Fish Rock Brewery Reviews

ANZUShophunter	2.6 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Rating from old records. Bottle from a now-defunct Musgrave Rd Cafe. A decent Czech pils clone w/Saaz signature in nose and tail Tuesday, January 3, 2017
jdpeebs	2.9 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale 330ml bottle- I’m just updating my records- A decent amber ale- Subtle hop aroma and bitterness. Friday, August 10, 2012
jdpeebs	2.8 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager 330ml bottle- I’m just updating my records. A decent lager. A good balance of malt and hops. Friday, August 10, 2012
ALLOVATE	3.5 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Tasting from 2010. Unsure whether this beer is even still brewed for this winemaker. Poured a misty, orange amber. Minute carbonation raises in fine streams to a looming rocky white head that’s well retained. Cola, cocoa and toffee on the nose with a hint of roasted nuts and spicy, herbal hops. Abridged to the aroma the cola, cocoa and roasted nut notes come through well wit a layering citrus note. Toffee and sultana front for a tangy sweet start. Dries out in the swallow, woody and husky with a dashing spread of those peppery hops. Good length, nice light body and creamy mouthfeel. Pleasant drinking. Surprised it rates so low, but must be batch to batch temperamental. Nice (33cL, BB 19/01/11, Dan Murphy’s Albany) Thursday, June 21, 2012
ALLOVATE	2.9 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Tried back in September 2010. An odd amount of proteins in suspension once it settled in the glass, held there by the finest, most minute carbonation I have ever seen. A sunny, yellow straw and just shy of bright with a snow-white, sudsy white cap that is well retained. Grainbed nose with hints of damp chaff and fresh mown grass. Pleasant vanillin, doughy sweet front in the mouth with a malty mid-palate sprinkled with lemon-pepper. Medium-light in body, not as delicate as a Pilsner should be yet the spritzy carbonation has it bouncing across the tongue with haste. Dusty, herbal finish, subtle bitterness with a crisp edge and only a short waft of hop and malt to linger. This isn’t in the best of form showing signs of deterioration, but still goes down a treat. Fresh it might just be a cracker. (33cL, BB 25/05/10, Dan Murphy’s Balcatta) Tuesday, January 3, 2012
ofey	3 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Strength of hops in the aftertaste is very distinct. The barley is pretty distinct too. Thought pilsners are not quite my thing Monday, May 10, 2010
floydian1	2.6 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bottle. Clear straw yellow with a largish white head that reduces quickly. Nose and taste is medium sweet grainy malts with a hint of citrus hops. Medium dry hop bitterness to the finish (certainly more hoppy than your average Aussie lager). Clean palate with a light-medium body. Decent. Sunday, February 7, 2010
floydian1	2.5 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale 330ml bottle. Golden pour with a small white head that lingers. Nose of caramel malts and fruity citrus hops but none of the advertised passionfruit aromas. Palate is smooth and medium-light bodied with a moderately sweet malt base balanced by a decent citrussy hop bitterness that lingers. Satisfying without being remarkable. Thursday, December 17, 2009
destroye7	1.8 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottle. Orange colour, small head that disappeared quickly. Caramel/bitter aroma. I didn’t get the passionfruits. Typical caramel taste for an amber, quite bitter. I wouldn’t buy again. Friday, November 13, 2009
frankcolub	2.9 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottle. Lager amber ale. It has a touch of fruitiness aromic hops about it, and touches of sweetish but lacks something .... not too bad . Sunday, November 8, 2009
mickmac	2.7 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bottle. Pretty poor head characteristics-small white head with little lacing and a light amber body. Aroma and taste of nutty malt and spicy vegetative hops. Not that great. Saturday, July 11, 2009
Nicko	2.8 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale In bottle. Amber with a foamy head, passionfruit on the nose, caramalised malt in the mouth. Lacking body and substance. Saturday, June 6, 2009
mkel07	1.3 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale 330ml bottle. Cloudy amber colour with absolutely no head at all, just a scattering of bubbles that cling to the edge of the glass. Passionfruit aroma with a backdrop of citrus. Flat bitter sour taste, not pleasant at all. Sunday, April 26, 2009
