Pah

Dave2pular

A year ago, the Local’s first SpecTapular was held. Life has prevented me from attending subsequent days, though the weaker summer ales on offer didn’t make me try too hard. This Fourth of July, I finally sallied forth with Andrew Lee for the fifth.

We rocked up about 1.30pm. There were noticeably less people this time round, but perhaps that was because they distributed themselves more evenly throughout the day, now that the novelty had passed—and with it the worry that the beer would run out early. We positioned ourselves on the ground floor under the stairs. Upstairs is more “bar”, downstairs is more “pub”.

This time there were 20 beers on tap, including six American beers. A gold coin donation bought entry and the nice booklet with tasting notes. Beers were on individual sale for $1 per 60mL sample ($1.50 for the American brews). Once we got going, we each put a $20 refundable deposit down for a five sample tasting paddle to hold our purchases. Food options included a vegetarian hotdog.

Here’s the St Kilda Local’s account of the day.

Here’s Andrew Lee’s account of the day.

This is what I had, in order:

Unlike Andrew, I had a hop happy day, though my favourite beer of the day was the XS Imperial Stout.

Rogue XS Imperial Stout (imperial stout, 10.4% alc, 88IBU) “Rich in texture, broad, soft and creamy.” This was a meal of a beer, with an oily mouthfeel, and an alcoholic punch.

(I finally managed to get hold of some Red Hill Imperial Stout (bottled) a few days before… and I thought it was better than the Rogue which was on tap! The Red Hill was richer and more complex, and didn’t need as much alcohol (8.1%) to give it heft. In any case, I could easily drink nothing but imperial stout from now on; it’s a bit like drinking a Christmas cake iced in dark chocolate and spiked with vodka.)

Runner up was another from the same brewer: Rogue Dry Hopped St Rogue Red (red ale, 5.2%, 44IBU) “Reddish copper in colour, a roasty malty flavour, with a hoppy-spruce finish.” This was a complex beer that, as a red ale (a style I usually find underpowered), took me completely by surprise.

(Also, given the Hunter Beer Company’s good showing, with their Smoked American Pale Ale last year, and now the Cranky Pants IPA, I really must drop in to the Potters Hotel & Brewery the next time I’m near Nulkaba.)

The only downside to the day, which was pretty disappointing, was the forty minutes I waited for a hotdog, during which no beer was consumed, and I started to go starvation crazy. I mean, really. I could’ve ordered out for pizza in that time—and gotten some kind of apology if the delivery was late. Poor showing for a St Kilda venue.

But in the end, the beer and atmosphere worked its magic, and it was another spectacular SpecTapular.

PS
There is a fully armed and operational Local in Darlinghurst, but our Sydney correspondant hasn’t been!

Beer Country

There are, by my count, 36 craft breweries in Victoria. There’s 687 wineries, so there’s lots of potential for growth! I don’t know how many breweries there are in Australia. There’s always new lovelies opening, with many only available locally.

The biggest threat to all this craft beer that I see is the rise of the “premium beer” market. All those bland brews pushed by Fosters and Lion Nathan, or, increasingly, imported. There are big banners for Peroni and Budweiser in the city at the moment. And then there are the craft collaborators.

I was in the Little Creatures Dining Hall on Saturday and got myself a pint of Decomissionator. It reminded me of nothing more than VB Original Ale, which itself is little more than a smoother VB. And what is the taste of VB, of all these bland beers? In terms of hops and malt? I think maybe that it’s the taste of tortured (bottom-fermented?) hops. Hops with the bitterness de-bittered. Like flat cola or steamed vegetables.

Think of the hops! And think of the malt too, don’t leave it out! Put fermentation firmly where it should be, on top!

If you don’t fancy a VB, or a Crown, or anything from Little Creatures, there’s a chance for you stand up and be counted. The Local Taphouse is running a Hottest 100 Aussie Brews. The online poll will close at midnight (AEDT?) Sunday 18 January. Winners will be announced at the Local during their Summer SpecTapular.

They say “simply list your top TEN hottest Australian beers of 2008″ but is it really so simple? This requires thought. How do you compare small batch beers produced this year only to beers available every year? How do you compare a beer you’ve drunk from a bottle to a beer poured from the tap? How do you compare a beer at the end of a long, hot bike ride to a beer sunk at a barbecue? And then there’s the field!

