Ale Stars was a ‘Bell Ringer’

I’ve always believed that beer people are the best people. You can get a whole bunch of them together, give them all a few beers, start a conversation, let it run unchecked and just sit back and enjoy the show.

Such was the case at last nights’ fifth instalment of Ale Stars at The Local Taphouse. Rather than a ‘show and tell’ by a guest brewer, Ale Stars tends to lean more towards a ‘Q&A’ style forum with input welcome and answers rarely technical. But, when the boss shifts the focus from the ‘informative’ to the ‘interactive’ and the room is filled with passionate beer lovers and a couple of brewers, there really is very little room left for quiet contemplation of your beer.

Wheat beers were on show this time around and Shandy had his hands full just trying to get a hold of the promised beers as well as contending with a spot of ill health. One of the beers failed to materialise, but the man’s health seemed to improve with each sample! As always, Shandy’s knowledge, coupled with his ability to share it in an easily understandable language, made for a well paced journey through the five different wheat beers.

Neil from Matilda Bay Brewing was on hand to present the first beer of the night, the award winning and ground breaking Kristalweizen, Redback. Laid back and not taking himself too seriously, the man mirrored the beer. A nice easy going wheat beer, Redback was the beer which made Australians aware of both wheat beers and craft brewing, although I think we still called them ‘boutique brewers’ back then. A brief history of the style was followed by a brief history of both Redback and craft brewing over the last 20 odd years.

A Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Vitus followed quickly and along with the increase in ABV made some of us question the wisdom in arriving early for a couple of sneaky upstairs beers. The conversation travelled quickly and, courtesy of some knowledgeable input from accomplished brewer AG in the comfy seats, question soon turned to lively debate as styles and marketing and independence was discussed in a fun and lively manner. When the debate is about beer, it seems that no opinion is shot down and all comments get a fair hearing.

Now, I mentioned earlier that these gigs rarely get technical, except to clarify the odd brewing process or to describe a profile element of a certain beer, and even then the tech talk is fairly tame. But you will also remember that I commented that Steve, one of the Taphouse owners was looking for more group discussion. Well, he got it and then some – to the point where he has now decided that for the next Ale Stars meet, a ‘tech bell’ will be employed to ‘call Shenanigans’ on anyone who gets too tech-tossy with either the questions or the answers! Fellow Taphouse partner Guy might want to argue the toss as he was responsible for most of the science lesson last night!

A Hoegaarden Grand Cru was due to draw the curtain on the night but Neil and his generous masters had a sneaky beer of their own with which too further dent the spirits of those who drew the short straw and had to drive. Yeah, thanks guys. A Sebastian Reserve Dunkel capped off the night with something a little different and special. And for those wondering, yes, Sebastian is named after a pet duck. Of course. And in case I wasn’t pissed off enough at having to go steady on the amber, Steve finishes the night officially by shouting every Ale Star with a Christmas Thank You beer!! Yeah, Thank You!!!

But I don’t want to give the impression that I was at all disappointed. Ale Stars is a sensational concept for beer people. Never taking itself too seriously, open to all and informative as well as entertaining, this exBEERience, if you will, is a great opportunity for the average punter (and there are plenty of ‘average’ punters on hand – hello to Dr Lager) to talk beer, drink beer and bend the ear of other beer lovers and brewers alike. I suspect it is also a great chance for the brewers to see the satisfaction that the fruits of their labours give to the end consumer. Speaking to Neil afterwards I can attest to the fact that he was surprised by the passion and the interest in the room and pleased that he was able to contribute to what most agree was the most enjoyable Ale Stars so far.

To Shandy, thanks again for a magnificently casual professionalism in hosting the night, to Steve, Guy and Justin likewise for a great concept perfectly delivered and to Bec and the staff a big thanks for the friendly service of the beers and the food. And, as always, a huge shout-out to the Ale Stars themselves for the support we all give the concept and the growth that this night seems to enjoy from each previous meeting. An hour or so after the event a handful of insightful conversations around the bar were winding down and I could write ten posts with just the chat I had with AG, Shandy, Steve and Neil!