DuffMan	2.7 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bottle. Golden yellow, average white head. Clean grains with a lemony note in the aroma and finish, nice flavour and body. Above average. Wednesday, April 22, 2009
UnholyBrewing	2.2 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale ...bottle, another no-poir, but oh well. It did have a rather fruity nose, and decent hop aromas from the amarillo. Had some citrus, but only a hint. Thought it was pretty thin, lacked body and oomph. FInished slightly fruity with a slightly roasted character. It was ok, but nothing to do the "badda-whip" dance over. Thursday, April 9, 2009
nate2g	2.3 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Pours golden with a small white head. Light citrus aroma. Lacking any true malt character with some citrus hops coming through. Light bitterness in the finish. Friday, January 16, 2009
bozoNZ	2.8 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale 330ml bottle b/b -16/12/08. Mild amber, pours nice in the glass. Quite heavily carbonated, mild malts dominated. Ok but disappointed given the write up about amarillo and cascade hops as neither seemed apparent. Reading others reviews it would seem a better beer on tap than in bottle. Saturday, October 25, 2008
bozoNZ	2.6 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager 330ml bottle - bb24/11/08 Clear pale yellow, this head. Light honeyconb aroma. Touches of peppery spices in the front palate and again towards the end and the high carbonation aids this. On the thinish side but quaffable none the less. Saturday, October 25, 2008
mkel07	2.9 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager 330ml bottle. An okay lager with a large white frothy head and pleaseant aftertaste. Tastes better the more you drink out of the glass. Medium bodied and amber in colour. Wednesday, October 8, 2008
gam	3 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Good looking,nice frothy large head,carbonation good,gold colour.Aroma malt,hopos grain.Flavour malt nice hops,mild bitter,spiciness,has a fruity touch with it.Saaz hops make a good ale,this is a good session ale.Finish spicy fresh hop taste. Sunday, October 5, 2008
beerledgend	3 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bright orange in clour with small white head. Mild grassy hop aroma. Hint of citrus. Well balanced hop flavours. Clean dry finish. Thursday, September 18, 2008
Muggus69	2.5 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale 330ml bottle, served chilled. Clean copper body with fluffy white head. Metallic nose, some sweet toffee maltiness, a hint of hops with a sutble spicy fruitiness in there. Lean bodied, carbonation seems off, no real malt backbone. A toffee sweetness upfront, converging into a breadiness with metallic bitterness and hint of citrusy hops. Seems to be over before it started, needs more of everything...malt and hops more specifically. Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Muggus69	2.4 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager 330ml bottle, served chilled. Golden body, white fluffy. Skunky corn malt nose, some gras, some honey and lime-like citrus. Thin bodied, fizzy carbonation. Quite bland body, some honey malt and citrusy hops, finishes a bit skunky and dry. Nothing special. Monday, May 26, 2008
strings	3.1 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottle in Melbourne. Not too bad. Flavours seemed very Australian, and looking at the commercial description, perhaps it was the passionfruit i was finding most prominent. Whatever it was, worked well in an amber ale Monday, February 18, 2008
MBison	3.2 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale On tap at the Grand hotel in Bowral. A few kegs of the stuff where ordered in by mistake instead of the leather jacket larger, and this is a bad thing why?. Arrived an amber colour with a dense frothy head which was mostly lasting. Aroma was along the lines of a typical APA; passion fruit, some grassy hops and light notes of grapefruit. Taste was fruity, with more passion fruit, grapefruit (again mild), hints of orange citrus and a light resin like finish. Light to medium bodied with lively carbonation, dry mouthfeel and a decent finish. Saturday, January 26, 2008
MBison	2.6 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager On tap an the Grand hotel in Bowral. Arrived a pale golden yellow, with a dense frothy head which was average lasting. Aroma was of lemon, lime, hints of honey and light grain notes in the back. Flavor was a fair bitter for a pale larger, with some sweet honey, light lemon citrus and some faint grassy hops. Light bodied with a watery texture and short crisp finish. Sunday, January 13, 2008
gam	3.8 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Good head,carb is good colour nice amber.Aroma very hoppy,passionfruit,very noticeable,flavour lovely tangy hoppy(amarillo hops)passionfruit a good bitter from these flavours.Good body in this ale.Finish tangy passionfruit dry,nice tasting beer. Saturday, January 12, 2008
TimE	2.4 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Light mainstream lager with lime and corn meal. Refreshing and smooth, but little else. Thursday, December 27, 2007
TimE	2.9 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale A fair amount of hops used in this red ale. Citrus, grapefruit notes really come out, but not backed up with any backbone or bitterness. Just kinda threw some aroma hops into the boil of water. Interesting, but not really. Thursday, December 27, 2007
bluevegie	2.4 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Not exactly amber in colour, a bit like Colonials in that it has a amber hue. Noticeable hops in the aroma and taste, was expecting a bit more malt characters for an amber ale. Drinks better than last nights offering but doesn’t really turn me on. Wednesday, November 28, 2007
bluevegie	2.5 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bland looking, pale golden body with an ordinary white head. Medium hop aroma, average taste that is not too sweet and just enough saaz hops to make it somewhat drinkable. Friday, November 16, 2007
Jarmby	3 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager An unexceptional but reasanbly drinkable beer that is more of a pils than a Pale Lager for me. It is a bit one dimensional and needs a malt boost to hype it up Friday, September 14, 2007
Dredd	2.7 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager reasonable beer, the aroma is a bit ho hum with some straw/cardboard, but the appearance and flavors are quite good and as well. The upfront is a bit sweet, but finishes with good bitterness. Definately passes as a summer session lager. Wednesday, September 12, 2007
strings	2.8 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bottle. A pleasant enough drop, if perhaps a tad cordial-like in nature. It’s no Zatec, but the character of the hops comes through. Better than the usual Australian attempts at pilsener. Monday, August 13, 2007
eczematic	2.4 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale half-arsed sweet dishwater APA. neither fish nor flesh, too sweet and not hoppy enough to be drinkable, but too flabby and empty and lacking in malt to satisfy. watery, vaguely fruity, with an apologetic amount of hops. i’d rather drink reschs than most of these new micro APAs. Sunday, June 3, 2007
Stew41	2 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale A noticable improvement on the Leatherjacket but still substandard an in my view over-rated at 2.8. Pours an ok orange, rusty amber with quite a long lasting head. Sweet but weak fruity nose with a definate spicy note. More spice in the palate early from the hops and does give the beer some zing early. The malt and estery component promised on the nose just doesn’t every get going and remains quite characterless. Unremarkable at best. Friday, May 18, 2007
Stew41	1.5 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Fairly ordinary beer. A clumsy mismatch of crappy cheap malts with buttery sweetness with only marginally better hop finish. At least there’s some faint spiceness to finish but has a muted, cardboard-lke staleness as well. Pass. Friday, May 18, 2007
motelpogo	1.8 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager bottled. fizzy, yellow, faintly grassy with some muted saaz character. i hate to think what someone in zatec would make of them wasting their produce like this Saturday, February 24, 2007
motelpogo	3 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale australian hotel beer festival 05, bottled. quite a fizzy amber, light head. plenty of lychee in the aroma, pretty dull mouthfeel, reasonable bitterness but doesn’t quite deliver on the promise of tropical fruit from the aroma and fizzles out a bit Saturday, February 24, 2007
