Women & Beer

When the promotional material for a forthcoming show promises that a group of women will reveal “the secrets that have previously been shared only at private events” then you’ve bloody well got my attention right there.

That this promised revelation will be accompanied by dinner and beer, well ...

The Victorian Women of Beer presented by The Beer Diva is a five part, five beer, six woman show dedicated to bringing the joys of good beer to those for whom this mysterious amber liquid is ... well ... a mystery.

With a mix of light-hearted technical information, whimsical historical illuminations and myth-busting facts the theatre/cabaret style production will delight and amaze – as well as showcasing a number of rather nice frocks if you’re into that sort of thing.

Five beer styles, represented by a beer from each of five of Victoria’s finest female Craft Brewers, will be presented in a show which promises a journey of discovery and a chance to put beer into the spotlight normally reserved for fine wines.

The Victorian Women of Beer are Mountain Goat Brewery’s Jayne Lewis, Sam Fuss from True South, Bridge Road Brewers’ Nardia McGrath, Karen Golding from Red Hill Brewery and Hargreaves Hills’ Beth Williams. Each will introduce their beer and possibly be able to hang around afterwards for a little bit of Q & A.

Guests sip on each beer in turn as its style is revealed through a succession of multi-media presentations, music and light to draw the audience into a sense of fun and fantasy. They are guided at each step by the glamorous but very down-to-earth Beer Diva who brings each beer alive through its history and place in the beer world.

The Thornbury Theatre is the venue for the show with dinner and show or show only deals available. This is a beautiful venue perfectly suited to The Beer Diva’s relaxed and intimate style and should provide a stylish backdrop to what is a fun and engaging evening billed by its creator as ‘part theatre, part sensory indulgence’.

If this re-working of the Beer Diva’s show which premiered at a little venue in Sydney Harbour (the Sydney Something House?) is as good, then the Melbourne crowd will be treated to an evening to remember.

The Beer Diva presents The Victorian Women of Beer plays for one night only at The Thornbury Theatre859 High St Thornbury on Friday March 4 as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

More details here.

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

Australia’s Hottest 100

Beers, of course.




Walk into any pub in any town of any state in this wide brown land and you’ll have no trouble striking up a conversation about beer. Dig a little deeper and you’ll soon have created a passionate debate about which beer is ‘best’.

As stated in these pages so many times before, beer is so subjective a topic. You’ve seen time and time again that I have stood by the motto that ‘there is no such thing as a bad beer, just one you wouldn’t order again’ and I’m happy to stick by that. But that’s not to say you can’t have fun arguing which brew is ‘better’ than another.




The Local Taphouse is again running its on-line poll to find and rank the top 100 craft beers available in Australia in 2010. This has been hugely successful over the past two years and has grown in popularity each year. This poll is not about the most commercially successful beers but the favourites of the punters – the beer nerds and brew geeks as well as the passionate, the craft beer lovers and those who have just recently discovered craft beer and all its charms. In short, anyone and everyone with an opinion.


"Big Ranga!" "Fat Yak!"

Voters just need to access the poll page through The Local Taphouse website/blog and nominate their personal top 5. From these a Top 100 will be ranked and listed on Australia Day 2011. There are no hard and fast rules except that beers must be chosen from product available this year from any brewer other than the two Big Houses (Fosters and Lion Nathan) in either draught or bottled form. The hard part for most will be choosing only five beers.

You can vote anytime from now until January 16th 2011 and all voters will go into the draw to win a case of the top 5 beers selected.

I’ve already voted. And I’ve already had a re-think on my top 5. That’s just how subjective beer really is, I guess.

To vote, click here

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

Australia Day 2010

As we emerge unscathed from the festive season and the New Year it’s perhaps a good time to look at our place as a nation in the Beer World.
I’m particularly keen to do a bit of navel gazing at our national drink as it seems that, with one thing and another, I have spent most of January drinking American Pale Ales both imported and locally brewed. I don’t mean that to sound as though I’ve been sitting curled up in a dark room drinking for three and a half weeks, I just mean that most of what I have drunk has been APAs.
Tomorrow is Australia Day and it seems that recently many have developed the habit of using the day as a soapbox to tell anyone who’ll listen what is wrong with the joint rather than grasping the opportunity to celebrate all the good shit we have.
I’m going to stick true and use this opportunity to sing the praises of ‘The Amber Nectar’.
I am hosting another Beer Dinner at the end of February and so have been looking for the theme and the beers to match it. We were going to host the dinner just before Australia Day but with the ‘extended long weekend’ seeing plenty of folk taking the last chance to get away before the weather turns, we put it off. I was thrilled to realise just how many craft beers I can choose from to create a truly Australian theme.
In the last month I have had the pleasure of tasting beers from Sierra Nevada and Anchor Brewing and, while they have finally been crossed off the Prof’s wish list (crossed off – not ticked off) they have also made me focus on just how Australian beers differ from their more widely respected neighbours.
I’ve also recently had the pleasure of meeting with some of Australia’s finest craft brewers and have learned that although many of them were initially inspired by some of the iconic brews from the USA, they have a bold determination to break the mold and create something different without straying from the essence of the style. And, when you think about it, apart from the kangaroo, the emu, the platypus and a few other native species, most of what we call Australian has its origins in nearly every other far flung corner of the globe, so while we may not have our own ‘true-blue’ beer style, we can certainly lay claim to having some of the most dedicated and talented brewers.
So that’s how I’ll spend my Australia Day. Celebrating Australian beer.
Oh, and being thankful to my friend who came back from the new supermarket warehouse thingy with some Vegemite for me.
Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Victorian Microbreweries Showcase 2009

At the end of this month Melbourne’s Federation Square will again host the microbreweries showcase. While it is probably time to re-vamp the name to reflect that the showcase is all about quality craft beer and not the size of the operation producing it, the event is well worth supporting.

For $25 and a $2 glass deposit, lovers of decent beer can get a tasting ticket for twenty 60ml samples and a $5 food voucher which will allow you to try beers from around 18 brewers from around the state. It is also a great opportunity to speak to the people crafting these beers and ask them how and why they do it – or you could just let them know that you love what they do and give them a thrill that way! In addition, and don’t tell anyone that I told you this, you can help to support your favourite brewer in a sneaky way.

If you can’t finish all your tasting tickets, don’t chuck the leftovers in the bin. ‘Donate’ them to the brewer of your choice. The brewers receive a small commission for each ticket ‘spent’ at their display (not that it’s enough to pay for the petrol home in most cases) and every little bit counts.

