The Diva & the Darlings of Victorian Beer

In May last year I was in Sydney especially to support Beer Diva and good beer buddy, Kirrily Waldhorn as she ventured on stage to present her first ‘live full arena cabaret multimedia and sensory spectacular’ one woman beer show.

Based on the material central to her Beer Diva beer and food matching events and covering all aspects of the Beer World in a fun and entertaining way, the show titled “Beer is Proof God wants us to be Happy” set out to explode the myths surrounding beer and bring good beer to the people.

At The Thornbury Theatre she reprised the show for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival with the assistance of five of the state’s most prominent ‘Women of Beer’ and it lost nothing in either the translation or the expansion of its talent.

Those interested in the Order of Business of the show can click here to read my review of last year’s Opera House performance and the rest of you can stick with me and enjoy my take on the reworked performance which played a one-nighter to a large and appreciative and well lubricated audience on Friday.

The first point worth noting is the support given by the brewing community as evidenced by the many familiar faces at tables set out across the floor of the very elegant Thornbury Theatre. From brewers to beer book publishers and venue operators and staff there were plenty on hand to make sure the night was given every chance of success.

More importantly, the remainder of the crowd appeared to be average punters keen to see what good beer was all about. Many, I’m sure, were also there on the basis that the words ‘beer’ and ‘women’ featured prominently in the advertising and they were not disappointed. A couple were probably even there just on the off-chance they’d see Sam Fuss in heels. They were equally not disappointed although the ‘heels’ appeared to be Blundstones.

The format for the show was similar to The Beer Diva’s previous outings but this time each beer style would be introduced by the Woman of Beer from each brewery. After an entertaining concise history of beer we elected Beer Captains and cracked on into the first of five beers, Bridge Road Brewers Chevalier Saison and heard former brewer Nardia McGrath discuss its charms. More familiar with seeing Nardia in jungle green brewery outfit, she shone in her finery. It’s fair to say that none of the girls sought to out shine the host, however. Especially Sam.

Beth Williams from Hargreaves Hill then talked us through their Hefewiezen and teased us with the possibility of returning later to share her talent for opera singing. As the show progressed we were walked through various beer myths and misconceptions and the interactive nature of the evening ensured everyone had a voice. Some, as you might guess, took this invitation a little too literally and Beer Captains were required to retain some semblance of order. Except on those tables where the Beer Captains were the worst offenders!

The sensory experience was taken to the next level when Karen Golding introduced the Red Hill Brewery Pilsner complete with table rations of fresh estate grown Tettnanger hop flowers. ‘Beer Floaters’ became all the rage as the crowd enjoyed the aroma and flavour of fresh ingredients.

Jayne Lewis from Mountain Goat shared her Rare Breed IPA after Kirrily had regaled us with tales of the original voyages to the Jewel in the Imperial Crown that first brought us this hoppy style. By now the audience was well refreshed and each brewer and her beer were welcomed warmly to the microphone. But the love for the Goat IPA was soon to be eclipsed by the Rock Star welcome reserved for Melbourne brewing identity and all-round-nice-girl, True South’s Sam Fuss.

Not enough was it that Sam had bottled some of her Cherry Bomb Porter especially for the night, but each guest was supplied with a Cherry Ripe chocky to enjoy with the beer. And, in an impromptu in-house auction, Sam managed to sever $22 from an eager punter in return for the half eaten sample that had inspired the brew in the first place. Half eaten and sat on.

As the night wound up and the punters began to make their way home Beer Blokes, along with The Crafty Pint and The Wobbly Thong (remake of The Goon Show, anybody?) managed to steal a few moments with some of the girls who had come along to see what all the beery fuss was about. It bodes well for the future of good beer in this town that so many felt comfortable enough to venture out to catch a show which most admitted they knew little about. Having said that, this made it pretty easy to exceed their expectations.