This year I visited the high country, where I particularly liked the Blowhard Pale Ale and Staircase Porter from Bright Brewery, and the Robust Dark Porter and Chevalier Biere de Garde from Bridge Road Brewers. I dropped into the Lord Nelson in Sydney. At the inaugural SpecTapular I loved the Jamieson Son of a Beast, Moo Brew Stout, Hunter Smoked American Pale Ale, Parkyn’s Shark Oil, and Grand Ridge Moonshine. I recently dropped into the Normandy for a Clifton Hill Pale Ale. From various bottleshops I’ve picked up Bright Fainters Dubbel, Red Hill Hop Harvest Ale and Weizenbock, Emerald Hill Pale Ale, Buckley’s Dark Bock, Bellarine Heads Ale, Sweet Water IPA, Mountain Goat Old Surefoot, Murray’s Icon 2IPA, and Cascade First Harvest Ale. And then there’s perennial favourites like Mountain Goat, and Coopers Sparkling and Best Extra Stout. And what else aren’t I remembering just right now? God there’s some good beer out there.

A little more reflection and a little more research is required before I put my votes in. My libraries: Swords Select, Essendon Cellars, King & Godfree, Purvis Cellars, Cloudwine, Acland Cellars… And: Normandy Ale House, Transport, The Local Taphouse… Any other suggestions, either for beer or places to get it?

The Local (not my local)

Last year Steve Jeffares asked me what I thought “defines a great beer bar”. I answered: comfortable setting, enthusiastic staff, great beer. Since then Steve has opened the Local in its current form, a great beer bar.

But I realise now I left out something, which Steve did not. (If he had asked in 2001 I almost certainly would not have left it out.) The fourth thing that defines a great beer bar is: a weblog.

Because how else would you find out about the existence of a bar situated over ten kilometres from your house? How else would you find out about a spectacular beer event? How else would you know that the Holgate ESB has been replaced on tap by 3 Ravens USB?

Yes the blog (and email, and sms) lets you know what’s happening and what’s on tap. But the Locals do more than just that, they let you know about what’s going on in the world of beer: new beers, new festivals, and, yes, other new bars.

The Local isn’t my local, so I can’t get there often, but because of their blog I’ll know what to expect when I do—and what to expect when I go elsewhere too. Great work, Steve and co!

Dave Tapular

Just prior to SpecTapular, I went on a bit of a beer investigation:

I tried to really concentrate on what it was I was tasting. The traditional ingredients for beer are water, malted barley, yeast, and hops. I tried to identify those tastes. My tentative conclusion was that: hops give the bitterness and the dryness, tasting like tea; malt gives the sweetness and wetness, tasting like molasses.

The SpecTapular booklet came with notes on how to taste beer (look, agitate, smell, taste) and how to describe what you are tasting:

General terms

aggressive, bold, complex, robust

Body

crisp, dry, full-bodied, light-bodied

Malt

malty, grainy, nutty, caramel, toffee, toasted, roasted, chocolate, coffee

Hops

herbaceous, floral, spicey, resiny, bitter

Other

yeasty, fruity, estery

SpecTapular gave me the chance to taste and verify these descriptions. In fact, while I find much that is written about beer to be as incomprehensible as wine description, the SpecTapular booklet was very clear and informative.

This is what I had (my twenty samples, plus what Pen didn’t use) in order:

Unlike Pen, I was having a hoppy day, though I appreciated the malt too. At the end I had seconds of the Hunter Smoked American Pale Ale and the Parkyn’s Shark Oil.

Here’s how the Local described my favourites (International Bitterness Units go from 0 to 100):

Jamieson Son of a Beast (Double India pale ale, 9.5% alc, 100IBU) “Powerful fruit punch aroma, full malt flavour and a massive hop finish.”

Moo Brew Stout (imperial stout, 7.9% alc, 55IBU) “Rich dark chocolate of specialty malts. Roast and astringent characteristics are present but relatively restrained and balanced.”

Hunter Smoked American Pale Ale (smoked American pale ale, 5.2% alc) “A lemony aroma fights with campfire smoke. At first the smoke prevails, but then the bitterness rips at your tongue and in turn is replaced by clove-like tastes. A second mouthful leaves a lingering bitter-sweet lemony flavour.”

Parkyn’s Shark Oil (American pale ale, 5.4% alc, 58IBU) “A solid malt backbone, brimming with pacific northwest hops. Aromas of citrus, pine, apricot and malt are brought together with a smooth bitterness that lingers.”

Grand Ridge Moonshine (scotch ale/barley wine, 8.5% alc) “Deep, warm and rich malt/sweet flavours.”

