Festival of the Frothy

Just a quick plug for a beer trivia/tasting spectacular which is being held in Melbourne tomorrow (Saturday) night.

The Festival Of The Frothy promises to be a night of beery excellence as trivia is contested, shared entrees and dinner are eaten, brewers and beer people are met and ... beer is drunk.

Ormand Hall, Belgian Beer Cafe is the venue and the Funky Bunch Trivia guys will provide the information/entertainment side of things while brewers such as Bridge Road, Temple, Mountain Goat, Holgate, Hargreaves Hill and Trumer Pils will lay on the beers.

This is the first of (hopefully) many events of this kind.

A shame that it coincides with

The Local Taphouse Stars & Stripes SpecTapular,
Melbourne Storm taking on the Newcastle Knights at Olympic Park and
Me having to manage a full restaurant with a half page waiting list.

For those who can, get down to Ormand Hall, Belgian Beer Cafe
557 St Kilda Rd (Enter via Moubray St) at 7 o’clock on Saturday July 4.

Tom, I promise I will get my s%$t together for the next one and assemble a crack team from The Local Taphouse! Contenders - and pretenders, beware!!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

It’s not about beer – or is it?

One of the variables that come into play while you’re holidaying is the food. Tourist destinations can be hit and miss when it comes to feeding a range of diets, preferences and attitudes – especially where young children’s appetites are concerned.

Country towns can often supply plenty of Road House crap, dodgy processed stuff wrapped in that crinkly plastic that won’t burn and massively large serves of Pub Favourites which are big on size and small on flavour. And, like Forrest Gump, until you get there, you never know what you’re gonna git.

These small rural and regional destinations will always, however, throw up a nice surprise every time. You just have to find it. In Mansfield I found the ultimate example of my all time favourite non-beer treat – The Vanilla Slice. Or The Snot Block to its devotees. For the uninitiated, The Snot Block is a tasty pastry made by sandwiching a thick slab of set vanilla custard between to thinnish layers of crispy puff pastry and topped with either a layer of vanilla icing or a generous dusting of vanilla icing sugar. Mmmmmmmm .... colesterolly!

Most Snot Blocks fall into the mid-range as far as quality goes – it’s pretty difficult to find a bad one – but a really good one is a rare treat. This was as rare a find as you could hope for. As you can see in the picture, this thing was less of a dessert and more of a doorstop; thick in a generous way, custard-y in a very homemade way and delicious in an overall way. $4.40 and it was a bargain. So much so that we stopped in at cafe Forty-1 on our way back to Melbourne. Partly to get another one and partly because this treat was SO good, I had eaten it all before I realised that I hadn’t taken a picture of it for the blog.

Why, you may ask is this Snot Block review on a beerblog? Good question – glad you asked. Eating this (after speaking to the staff at Forty-1 to confirm that it was not just homemade but homemade on the premises) I realised that the taste was better for knowing that someone had put some real care and passion as well as skill, to create this sensation I was feeling. Someone developed the process that resulted in something that looked pretty much like all the others but, when savoured, was an experience worth writing about.

And I’ve just discovered that this is why I like a good craft beer so much.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Beer Blokes in the High Country

A pretty hectic two weeks has just been capped off by a very nice (if very short) break in Mansfield in the Victorian High Country.

The Pilsner family managed to squeeze a three day getaway into the first slot of the school holidays after a week and a half of two-day and all-day training courses for me combined with extra nights at the Courthouse Restaurant. We must be doing something right out there as midweek nights are getting busier and busier which is difficult for me – I have to stand and serve and then watch as people drink more and more specialty beers and I can’t join them!

Mansfield is a small regional centre at the foot of the Victorian Alps (read; collection of small hill-like objects) about two and a half hours out of Melbourne. It is at the heart of the King Valley, a region that produces some very good wines, and has some fair historical significance.

It is also bloody cold in winter and trying to marshal the little Pilsners into cold weather gear when they just want to bolt around in fairy dresses and bare feet is, I guess, just a part of the rich tapestry that is family holidays.

Once I get my head back in the big city game – and unpack and wash the last of the many, many, many suitcases that seem to have grown out of the back of the Commodore over the three days, I will sit down with a beer and write up my various experiences.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner