In late July, we headed towards High Country Victoria to visit our good friends from King River Brewing for a very special brew day.

But this whole thing started 4 months earlier, over a few pints with the King River crew, in the Carwyn Beer Garden for our Lager is King (vol. III) weekend. We got to talking and discussing traditional beer styles, and that's when the idea came through: to brew a collaborative beer to be ready for Oktoberfest!

Fast forward to late July and the King River team welcomed us in their beautiful countryside venue with multiple frothies and great food, for the brew day of this upcoming release. A great day for celebrating friendship, traditional European beer styles and the uniqueness of this great brewery!

But what did we brew?

After settling on the little known “Dortmunder Export”, Head Brewer Nathan Munt decided to make this one his own by using the best Aussie specialty craft malt from Voyager Craft Malt , and cranking up the booze.

And what the wurst is a Dortmunder Export?!

The best know example is undoubtedly DAB, but let’s delve a little into this elusive German beer style created exactly 150 years ago:

Also known as German Helles Exportbier, this style was developed in the Dortmund industrial region in 1873 (by Dortmunder Union) in response to pale Pilsner-type beers. It became very popular after World War II but declined in the 1970s with the appearance of mass-produced International Style Lagers.

The style itself is characterised by having more body than a German Pilsner but also being more bitter than the usually malty Munich Helles. This style can have a more pronounced alcohol as well, which our DortMUNTer (a play on Head Brewer Nathan Munt's last name) interpretation certainly takes into consideration!

It's a cracking beer style and one that deserves to be brewed more often! But be wary, this example is extremely crushable for a 6.6% beer!

The beer tastes absolutely incredible, I’m so happy of how it turned out. Amazing body, and still enough sweet malt backbone to support the hop character. Super refreshing and hides the booze really well, people won’t know what hit em'. This collab is a refreshing and delicious brewski made to be enjoyed in Spring. By the stein.

No doubt King River are one of the very best breweries in the country for nailing these traditional styles and we’re pumped to finally collaborate with them. Thank you friends for the hospitality and the great beers, and WILLKOMMEN DORTMUNTER!

How to drink it?

This beer is the official festival beer for our Oktoberfest event (7 & 8 October) and comes as the FREE first fill when puchasing a Carwyn Cellars Oktoberfest Stein!

We've also got a STACK of tinnies available, load up the beer fridge with this absolute classic. Plus find it in our 'Austoberfest' Oktoberfest Mixed 6 Pack, showcasing the best classic styles from Aus breweries!