The only beer I didn’t like was the only real disappointment of the day: the Boag’s. This was the kind of beer that big brewers refer to as “premium”, which means “more expensive than Carlton Draught”. Nice enough at a party, but out of place amongst all the delicious craft beer.

All in all, the SpecTapular was a great event at a great pub, and I look forward to more in future. It seemed almost perfectly catered to me, and when I looked around I saw—more than at a science fiction club, more than at a Patton concert, more than anywhere else—I saw my people.

Pen Tapular

Penny kept track of what she had sampled at the SpecTapular in the booklet provided:

I remember she commented that she wasn’t a fan of bitter (hops), she was all about the malt. At the end of our time there, she had a second Velvet Cream Stout. (Out of a possible twenty samples, she had twelve.)

Bowie Tapular

One month ago, the Bowies and the Goldings went to the Local Taphouse Beer SpecTapular: “40 beers on tap in… 35 different styles from… 40 Australian breweries for… 13 hours but only… 1 keg of each.”

The Local is on the corner of Carlisle and Church Streets in St Kilda, walking distance from Acland Street and the Astor. It’s a nice little two storey pub, stylish but comfortable, kind of like Cookie done right. (I just wish it was my local, and not south of the river!)

$25 got you a nice booklet with tasting notes and 20 samples. (At 60mL a sample, that’s 1.2L, or, assuming a normal alcohol-by-volume, Mr Rudd, about 4.2 standard drinks. But it was all nicely relaxed, no one got into any trouble, and we didn’t run out of beer.)

Andrew has already written about the event:

From my point of view it was a fantastic day, very professionally run, with an amazing list of quality beers. The crowd seemed mostly to be beer enthusiasts there for the taste, not to have a cheap drink. Security were friendly and professional and did what seemed to be a good job of organising the crowd.

Check out what he and Katie drank on that lovely afternoon.

Champagne Beer

I walked into a bottle shop and saw a fancy beer. It looked like a fancy champagne bottle, like Dom Perignon, even the label. I even wondered if it wasn’t just mis-shelved, but no, it was a beer, a Belgian beer: Deus, Brut des Flandres, Cuvee Prestige 2006. It cost $60 for a 750mL bottle.

Now I’ve had a beer from French Flanders. It was very nice. It cost $18 for 750mL. Could a bottle from Belgian Flanders really be over three times better? I chose not to find out. Online, people write things like “Dom Perignon meets Duvel” and “beer in taste and champagne in every other way”.

Meanwhile in three restaurants in Copenhagen, you can buy Carlsberg Vintage No. 1. It’s dressed in a wine-like bottle and it costs $450 for 375mL, which is expensive even if you get a rebate by selling the label, which is a lithograph by Frans Kannik, worth $110. I can’t find much written about what it tastes like. British beer expert, Pete Brown, praises it faintly by saying that it will “change your perception of beer [if you are a Sunday Mirror reader]”.

Brown has an excellent post on his blog about “fine beer”, wondering if the promotion of such a category would have the effect “fine wine” does for that drink—creating a class of wine wankers. I love beer, but I’m not ready to be a beer wanker.

High Country Brewery Trail

So: Buffalo, Boynton, Bright, Bridge Road, Beechworth, and Bintara. We drove north two weeks ago to Yarrawonga, positioning ourselves for a beer tour of Victoria’s alpine region. Until we got to the first brewery mid-Saturday, we didn’t know that what we’d actually set out on was Victoria’s High Country Brewery Trail, “the first of its kind in Australia” according to the pamphlet we picked up.

Buffalo Brewery (Boorhaman Hotel). A country pub on a dirt road. It’s clear that they love brewing in general, with lots of press clippings and paraphernalia covering their establishment; in fact, the brewery facilities they now use were originally built for the original production of Victoria Bitter. Unfortunately this out-of-the-way local wasn’t too friendly to strangers, giving a definite League of Gentlemen vibe. They had four beers on tap: lager, ginger ale, wheat, and dark ale. (They also bottle a stout.) I was only able to try two, as they wouldn’t do tastings, but they were both nice. The Dark Ale was cold, crisp and fruity, with a smoky after-taste. The Wheat Beer had an unusual flavour, that I identified as smoked, while Penny thought was banana.

Boynton’s Brewing (Boynton’s Winery). This winery is set in the beautiful alpine foothills. We stopped here for lunch, taking in the views and some excellent fried gnocci. They only had one beer on tap, a lager, which started with a kind of Mountain Goat-lite flavour, but finished with something golden. We also tried their two bottled beers, a pilsner (strong organic, bitter taste) and an ale. (Apparently this place is also the beer hub of the Alpine Valley’s Wine and Food Festival in January.)