As the pumpkin hour approached and we realised, yet again, that we were left holding up the bar with AG and Shandy, we reluctantly trudged off into the cool Melbourne night filled with the warm glow of wheat beer, good company and a gutful of giggles to look forward to the next instalment.

The next, by the way is scheduled for January 22. BYO tech bell.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Ale Stars to harvest the wheat

For those in or around – or planning a quick trip to – Melbourne next week, keep Tuesday the 16th free for the next Ale Stars get together at The Local Taphouse in East St Kilda.
Coming into the warmer weather the featured beers are wheat beers.

Neil from Matilda Bay Brewery will be the guest brewer and I am assuming that Shandy will again host the event. I hope he is because I think I still owe him an apology (and Steve) for the Scottish/Irish accent fun I poked in the last Ale Stars review.

Redback Kristal, Hoegaarden Grand Cru, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Aventius Weizenbock will be the beers for sampling and discussion and the fact that all these beers are a nice citrusy tangy kind of offering, means there should be room left for just a couple of ‘afters’.
7.00 on Tuesday December 16 is when the fun kicks off at 184 Carlisle St East St Kilda. $25 a head gets you your four samplers and a host of gourmet pizza as well.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

There’s a Lemon in my beer!

Or; The Corona Effect.

“What can I get for you?”
“Corona, please.”
“Lemon or lime?”
“Lemon thanks.”

This scintillating piece of theatre goes on every day in bars and pubs and restaurants all over the country as well as overseas. But what really is the deal with jamming citrus into the neck of a bottle of beer? Where did it begin and why? And what causes it to continue?

I lay the blame squarely at the unwashed hands of the Mexican brewery worker. Not having a go at Mexicans – some of my best friends are illegal immigrant fruit picking mariachi singers. And I love the Moguel family who appear from time to time on the Wiggles videos. No, this goes back decades to a time when Corona was a nice cheap import from Mey-hicho into the States.

The story – totally, as yet, unsubstantiated by hard, cold fact or court ruling – goes like this. Corona, in the early days, was, more often than not, subject to the Brewer’s Curse – infection caused by poor sanitation. Perhaps not wanting to let a little bacteria get in the way of the sale of a cheap beer, retailers would cover up the stank with a generous wedge of lime. The citric acid would mask the dodgy aromas as well as disinfect the lurgy in the lager. Shift to the present and unwitting punters are continuing the Manuel Legacy as we speak. I should stress that nowadays Corona is brewed to strict sanitary standards and the lemon is used by punters to give this thin, pissy lager some taste.

“Momma always says stupid is as stupid does.”

Redback Wheat beer drinkers were the first Australians to be treated to the lemony lager experience when bartenders everywhere began to graduate with master’s degrees in garnish distribution. But this bit of pub theatre should not be dismissed as mere trickery or wankery. The Germans, and the Bavarians in particular, have been adorning their weizens, weisses and weissbier dunkels with citrusy additions since the Kaiser wore short pants. This is partly due to the German Purity Law of 1516 which forbade brewers from using anything but malt, hops and water in beer. More of the Reinheitsgebot in a separate story. Remind me, please, cos’ it’s a good story.

So the Germans have been known to brew more than a couple of very good beers which are well complimented by a slice of lemon. This is particularly apparent in the northern summers where the citrus brings a refreshing edge to an ice cold beer. BUT ... I must emphasise this ...BUT ... in fact ...
BUT ... this does NOT extend to a hefeweizen, that is, a beer which still has yeast suspended in it. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen lemons blindly tossed into the bottom of a scrupulously cleaned and badged Shofferhoffer Hefeweizen glass as if it were a Corona. Wheat beer yeasts and malts have some complex aromas of their own. The acids in the lemon deafen the subtle flavours in the yeast and the malt. So, stop it. Please.

Prof. Pilsner.