Thirsty Critters goes to WA Part 3: Little Creatures

December 7, 2009

Anyone who has been following this blog for a while has probably picked up that I’m a massive fan of American Pale Ale. I’ve been working my way through the many great examples of this style brewed by Aussie brewers, including Duke, Barons and Fat Yak. But the grandaddy of them all is, of course, Little Creatures Pale Ale. I think I keep my local bottle shop afloat with my purchases of the stuff, along with the occassional carton of Little Creatures Bright Ale and their fantastic mid-strength variety, Rogers.

Needless to say, on my recent trip to Perth, right at the top of the list of things to do was a visit to my beer Mecca, the Little Creatures Brewery. Thankfully the visit slotted quite nicely into a whole-day visit to the beautiful town of Fremantle. After checking out Fremantle Prison, the Fremantle Round House, taking a tour of the MV Steve Irwin which was docked at the harbour, and fish and chips for lunch at Cicerello’s, it was time to quench my thirst with the finest amber liquid direct from the source!

You really can’t miss the brewery when you’re wandering around Fremantle – it’s a huge establishment, consisting of four massive warehouses on the waterside. Apart from the brewing operations, the complex includes several bars, ample outdoor areas, and both table seating and couches/booths indoors. When we arrived around 4pm on a Friday afternoon the place was well and truly swinging, and only got busier and more atmospheric as the evening wore on.

We were lucky enough to score a couple of seats outside, and enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours in the afternoon sun, watching a family play boules in a huge sandpit, admiring the multitude of boats cruising past, and of course… drinking Little Creatures.

Despite Pale Ale being my favourite, I worked my way through one each of the Little Creatures range – a pilsener, a Rogers, a Bright Ale and a Pale Ale. Prices for a pint were OK ($8.80), and more than reasonable when the ambience was taken into account. I’m not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but the Little Creatures on tap certainly tasted fresher, although this might have just been my wishful thinking. Either way, it goes without saying that I was approaching a kind of nirvana sitting outside quaffing Pale Ale that afternoon, and I wish I was back there right now.

Before the night was through we were joined by a friend of mine who lives in Perth, and we stayed for dinner at the brewery as well. The quality of the food definitely matched that of the beer, with fresh mussels, a lamb and fetta pizza, and fresh crusty bread mopping up some of the afternoon beer delights.

In summary, if you’re ever in Perth, go there. It’s a must-see, as is the rest of Fremantle. Enjoy!

Thirsty Critters goes to WA Part 2: Swan Valley Breweries

November 30, 2009

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our series on our recent trip to WA. After checking out some pubs on the first day, it was time to go a bit further afield on day two – so we booked ourselves on to a Beer Nuts brewery tour. This held obvious excitement for me as I’d never been on another brewery tour before! I was very keen to see how other tour operators conducted their day trip to local breweries.

As it turns out, our guide Martin was the first brewery tour operator in the Swan Valley, and had been in business for about three years. He was a most excellent guide, very amiable, full of great info about the region and of course the local beer. Martin picked us up from our hotel at 10.30 and, after picking his brain about the ins and outs of running a tour – and picking up some great tips for Thirsty Critters – we had already arrived at the first brewery by 11am! How lucky Perthites are to have the Swan Valley on their doorstep – it takes Thirsty Critters around an hour to reach out first stop at MT Brewery!

The first Brewery on the stop was the legendary Feral Brewing. The brewhouse was in full swing, with their famous Feral White on the boil. Being a Friday, the crowds (like the rest of the breweries we visited) were minimal, which gave us a chance to have a chat with the management crew behind Feral and enjoy our amazing tasting tray in peace and quiet on their huge outdoor deck.

Of all the breweries, Feral had the biggest selection of beer styles by far. The tasting tray came with a Feral White, Hop Hog (pale ale), Feral Cow (English Bitter), Rust (dubbel) and and Farmhouse Ale (saison). All were amazing – and the tasting glass size was the perfect quantity. We had a long day of beer drinking ahead of us!

Second stop on the tour was Ironbark Brewing, which was a winery as well as a brewery. The menu (below) was apparently ever-changing, and a quick look out the back told me why – it was a very DIY operation, with the vats and lines made from reclaimed metal!

Their pilsener was particularly outstanding, and my favourite of their selection – because of it’s timid bitterness. Much more friendly to my palate than many other pilseners out there. We also had lunch at Ironbark, which were hugely oversized portions!

In a further sign of Ironbark’s DIY ethos, their office is an old wine vat!

Third stop on the tour was Elmar’s, another huge operation that also included a restaurant, huge outdoor area (big enough to hold concerts), and a smallgoods counter! All very German, which was reflected in their beer menu. They also brewed in glass vats, something I’d never seen before.

The menu kept it simple with three classic German varieties – pilsener, weizen and altbier.

All their varieties were as tasty as the look in the photo below!

Brewery number four was Duckstein, another brewery with a heavy German influence, right down to the huge beer garden out the back. Their tasting trays were very unique – carved wood with each beer style branded into the tray.

It was a wonderful day for a tour and great weather to sit in the Duckstein beer garden!

Last brewery of the day was Mash Brewing, a much newer brewery.

The masses of stainless steel and polished wood reminded me very much of MT Brewing at Mt Tamborine.

The day finished with one final tasting tray at Mash – including our first cider of the day. My heart was with their delicious Black lager though – about the only thing I could taste at this point in the day! As you might imagine, the taste buds were getting a little weary after so much great beer.

All in all, a great experience, very informative and educational, and also a real eye-opener – those WA beer lovers have got it all right in their own backyard! It gave me confidence that we might see more breweries popping up in South East Queensland in the future. If you’re ever over that way, a brewery tour in the Swan Valley is a must, and Beer Nuts comes highly recomended.

 

Would you give up your fingerprints for the sake of a late-night beer?

November 24, 2009

Image: NightKey

Our esteemed Queensland Premier hasn’t been increasingly nicknamed Nanna Bligh by press and citizens alike for no reason these last few months. For lovers of late-night drinking, the first nail in the coffin came with the introduction of the 3am lockout. Despite most rational observers predicting this would be a slippery-slide to ever more draconion measures, barely a peep was raised by the Queensland public, and fair enough too – judging by some of the online chatter around the issue, a fair proportion of Queenslanders would be only to happy to see bars and nightclubs shut at 10pm, or closed down altogether.

Sure enough, a 3am lockout was never going to be enough for those looking for the next band-aid solution to the ’slaughter on the streets’ (another great piece of bluster found in the comments section of the Courier Mail online recently) that apparently is Fortitude Valley and anywhere else in the vicinity of a bar, pub or club late at night. A couple of weeks back the Queensland Police Union called for a mandatory 2am shutdown of licenced venues – a move that would be an utter embarrasment for a state capital that is trying to improve its credentials as the ‘New World City’, but unfortunately an all-too-likely scenario.

Unsurprisingly, this slippery-slope to who knows where doesn’t end there. In a ‘proactive’ move, the Katarzyna Group, the Bickle Family enterprise that owns Family, The Empire, Cloudland, The Press Club, The Corner Bar and Birdee Num Nums, will take your index finger fingerprint, scan your ID and take your photo upon entry to aforementioned venues from February next year. Clearly they are trying to jump the gun on potential legislation that will force them to do this anyway, and perhaps use it as leverage to argue against a 2am shutdown in the future. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t sit well with Thirsty Critters, and shouldn’t sit well with anyone who has the least concern about their liberties, their privacy and the prospect of nightclub owners collecting, storing and using that kind of information. Needless to say, despite a long history of frequenting Katarzyna venues, and throwing untold amounts of money across their bars, they will not be getting my ID, photo or fingerprints. Having lived in an epicentre of alcohol and gun violence – London – and never having been required to scan my ID, let alone take my fingerprint or my photo, I am sure Brisbane licencees and the Katarzyna group can find less intrusive ways to ensure the safety of their patrons.

This has little do with enjoying a quality beer, or going on a brewery tour, you might say. True enough, as beer lovers we can still enjoy a beer at home, and visit MT Brewery, Burleigh Brewing & Eagle Heights Brewery with little restriction. But for how long? In a state where we’re on the cusp of giving up our identitities, drinking from plastic and getting kicked out at 2am, what is next? Tracking of alcohol consumed on premises via fingerprint? Restrictions on what you’re allowed to carry out of a bottle shop (via fingerprint)? A curtailing of maximum alcohol content in beer, like many US states? Who knows. But sitting by idly while draconion measures like fingerprinting and ID scanning are introduced does not bode well for the future.