Bright Brewery. I loved this place: not a pub or winery, but literally a small brewery with a bar stuck in front of it, and some tables outside on a deck overlooking a river. They had five beers on tap: amber, white, pale, porter, and abbey. I’ve raved about the Fainters Dubbel before. My favourites on the night were Blowhard Pale Ale (bitter citrus) and the Staircase Porter (chocolatey). I had a good chat with the brewer, and afterwards we headed off with some bottles.

We spent Saturday night in Bright.

Bridge Road Brewers. The building is like a winery cellar door, but it actually sits off the main street of Beechworth, behind shops and a pub. Lots of beer paraphernalia for sale here. They have a whopping nine beers on tap: wheat, pale, porter, ale, red ale, india pale ale, premium wheat, biere de garde, and saison. That’s a lot of beer to taste! Luckily, the friendly bartender brought sampler glasses out to me two at a time, so they didn’t get warm and flat (while I ate some excellent pretzels and lunch). My picks would have to be the Robust Porter (dark chocolate flavours) and the Chevalier Biere de Garde (which is also good bottled).

We didn’t get to the Beechworth Brewery (Nicholas Hotel) because it was too close to Bridge Road Brewers and we didn’t have time to let the beer settle.

Bintara Brewery (Vintara Winery). This is a big modern winery cellar door, but they really need to invest in carpet or something because it doesn’t take many visitors to generate a cacophony. Also, the metric system, introduced nearly forty years ago, is your friend when it comes to monitoring how much you’ve had to drink—Bintara should use it (I have no idea what the hell a “fluid ounce” is). They had four beers on tap: wheat, pilsner, pale, and black. I was only able to try two, as they wouldn’t do tastings. I liked the Black Beer, which was smoky.

We didn’t get to Jamieson Brewery (who I like) because they were out of our way.

We didn’t get to Sweet Water Brewing because they were out of our way and not open to the public.

So what did I think of our first official brewery trail? It may be official, but it’s not Margaret River. It’s a good start, with lots of good beer. It’s nice that state and local governments are helping these breweries promote themselves, but the trail is a bit long and the commitment from the breweries a bit too variable.

(For another point of view, Willie Simpson did the trail last year.)

The Chef’s Wicked Chocolate Beer

Remember Chocolate Beer?

Now, I’ve had lots of chocolate beers. If you close your eyes, you generally have to think of chocolate real hard to imagine that flavour being there. This is different. This brew exactly fulfils the promise of the words “Chocolate Beer”. It is wonderful! […] So popular is the Chocolate Beer that we couldn’t get any bottles while we were in Margaret River, but I’m planning on ordering some slabs now I’m home.

I remembered! I ordered! I received! It’s bigger than the boy!

I got stuck in!

As with all beer, it’s important to pour it into a glass to activate its full flavour potential. Penny advises drinking it from a nice red wine glass to concentrate the flavour more than a stein can achieve. Ah, the sweet aroma touches your nose as you raise your glass, then the chocolate hits your mouth. It has a short flavour, but not so short it leaves you unsatisfied or drinking too quickly to try and get enough.

Does it live up to memory? Pen and I think it is not as good as when we had it in Yallingup, but that is the nature of exporting beer. That is the nature of place. We’ll be back to Margaret River. But until then, this interstate bottled beer is nonetheless quite wonderful.

Thanks to the chef, Danial!

Victorian Microbreweries Showcase No. 5

While reading up on beer, I discovered Federation Square’s Victorian Microbreweries Showcase, which was been running every six months or so for a little while now. We stopped in on Wed 18 July to see 56 beers (and try some) from: Bridge Road Brewers, Buckley’s, Emerald Hill, Hargreaves Hill, Matilda Bay, Mountain Goat, Temple, Bright, Grand Ridge, Jamieson, Mildura, Red Hill (still didn’t meet David Golding), and 3 Ravens! This was all in the atrium, which is enclosed during winter, but it was still very cold—this kept the numbers of people down a bit, which made it easier to manoeuvre the pram. It was great to be amongst so many people enthusiastic about boutique beers—there’s no other reason they’d expose themselves to the elements. Entrance was free. $20 got you 20 samples (someone’s been paying attention), along with an information sheet listing all the brewers and their beers, and a People’s Choice form for nominating the best beer in each category. The best beers, I reckon, all truly exciting beers, were:

• Bright Fainters Dubbel. A Belgian abbey-style beer, so a bit like Chimay, with a rich molasses flavour, and 8.5% alcohol.
• Buckley’s Dark Bock lager. Like drinking Vegemite, but, unlike Grand Ridge Supershine, it’s not heavy, it’s very smooth. (Amazingly, this is popular: it won the People’s Choice award in the Feb ’06 showcase.)
• Emerald Hill Pale Ale. This beer has what I can only describe as a zing going through it, fresh and electric.

Cleansing the Beer Palate

You might think I’m sick of beer after all those breweries I visited. I don’t know why you’d think that.

In fact, I was inspired to visit some of the breweries around Melbourne:

• I dragged my clan to Red Hill Brewery, down Mornington Peninsula, between Dromana and Flinders. It’s like a nice little cafe nestled on farmland. They had a golden ale, wheat beer, scotch ale, and (seasonal) bitter on tap. The Scotch Ale was the best. It’s better on tap, and better the more you drink. Didn’t manage to meet David Golding.
• Didn’t get to the Holgate Brewhouse due to illness. Still planning on going.
• Also planning on visiting the new Emerald Hill Brewery in South Melbourne, and revisiting Bell’s Hotel and Brewery while I’m out that way.

I’ve also tried a few new beers:

• Picked up some 750mL bottles of the Bridge Road Brewers’ Chevalier range from Swords at the Vic Market. The hefeweizen was nothing special, but the biere de garde was great, very similar to 3 Monts.
• My local bottle shop had Yanjing Beer, which has the subtitle Extra Yanjing Beer, and is, apparently, The Official State Beer of China, and The Number One Selling Beer in China. It’s a rice beer and tastes like Tiger, similar to Beerlao, but a little bit nicer.
• I’ve also been searching for the aged 750mL bottles of Mountain Goat Surefoot Stout, but no luck so far.

Writing so much about beer recently has attracted an email asking what I think defines a great beer bar. I think three things are essential:

1. Comfortable setting. This has a wide range of possibilities, from the big couches of the Great Britain in Richmond, to the modern nooks and crannies of Transport in Fed Square. Restaurant-style tables or big open spaces for standing are negatives.
2. Enthusiastic staff. Your typical casual bar staff, who are just there to serve the beer, are a real downer. Staff who are friendly, like beer themselves or enjoy others’ reactions to it, and know a bit about the beers on the list, are great. Having at least one person around who is invested in the business is great. If you’re brewing your own beer, having one person around who is involved in the brewing is perfect.
3. Great beer.

But that’s just me. Of course, I can enjoy a beer anywhere. Recently we stopped by our local, the East, to enjoy a drink, with the boy, and, for the first time, not have to put up with smoking. Ah!

And that’s enough writing about beer for a little while. Well, just one more thing.

Broome

Last stop on my trip through beer country!

Matso’s Broome Brewery is an outback-style restaurant. They have four beers on tap: lager, ginger, wheat, and dark lager. A convenient proof that I don’t hate lagers, my favourite was the Hit The Toad Premium Lager, which was like a happy medium of Goat and Squire.

Curiously no mango beer, given the mango’s prevalence in Broome. I think the only wine made in Broome is mango wine. Really, this is cocktail country. Go to the Cable Beach Club, kick back at the Sunset Bar, order something exquisite, and watch the sun go down over a pristine setting.

The South-West

In the Pemberton wine region, you’ll find Jarrah Jacks Brewery, looking like a restaurant set in a vineyard. They had four of their own beers on tap when we visited: pale, lager, ale, and wheat. None of these were very interesting. Their most popular drops, an ale and a seasonal beer weren’t available. One of the owners let me have a taste of their London Brown Ale, which wasn’t done yet, but was promising.

They also had Nail Ale. This used to be made in Bobby Dazzler’s Ale House in the heart of Perth, along with Nail Stout, but the microbrewery had shut down before we got there because some idiot assaulted the brewer, giving him brain damage. The brewer had subsequently moved to Jarrah Jacks, so I got to taste this lost beer. I was disappointed.

In the Great Southern wine region, in Albany, you’ll find Tangle Head Brewing Company. This is a snooty restaurant with awful service pretending to be a pub. Apparently they have quite a bit of variation in what’s available, but when we were there they had seven beers on tap: light, wheat, pils, pale, lager, brown ale, and stout. The usual suspects were fine, but nothing to write about.

Driving back up to Perth, we unfortunately didn’t have time to stop in Bridgetown for Blackwood Valley Brewing.

Heading north from Perth, we unfortunately didn’t have time to stop in Baskerville for the Feral Brewing Company.

Next: Broome.