Perhaps more valuable is the People’s Choice for best beer in each category. This forms part of a media release which provides a great piece of advertising and brand recognition for these blokes who are working hard pumping out decent beers for us so the least we can do is fill out a few responses for the beers that really sing to you.

The Victorian Microbreweries Showcase at The Atrium at Federation Square (Flinders Street end towards the MCG) is on Wednesday and Thursday October 28th and 29th. It kicks off at 4.30 and they kick you out about 8.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Contract Brewing

Isn’t it every boy’s dream to grow up to own a brewery? Or is that just something we wish for once we acquire the taste for beer?

For many that dream has turned to reality and, in almost every case, it is the result of hard work, determination, more hard work, a bit of luck and some more hard work. And a fair bit of cash. Oh, and a little hard work.

On recent visits to Mountain Goat in Richmond and Bridge Road Brewers in Beechworth the thing that struck me even more than the quality of the beer was the fact that, while we were all happily drinking, the brewer was happily brewing not more than a few feet away. And they were brewing in equipment that they had bought in a space that they had paid to occupy using power, water and gas that they foot the bills for. In short, there is as much capital investment in a craft brewing operation as there is investment of emotion and passion and care for the end product.

But the OTHER reality is this; for many of those dreamers, owning and operating a brewery on even the smallest scale, is more a fantasy than a dream. Lack of funds or the ability to convince someone to stump up the funds, nervousness about the economic forecast, inability to make the emotional and time commitment – whatever the reason, some can’t live the dream. For many of these people, there is contract brewing.

Having your recipes brewed, bottled, labelled and shipped for you is a means of getting your beer out there to the waiting masses, to establish your brand and build your market. Contract brewing is done by large, purpose built breweries or by smaller independent breweries looking to maximise the operating output of their plant or to simply help out would-be brewers who may be in a situation similar to the one they found themselves in years earlier. Other breweries are contracting out some of their regular brews to contractors where capacity has been reached and they want to concentrate on special or limited release beers. Either way, contract brewing has a place in the craft beer landscape.

I hope I haven’t made it sound as though I think that true craft brewing is King and contract brewing is Evil, I just want to establish the facts before asking for your comments. Many brewers who are making their beers by contract are upfront and honest about their operation. They may call themselves a ‘Brewing Company’ rather than a brewery, or they may (if you look at the label closely) list the company who makes the beer for them. Others list the office address on the beer. But, some ‘real breweries’ also use the tag ‘Brewing Company’ so this can be confusing as well.

Where do we go from here? It’s hard enough to get more people drinking better beer without also having to teach them the difference between contract brewers and brewers who have made the concrete, risk-all, financial and emotional commitment to brew good beer. Should we even tell them? Is there really a difference to the drinker? What about the brewer? Does it matter to them? Should we support a move towards a trademark of integrity like the Heart Foundation Tick or Buy Australian campaign to help identify craft beer that is brewed on site by the brewer him/herself?

Let me know what you think.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Victorian Microbrewery Showcase

The next instalment of this great craft brewing expo is coming up on the 17th & 18th of March. That’s a Tuesday and Wednesday – midweek beers, Woo-Hoo!!! – and will again be held in The Atrium at Federation Square.

9655 1900 for info and bookings and I will post some details of the breweries who will be participating as I get them.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

SpecTAPular 3

More than just a beer festival

The Australia Day long weekend is a great opportunity for people who really enjoy a cold beer. Or four. The weather is invariably conducive to a nice relaxed session and a day off on Monday for many means that the session can be that bit more relaxed. If you also happen to be a fan of places like The Local Taphouse this is even better.

SpecTAPular is a celebration of beer held once each season and features draught beer around a theme. That’s draught as in poured from a keg to a glass through a tap – not a big brewery name for something in a bottle that came out of a keg 100 years ago. This Sunday of the long weekend saw the hosting of the third SpecTAPular and 20 Australian Summer beers were featured, some for the first time in Victoria and one for the first time outside the brewery.

Dr Lager and I met Shandy at our favourite spot at the corner of the bar around eight and - ‘Let the festival begin!!’ Being the thoughtful and dedicated beer blokes that we are, we studied the ‘form guide’, discussed the various merits of beginning with one beer over another, organised the order of The Shout – and then started with number one on the list.

We had all had the Knappstein Reserve Lager before in the bottle and this was the first time that this beer was kegged, so we had to have a crack at that. Strewth! To say that this beer had a dry-bitter finish would be a bit like saying that Oprah’s a bit fat. All three of us agreed – a different beer in the keg to the bottled version, intriguing but maybe a tad heavy on the ‘suck-the-saliva-right-off-your-tongue’ finish.

Beer number two was, well, beer number two. We didn’t set out to go each beer in numerical order, but we felt that a light bodied but pleasing pilsner was in order at that point. Coldstream Pilsner is a light bodied but pleasing pilsner in the form of a well balanced goes-down-easy kind of European Lager and was just what we needed.

A ‘taster’ of Red Hill’s Belgian Blonde followed (thanks, Ben) and we earmarked this one for a full measure later in the evening. I think we went for a Murray’s Pilsner next (I lost the form guide that I was ‘ticking’ some time later that night) and, again, a treat to have this one on tap. First time in Victoria, so that’s like a double tick! It’s a cracker.

When we arrived, we scanned the beer offerings and decided on the two or three that we would definitely find room for, and the foremost of these was next on the list. Wig & Pen is a Canberra based brewpub and one of their seasonal is the Summer Frenzy Framboise. Again on tap for the first time in Victoria, this is a raspberry wheat beer of no little pedigree. Considering that all that really comes out of our nations’ capital is politics, porn and legal fireworks, this beer is a very pleasant surprise. Complex and tart and sweet and malty and somehow managing to get hop flavour in there as well, this beer was probably the pick of the festival.

That was probably a great point at which to say, “Well, we’ve had a great night and finished it with a great beer”. Or not. Onwards we trekked, for there were just too many beers that were tempting us to try them. After the Framboise we felt a cleanser was called for and the Bridge Road Brewers Australian Ale was yet another pleasant surprise. A different beer to the bottled ale, this did the trick. Not too much of anything, easy drinking and it also prepped us well for the next. By the way, we weren’t knocking these down as quick as it is taking you to read this! Right, Shandy?

A Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale from their Brewers Reserve followed – cracker. Then Shandy’s eagle eye spotted a Rogue Ales XS Crustacean sneaking out of the cellar and wandering upstairs. We followed it and Malt My Barley!! this is a beer. An unfiltered and unfined barley wine made with four malts, two hops and Rogue’s own Pac Man yeast this thing was one of the most remarkable ales I’ve ever tasted. Luckily we only had a ‘taste’ as this thing not only tips the bitterness scale at 110 IBU, but it also pops in at about 11.5% ABV.