They all left happy and just a little bit more knowledgeable about that mysterious amber nectar which, for so long, seems to have been dominated by the male of the species. That the girls are now a driving force at the production end, as well as increasingly at the retail end, makes for a future that is as full of promise and as well balanced as the beers they are brewing.

Cheers,

Prof Pilsner

‘Plough’-ing through some good beer

Take an unassuming little country pub in an unassuming little country town and bring in a Bloke from the Big Smoke to select a menu of five different beers of very different styles to be matched by the chef with some local produce cooked up in some very ‘cheffy’ ways and what do you get?

86 very keen locals ready to be impressed.

Prof Pilsner was invited to The Plough Hotel in Myrniong to host a beer and food matching evening this week and a bit of Google-y research gave me little more than the town’s location and access to the Community Noticeboard so expectations were minimal as the Myrniong turn off came into view.

In fact, if I had to be perfectly Francis, there was half an expectation that the pub would come into view and visions of Bob’s Country Bunker would race into my head along with both its types of music. The reality could not have been further from the expectation.

The Plough Hotel is not just a pub in Myrniong – together with the school it IS Myrniong. 80 odd clicks from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Ballarat, Myrniong sits just off the Western Highway nestled snugly into a picturesque series of plains beneath Mt Blackwood. Its community is scattered throughout the rolling hills of the region and concerns itself with little more than the business of producing beef cattle, pigs, sheep and chooks as well as crops of barley, wheat, oats and canola.

Little surprise then that the dining room at The Plough was filled with farmers and teachers and CFA volunteers and rabbit shooters and local tradies and various pub suppliers and the entire production line workforce of Westside Meats (who we shall meet in more detail later). The only question was; How would these honest hard-working ‘folk of the fields’ brought up on that well-known mainstream lager of two simple letters greet a selection of Victoria’s finest small batch brews?

The answer wasn’t long in coming as the True South Kolsch was poured on arrival and drank with some very tasty Thai prawn cakes. Seriously, these boys and girls can get a party started. Some of them had a schooner in one hand as the other hand was still closing the front door behind them! After a few curious stares at the glass and less-than-whispered comments like “Geez. Bit cloudy isn’t it?!” and “Got a fair pong on it, eh?!” the keg tapped out twenty minutes after the doors opened. Can’t get a much better recommendation than that, can you Sam?

Chef Mark Mills who, with partner Jody, revived the run-down (and at the time closed-down) Plough just over twelve months ago wanted to treat his guests to some beer styles that they had never tried before and between us we figured we should give them a few ‘challenging’ beers as well as some more approachable ones. Mark sorted out the food side of things and my task was to showcase what good beer was all about while expanding the beery horizons of the appreciative locals.

A braised rabbit and white bean cassoulet was paired with Bridge Road Brewers Hans Klopek’s Hefeweizen – if we were to scare them, may as well do it early! For most in the room this was their first experience of a wheat beer and, after a brief discussion about the style and what to expect from it, I moved around to gauge the response. While it’s fair to say that some were still to be convinced (many after the second pot, mind you) there were many for whom this beer and the food matching was a pleasant surprise. A couple of non-beer drinkers were even heard to remark; “I like that! That’s not beer!” I’ll assume they meant that it wasn’t macro-swill.

As no-one had stormed out or demanded monies back by this stage we blazed on into the third course of Steak Diane with green beans and a keg of Mountain Goat Hightail Ale. Again, a big flavoured English style Amber Ale described by its creator, Dave Bonighton, as a ‘crazy mongrel’ for its American hop bang is not something many of the crowd would naturally seek out but the third empty keg of the night justified my decision to introduce them to Goat Beer.

Hungarian spiced lamb wrapped in a tasty flaky pastry pillow with roast pumpkin garnish rounded out the main courses and the Arctic Fox American Pale Ale, while a tad hoppy for some, was well received overall. And for those with any room left, the evening was capped with a Tira Misu matched with Holgate’s Temptress Chocolate Porter. While this proved a little dark and foreboding for a few, there was little left over when the tables were cleared.

