Something's Brewin' Down South

It’s difficult to get much further south in Melbourne than its bayside suburbs. If you did, you’d end up either getting pretty wet or on a boat heading to Tassie. Hence the name of Melbourne’s excellent bayside brewery; True South.

Located on Beach Road in Black Rock, the brewery is across the road from Port Phillip Bay. You couldn’t get much more beach side without actually having sand under your feet whilst drinking your beer.

The brewery itself appears to be an old bicycle or auto repair shop…or something similar. I guess I could have asked as I was intrigued but I actually liked the idea of not knowing and holding onto the thought that the building had some interesting past. The truth itself may have been something quite lame.

As this is a beer blog I will stick to writing about the beers themselves…however special mention has to go to the restaurant. So often a brewery’s food selection is basic stuff that accompanies beer. Pizzas and the like. Nothing wrong with that…nothing at all. But the Argentinean restaurant at True South is first class. It’s far from simple fare but I challenge you to find better tasting chorizo!

Okay, it’s not an inexpensive restaurant and someone hoping for a few beers and a pizza will be disappointed. Rather, it combines two great Melbourne experiences. Fine dining and drinking local craft beers. Not often you get to combine them both at the same time!

Despite drinking the odd True South beer previously, we wanted to make sure we tried every beer during our visit and therefore got the good ol’ tasting paddle. Not getting a paddle at your first visit to a particular microbrewery is not just an outrage but should be made a crime in all states and territories.

Anyway, here’s a brief overview of True South’s (excellent) beers:

Summer Ale (Kolsch)

Apparently their biggest seller, it is (like most Kolsch) pretty easy to drink. Lager like in its appearance it goes down well as it isn’t too hoppy or malty. Basically think drinking session…and that’s not a bad thing!

American Pale Ale

Tasty. Having recently been to the States it’s a really good version. Doesn’t slap you in the face with hops and bitterness as much as some do in the States, but personally has a great balance of hops, malt and bitter after taste. Was very happy with this one.

New World Pilsner

Few years ago this would have been my pick of their beers before getting a real taste for hops. As far as pilsners go it’s a good one. Bit less hoppy than some German/Czech pilsners, but I guess that’s the point with the ‘new world’ reference! I’d say it’s a very good beer for lager/pilsner drinkers.

Dark Ale (American Brown)

This is a damn good dark ale. Nice amount of sweetness (bit of chocolate/caramel) without being too desserty…which isn’t even a word! Again, I’d say a great effort for an American style ale.

Red Truck Lager

My favourite! Like being on the East Coast of America where red ales are everywhere, this bad boy goes down a treat (I note however that it’s considered a more European style red). Little bit hoppy, malty and bitter, but doesn’t taste too ‘burnt’ like a few Aussie red brews I’ve had. This is one of those beers I’ll constantly keep an eye out for; in the hope I’ll see it in bottle shops.

So that’s it folks! If you’re interested, True South also does an excellent apple cider with the catchy name Little Miss Muffet. And I mean excellent. It’s actually one of the better ciders I’ve had from a microbrewery, which is a big call considering so many are doing such good ones these days.

Only disappointment from our visit to True South which I just have to mention is the fact they were sold out of their special Clock Tower IPA. Such a shame as I’d heard good things about it. Just sounds like an excuse to keep going back in the hope they brew some more!

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!