We decide that this was a good time to hit the road as Dr Lager was the designated driver and had stopped drinking three shouts back. He pointed out that it began to get a bit boring not drinking and watching your mates drinking. We laughed! We left Shandy as he hit the bar for an extra or two. That’s all I can remember.

SpecTAPular is well worth the trip out to the Taphouse for a few reasons. The fact that they offer 60ml tasters for a dollar or so means that you can try a wider range of beers – or ‘collect’ ones you haven’t tried if you’re a bit of a ticker – and still not kill your palate or risk falling over in the street on the way home. The prices for a regular vary between $4.50 and $7.50 with most hanging around under five bucks, so it’s out there with most paces offering this good a selection of decent beer.

It is also a chance to talk about beer in a very ‘non-nerdy’ way. The number of times we saw strangers turn to each other and say; “What’s THAT one? How is it?” during the night was something that a ‘normal’ night at the pub lacks.

A special note of thanks to Ben and James for their hospitality, to JJ, Steve and Guy for the organisation and dedication that goes into nights like this and a special thanks to Stephan who must be one of the Beer-Tenders going around. And JJ, I don’t think anyone saw you deck that beer later in the night so I reckon you got away with it.


If you can, get out and support this kind of event as it will give Melbourne, and Australians, the kind of ‘beer cred’ that other beer drinking cultures enjoy. It won’t happen overnight – but it WILL happen.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Where’s the love?

I can often be found sitting at a bar with mates drinking beer and the question will come up; “Where’s the love?” It is as much a statement as it is a question and it comes up regularly when the conversation turns to beer.

It is often used in our circles as a lamentation, a shake-of-the-head sigh, when we are served a beer that is not up to scratch or when the talk turns to the giant multi-national brewers whose empires are built on bland mainstream lagers. It is used to refer to a beer or a brewer who seems to be saying; ‘here it is, what you see is what you get and, really, it’s not much chop.”

‘Where’s the love?’ is the expression that encompasses the feelings of neglect and disappointment when a big beer baron dumps yet another ‘Idea Beer’ onto an already crowded market – another ‘fusion brew’ made with essence of lemon or ferret sweat or whatever the fad calls for – and we sit there and think of all the good beer that that equipment could have produced.

‘Where’s the love?’ also covers the ambivalent feelings that a so-so beer can elicit. You know the feeling? You try a new beer, the taste is fine, it’s true to style or whatever – but it’s just not quite there. It’s beer, it’s drinkable, it is what it says it is ... but ... it’s just missing that magic. That certain essence (not lemon or ferret sweat) that takes a beer from the ordinary to the magnificent, from the OK to the cracker category. That ‘something’ that makes you turn to each other, smile and nod – but not in a hand-holding, bottom-touching, poofy sort of way, but in a ‘I get what this bloke is trying to achieve with his beer’ kind of way.

‘Where’s the love?’ is also the call for a beer made by a brewer who is trying to brew more than just beer. It’s the guys at Mountain Goat who have installed water tanks on the roof of the brewery to flush the dunnies with and to save the good stuff for the beer. It’s the 2MT Brewery who use the spent grain to feed the cows who will later turn up as steaks to go with the beer. It’s The Red Hill Brewery planting and using their own hops and inviting friends and family over to harvest the crop and become part of the brewing process. It’s the lads at Matilda Bay or Little Creatures or 3 Ravens or Bridge Road Brewers and countless others who are bucking the trend for ‘the usual suspects’ and making new, revisited or experimental beers – beers that are not cheap to make and may not survive the marketplace – but that just might find a friend for a time. There’s the love!

So next time you sip a nice full flavoured, hand-made and expertly crafted beer, nod your head and be glad that not all beers and not all brewers, are the same.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

New Year with friends, old and new

The drawback to working in hospitality at this end of the year is that you have to work while others play and, for the most part, that suits me just fine. I still get to do what I love which is to talk about beer a lot and help folk to choose nice beers that I think they’ll enjoy or that will match well with their meals and I get to pour beer for them, which I also love doing. And I can still catch up with friends and family during December sometime.

But New Year’s Eve is a bit different. Your mates can’t reschedule the party because you have to work – New Year’s Eve is New Year’s Eve. It’s a good night to catch up with friends and all their kids, to kick back and talk crap and to just sort of rule a line through the ledger of the year gone and start afresh, mentally. Plus, I believe beer is traditionally consumed at this event.

The restaurant was not only open for dinner on NYE but we were the ONLY game in town. And ours is a smallish ‘village’ kind of town, with a steadily growing population but a cosy community sort of feel to the shopping area. The other six or seven restaurants were all closed so we were pretty full and therefore pretty busy. No chance to sneak away and join the party early! The boss had decided that we would offer a full A La Carte menu rather than a set price special menu but that we would be serving dinner only, no midnight ringing-in, and all out to your parties or fireworks or whatever by 10.30. A good compromise.

So my old friends would have to wait. But there’s a funny thing about the restaurant business – it deals up nice surprises when you least expect it. Rather than regretting that I would not get to the party much before midnight, I found myself making new friends throughout the dining room. Here, seated before me, were a group of people who were out to have a good night, a nice feed and some pleasant company and wanted me and my crew to be a part of it. Young and old, couples and groups, families and old friends. A nice spirit in the room.

Some were after a chat about the history of the building while others were congratulating us on our TV showdown victory. The larger groups in the back room were after a fun night with plenty of liquid social lubrication while others were there to enjoy a few selections from our extensive beer list. And this is where the fun part comes in for me. Being asked to recommend a beer, either to jst drink, or to match with food. A challenge every time, but one that I relish. It is both a privilege and a responsibility when someone you’ve just met charges you with the onerous task of selecting a beer for them.

Rod and Barbara are the sort of people that I have gown to love meeting because they are willing to take a chance on a new beer, they are prepared for the fact that they may choose one that they don’t particularly like and, most importantly, they are a couple who both drink beer! Great! I was asked to select a couple of beers to match up with main course of fillet steak (pepper sauce and garlic cream) as well as a couple of beers to go with a cheese platter and pate. As I said, a new challenge around every corner. I have promised them that I would post a bit about Pale Ales and I am working on that at the moment but, for now, I can tell you that a Little Creatures (US style) Pale Ale works really well with blue cheese and that Unibroue’s La Fin Du Monde strong Belgian ale partnered a treat with the pate.