Just the fact that the guests had worked their way through a Kolsch, a Hefeweizen, and English amber and American pale ale and a porter thus far was reward enough.

The various beers’ back stories and tales of the brewers certainly helped to paint the picture for them and ease the acceptance of these strange brews, but in general, the task was pretty easy. A relaxed atmosphere with plenty of food and more than plenty of beer coupled with a friendly host chatting to each table throughout the night made their initiation into the Good Beer World a relatively painless and enjoyable one. The fact that my hand still hurts today after the volume of vigorous shaking it copped as each guest left indicates that they left having had an experience they wanted to repeat.

As I left the next morning I discovered that it was an experience I would be repeating, too with a generous offer to return in eight weeks to do it all again with another five beers – this time from the expansive portfolio of Lion Nathan, whose regional representative was among those enjoying my light-hearted repartee and very ordinary gags. Goes to show, give ‘em enough beer and they’ll commit to anything!

This is a gig I’ll happily repeat and for some pretty compelling reasons that had not before occurred to me. Firstly, it’s great to get to meet people for whom beer is pretty much cold, wet, fizzy and from Foster’s and introduce them to the flavours and colours and tastes and mouthfeels and the stories of the beers that we who are a way down the track can take for granted. It’s comforting to talk to people who have just tried something for the first time that you now feel is an ’old favourite’ and listen to them tell you how much they like it.

Or to have someone call you over to say they’d never even heard of a Kolsch before tonight – and where can I get some more?! Even to see a hardened old VB stalwart (who only ever buys stubbies and not cans and never anything BUT VB) have even a few sips of Hightail, half a glass of Hefeweizen a mere sniff of an APA made the night worthwhile. To hear that he had three pots of Kolsch had me dancing on the table!

But, for me, the most pleasing feeling came from seeing a pub as it was meant to be – a hub, a meeting point, a gathering place for its community. No pokies, no pubTAB and no piss-heads spoiling the vibe. A vibrant and living place. A destination. In addition to the entire population of Myrniong, they came from Ballarat and Gisborne and Bacchus Marsh and Melton and they promised they’d be back.

Let me know if you want to join me next time – we might have to squeeze onto a table out the back, but it’ll be worth it.

Cheers

Prof Pilsner

Braggot finds new friends

The Courthouse Restaurant Beer Dinner

I have to admit that I was going to begin this post by telling you how many Beer Dinners I’ve hosted at The Courthouse Restaurant over the last 6 years but I can’t actually remember the total and I can’t find all the menus that I’ve kept which would have given me an idea at least.

Let’s say that I reckon it’s about twenty.

My point was going to be this; each dinner has featured at least five and sometimes six and one time seven beers and I have only used two beers more than once (Schofferhoffer Kristallweizen and Bridge Road Brewers Australian Ale) and rarely use more than one beer that we already have on the Beer List, so it’s fair to say that we have always tried to give value for money.

But, to be fair, I have generally had to cater mostly to a market that, while willing to try something ‘new’ is not one to really embrace anything ‘different’, and so particularly early on we had to use a more mainstream standard of beers to make sure we didn’t scare too many away. After all, you don’t win a Grand Prix on the first lap.

But, as the base of regular supporters has grown (I’ve done Beer Dinners early in the piece with a table of two and a table of four and, more recently for 56 people) I’ve found that I need to ensure that the maturing palates are not disadvantaged. The beer selection has consequently matured to include lesser known styles and unfamiliar brands including a growing emphasis on Australian Craft Beer.




But the last Beer Dinner I took things a step further. Not only were the guests introduced to the mysteries of Dark Lager in the steely form of Matilda Bay Dogbolter, we then crashed their palates with a very hoppy Anchor Liberty Ale and then completely changed their perceptions of what beer CAN be by finishing the night with a Bridge Road Brewers Megachile Pluto Braggot. As you can guess there were so many foreign words in that one that it took us ten minutes just to introduce the beer!

