figs & Raisins we add to the boil, not to mention the Vanilla Beans, Nutmeg and Cinnamon!! We brewed this puppy in July so it has had a great little time conditioning in our cool room.

 There's only a few bottles left, don't miss out!

 Stay tuned for our Christmas in July 2010 Beer Dinner...