Thirsty Critters goes to WA Part 1: The Pubs

November 23, 2009

Thirsty Critters was lucky enough to go to Western Australia for the first time recently, and unsuprisingly had a great time – which wasn’t too difficult in a state seemingly made for beer lovers. From the huge range of locally brewed boutique beers on tap at many pubs, to the microbrewery delights of the Swan Valley, to the brewing behemoth that is Little Creatures – WA truly is a beer lover’s nirvana. Over the next week or so we’ll be bringing you a roundup of our experiences in the ‘State of Excitement’ (that’s seriously what it’s called… and I thought ‘The Smart State’ was bad.)

Part 1: The pubs

Within an hour of landing at Perth I was safely ensconced in my first pub, the Brass Monkey in Perth’s CBD. I was immediately impressed as they had Alpha Pale Ale and Gage Roads Wahoo on tap. I’m familiar with both of them, so I went straight for the Brass Monkey Stout – a great choice as it turns out, very reminiscent of 3 Ravens Black, full of coffee, honey and chocolate overtones. Delicious!

I’d never been lucky enough to try Alpha Pale Ale on tap before, so followed up with that – and was reminded how well it straddles that divide between too much and too little hops, it’s a great drop.

After the Brass Monkey we strolled around to Perth’s new dedicated James Squire bar, named The Generous Squire.

It was a rather flashy affair, with a warm wooden interior. Predictably, their entire range inside was the standard James Squire lineup, apart from one – their Docklands Pale Ale. As far as pale ales go it was very light on hops, quite crisp and almost lagerish – all told, a touch dissapointing. That said, it was my first trip to a James Squire bar and worth the trip – perhaps we’ll see one up in Brisbane soon.

That evening we dined at a great Swiss chalet-themed establishment called The Cabin which, while not a pub, did have a beer I’d never heard of before on the menu – Matso’s. Brewed up north in Broome, Matso’s has two lines: Monsoonal Blonde, a spiced white beer and a Mango Beer. I opted for the Monsoonal Blonde, which proved a good choice with our food. The spice comes from cardamon added to the brew – an interesting change to be sure, with a not unwelcome strong aftertaste. It was an altogether refreshing beer, low on bitterness, and definitely worth a try if you ever see it in a Queensland bottle shop.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to try their mango beer, but like many other beers I didn’t get to try this time – it will make my return to WA’s pubs all the more exciting next time.

Next up: A Beer Nuts tour in the Swan Valley!

A visit to Stone & Wood Brewery, Byron Bay

October 28, 2009

Last week Thirsty Critters was commissioned to take our first ‘custom tour’ beyond the bounds of our usual itinerary. Instead of heading up to MT, we proceeded directly to Byron Bay to visit the gents down at Stone & Wood Brewery.

My guests for the day were a contingent of staff from the Platform Bar, being taken on what I believe is called a ‘famil’ in the tourist trade – a day out to familiarise oneself with the product one is selling behind the bar! And apparently the Platform Bar sells a LOT of Stone & Wood behind the bar.

We were greeted most warmly upon arrival by Ross & Brad, who even had a BBQ breakfast waiting for us upon arrival!

Waiting as well was an icebox full of their staple lager, Pale Lager, and a minikeg full of their flagship ale, Draught Ale. All guests wasted no time familiarising themselves with both varieties of beer – except your humble driver, of course.

Stone & Wood is plonked in the industrial estate opposite Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, in a single shed containing the entire brewing and bottling plant. The entire setup is little over a year old, with gleaming new stainless steel brewing plant from Canada, a bottler salvaged from a defunct WA brewery, and a marvellous communal wooden table to drink beer around, created from a massive packing crate.

Ross gave us an introduction to the story behind Stone & Wood – basically, after long careers at Matilda Bay Brewery, it was time to go it alone, and Byron Bay seemed as good a place as any to start a brewery. Approximately three years later their first Draught Ale was ready to be delivered to local pubs. The Draught Ale was specifically crafted with local drinkers in mind, coming in from a surf and settling down to some live local music. And it certainly met their expectations, and mine – I clearly remember finding Stone & Wood at the Beach Hotel for the first time and being highly, highly impressed.

Brad – who was the brewer who formulated pretty much every Matilda Bay line up to Fat Yak – then gave us a short tour of the brewery, and then sat us down for the highlight of the tour – an advance tasting of their new Stone Beer:

It’s quite unlike any beer I’ve tasted before – a deep reddish colour, full of complex maltiness but ultimately highly drinkable. There’ll be a keg on tap at the Platform Bar soon, and 500ml bottles of it in the shop out the back.

In all, it was a fantastic insight into the workings of an independent brewery, and it couldn’t be run by two nicer guys. Keep your eye out for Stone & Wood near you, it’s a quality drop made by quality brewers in the most quality part of the world!