Braggot, that Ale/Mead hybrid so well loved of the Medieval Britons, was recently reintroduced to the craft beer scene by Bridge Road Brewers Nardia McGrath (amazingly and coincidentally at the same time by Red Duck Brewery as ‘Ugly Duckling’ at 14%!). The Bridge Road Braggot uses a rather generous 85kgs of Beechworth Red Stringy Bark honey in its 800litre batch and this gives it warmth and mellowness and a nice big hug with its 10% alcohol level.

And here’s the point of this whole post. The Braggot went down an absolute treat. The response was terrifically positive and, considering the guests had already had at least four beers and four courses by then, there was very little left undrunk. Beer, that is, not people. Although, as I recall, there were very few people left un-wobbly! But happily so.

So from here on in I need to readjust my thinking when I’m standing in the beer aisle choosing the beers to suit the dishes I have in mind. While I still have to make sure that the beers fit into the per-head budget I reckon I can throw in at least one – and maybe even two – beers that are outside the comfort zone for the average drinker.

I might even call it The Braggot Principle. Thanks, Nardia.

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

Oh, and Ben? I might grab some B2 Bomber for the next Beer Dinner on October 15. I know you guys are still fighting over whose beer has the most positive review! You might even like to invite yourself down and I’ll make it a Bridge Road Beer Dinner...?

Buses, Beechworth, Bright and a bit of Beer

On paper it all innocent enough. A weekend bus trip to historic Beechworth in Victoria’s North East on Saturday and a casual lunch visit to Bright on the Sunday for lunch.

This trip, however, was not conducted on paper but in the form of three minibuses filled with Ale Stars and Local Taphouse regulars and the destinations included two of Victoria’s finest craft breweries and Beechworth’s oldest hotel so ‘innocent’ was suddenly looking like a forlorn hope.

Add to the mix three 2-way radios, 3 dodgy Op Shop Bus Driver uniforms and a healthy dose of shenanigans and the trip began to take on more of a Footy Trip feel.

In short the trip had everything. From stunning views and limited release brews to bargain hunting and Bogan spotting – we even had real beer tears and lost a couple of our number along the way.

It all began just before our scheduled departure time when Justin rang Guy from Thrifty Rentals in South Melbourne to explain that they had no record of our bus booking. “That’s probably because the bus is booked at Avis Rentals in South Melbourne”, Guy replied. This was a good omen.


With all passengers (and buses) accounted for we set off in convoy for Beechworth some 300 kms away. Trivia questions and a beer version of ‘Spotto’ were on hand to keep ‘the kids’ amused on the 3 & a 1/2 hour journey but it wasn’t long before it became clear that Fun & Frivolity would be the order of the day. An exchange of paperwork at the first set of traffic lights kinda set the standard.

And we hadn’t had a beer yet.

Communication between buses via 2 way radios was arranged so that stops could be co-ordinated, road conditions passed on and, most importantly, so that no-one would get lost. Two outta three ain’t bad. Green Leader (Guy) headed us along the Hume until the first Wangaratta turn off where he took the exit before Amber 2 (Prof) could get on the mike and say “DON’T!!” Silver Fox (Justin) had a big call to make; follow the Prof’s call or head off with the tear-aways.

He chose poorly.

A call was put out quickly (before we lost radio contact) to let the Lost Boys know that we would wait on the Great Alpine Road while they took in the unplanned sights of Wangaratta township. We expected to catch them up in around 10 minutes. That’s ten minutes in normal time, which is actually twenty minutes in “Wangaratta is flooded and we needed to take a bit of a detour time”.

Two important decisions were then made. JJ and GG allowed the Prof to change his call sign to ‘Lone Wolf’ and also that ‘Lone Wolf’ would take the lead from here on in. A relatively relaxing and uneventful jaunt into Beechworth saw us head in convoy down Ford Street and around into the back carpark of Bridge Road Brewers at – you won’t believe this – exactly 1.15pm as per the itinerary. Things could really only go pear-shaped from this point.





