SOUTHERN COMFORT
This thirst-quenching ale has been invading Queensland taps — here’s how it stacks up
VICTORIAN beer is slowly taking over taps north of the Murray, threatening to become mainstream in places normally the domain of Tooheys and XXXX. The invader is Furphy Refreshing Ale developed by Little Creatures at its new Geelong brewery.
There has been a hardto-ignore campaign to introduce drinkers outside Victoria to this brew.
Styled on a German kolsch, Furphy lives up to its name in being a crisp, refreshing ale.
While it is not fancy or complex, there’s a little more to it than the usual mainstream brews. It doesn’t try to be a fruity beer — there is a very subtle hop note, but it is easily lost in the malt bitterness.
It has an amber colour with a good frothy, white head and there’s a degree of malt in the nose, more so than any hop aroma. Boasting a good thirstquenching quality from the initial mouthful, there is a cleansing aftertaste thanks to a pleasant level of bitterness.
Furphy is a very sessionable beer and easy to drink.
While there is a little more body to this ale than other mainstream beers, it doesn’t sit heavily in the gut. At 4.4 per cent it is full strength.
Furphy’s not the flashest beer going around but it does present a solid option to the regular tap beers. The campaign to “corrupt” drinkers outside of Victoria also means it’s currently attractively priced at bottleshops and select venues where it is on tap. The best I have encountered is Seagulls at Tweed Heads where on Friday afternoons a pint is just $4 — and that’s no Furphy!