We’re not the only beer bloggers in town!

October 16, 2009

If you’ve been enjoying the Thirsty Critters blog so far (and we hope you have!) then you might want to check out some other ‘beer blogs’, from Brisbane & beyond.

BeerMatt

Brisbane is very lucky to be home to one of Australia’s foremost beer experts, Matt Kirkegaard. Until recently he was editor of Beer & Brewer, a print publication you can pick up at your local newsagent. Matt’s knowledge of beer and the Australian beer industry is encyclopaedic, and he quite obviously has a major passion for the golden amber. You can follow his adventures in beer at his fantastic blog, BeerMatt. It’s updated on a very frequent basis so there’s never a dull moment!

Brisbane Beer Review

There’s also another Brisbane-based beer blog, not quite as professional as Matt’s but a good read nonetheless. The Brisbane Beer Review is run by two likely lads down at Cru Cellars, who stock a pretty decent range of beer, some of which I’ve never seen anywhere else in Brisbane (see our Brisbane Beer Secrets guide). Their most recent review is of four different eras of Cooper’s Vintage. Mosey on over and have a read.

Further afield, there’s some more great Australian beer blogs just a click away. In my bookmark list are:

• Beer Cartel Blog – fantastic, frequently updated blog from the guys behind the Beer Cartel store in M
• Hoppsy – a blog from the guys at the Intown Network , a group of web guides devoted to travel and technology and now beer!
• James Squire Brewing Blog – excellent blog from one of Australia’s greatest brewers
• Mountain Goat blog – direct from the MG Brewery, Melbourne
• Slow Beer – from the guys behind the Slow Beer specialty beer retailer in Melbourne
• Stone & Wood blog – Byron Bay’s own boutique brewery
• The Local Taphouse beer blog – from Australia’s two best beer bars in Darlinghurst & St Kilda

Update: Thanks to Worthog who pointed out two more great blogs for us to visit:

• Beer Blokes – updated daily, great content from two homebrewers with a huge passion for beer
• The Beer Diary – “a collection of beer and ranting” from Tim

Update 2: Thanks to Chris McNamara for getting in touch with details of his awesome little beer blog:

• All Ale The Big V – Chris’ take on the world of all things beer

Update 3 (7/11): And it seems there’s another Brisbane beer blogger in town!

• We have come for your Women and Children – From Jonno in Brisbane

Update 4 (10/11): Over in WA our day tour compatriots The Brewer’s Dray run their own blog:

• The Brewer’s Dray – Perth microbrewery tours, passionate about beer just like us!

Have I missed any other Aussie beer blogs? Then do let me know! And be sure to check out all the great blogs above

Brisbane Oktoberfest: Not quite Munich, but still a blast

October 12, 2009

It is surely testament to the quality of German food and beer that sometime in September or October every year, mini-Oktoberfests spring up all over the world and everyone goes temporarily nuts for all things Deutsch. Either that, or a lot of people just love getting dressed up in dirndls and lederhosen.

The German Oktoberfest, at the wonderful Brisbane German Club, is no exception. Last Friday and Saturday night the place was absolutely packed with happy revellers soaking up the gemutlichkeit. As a regular at the club, it’s marvellous to see so many people enjoying themselves, even if it is just for one weekend – it must be one hell of an earner for the club!

There’s not much else to say, you know the deal – German dancing, beer in steins, a huge hall full of people, quality Oktoberfest beers – I guess you just had to be there (and judging by the size of the crowd, you probably were). Walking into the main hall at the club (which is rarely used) to find it jam-packed and heaving is something not to be missed – so mark it in your calendar for next year. Need any more convincing? Here you go (photos courtesy Patrick Luetjens):

Another successful Thirsty Critters tour!

October 10, 2009

Thirsty Critters continues to grow! We proudly set off last weekend on our second tour, and there’s several more booked and ready to go – including a couple of special ‘custom’ tours to Stone & Wood (Byron Bay) and the Spotted Cow (Toowoomba).

Last Saturday it was all about Cameron and his merry crew celebrating his 40th birthday (that’s them on the left, above). I must say I was very impressed with their choice of beers along the way – almost all of them were enamoured with MT’s Black Cockatoo, the darkest beer available on the tour, and a delight to savour! It also seems MT have two new beers on tap, very exciting! More on that after the next tour.