While the thirsty travellers availed themselves of several of Ben Kraus’ splendid brews the bus drivers drove the convoy to Latrobe at Beechworth which, despite being no more than 10 minutes walking distance from the brewery, took us half an hour, 2 laps of town and a visit to the Information Centre to locate. I should have led us off. Once the group was checked-in and the luggage dumped en masse in the closest room, the drivers headed back to Bridge road Brewers to begin the Bus Drivers’ favourite game, “Catch Up”.

The afternoon was spent enjoying the local culture while the night was spent enjoying the local wildlife. It’s fair to say that a fair amount of coin was ploughed into the local economy and it wasn’t long before the town knew it had some visitors. The night wore on in various lengths and as the sun came up the last of the crew was getting back to bed as the first were presenting for breakfast.

By the time our scheduled departure drew near we realised we were 2 short of a full tour as some friends of James had yet to surface. A light knock on their door suggested they had wandered into town with half a dozen others but, when leaving time arrived and they were still MIA, a gentle pounding was applied to the door before the decision was made to leave without them. Afterall, a 6.6% attrition rate for a tour of this type is more than acceptable.





We made our way to Bright with a couple of fake indicator manoeuvres, a couple of ‘two-times-round-the-roundabout’ and more than a couple of sore heads. Beautiful sunshine greeted us, along with Scott Brandon from Bright Brewery and after a tour and some more tastings we had lunch and a special dessert – some ‘experimental’ chill distilled Fainter’s Dubbel from Scott’s cellar. A cracking warm and rich sherry-like brew but not one for those with a four hour drive to look forward to.

As we wound up our trip with the obligatory ‘after’ group photo (including two chairs with Bright Mini Kegs to represent our fallen comrades) we bade farewell to Bright and pointed the wagons homeward. Carefully planned piss stops, sorry Pit Stops and pre-arranged drop offs were confirmed and we were away. These plans were all soon discarded as we stopped off at the Milawa Cheese factory and several bladders proved to be less iron-clad than their owners had given them credit for.





The trip concluded with some absolutely text-book sensational co-ordinated passing moves (geez those 2 way radios were worth the effort!) and some very entertaining rounds of Spot The Bogan before we approached the lights of the city. Before we began to shed passengers along the way into St Kilda a straw poll was conducted to see which of the many beers sampled over the preceding 48 hours was the favourite.

The Bridge Road B2 Bomber and the Bright Staircase Porter were well supported but the clear winner was the Bridge Road Bier de Garde on handpump at Tanswell’s commercial Hotel. As too what was the funniest/scariest/most embarrassing moment from the weekend ... well, you know, what happens on tour STAYS on tour!

Needless to say preparations are being made to arrange the next Ale Stars Road Trip with various destinations and durations being considered. I’m all for returning to Beechworth and Bright again and I’ve even offered to drive the big bus.

If nothing else, we owe it to the two we left behind to at least make a half-arsed effort to find them!

Cheers
Prof Pilsner





P.S. A huge thank you to Big Kelv for his sterling job of Wingman. Shotgun Rider, Navigator and, most importantly, Hanging-Out-The-Window-Photographer on my bus. And a special shout-out to all my passengers for their company and friendship. We really must do it all again. Soon.

The Local gets Medieval on yo ass

The Local Taphouse St Kilda Winter Feast

Imagine, now a room adorned with the trimmings and trappings of a Medieval Master’s Lair. Heavily dressed tables with lavish settings, ceramic goblets – Bollacks, if you will – greenery clinging to walls from which the trophy beasts of the Master peer down as you arrive and the ‘noblemen and gentle-women’ gather around in anticipation of the coming feast.