I got away around 11 and arrived at my NYE party in time to see in the New Year with old friends, family and loved ones and it felt as though I’d been there all night. So, to all those I spent the night with, welcoming in the new and seeing out the old – to friends old and new – my every best wish for 09 and here’s to sampling more craft beers and meeting more new friends.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

The search is over but the journey begins

For those new to this blog, or those who only read the bits that have boobies in them, here is an update on my quest for the holy ale.

Okay, it’s not really a quest as such and it’s not really the holy ale but it has been something of a journey for me over the last year. It is really just another beer but to me it represents so much more. It is a craft beer from a US brewery that was one who helped to lead the way for the craft beer scene back in the 80’s. You remember the 80’s? Leg warmers, real pro wrestling and electronic pop music?

The beer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and it first ‘batched’ on November 15 1980. The fact that this beer has a birthday is significant – like pilsner which was ‘born’ on October 5 1842 – pretty cool to know when the beer was first poured. For me it’s a nice feeling to know a bit about the origins of a beer and certainly to know that it was crafted and not just pumped in and spat out of a lab by a computer. I don’t trust computers and I certainly don’t trust computers that don’t drink beer.

Like many craft brewers, Sierra Nevada began as a homebrewing operation which outgrew the kitchen, then the shed and then became a brewery with second hand and recycled equipment. Sticking to traditional and natural processes and committed to using only quality ingredients, the small brewery became a bigger one and a bigger one again until it just kind of morphed into something of an empire with restaurant and a 350 live music beer hall with all the bells, whistles and fine beers. To pop all that into print in just under a paragraph makes it sound like an overnight success, and this piece cannot do justice to the passion for real craft beer that Ken Grossman and his team have shown in building the business without sacrificing the beer.

My interest in the SN Pale Ale stems from reading about and speaking to craft brewers in Australia and finding that, for many of them, this beer was their “Sgt Peppers” or their “Nevermind The Bollocks” albums (remember albums?) the thing that made them stop in their tracks and rethink what beer could be. For some it was the inspiration to take their own home brewing to the next level, for others it was a kind of benchmark for the beers that they would brew. Remember Little Creatures first entrance into the market – all of a sudden the game had changed and hops were not just something that Granny stuffed a pillow with to ward off nightmares. Beer could now rise to new heights and be enjoyed more with food and your tongue could be made to dance and your senses could be enhanced by the addition of hops to beer!! Amazing!!

So, I had to try this beer and, for years I was consigned to thinking that I would need to mortgage the house and sell at least one of the girls to afford the trip across the waves in order to find the source of this beery inspiration. And the more I couldn’t get it, the more I wanted it, of course. And the more I wanted it, the more worried I could become that when I did get it, it would disappoint. And that would have been a lose/lose situation and that’s just not a beer kind of thing. Or a Beer Bloke kind of thing.

Jump ahead to a month or so back and I found a supply. It was on the stock list at Cloudwine Cellars and in the fridge at The Local Taphouse and my journey was nearing a conclusion. That in itself was a bit disappointing. But not for long, as I got out to Cloudwine a day too late and missed out. I was out at the Taphouse the following week with some so-called friends who were well aware of my fruitless search thus far. We had been at an Ale Stars meeting and had just polished off several samples of German and Viennese celebration beers – Festbiers and Oktoberfest Wheats and a Rauchbier –so the palate had been well and truly sensitized to strong rich beers. I decided the SNPA would need to wait for another day as I didn’t feel the occasion or my tastebuds could do it real justice. No, I had to have it as a ‘first up’ not as a chaser.

So these bastards buy one and sit down in front of me, knowing that I now won’t touch it. You very, very bastards! How very dare you. I stayed strong and picked the glass up every minute or so just to take in the colour and the aroma. Seems a little weird looking back, to have been seen sitting at a bar sniffing another blokes’ beer. That’s why we don’t bring our wives to the pub.

Anyway, last week I finally snaffled the last two bottles from Cloudwine – thanks, Chris – and they have spent the last few days chilling in the fridge before their upgrade to the Beer Crisper. I’m on call for the local State Emergency Service this week so it will need to wait another few days yet. But we’ve come this far and I reckon we can sit out another week.

I’ve heard about it, I’ve read about it and researched it, I’ve seen it, I’ve smelled it and now I have held it ....

Won’t it be a bummer if I don’t like it?

But I will.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Tassie Touring

While sipping on some very fine German celebration beers at The Local Taphouse during the last Ale Stars meeting, I received a text message from Mrs Pilsner. She had found a flight offer on the internet and wanted to know did I want to go to Tasmania for a week in November? Hmmm, Tasmanian beer, some very fine craft brew operations (presumably with cellar door sales and beer people to chat with) some very fine food and produce, beer, markets, things for the kids to do and beers?!?

I put about the same amount of thinking time into the question as it took me to put my beer down and replied in the affirmative.

I had been planning a trip to The Apple Isle for a while and this nice surprise came as, well, as a ... a nice surprise. I have only ever had the opportunity to visit once before and then for only a couple of days so this time around I can plan ahead a bit and squeeze a few things into the itinerary. And I can squeeze a few very nice ales into my mouth as well! Tasmania may be small in size and in population, but when it comes to fine beers, as a state they are right up there.

I have already contacted Ashley and Jane Huntington at Two Metre Tall and have talked my way into a quick visit, a chat and an ale despite the fact that they are still building their brewery and don’t even have much beer around! Their deliciously named ‘Cleansing Ale’ was an absolute cracker and I have been keen to get a chance at working my way through their range of beers named after Tasmanian rivers! The website is currently also under construction but I will post a link to it when it emerges from the ether.

Moo Brew is another on the list and has been described by Willie Simpson as ‘probably the best appointed microbrewery in Australia’ which is good enough for me. Moo Brew is an extension of the Moorilla Estate winery and has a set of four standard beers in the range plus some seasonal and ‘one offs’. A terrific website allows you to see just what kind of care and attention goes into the brews. Have scammed an invitation to bend the ears of the blokes running the show down there as well. Report to follow!

At this point I need to make a point of just how friendly, approachable and ‘real’ these beer people are. I have often fired off a quick e-mail to check on a fact or propose a visit or just to thank a brewer for a nice drop and on every occasion I have received a reply that was not only genuine and appreciative but quick as well. Considering how labour intensive a small brewing operation can be, this is no small feat. Thanks to you all, guys.