Burleigh brewer Brennan once again gave an informative tour (with plenty of questions from the TC mob). Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the Thirsty Critters tour took up Brennan’s great ’stein deal’ they have at the moment – buy a Burleigh stein for $12 (normal price $10) and get it filled up with a Burleigh beer of your choice – and then filled at schooner prices thereafter. Yet another reason to join a Thirsty Critters tour!

My thanks go out to Cameron and his friends for making the second Thirsty Critters tour a resounding success. Now… when are YOU coming on a tour?

Want to try some Swedish beer this Sunday?

October 9, 2009

Late notice on this one but it has to be plugged – there is a special Good Beer Lunch on this Sunday that is not to be missed. It is with great regret that I won’t be able to make it – in a fit of aerobic ambition I’ve decided to cycle from Southport to South in the Wilson HTM Cycle Challenge (sponsor me!) – but you should definitely go. Why? Well, I’ll let this speak for itself:

Good Beer Lunches are proud to be hosting Masterchef finalist Chris Badenoch this Sunday at a tasting of new and rare beers from Australia, the United States and Norway.

In addition to being Masterchef’s beer guy, Chris is Chief Beer Mason and champion of all things beer and food. Chris is in town raising funds for a charity close to his heart. While in town Chris, of course, wanted to catch up with Brisbane’s leading beer advocates-the Good Beer Lunches-for a beer…and you’re invited too.

We have pulled together a range of rare and hard-to-find beers especially for the event so you’ll get the chance to meet Chris, try some exceptional beers, have a bit of a feed and raise money all at the same time.

The tasting will be held this Sunday (October 11) at the Grand Central Hotel starting at 12.30.

Tickets cost $35, which includes 5 samples from our wide range beers (limited quantities of each are available), a selection of tapas-style nibbles and a donation to Chris’ charity, the Royal Children’s Hospital Music Therapy Unit.

Tickets are strictly limited – as are the beers – so don’t delay. RSVP by email now.

Beers available for sampling include:

A new beer from Matilda Bay (to be launched this Wednesday)…be amongst the first to try it.

Nogne 0 (Norway)

* Pale
* Imperial Stout
* Porter
* #100
* IPA
* Bitter

Flying Dog (USA)

* Gonzo Imperial Porter
* Kerberos Tripel
* Horn Dog Barley Wine
* Double Dog Double Pale Ale

Rogue (USA)

* St Rogue Red Ale

Now come on, if that doesn’t strike you as the best deal ever – $35 for some of the best beers in the world, AND food – then I don’t know what a good deal is! Do yourself a favour and make a booking… bookings@goodbeers.com.au

Is it wrong to drink beer out of a plastic cup?

October 9, 2009

If you’re a drinker at one of 41 Brisbane establishments, your beer drinking vessel is about to change somewhat: It’s plastic for you, with glass now banned by law. Ostensibly it’s a move by Queensland’s Bligh government to reduce the number of glassings that have apparently been the scourge of Brisbane bars and nightclubs in recent times – any establishment that has experienced one or more in the last year is on the proscribed list.

As Brisbane beer sommelier Ian Watson points out, this will have litle impact on the taste or flavour of the beer (just as well!) although it might have a small impact on the aesthetics of drinking beer – as there’s nothing quite like the cold rim of a thick glass touching your lips for the first time on a hot afternoon. Despite that, Ian (and his Good Beer Lunch partner, Matt Kirkgegaard) point out that this is still a terrible, band-aid solution to the problem of glassings, and I tend to agree. Unboubtedly glassings will continue at venues not on the list, and the list will continue to grow, thanks to a tiny minority of drunken fools who think smashing a glass in someone’s face is a good way to end the night.

Matt says of the problem:

“both the licenced premises and the alcohol manufacturers [need to] look at seriously doing something themselves instead of creating palaces to drunkeness and the flavourless alcohol delivery systems they serve”

Ian says of the problem:

“I think that they’re looking at the wrong end of the stick. It’s comes down to the management of these venues.

“If glassing really is a problem they probably should take away bar stools too. A friend of mine has spent weeks in hospital after being hit over the head with a bar stool.

“If it really is an establishment where it truly is that bad where they need to have glass taken away from them, then these places probably don’t care about the taste of the rubbish that they’re drinking anyway.”

And I couldn’t agree more with them both.

All I can say is thanks goodness that the Platform Bar or any of Brisbane’s finer beer-drinking establishments aren’t on the list, and hopefully never will be. And I will continue to savour my beers out of a glass at home!

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