Freshly shucked oysters (3 ways) on arrival were complimented with the relatively simple, yet perfectly matched Trumer Pils. A terrific “welcome” treat as the crowing crowd mingled and admired the mouth watering lamb and pork spits on the terrace, the sounds and smells of gently charring meats wafting forth to tease the senses. A surprisingly large crowd gathered (35+), some new faces interspersed with many familiar friends including Ale Stars, respected brewers, Local regulars - even the proprietors’ wives were not going to miss this one!

After being seated for the main course, Court Jester Justin explained a brief history of the Taphouse and its philosophies as well as the emergence of the “Winter Beer and Food Feast” idea (conjured by Justin and Head Chef Richard Smith over a few amber nectars after work one evening) and welcomed our very esteemed guests: Jayne Lewis (Mountain Goat), Ben Kraus (Bridge Rd Brewers), David & Karen Golding (Red Hill Brewery) and Steve Jurisic (Calendar Cheese).




With little or no further ado, the next amazing course of spit roasted suckling pig (with all the trimmings!!!) arrived accompanied by an Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier AND the Bridge Rd Megachile Pluto Braggott. Absolutely inspired choices: the Rauchbier’s smoked bacon notes developed a depth of flavour in the roasted pork that was mind blowing, whilst the Megachile Pluto provided a sweetening balance to the dish. For those playing at home, Megachile Pluto is, of course, the world’s largest species of honey bee (you already knew that, I suspect) and indicative of the scale of this Ale/Mead hybrid from Medieval times. Made with more than a fair whack of Beechworth Redgum Honey it is one out of the box and nothing less than what we have come to expect from Ben Kraus. Even if this one is down to Nardia Mc Grath, Bridge Roads Brewer in residence.



Refreshing the palate with a sip of water from medieval goblets the guests immediately regretted their over-indulgence on the first two courses with the dawning realisation that they weren’t even half way through the feast! Shaved spit roasted lamb, again with an array of outstanding sides and sauces, was served with a Mountain Goat Fancy Pants Amber Ale which, if you’ve read the first part of this review, managed to be in two places at once. The compelling aromatic hops of the Fancy Pants merged with the lamb’s herb seasoning brilliantly, while the malty undertones helped cut
through the creamy peppercorn sauce. In a word - outstanding.

The guests, by now incapable of any measurable movement, sat transfixed as dessert was served. Rich chocolate pudding with Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout sauce and a berry/saison reduction served with a Bridge Rd Robust Porter. One diner was heard to acclaim that, should he ever find himself on Death Row, this would be his chosen final meal. Samuel Johnson would also need to reincarnate himself in order that he might re-write his dictionary to include several new superlatives.




Finally, it was with a touch of guilt that Steve’s 5 cheese platter was welcomed to conclude the meal - guilt borne of the fact that all had eaten sooo much it seemed impossible that a full appreciation could be summoned to adequately compliment the quality of the selection he had provided. But, as is often the case, there is ALWAYS room for more of the finest things! The enigmatic Alpha Pale Ale matched beautifully, its bitey spiciness able to cut through the creamy textures whilst balanced enough to highlight the cheeses own complexities.

At this point, even had Oliver asked “for some more, please”, he would have had his annoying little face punched in and yet David and Karen Golding were able to get away with offering an extra special treat in the form of some barrel-aged Christmas Ale to truly cap a memorable evening for which all involved must be heartily thanked and cheered with a rousing Medieval “HUZZAHH!!!”

This feast would long be remembered as much for the respect shown to the foods served, the deference to the skills of the brewers and the artfully crafted matches created by Richard and his kitchen crew as it would be for the joy and friendship shared.

Reading back over what I’ve just written I could swear that I was actually THERE in more than just ‘spirit’. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I had some sort of ‘inside man’ taking notes and recording memories for me! At the very least, you’d reckon I had a fly on the wall armed with an I-Phone and a Twitter account.

In all, over little more than four hours and in two venues less than 9 kilometres apart, some dozen courses were created by a handful of chefs who managed beautiful pairings with around ten of Australia’s finest craft brews to the delight of nearly seventy craft beer lovers.

