ABV: 4.9% | IBU: 27

Australia is in many ways a few steps behind the U.S. Weed legalization, even for medicinal purposes, is a foreign concept, clotheslines and sunshine are preferred over dryers, and chunky heeled shoes straight out of Clarissa Explains it All litter the streets. I worried that beer quality would follow suit. I pictured a land where the craft beer movement had not infiltrated, and the macro beers of the 90’s flowed freely, just at much higher prices. I was right about the prices ($11 for a pint?!), but I was wrong about the beer. Although Melbourne sits at the base of some of the most celebrated wine country in the world, amongst the bountiful grapes I have discovered many spunky little craft breweries busy quenching the thirst of Aussie hop heads like myself.

One such brewery is White Rabbit Brewery. Perched among the vineyards of Yarra Valley just outside the metropolis, White Rabbit quietly brews fantastic beer with natural ingredients. Their Dark Ale is a malty craft that is at the same time aromatic and floral, a juxtaposition of rich and flavorful, but also hoppy and refreshing. It pours a rich brown color with a bubbly beige head, then surprises with the mouthfeel of a summer lager and the aroma and taste of a stout. It’s comforting to find that complex and well-crafted tastes exist outside the craft beer belt I took for granted back home. At $11 a pop, my craft beers these days are few and far between, but a White Rabbit Dark Ale on tap will get me to splurge those Queen Victorias any day.

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