So for the week of the Melbourne Cup holiday the Pilsner family will be heading south across Bass Strait for a relaxing, soul re-tuning, battery recharging and beer filled time. Could be a good chance to add some beers to my list of ‘Mo-Vembeer’ specials. I am guessing that the Moo Brews have already booked a place. I will report on my findings as soon as I can be bothered! And for those who don’t know, here is a ‘map of Tassie’.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Father’s Day beer

Being something of a beer-enjoyer (you may have picked up the subtle hints reading this rubbish) I relish hearing the question; “What can I get for you?” It’s nice to hear it come from a bartender and even nicer to hear it from a mate who is about to speak to a bartender. It is especially nice to hear it around Christmas and birthday time when I can shrug my shoulders matter of factly and say; “Oh, your love and respect is more than enough but, since you’re asking, a gift pack of Belgian ales, a six-pack of local crafties or a mini keg of Bavarian lager would be lovely.”

Now, when it comes to friends or family, mates or missus, this is easily done. When the first Sunday in September is rolling nigh and it is a two year old and a four year old asking the question, it makes for a different strategy. Can’t really ask them to hop on the push-along and fill up the flowery basket with bottles, can I. Can I? No, no I can’t. Apparently. Nice try though.

So for Father’s Day I must do my fatherly duty and provide for them. For me. I provide on their behalf - can’t be fairer than that!

So what does a dad drink when it comes to Father’s Day beer? Well, when he’s buying for himself and he has a good excuse, and he wants to match the beers with a good reason it goes something like this...

St. Arnou Premium Blonde I chose because Mrs Pilsner is blond and, well, without her I wouldn’t be having a Father’s Day. Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale because during the ‘Cut & Shut’ delivery of our first born, Mrs Pilsner went a lovely shade of pale during the epidural. A Fuller’s Extra Special Bitter because, well without being too much of a suck, being a Dad is pretty extra special. Holgate brewhouse in Woodend have a lovely Abbey beer called ‘Double Trouble’ (it’s Belgian Dubbell Ale) because before I had three kids I had two. Red Hill Temptation, a magnificent golden Belgian Ale chosen because that’s how I ended up with the third kid. And, finally, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel because if you’ve had a few drinks before this one and you can still pronounce it without tripping over your tongue then you are very possibly capable of producing the kind of performance necessary to produce an offspring.

So when the first Sunday in September rolls around next year, get on your bike and grab six bottles of something you might not have thought about trying before. And if you don’t have any kids, get on your bike and grab six bottles of something you might not have thought about trying before. And if you feel bad that you are cheating the whole Father’s Day concept then get on your bike and grab six bottles of something you might not have thought about trying before and find someone you love and see if you can sort out what you need to do to be a father by this time next year. Go on, it’s fun!

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

APA Invasion

A recent trend in craft beer lately seems to be the American Pale Ale. This style just seems to have popped right out of the woodwork and has gone from the odd one in a brewers’ line up to the ‘must have’ in nearly every range.

And this is NOT a bad thing.

Apart from the fact that the citrusy hop character and floral aroma suits the weather here (is there a beer that doesn’t suit the weather if you really want it to?) the extra personality of a good APA means that these beers are a good style to food match with.

While the Prohibition era virtually saw off the ale as a style in the US, the American Ale, and the APA in particular, were given a new life with the emergence in the 1980s of microbreweries and the craft brewing explosion. The Pale Ales, based on the English Pale Ales are, as you might expect, lighter in colour and lean towards a greater use of aroma and flavour hops than their British forefathers and often achieve their distinctive hoppiness from dry hopping as well as from the ballsy and bitter US hop varieties, in particular the Cascade and Centennial. They can also tend to lean towards the amber end of pale.

Australian craft brewers have jumped on board in a big way over the last few years and where it used to be the sole domain of Little Creatures Pale Ale and one or two token gestures to the brand, we now have an almost unlimited choice when it comes to this type of ale. Many craft brewers have also tipped their hats towards the American Ales and to Sierra Nevada especially as the inspiration for the realisation of their own craft brew dreams. Readers of this blog will be aware that my current beer quest is to get me some SN Pale Ale and quick smart! No joy as yet but my two year quest may soon be at an end as Chris from Cloudwine Cellars has told me has some on order.

Another favourite craft brewer of the Beer Blokes is 3 Ravens who stick doggedly to producing a range of hand made real beers – or ‘live’ beers as they call them. Best drunk fresh and even better from the keg, these guy, led by Marcus Cox have just added a ‘55’ APA to their stable of great ales. Celebrating the brewery’s fifth birthday and packed with 5 hop varieties, this ale is a joy. Think I’ll have another. Back soon.

Murray’s Nirvana Pale Ale is another which has something of permanent residence status in the Prof’s fridge and is (from what I’m told) a great tribute to the Sierra Nevada. Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale is one which sings at the top of its lungs with hop gusto, Bright Blowhard is very serviceable, Moo Brew Pale is growing on me and Sweetwater is a newcomer to the scene and presents admirably.

It’s nice to be spoilt for choice! Support the Coalition of the Willing (Beer Drinkers Division) and grab an American Pale Ale today. If only Osama drank beer.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Anniversary Beer

Mrs Pilsner and I recently celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary and I expect that you would like to know how the good Professor treated his beloved lady Professor. I also expect that the comments box at the end of this post will feature many old gags about marriage and how criminals don’t get as many years for murder etc so bring ‘em on!

As to the celebration, Mrs Pilsner arranged for an overnight stay at one of Melbourne’s nicest hotels so I thought I’d stay there as well. It was my role to source and book the restaurant side of things. A visit to the Queen Victoria Market on the way home to pick up the kids has become something of a closing treat when we mark this special occasion, so day two was pretty much sorted for us.

Now, the only problem with choosing a restaurant in Melbourne is just that. Choice. Lots of choices. Too many choices. You could get your mate to fire you out of a cannon aimed out of your hotel window and you would land in a restaurant. Get him to make sure that the window is open first. And there’s a fair chance that you would land in a great restaurant. Or a bar with a terrific beer list. Or a restaurant with a great beer list. Either way, you win. And of all the problems you could have in life, an oversupply of great restaurants is pretty low on the ‘I wish to speak to someone in charge’ list of bothers.

There are so many more places in the city now that are taking the chance to branch out and serve a range of beers that would have been unheard of even a handful of years back. Bars and poky little holes-in-the-wall and hidden gems up lonely laneways are all welcoming a new breed of beer drinker – and not the ‘beer toffs’ (or tugs) and the elbow patched, bearded trainspotters like some beer cultures attract, but corporate types, students, party-down-ers, young and old, all looking for something different.

We wandered for a bit, dodging beggars, scammers and dickheads among the surging throng, until we found ourselves at Mrs Parma’s, a place I had on my radar for checking out. A nice enough place and friendly, which is always a good start. They pride themselves on being a supporter of Victorian micros and I was lucky enough to be kept happy with a 2 brothers ‘Rusty’ (a very quaffable Belgian style pale ale) and a Beechworth Celtic Red while Mrs Pilsner was kept happy with a glass of house bubbles and a packet of mixed nuts. A good selection of tap and bottle beers for a place that primarily supports those who love parmagianas done four hundred and thirty different ways and good on ‘em for getting some craft beers out there.

In the short time we were there I saw plenty of ‘Crownie and VB’ types cautiously ordering something a bit different. Every little bit helps and if these guys don’t go down in a screaming heap from trying a Wheat Beer instead of a Wife Beater* then that’s a good thing. They might just tell a mate and before you know it, the Good Beer World grows a bit bigger.

Leaving the brightish lights of Mrs Parma’s we headed back to the hotel restaurant. I figured that if the hotel was good enough to stay in, it should be good enough to eat in as well. The hotel is described as ‘grand’ and although I have no idea what a hotel has to do to be ‘grand’ other than be old, I can say that it was nice to be treated ‘grandly’ just for a night. The menu was varied and interesting and befitting a top class foodery and the wine list was not only extensive – about eight pages of extensive – but all encompassing of styles, regions and price tags. I couldn’t wait to see the beer list.

To say I was deflated would be to suggest that the night was spoiled, and it certainly wasn’t, but the food and wine offerings kind of led me to anticipate a range of beers which would include at least a few names I hadn’t yet experienced. The list was standard offerings of the sort you’d see in any place that put no thought about the beer list other than making sure there was at least one light beer. VB, Crown Lager, Boag’s Premium, Cascade, Stella Artois, Heineken and Corona – lagers all and loved by many – were joined by Guinness and Chimay as the token ‘ales’. And on a night so cold you didn’t want to lick a lamp post, a warm ale was what I wanted. An extensive selection of the same beer spelled different ways was not what such a refined and elegant dining room deserved.

Fortunately, hidden in amongst the ordinary was a single craft beer – well craft like – an all malt lager from Western Australia which hails from the same mega-brewerys’ portfolio from which all the other offerings were plucked and I guess that this is the reason it found its way on to the list. Having kicked the beer fridge, I have to say that a good beer, well poured by a friendly and attentive server made up for any disappointment I might have felt. Truth be known, I was more surprised than disappointed and the meal was amazingly good and well received.

We headed off next morning to the market and I immediately sought an antidote to my beer malaise at Sword’s Select. A couple of Bridge Road Brewer’s Pale Ales, a Baron’s ESB, some Moo Brew and a Bellarine Bitter and I was back on track! I should point out that I bought them, don’t want it to sound like I DRANK them. Straight away.

Already planning for next year’s anniversary dinner and I might START with the beer list first and choose the restaurant from there!

Happy anniversary, darling. Here’s to the next 17 years! Just let me see if I can find a nice beer to toast with ... should be a nice one here somewhere.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

*Yeah, I know, fancy putting a Wife Beater reference in a post about ya’ 17th wedding anniversary but I refer, of course, to the colloquial term for a bog-standard mainstream lager preferred in some places by those who tend to drink to many in a session. In Victoria, a Wife Beater is a VB, in Queensland it’s a XXXX, in the UK it’s Stella Artois and in Adelaide they don’t have one ‘cos they all gay! Just kiddin’. It’s West End.

Beers Aplenty!

Have just returned from a trip to Cloudwine Cellars again and have spent the week trying out some beers that I would not otherwise consider myself a fan of. But it's funny how a well crafted example of an 'out there' beer can not only change your perception of the style but can also tempt you into becoming a follower!

From Mussell Stouts and Honey Porters to strong ales and Lambics, from Scotch ales and super hoppy IPAs, from dark ales and ambers to Rose gambrinus, I have jumped in with both feet and several different styled glasses to broaden my beer experince and train my taste buds to detect new and interesting flavours, textures and aromas.

I hope to condense my experiences into a palatable post in the next few weeks as the sampling continues. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Prof. Pilsner

Craft Pilsners

Having recently warned our readers of the perils of ‘fake pilsners’, I thought I should take the next step and begin to ‘review’ some local craft brews bearing the Pilsner tag. Not because I wanted to pretend that I can tell our readers what a beer tastes like, or which one is better than another, as that is not my go. As you know, I like to keep out of the beer review/recommendation game because, for me, the beer experience is all about time and place and mates and food and such and what tastes bitter or smooth or pissy to me might be the opposite to your palate.

Here follows a reasonably good guide to the style differences and taste profiles of some of the various craft brewed pilsners available. It is also a reasonably good excuse for me to buy and drink some of the various craft brewed pilsners available. I begin with a selection of some of the offerings that have been out and about for a few years now. Some newer ones will be used as an excuse for me to buy some more good beer and they will be tested in a few weeks.

Monteith’s Lively Pilsner NZ 330ml 5% ABV

Not strictly a ‘local’ offering but I thought I’d include it by way of an apology for the bucketing I gave the Kiwis in two recent posts. This has a very smooth and tasty malt front with a crisp, refreshing hop kick. The two elements are beautifully balanced and the overall taste leans more towards flavour than the strength of the hop ‘bite’ which works well. A mild hop aroma and a nice lively bubble as the name suggests. Matched well with roast chook.

Bluetongue Pilsner NSW Hunter Valley 330ml 4.5%

Hop flavour that leans towards the ‘rusty’ end of the spectrum and nice for those who like their pilsners to have that ‘bite’. Maybe a little heavy handed for the malt though it might be that the malt is a bit short for some rather than the hops being ’over’. Clean and thirst quenching with a mild aroma. Nice on its’ own or with mild flavoured food like poached seafood.

Grand Ridge Brewer’s Pilsner VIC 330ml 4.9%

Reasonably fresh and crisp taste, easy drinking and a lovely earthy tone to the colour. A little light on aroma and the malt is sweetish but a little muted. Almost enough bitterness to be a great pilsner and it feels like it wants to tick all the boxes but perhaps couldn’t afford to. Maybe more a premium lager type of beer and a good one at that.

Outback Pilsner NSW (Contract brewers) 330ml 4.8%

Nice subtle aroma, fresh and inviting with a taste that is crisp and refreshing with a nice bright carbonation. Not as bitter as some but certainly enough to qualify as a pilsner standard but probably only just. Well balanced and a nice drop. Again, try with mild food.

Little Creatures Pilsner WA 330ml 4.6%

I know this probably only just sneaks in as a ‘craft brew’ as the success of the LC brand makes it seem more than a small player in the beer market but whichever way you look at it, this IS a pilsner. The aroma tells you straight away that this is elevated above the lager or premium crowd with its’ fresh mown hay kind of smell and the smoothness of the mouthfeel sings of a well made beer. Easy drinking but with a bitterness that pops in and grabs the sides of your tongue on the way through, this one is earthy and real. Could stand up well to a fuller flavoured roast or complement a rich, homestyle stew.

That’s about as close as I get to a beer ‘review’ and it’s always hard enough to hide your own biases let alone explain to someone how the beer feels and such. I still reckon that the best beer is the one in your hand and is second only to one that a mate bought for you so why not treat yourself, support the guys who are having a crack at brewing decent beers and, while you’re at it, support the retailers who are giving the good stuff some real shelf space and talk to the blokes in the shop about what you like and be led by their recommendations.

You might just find a new ‘favourite’.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Buying Beer Part Two

Again I have the brother-in-law to thank for this one as it all started with a ‘check out this website’ kind of offer. It led to the discovery of a new beer retailer, some ripping good untried beers, knowledgeable and friendly staff, a day trip during the kids’ holidays and a good excuse to keep crossing town every few weeks so, really, it just ticked all the boxes.

Cloudwine Cellars is, by their own definition, a ‘fiercely independent wine merchant’ and is one which does a particularly good sideline in craft, independent and other hard-to-get beers as well. As a beer lover I guess I might describe it as ‘a gold mine of very fine beers in a beautifully presented retail environment staffed by blokes who know what they’re talking about and know that it is the customer who pays their wages and who also apparently stock some nice wine as well’. But that’s a bit hard to fit on a business card.

A fairly small but welcoming shop front is neat and tidy without being fussy or poofy and the fully stocked and properly labelled shelves and displays are signs that someone cares about what they are doing rather than a sign that the staff have too much free time. The lack of space is no hindrance if you have the place to yourself but they have very good back up plan in case the shop is full. A very ‘user friendly’ website and weblog are a terrific tool for working out your shopping list and a bit of virtual browsing is a great way to work out the cost of your trip as well.

At the South Melbourne shop I was led around a corner of the shop past the beer fridge to a place I can only describe as like the library in a gentleman’s country estate – an alcove of three floor to ceiling shelves stacked full of any decent beer lovers’ beer wish list. Craft brews from around the state and the country, international specialties and unique beer gift style bottles and boxed surprises as far as the eye can see. And Chris was more than helpful and genuinely interested in talking about the beers that he had tasted himself and informative about the origins and tasting notes of the newer stock.

This was the first of what will be many trips to Cloudwine Cellars and I suggest that anyone keen to see what a well run beer operation looks like checks out the website and the blog and, if possible, get in and see them for yourself. In an age where so much retail philosophy seems to be based around getting further and further away from the annoyance of actual customers and liquor retail in particular grows bigger but less personable it is nice to see that people like those behind Sword’s Select, Cloudwine, Purvis and a few others (who I am getting around to plugging!) are beginning to buck the impersonal trend and giving great product the shelf space and the exposure that it deserves.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

You can find Cloudwine Cellars at http://www.cloudwine.com.au/ and the beer blog at slowbeer.blogspot.com

Further to my comments about the shop itself – sorry, “retail space” in case there are any interior designers, social environment engineers or other retail marketing types listening – I really was impressed by the layout, the look and the general vibe of the place. Some of the big players in the booze market, as well as retailers in general, might like to get the number of the people who thought up the ‘feel’ of the Cloudwine Cellars operation. I should clarify at this point that I have only visited the South Melbourne shop and I guess the other two could look like a poorly constructed bush outhouse; but I am thinking NOT.

A Mountain Goat & A Nice Pint

It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things where the Beer Gods just sort of say, ‘Yeah, Go on, it’s just what you need’. After two weeks of playing sole care giver to the two and four year old, and with another week still to come, I was not really starting to go completely mad but let’s just say that the level of general conversation needed to be raised just a tad. There really is only so much thoughtful insight on the human condition to be gleaned from the situation where Tooty didn’t wait her turn and pushed in front of Brobee on the slide in Yo Gabba Gabba. And don’t even get me started on the number of times the little girls have taken great joy in beating me at ‘Guess Which Window’ on Play School. Curse you, round window!!!

So a brief e-mail from Chris at 10.57 last week came 17 seconds after the same e-mail I received from Mountain Goat Brewery announcing the tapping of the newest of their ‘one-off’ brews, an amber ale called ‘Fancy Pants’. I replied with a flippant kind of, ‘sounds like a good reason to get down on Friday, before it all goes’ to which Chris replied, ‘will check with the boss but sounds do-able’.

Permission granted and babysitter sourced and it was off to the Goat to get some good beer down our throat! If Melbourne could have turned on a colder winter’s night it would have been snowing but walking through the almost secret clubhouse entrance to the brewery bar we couldn’t have felt warmer. The anticipation of a nice hand crafted ale or two probably helped the system to adapt as well. The first thing you always notice about the Goat is that wether the joint is quiet or pumping it always has a welcoming feel. This has as much to do with the underlying philosophy of the place as established by its creators as it does to do with the homely feel of the space and the honest friendliness of the staff.

Mountain Goat was at the forefront of the craft brew ‘movement’ in Victoria back in the 1990’s and has held something of a sentimental favouritism to craft brew drinkers for sticking true to strong beliefs in the types of beers they wanted to produce and the way in which they wanted the beer made and marketed. Urban legends abound as to the tactics used by Cam and Dave and their mates to get the ‘Goat word’ out onto the streets and into the pubs. More of this in an upcoming post dedicated to the “Goat Guys’ and their special brand of beery magic.

Friday nights at the Goat are something of a well poorly kept secret – if that makes sense – in that many know about the tap beers and the magic pizzas and the community spirit in the joint and the fact that you just don’t see too many drop kicks or dickheads like you might find in a chromed and pokie littered pub. But it is no secret society or subscriber club. One in, all in. That and the fact that you can sit and drink a Hightail Ale and, with a glance over your shoulder, see the steam gently rising from the vats of the same stuff that your beer soulmate will be drinking in months to come. And he or she will sip theirs and look over THEIR shoulder and think of YOU! The Circle of Beer!

The whimsically named Fancy Pants is an absolute cracker and, if you like your beer with hop aroma, hop taste and hop bitterness all neatly wrapped up in a perfectly balanced malt driven V6 touring car of a beer then I suggest you get down there soon. Perhaps you could suggest it become a regular feature on the Goats’ brewing calendar. Get your mates to spread the word and make the same suggestion. Ask local pubs why they don’t have it on tap and suggest they get on board as well. Hmmmm, sounds like a good sneaky way to get the word out?!

