The Crafty Pint’s founder is one of the co-founders of Good Beer Week, so it goes without saying that we’re heavily involved in pretty much every aspect of the festival. However, in 2013, The Crafty Pint is playing a key role in a number of the individual events too, so we thought we’d include them as part of our series of festival previews.
They are the Pint of Origin, the Mega Dega, The Big Apple & The Goat and Crafty Curates at the Festival Hub. First up, the Mega Dega.
Like last year’s Good Beer Week Masterclass of Champions, which saw us bring together Californian brewery Moylan’s and Norway’s Ní¸gne í at Hargreaves Hill for a brew day, masterclass and brewery floor degustation by the guys who’ve since gone on to open Rockwell & Sons, the idea was to create an event above and beyond anything previously attempted in the beer world. One that would take advantage of our position as festival organisers and which would hopefully catch the eye and draw attention to the craft beer world from new quarters.
A number of dream events were bandied about – some that would appeal to home brewers, some to beer geeks – but ultimately it was the idea of uniting multiple well regarded restaurants with leading breweries for an evening designed to showcase just how well food and beer can work together that won out. With a growing number of top Australian restaurants starting to pay attention to their beer lists, here was an opportunity to highlight why – and hopefully entice a few people to give beer a go in a fine dining environment for the first time.
The concept was nutted out with James Greenfields, a beer professional who has helped run Crafty Pint events in the past, once turned a Melbourne bottleshop crafty and worked as the front of house beer expert at Josie Bones. The result was: five courses, each one designed by a different pairing of chef and brewer, with a mix of Australian and international brewers.
The two reigning AIBA Champion Breweries, Feral and Wig & Pen, were a must. We soon heard that Leonardo from Birra del Borgo was coming to Melbourne and was joining forces with Guy Grossi for a degustation dinner during Good Beer Week, so there was one pairing, with the Grossi Group putting forward the head chef from Merchant Osteria Veneta. When we heard the main man from Hitachino Nest was flying in from Japan, the call went out to Izakaya Den. To complete the picture we wanted a local brewer and Hargreaves Hill, the Yarra Valley brewery that not only hosted last year’s Masterclass but also serves possibly the best food of any brewery in Australia at its Yarra Glen restaurant, was the perfect fit.
As for the other restaurants, Josie Bones was a shoe-in, while North Melbourne’s Courthouse Hotel has been pouring excellent beer and hosting beer dinners for a decade so was an easy choice for a guernsey; that the current head chef has been winning rave reviews didn’t hurt either…
The Mega Dega menu – click to expand
All that was left to find was a host venue, a conundrum that was solved as soon as The Crafty Pint was called into Virginia Plain (above) by its resident beer guy Mat Beyer to show off what they were doing with beer. As soon as we laid eyes on the venue, the words were out…
“Um… We’re thinking of hosting a pretty out there event for Good Beer Week and this place looks perfect…”
A brief chat ensued between Mat and the kitchen and we were on. All that was left was to finalise the pairings and coordinate the menu between participants – and for Mat to suggest adding canapés with a beer cocktail on arrival featuring Cavalier Courage, the fundraising beer for Motor Neuron Disease that was launched at the venue late last year.
And so, on May 19, Virginia Plain will open especially for Good Beer Week. Chefs from five top restaurants will unite in the kitchen to create dishes devised hand in hand with their respective brewers that will not just explore beer and food pairing but do so in a variety of cuisines. The brewers will also be present to discuss their beers and the pairings at an event the likes of which we don’t believe has been attempted before, at least not in the beer world.
We’re hugely excited about it, as is the team at Virginia Plain…
Crafty Pint: Why was Virginia Plain keen to be a part of this?
Mat Beyer: At Virginia Plain we believe that beer has far too long been flying under the radar as the perfect beverage to pair with your meal. We are keen to highlight the diversity of beer and how it can play an important of your meal rather then just a beverage you just knock back.
The ability to showcase this across a variety of cuisines and work with other restaurants to do this was a unique opportunity that has never been done before. It’s not often we will be serving Japanese, Italian, European and whatever Chris [Badenoch] wants to call his food in the same menu. Add six great breweries and it’s probably the most fun event I could think of.
CP: What you think it offers?
MB:The Mega Dega offers something for everyone. It’s so diverse in terms of food and the beer that I think it’s the perfect way to entice a beer newbie into falling in love with beer and food.
CP: Why are you and the crew at Virginia Plain excited about it?
M: The excitement behind this event is widespread, from the floor to the kitchen. Working alongside some of Melbourne’s best chefs and working with a different cuisine has them all a little excited. What with the opportunity to host some of our favourite brewers from all over the world, we can’t wait.
I’ve never heard of anything or seen anything along these lines that’s been done with beer before. Wine has had its time in the sun (pun intended) so I think it’s time the grain can show its true potential, whether that’s as a casual knock off or being poured inside the handmade Riedel glasses of the most discerning of consumers.
The Mega Dega is on May 19. It costs $160pp.
Virginia Plain is also hosting a Beer vs Wine event later in the week, while there are still tickets available for the intimate Birra del Borgo Degustation Dinner at Grossi Florentino, the Josie Bones Great Beer Lunch and two dinners at the Courthouse Hotel.
