Holding fast at number twoin the Critics’ Choice Top 100 is Byron Bay in a bottle: Stone & Wood Pacific Ale.

The brewer’s notes explain that the Pacific Ale is inspired by their home on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and brewed using all Australian barley, wheat and Galaxy hops, Pacific Ale is cloudy and golden with a big fruity aroma and a refreshing finish. After being dry hopped at the end of fermentation, it is drawn straight from the storage tank into kegs and bottles.

Pete Mitcham comments that ‘when you need to double brewing capacity to keep up with demand for your flagship beer – not once but twice – what can I write here that the beer doesn’t already say for itself? One barley malt, one dash of wheat malt, one hop variety used throughout. Sometimes the simple things in life truly are the best. How then, do they make it feel as though a thousand pleasant memories are dancing across your tongue with every sip?’

The Critics’ Choice: Australia’s Best Beers RRP $14.95

Available fromwww.beerloversguide.com.au