winkle	2.8 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottled: Not a vile product especially since it’s contract brewed. Interesting choice of amerillo hops in an amber ale. Interesting aroma featuring cascade and amerillo. Plesantly fruity although like another rater I found the citrusy hops and malt didn’t quite gell. Very dry , medium bitter finish. Thursday, January 4, 2007
Spiesy	2.9 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Bottled, at the Australian Hotel, Sydney Australia. Bright golden larger, with an energetic head. Sharp bitter flavour, with a snappiness about it. Moderate length on the palate. Just one of the several thousand beers had with the old-man and younger bro. April 2006. Monday, January 1, 2007
asedzie	3.4 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Golden with foamy white head. Nice mild malt aroma slight hoppiness . Mouth feel is lively, lots of carbonation. Flavor is fresh with good overtones of sweetness. Lingering bitterness and slightly sour aftertaste. Tastes like a beer that a microbrewery might make in an effort to appeal to a larger market. Overall, quite good for the style, so I’ll give it a high rating. A great lager/pilsner for everyday drinking. Thursday, December 14, 2006
asedzie	3.6 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottled. Lighter color than expected, but still a rich amber color, and slighty cloudy. Off white head. Smells awesome. Hoppy nose - smells of spicy northwest coast varieties. Really delivers on the passionfruit aroma! Light aroma of yeast and citrus. Flavor is light. Not as bitter as I expected. Delicate bitter flavor. Piney, resinous. Aftertaste is dry fruitiness. Very good beer, but a little too light. Shares a lot of characteristics with American Pale Ales. (Re-rate: 4/13/07) Saturday, November 18, 2006
Linc	3.3 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Surprisingly clean and fresh for a small time bottled lager. I had this in comparison with two german pils’ and this really stood up well. Nice acid balance, soft palate, a mild hop presence, just seemed surprisingly well rounded. Slightly on the sweet side but otherwise pretty good. Saturday, November 4, 2006
mutant	2.4 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Medium gold with a strong head. Very thick texture. Moderate saaz hop aroma. A little biscuity malttaste and minor bitterness in the finish but lacks rreal flavour. Pretty standard stuff. Tuesday, October 31, 2006
madquacker	2.5 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Robust amber colour. Head quickly disappeared. Reasonable outsourced beer though. Odd conflicts of citrus and caramel flavours I thought. Saturday, October 28, 2006
Aarleks	2.9 Fish Rock Red Emperor Amber Ale Bottle: It’s good to see the ground swell of small scale brewing in Australia really gain some momentum. Sadly, and probably necessarily to some extent, it means lots of mediocre beers. This is one of those. Don’t get me wrong, this is ok, and there’s nothing wrong with it per se. Just nothing special, that’s all. Clear light amber to gold with a large-bubbled vintage white head. In the nose there are slightly citric, tangy caramels initially, although somewhat muted. However, some grainy, decocted notes soon emerge, along with some sweet-corn. Flavour-wise this is dissapointing - cheap lager metalic notes and POR bitterness largely hide what would otherwise clearly be a very pleasant toffee sweetness. Nice, gentle carbonation, but essentially dissapointing. Friday, October 27, 2006
madquacker	2.5 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Very soapy and looked abit like a blonde beer?? A confused mixture of Boags and James Squire Pilsner. Nevertheless was quite drinkable with the pils saltiness coming through at the end (with the Boags sweetness up front). Thursday, October 12, 2006
highlandlad	3 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager Above-average thirst quencher, not far off being a decent drop. Had a slight haze to it despite being filtered. Pale gold, moderate head, reasonable retention. Rather a shy aroma, soft and soapy. Has some Saaz dustiness and heavily watered lime cordial. Has a bit of body for the style. Very rounded and softly fruity - grapefruit and lime, with a hint of spice buzz in the finish. Quenching palate. Could imagine seeing a few of these off in summer. The more I drank, the more I liked it. (330ml bottle from Randwick Village Cellars) Wednesday, June 28, 2006
vanvenlo	2.2 Fish Rock Leatherjacket Lager 9 Apr 2006 - Simple sweet and low hop aroma. Clear amber colour, low head but reasonable lacing. Light sweet, simple hop flavour. Bitter and dry hop finish. Saturday, June 3, 2006