PRIMARY FLAVOURS

• Coffee
• Red Rice
• Cereal
• Mouthfilling

Story

For NSW Central Coast-based home brewer Chris Benson and schoolmate Adam Klasterka, having their own brewery seemed like every beer-lover's pipe dream. So when they first attempted to open the Six String Brewing doors in 2010, it seemed like the stars had aligned.

Little did they know that due to some local bureaucracy, it would be a full three years before they could start selling their first brews. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. The Six String star has been climbing higher ever since, and their brewery is like a ray of sunshine for Central Coast beer lovers starved of interesting brews.

More than just beer, there's music too. Chris loves playing guitar (the brand name gives that away), and the brewery rocks and rolls all day and night. Little wonder that the Six Strings beers feel just a bit more metal.

The Coastie Lager is arguably Chris & Adam's most famous beer, but the IPA range at Six String serves up the big hits, along with the sessionable TPA. Don't miss the seriously good non-beer hits (hello hard lemonade and ginger beer).

Dark Red IPA is a great name for this. It sounds so brooding, but don't be fooled - this isn't an oppressively heavy beer; instead, it's aromatic and proper punchy with loads of life-affirming bitterness rather than alcohol warmth.

Red IPAs famously combine the fragrance of a heavily hopped India Pale Ale style with richer, darker malt flavours, giving you a lovely layering of rich-but-bitter layering that can make the best beers super satisfying. This brew from Six String manages to avoid some of the sweetness of some examples of red IPA and instead feels properly refreshing.

Specs

PAIRING GUIDE

Six String Brewing knocks it out of the park once again with this delightful dark red IPA – it’s a seductive little number, all velvety tones and notes of chocolate and caramel, and perfect for unwinding with alongside some tasty homemade food. Slow-roasted red meats like beef and lamb are really the order of the day; it’s absolutely stunning with a lamb shank and some thick gravy and caramelised carrots and potatoes. However, it’s also great with vegetarian dishes making a star ingredient of eggplant and mushrooms, and will even work well with a lentil curry, chilli con carne or smash burger with blue cheese. Yum!

RECIPE MATCHES

• Simple Mushroom, Eggplant and Potato Curry
• Easy Beef Burritos