1) A long, long time ago, way back in 2012, the James Squire brewing guys didn’t just make entry level craft beer. They also had a seasonal label referred to as the Mad Brewers. Because, apparently, they felt it “mad” to create interesting and tasty beers. Whatever.

2) And they did make interesting and tasty beers. One of their beers is among my long-time favourites. That was Scribbly Gum Lager and I still remember  it was like drinking a beer while having a barbecue near a bushfire, such was the smoky flavour of the beer mixed in with a bush spice or two.

3) Also high on the list was their Hoppy Hefe – a melding of hefweisen and an American wheat wine. Though to me it was more like a hefe and an IPA. I figured I would never get to try either of these beers again. While I still am waiting on the Scribbly Gum Lager, I did pick up some Hoppy Hefe, courtesy of the strangeness that is mocu.com.au

4) Strange because it’s the crafty arm of Lion but they make out it’s some uber swanky beer distributor. Strange because MoCU stands for “Modern Curations Gallery” when they’re a beer website and not a gallery (and they oddly leave the G of “gallery” off the end of MoCU. Strange because their prices are illogical – they sell One Fifty Lashes at $22 a six-pack – $5 more than you’ll pay at Dan Murphys.  And annoying too, because trying to order from the site involved a real effort on my part. If I wasn’t super keen to get my hands on some Hoppy Hefe, I reckon I’d have given up. Though I did order the day the site launched, so maybe they’ve since ironed out the bugs. Also, it’s annoying  just because I hate brands that use capital letters in the middle of words. Give it up, you clowns. Seriously, the site is the right idea but very badly executed. The faux swanky style of the MoCU site seems like the sort of mistake CUB and it’s clueless approach to craft beer would make. Up to this point, Lion has been by far the smarter of the big two when it comes to handling their craft beer brands.

5) While I was waiting for the Hoppy Hefe to arrive in the mail, I heard from Luke and Dave over at Ale of a Time (yeah, us bloggers meet up all the time just to hang out and stuff) that they had tried it on tap and were very much underwhelmed. That bummed me out, until I got my bottles and cracked one open. Luke and Dave must have gotten a bad batch (or maybe it was I who got a good one). The beer was just as I remembered it – it’s such a good combination of two styles that it’s hard to pick where one finishes and the other begins. There are some hefe hints, with some sweetness on the tongue before the hoppy half of the name begins to slide into the calculations. The Mocu (bugger the capital letters) site only sells them in two-packs, which means I’ve got another one to savour soon.

Free or paid for?: I bought a two-pack of 568ml bottles for $25. Which seems okay – until you tack on the $7 delivery charge.