Event: The Big Apple & The Goat
Venue: Mountain Goat Brewery
Date: May 18, 2013
Good Beer Week Stream: Beer Geek
The Event:
Good Beer Week’s highlight Beer Geek event came in two parts. There were 15 guests there for the all-day Ultimate Experience, which started with a brewer’s breakfast and included a chance to get involved in brewing the Mountain Goat / Brooklyn Brewery collaborative beer. At midday, they were joined by 75 more guests for a brewery floor degustation served at three long beer hall tables.
The event was inspired by the Masterclass of Champions from Good Beer Week 2012. This saw the festival bring together Moylan’s, from California, and Norway’s Ní¸gne í for a collaborative brew and brewery floor feast at Hargreaves Hill in the Yarra Valley. This time around, the event moved to the city, where Mountain Goat eschewed their usual Saturday weddings to kickstart the festival in style.
The morning was a casual affair, with the 15 guests variously chinwagging with the two guest brewers from Brooklyn Brewery – Tom Price and Al Duvall (see below), taking tours of the brewhouse in groups of three with Goat brewer Craig or enjoying plenty of tank tasting of the wide range of Goat beers at various stages of production with brewery co-founder Dave Bonighton. At morning tea, we cracked three of the last five bottles of Our Dark Secret in existence – the Imperial Black IPA brewed at last year’s Masterclass of Champions – that, despite being 368 days old was still darn bitter!
By midday, half of the bar area had been turned into a magnificent dining room-cum-beer hall by the team at Fred and Ginger as the lunch guests according to be welcomed by nibbles and beers from the two breweries. A lunch of epic proportions ensued, with each at standing course matched with a beer from both Mountain Goat and Brooklyn Brewery. Highlights were some amazing sticky ribs, the most decadent and succulent 18 hour braised lamb’s neck one could wish for, an oozesome chocolate chilli fondant and some awesome cheeses. OK, every course was fantastic.
The atmosphere was laid back yet with an unmistakable air of excitement. The Goat guys were impeccable hosts, as ever, the setting perfect, and everyone so into the Good Beer Week spirit that no one had moved when the official finishing time came and went at 3pm. Better still, when guests did begin to leave at 4pm, they only had 100m to walk to the WA Pint of Origin pub across the road…
As the person who had the idea for the event, I probably shouldn’t say this but I will… As a kickstarter for the festival, it couldn’t have been any better. Same time, same place next year?
Killer beers:
Was great to taste the returning Goat Rye IPA and the Sorachi Ace Saison was the best (and freshest) I’ve tasted it. That said, Brooklyn’s Local 1 is a simply wonderful beer.
And the beer to come… Goat and Brooklyn are creating a take on a beer Brooklyn have brewed before but using Aussie hops. It’s a Hopfenweizenbock (we think!).
Highlights:
Meeting the first guest and discovering it was a birthday gift from his girlfriend, who had only told him on Thursday night. That he lives in Brisbane and she had flown him down for the weekend was better still.
Realising I’d forgotten to bring the bottles of Our Dark Secret and having a very understanding wife and daughter bring them along.
Going into the brewery to tell Dave and the first tour group that morning tea was served and finding them all grinning sheepishly like kids caught in the sweet shop as he lavished them with heaps of tank beer.
Watching the brewhouse deck creak as all 15 Ultimate Experience guests and the Golden Ticket winner crowded there to add hops to make it a truly collaborative effort.
The Sorachi Ace Saison and washed rind cheese. Pairing of the festival so far.
The event in three words: Relaxed. Succulent. Firestarter.
You can catch up with Tom and Al at several other events, including today’s Star-Spangled Brewers at The Boatbuilder’s Yard. So here’s some more about them…
Al – ask him about his banjo playing…
Name: Al Duvall
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Founded: 1988
Brewer bio:
Working at Brooklyn Brewery since 2011. This year marks the 20th year that I have been brewing professionally.
I brewed at several brewpubs and microbreweries in New York City, as well as Pyramid Brewery in Berkely, California.
Brooklyn Brewery began the craft beer revival in New York City in 1988, with Brooklyn Lager. Brooklyn Lager was contract-brewed, and after development of the brand, a brew plant was opened. in Brooklyn in 1996, overseen by brewmaster Garrett Oliver.
In 2011, the brewery began expanded production, and in 2013, additional tank space has enabled Brooklyn Brewery to produce its award-winning beers for an ever-expanding domestic and international market.
Which of your beers are you most proud of and why?
Sorachi Ace. A delicious and innovative version of the saison style.
Why are you coming to Good Beer Week?
To partake in the exciting Australian craft-beer movement, and to appreciate the differences that regional ingredients can affect similar styles across the globe.
What are you most excited about?
The collaboration brew between Brooklyn Brewery and Mountain Goat.
Why should people come to your events?
To enjoy the products of experience and innovation that have made Brooklyn Brewery the brewing institution it is today.
If you were a beer, what would you be and why?
An aged barleywine, because I’m old, and a little of me goes a long way.
Tom – he’s a bit hairier these days…
Name: Tom Price
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Brewer bio:
Tom homebrewed his first batch of beer in his kitchen in Brooklyn. He decided to turn this hobby into a career after a move to California, and worked at several breweries there. Upon returning to New York, he wheedled his way in the door at Brooklyn Brewery, and has now been brewing there for over four years. Tom has done everything at the Brewery from cleaning kegs to running the lab, but is still trying to convince his parents that his degree in History and Literature from Harvard is applicable to his chosen path.
Which of your beers are you most proud of and why?
I am most proud of a beer we made called Cookie Jar Porter, which was a porter brewed with golden toasted oats, cinnamon, and raisins. It was the first idea of mine to be turned into a Brewmaster’s Reserve beer at Brooklyn Brewery, and was delicious.
Why are you coming to Good Beer Week?
I am here to share what we do in Brooklyn with all the fine folks in Australia, and hopefully to take home some new ideas.â¨
What are you most excited about?â¨
This will be my first trip to Australia, and I am very excited to check out the beer scene on the other side of the world.
Why should people come to your events?
Come to our events to taste some great beer, and maybe hear a mobster story or two.
If you were a beer, what would you be and why?
Something made with the wild yeast Brettanomyces. I seem to be getting stranger as time goes on.