Anyway, the Pants were followed by an IPA for me and a Hefeweizen for Chris while Jimmy switched to a very nice, and nicely priced, red. I finished with a Pale and Chris the Surefoot Stout. It has to be said that on a chilly night there is something almost magical and medicinal about the Goats’ Stout that can’t be explained. It also doesn’t need to be. You just kinda drink it and then you’ll know what I mean.

Get into the Goat at www.goatbeer.com.au but don’t read all the history and stuff because it might spoil your enjoyment of my piece on craft brewers featuring The Goat.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Craft Brewers Series – Part One

Brewing up a batch at the Mountain Goat brewery


Here at Beer Blokes we like beer. You’re probably the same yourself. We like drinking it and talking about it and we especially like brewing it. I also like writing about it because it gives me the opportunity to share my passion for all things beer with others.

I love brewing beer because I can dream that one day I can move the operation from the kitchen bench, to the shed, then on to an even bigger shed and, finally, to a small brewery with a sign on the door that says; “Beer Blokes.” I can even actually visualise the bottles jangling with their labels shining as they wobble off the line and into a convoy of waiting trucks.

This series will look at the way in which some of Australia’s most successful craft brewers turned their dreams into beery reality. There will be stories of luck and inspiration, of setbacks and perspiration and they will show how beer can take a dream, float it on a foamy stream of hope and lead it to brewing Nirvana. In many cases a large bank loan, tons of sweat and tears and the unwavering support of family and friends probably helped as well.



Mountain Goat brewery Pics from goatbeer.com.au

Many craft, or ‘boutique’ brewers as they were once called, have come and gone as the years have gone by. Some went belly up because their product was ahead of the tastes of the drinkers or because the costs involved in setting up and maintaining a brewery were beyond the beers marketable capacity. Others floundered due to quality control issues or because the hard slog just got to be too much. Others failed because the beer just wasn’t good enough.

But many survived because they found a niche or a smart way to get their brew noticed. Others utilised a kind of urban guerrilla campaign to create a demand for the stuff. Many just used their smarts and called in favours from family and mates and stuck it out through hard times and unexpected hiccups and then sat back and cracked a satisfied Ale or Lager when their luck changed.

Some brewers have even made a success of the gig due to the misfortune of others. This ‘Circle of Life’ is a poignant and yet uplifting fact of business where the brave or the fortunate feed off the carcass of the old, the weak or the unfortunate of the herd. Many a new brewer has picked up at auction, a complete and, in some sad cases, barely used brewing set up, the surrendered plant of someone, perhaps, just like them in many respects. Maybe starting out their dream on the foundations of men who once shared the very same dream is a sobering (pardon the pun) jolt and a reminder that to take your eyes off the prize might mean watching one day as the new kids on the block pick up YOUR gear for a song at another auction down the track.

Wether you call them micros, boutiques or craft brew operations these creative leaders of the ‘True Brew Traditions‘ should be admired and supported lest we allow the big multinationals to tell the next generation of drinkers that it is OK to see beer as a bland, pale golden, sparsely hopped and sugar enhanced sessional swill attached to slick and fluffy marketing slogans and TV ads. The craft brewers are the guardians of the craft, the guys who reassure us that beer can be so much more than status symbols for wankers who drink labels in places at which to ‘be seen’ and remind us that when you set out to offend nobody, you also rarely really please anybody, either.

I am collecting interesting facts and stories and myths surrounding some of our best and brightest craft brewers and will deliver them as soon as some of them have replied to my e-mails so that I don’t misquote them, misinterpret their philosophy or miss out on getting some free product should they feel that way inclined!

The first will be ready to post by July. Stay tuned

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Wine and Beer

It has been said, more than once, by beer writers and winemakers alike that many winemakers are frustrated brewers. It is also said, by some that it’s the other way round. It is certainly true that a winemaker must be envious of the brewer as he sits patiently waiting to see if last years grape vintage has become a good profitable stock of desirable wine while the brewer and his customers are already finishing off the last of the most recent brew batch.

Being able to devise and write a recipe for a beer, procure the ingredients and brew and bottle a thousand odd litres of beer while the vines are still being pruned is a definite advantage to taking up beer brewing rather than winemaking. The brewer also has access to his malt, hops and yeast all year round, from home and abroad, while the winemaker’s ingredients are sitting out in his vineyard at the mercy of the Gods and subject to the vagaries of soil, weather and time. And maybe that’s the reason for the emergence of today’s’ topic.

The last two or three years have seen a new trend in Australian craft brewing led by none other than the ‘Wine Guys’. Perhaps due to the fact that the wine market here has seen devastating drought followed by a bulging glut of wine and subsequent fluctuations in sales and profits, and then more drought, the ‘Wineys’ are beginning to take a slice of the beer pie.

Whatever the reason, we have seen some really good beers being made by some really good winemakers at wineries as well as at breweries and even at breweries inside wineries. And whatever the reason, the beer drinker is undoubtedly the winner.

Brad Rogers from Matilda Bay Brewing Company via a couple of other reputable brewing endeavours is a qualified winemaker, as is Ben Kraus from Bridge Road Brewers in Beechworth. These guys can brew some seriously fine beers and beer drinkers around the country should give thanks that we have them and not the wine people. Brad has recently given us Crema, a coffee infused beer, Barking Duck, a Belgian Saison and Ben’s superbly ‘wine inspired’ Chevalier range which sells alongside the Beechworth standards has taken up residence in my fridge in past weeks in the form of the Bier De Garde.

In 2006 Lion Nathan released Knappstein Reserve Lager, a Bavarian style lager with some nice fruity aromas a warming mouthfeel and a nice strong bitterness to finish. It was made by Paul Smith, another beer/wine maker and designed to entice the drinker with wine-like characteristics. Australian malt and sauvin hops combine to produce a flavoursome, yet easy drinking lager.

Saltram, who produce Pepperjack from the world famous Barossa region of South Australia, has teamed up with canny brewmaster Brad Rogers to create a beer which is another step along the blurred line between beer and wine. A beautifully crafted beer with some rich, warm undertones, Pepperjack Handcrafted Ale actually contains a portion of the 2007 vintage Pepperjack Shiraz grape concentrate giving a fruitiness to the aroma and softening the harsher edges of the bitterness in the beer. While the wine flavours are deliciously interwoven into the overall body of the beer, it was a surprise to discover that this wine makes up a third of the fermentables in the beer. It also contains a portion of wheat malt which works well in ensuring that a nice bitterness and head retention is ensured.

So we may be approaching a cultural crossroads in the near future. One of the joys of being a beer lover is laughing at the snobbish and wankish-ly floral way in which aficionados of wine prattle on about their precious drop. If they all cross over to the dark side, who will be left to take the piss out of?

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner