Get Ready For Good Beer Week - The Brews: Rockstars!

May 8, 2013, by Crafty Pint

Get Ready For Good Beer Week - The Brews: Rockstars!

Sometimes you just know you should probably have said no to the question: “Just one more?” But sometimes inspiration can strike…

It was late in the evening at last year’s Newcastle Craft Beer Week when The Crafty Pint sat down with Young Henrys brewer Richard Adamson to nurse one last Pot Kettle Black (OK, and a Lagavulin) each before retiring. Conversation turned to his recent collaboration brews with two of his favourite bands, Front End Loader and Crow, and then the idea of bringing the concept to Good Beer Week.

Within days, Richard had lined up some more interested bands at his end. In Melbourne, Mountain Goat co-founder Cam Hines, who had worked in the music industry before switching to beer, had been given a mission by The Crafty Pint. A few weeks later, Good Beer Week had its own Rockstar Brews series.

Over the week, there are four events under the banner, with craft beer and music coming together like never before. At some it’s merely a pairing of music onstage with new beers; at others the musicians themselves are responsible for the beers too. The festival closes with three Young Henrys collaborations being launch at Melbourne’s iconic Cherry Bar with sets from Front End Loader, Hell City Glamours and My Dynamite – possibly one of the most unique places to launch new single batch beers…

You can read about where this all started with the first brews at Young Henrys last year here, read a summary of the four Rockstar Brews gigs from presenting partner Time Out here or read on for Q&As with some of this year’s participants, starting with Henry Wagons, who brewed a Peanut Butter and Jelly beer with Mountain Goat.

Henry Wagons PB & J Beer

Why did you decide to take part in Rockstar Brews?
What man in his right mind could refuse the opportunity to brew his own beer?

Are you a Goat fan?
I love the beer and the meat.

How and why did you come up with the beer idea?
I have a passion for American food at present, be it pulled pork or pretzel M&Ms. I especially love the food that is conceptually sick, but goes down easily. We are talking American obscene classics such as the bacon maple donut, the Korean burrito or bacon and egg waffle cone. My peanut butter and jelly beer is a beautiful extension of that.

How was the brew day?
I felt like a curious toddler, sticking my head in brewing vats and asking constant questions. I found out all about the intricate and amazing processes, all the while eating the occasional raspberry lolly that was to be thrown into my beer. I was peaking the whole time.

What’s your usual tipple?
I love a good single malt whiskey. I shouldn’t really be saying that should I. I could easily substitute it for a malty beer for this occasion I guess.

Favourite beer and music match.
Any of the world class Mountain Goat brews (there is one for every occasion from birth to death), and Elvis Live at Madison Square Garden.

Mick Thomas, of Weddings, Parties, Anything, who brewed a Brown Ale with Mountain Goat

Henry-Mick-Goat

Why did you decide to take part in Rockstar Brews?
I’m always looking for a new angle to do a show in Melbourne – also with my involvement in the Yarra as one of the publicans I was keen to find some special way to do my first official gig there and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

Are you a Goat fan?
I sure am. I figure the Goat people have been at the cutting edge of craft brewing for a long time. The Weddings started going to Canada and England in the late 80’s and when we came home we were always struck by how behind things were in Australia as far as independent brewing went.

How was the brew day?
Brew day was great. After years of home brewing it all just seemed so easy to keep the temperatures where they were supposed to be and to have the beer going between the various tanks at the flick of a valve. I loved the smell of all the stuff going on and the general business of the place as well.

What’s your usual tipple?
I do drink a fair bit of Mountain Goat – Steam and Hightail. I also like Holgate ESB and Hawthorn Pale Ale. When in London I like a Fullers pub, and in Canada I look for anything from the Mill St, Wellington or Garrison Breweries. In the states Sierra Nevada is great and I found myself on the Hop Czar quite a bit last time I was in Portland Oregon. In Prague last year I became pretty attached to the concept of Budvar Dark.

Favourite beer and music match
I drank a skin full of Mountain Goat Steam Ale at Jimmy Cliff on a stinking hot night a month back and that seemed to work. We played at Nash Chamber’s Foggy Mountain Jam Festival in the Hunter Valley last year and the Hunter Beer Co’s Bock seemed the perfect way to sit back in the bush and listen to Casey Chambers and Shane Nicholson.

Catch Henry and Mick here.

Hap Hayward, of the Dead Salesmen, who brewed with 3 Ravens for their Tago Mago gig

Why did you agree to take part in the Rockstar Brews?
We, The Dead Salesmen, were asked to be part of Rockstar Brews when Adrian McNulty from 3 Ravens approached us with an offer we couldn’t refuse. To have a beer named in your honour is… an honour basically.

I (Hap, the singer) got to go to 3 Ravens and watch Adrian work his magic. He had asked us what kind of beer we were wanting and after we said words like: “wet” and “alcoholic” he took it from there. We actually did say we wanted a “winterish” drop as we are a “winterish” band. He kept a straight face.

I believe it will be a dark ale with a hint of orange? Of all the fruits that have been thrown at us on stage, oranges win outright, so it fits beautifully. I think we are calling it: The Dead Salesmen’s ‘Anchor and Hope’ Dark Ale, named after a song of ours which promotes drinking and broken relationships.

Favourite beer and music match?
Ryda (guitarist) had said that his favourite beer match was The Beasts of Bourbon with Geelong Clipper Bitter. It used to be served in the Espy Front Bar. He also wanted to say that Elephant Beer once landed him in a jail cell one night. REDACTED

As for me, I have a fond memory of Ballarat Bitter as a kid. When I was about seven or eight I would take a huge gulp from my father’s glass at the kitchen table and watch him blame our increasingly forgetful grandmother. In my late teens, I loved listening to Morrissey and The Smiths while drinking a full strength beer that would become mid strength due to my tears. Any pale ale was appropriate in this ritual.

I hope this helps and we cannot wait to play this gig in Beer Week. I’m booking a hotel room in Thornbury for the night. That was an overshare.

Catch Hap and a bunch of other bands onstage here.

There’s other music events in the week too – live music at the Hub Launch, Stone & Wood’s Gathering, the Trunk Bar Beer Launch and Kooinda’s Mosaic for your Beers. Check the Beer Novice section of the Good Beer Week program for details on them all. Cheers!

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