I think that points to the very healthy state of the Craft Beer scene in these-here parts.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner



The Local Taphouse St Kilda, 184 Carlisle St East St Kilda
9537 2633 www.thelocal.com.au

Ben brews something special

Ben Kraus cradles his previously proudest releases


As one of Australia's youngest brewers and brightest stars in the craft beer scene, Ben Kraus has delighted his drinkers with many special limited releases over the last five years. My own beer cupboard has been filled with Oak Aged Imperial Porter and The Harvest alongside Bridge Road Brewers all-year-round offerings.

But on Monday May 17 Ben began his AIBA Awards Week by welcoming his latest and arguably proudest achievement when partner Maria gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Lillyana.

Congratulations, Ben and Maria. As a father myself, Ben, you'll now find that you either have very little spare time to spend in the brewery or, conversely, you'll look for every single tiny little obscure reason to escape the house and get out to the brewery.

Either way, can we expect to see a commemorative release for the brewery's sixth birthday in the form of a ... oh, I don't know, maybe a Lillyana Lager? Ben's Little Girl Gueze? Maria's Mummy Marzen? I'm on a bit of a roll when it comes to naming beers at the moment, so, you know, let me know!

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

De Coinq

Or, show us ya Golden Apples!

Not much more than a year ago I didn’t know what a Saison was. Never heard of it let alone was I able to identify it as beer style. Also never liked quinces. Or Golden Apples as they were once referred to.

Now here I am drinking Saison flavoured with quince. There you go!

Bridge Road Brewers Saison is part of their upscale Chevalier range – named after a Frenchman, Jacques Chevalier, who called Beechworth home during the gold rush and ran the sawmill which was powered by the waterfall that cascades beneath the old stone bridge where brewer Ben Kraus grew up and brewed his first batches and from which Bridge Road Brewers gets its name which will bring us back to doh!

The beers in this range are special brews in stylish 750ml bottles which are great because they look good on the table and encourage the sharing of beer – very noble. The Saison is a beautiful interpretation of a Farmhouse Ale, 6%, lightly golden, dense white head, crisp dryness with plenty of refreshing tartness from the yeast that is as good on its own as it is paired with foods from seafood to cheese.

Picking quinces from his own garden, Ben candies the fruit by boiling in a sugar syrup for 6 hours before adding the cooled mix to the primary ferment. The resulting Saison de Coinq takes no more than a little of the fermentable sugars from the fruit but graciously accepts the added colour and flavour to add a rounded note of interest to the overall taste.

Ben plans to double the quince content for next year’s limited release batch.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Beer Degustation at The Max

Melbourne Cup Week is just a terrific block on the calendar for anyone living in or visiting Melbourne. There are no tribal divisions, team colours or any ‘us and them’ attitudes, its all just a buzz around the traps that give the town a community feel.

It’s a special time for the Beer Blokes as it was the winnings from our Cup Syndicate three years ago that paid for the brewing equipment that produced our homebrew and led to the creation of this blog, so, you know, well done us, eh?

Now if you think you will probably win a stack of cash on a horse you chose in this year’s Cup because of the jockey’s colours or because your wife told you the name reminded her of something then you too can put your earnings to good use. And why wait until AFTER the race is won, if you’re so confident? Get out on the town on Cup Eve and spoil yourselves.

The Hotel Max is hosting a Bridge Road Brewers Beer Degustation dinner on Monday November 2nd. Seven beers and six courses plus nibbles on arrival will greet diners who want a real dining experience rather than just a meal. The menu is available up front so that you can decide which course you’ll most look forward to and the matching beers are listed as well. The Max itself has a nice website as well so you can get a feel for what they do. I should disclose that I have no connection with the dinner or the Max, it’s just something I received an e-mail about and am planning on doing myself, so don’t book in and then complain that you don’t get me hosting it!

The Hotel Max is at 32 Commercial Rd Prahran.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner