Crafty Pint /
07.11.10
As the mainstream media begins to devote more attention to what is happening in the world of craft beer in Australia, the opportunities for The Crafty Pint seem to be on the rise. This week, M magazine in the Sunday Age in Melbourne ran an article on beer tastings. It hasn’t yet appeared online (although the article about exotic beers from a couple of weeks back didn’t appear online until three days after it was in print, so it may still happen).
However, on the chance that it doesn’t – and in response to requests from interstate – we’ve posted a scan of the story that, hopefully, you’ll be able to read by clicking on the image here.
It’s a lighthearted “review” of Slowbeer’s last tasting – focused on the Cantillon range of lambics and gueuzes – but intended as much as anything as a means of encouraging people to give beer tastings a go.
Crafty Pint /
05.11.10
According to the kind words that have been coming our way over the past two months, it seems you like what we’re doing here at The Crafty Pint. However, we’re aware that our bottleshops section has been looking more than a little threadbare, so it’s with great pleasure that today we announce the arrival of five more into the Crafty fold as well as another fantastic beer bar.
Alongside a separate listing for the Purvis Beer store in Richmond to accompany the original store in Surrey Hills, we’re excited to welcome four others that share a common thread. Speakeasy Cellars, Mordialloc Cellar Door, Valley Cellar Door and Chapel St Cellars all offer guests the opportunity to bring along their own food – be it a picnic, BBQ or takeaway from a nearby restaurant – to enjoy in store with their choice of drinks, sometimes at takeaway prices, sometimes with a corkage charge. It’s a great idea and one that seems to be spreading.
Also joining is Atticus Finch, a cool little bar in East Brunswick with a rotating tap selection of Aussie craft beers, a curated beer menu and great selection of whiskies, wines and seasonal cocktails. Go and support them and help them and us spread the word about better beer.
They’re by no means the last. There are many more venues in Victoria we’ll be visiting so we can offer you more craft beer choice – plus the first interstate breweries, bars and bottleshops will appear before Christmas… just in time for beer season to hit full swing!
Crafty Pint /
05.11.10
Proving it’s not just wacky Scots who can play the marketing game, WA’s Nail Brewing has laid claim to the title of world’s most expensive beer after selling a limited release bottle of its Antarctic Nail Ale – made with ice transported from the Antarctic – for $800. The landmark beer was number one of 30 bottles auctioned at a fundraiser for Sea Shepherd, the marine conservation society.
It has allowed brewer John Stallwood to fire a shot across the bows of BrewDog, whose 55% End of History beer – sold inside stuffed stoats and squirrels – went on sale for approximately $765 a bottle earlier this year. Brewed on a 50-litre pilot brewery at Edith Cowan University, all proceeds from the Antarctic Nail Ale go to Sea Shepherd, an organisation that seems to have found favour within Australian brewing circles after Byron Bay’s Stone & Wood held a fundraiser for them last Saturday at their brewery.
Stallwood said: “It is great to sell the most expensive bottle of beer in the world but it is all about a good cause. It is also good that a beer about saving the whales is now most expensive beer in the world rather than high alcohol beer sold in animal carcasses. I think future beers that sell for over $800 won’t just be unique but will also be for good causes."
To donate to the Sea Shepherd cause, head here.
Crafty Pint /
04.11.10
A while back, The Crafty Pint penned a piece for the Sunday Age about a new bar concept that would give people the chance to fund projects in the developing world by doing little more than having a drink. The Shebeen Bar – named after the ramshackle, illicit beer halls that sprung up in South Africa during apartheid – will stock drinks from countries such as Vietnam and South Africa. And each time you buy one the profit goes to a project in that country.
While it’s got little to do with Australian craft beer, it’s a bloody good idea, a great cause and allows you to help the little guys, in a similar way that choosing a microbrewed beer over something from the big boys does (OK, tenuous link to Aussie craft beer over). Since that article ran, the fundraising operation has been in overdrive as Shebeen’s founders look to raise enough capital to get it built and opened, “it” being a sweet CBD bar in Melbourne designed by some of the best in the business.
Their latest fundraising initiative is “Pin Up Your Doodle” for which they’re inviting people to create any form of artwork – or doodle – with the best-looking ones going on display in Melbourne.
“How does that make them any money?” you ask. Well, then they’ll auction them off. And, having got a few famous folks to contribute doodles of their own, including Aussie artists Amber Wallis, Jake Walker, and Vexta, they’re confident the dollars will come rolling in. There will also be a pop-up Shebeen Bar at the exhibition selling exotic beers and wines from the developing world.
Shebeen founder Simon Griffiths says: “We’ve already got submissions from a bunch of incredible artists, and are throwing our net wider to capture celebrities from a range of disciplines, as well as the general public. All money raised (through doodle and bar sales) will be donated to the Shebeen Social Investment Fund, which is aiming to raise $250,000 by the end of November. A significant amount of The Fund has already been raised through private donations.”
To take part, you can send your doodle to Pin Up Your Doodle, c/o Utopian Slumps, 1/33 Guildford Lane, Melbourne, Australia, 3000. Or place it in one of the drop boxes in Melbourne and Sydney. Locations include:
Melbourne
Blindside
Craft Victoria
Footscray Community Arts Centre, Footscray
Lamington Drive, Fitzroy
Incu – Flinders Lane
Right Angle Studio, Curtin House
St Heliers Store and Gallery @ Abbotsford Convent
Utopian Slumps, Guilford Lane
Sydney
Art Almanac Office, Glebe
Via Alley, Surry Hills
The Commons, Darlinghurst
Deadline is next Friday (November 12) with the Pop-up Bar and PUYD Exhibition taking place from November 19 to 21, midday to 1am, in the basement of Donkey Wheel House, 673 Bourke Street, Melbourne. The auction is at The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) from 6pm to 8pm on November 24.
For the latest, check pinupyourdoodle.com.
Crafty Pint /
02.11.10
Not too long ago, the question “What are your favourite five Aussie craft beers?” would probably have illicited one of two responses: “What’s a craft beer, mate?” (with the explanation followed by “What are ya? A poofta or something?”) or “Are there really that many?”. Today, it’s likely to have beer lovers scratching their heads and putting in some serious thinking time (probably over a few craft beers) to draw up their initial list then whittle it down to just five.
The rapid growth of the Australian microbrewing industry and the vast array of beers now on offer made it possible for The Local Taphouse to launch a public vote two years ago to find not just the top five but Australia’s Hottest 100 craft beers. Inspired by triple j’s music countdown, with the winners revealed on Australia Day, the number of votes has doubled year on year. And now it’s back for a third year – with an even bigger lineup of beers for punters to choose from than ever before.
Steve Jeffares, from The Local Taphouse, says: “It was originally set up for punters to give us some feedback as most awards are decided by beer judges rather than the regular beer drinker. It’s a great window to see what’s happening with beer. It’s fantastic to see something like Icon from Murray’s, which is a relatively small brewery, coming second. We expect to see an increased prominence of the more out there seasonal beers this year.”
For the time being at least, the vote includes mainstream craft, although Steve says they’re considering ways of limiting the advantage of beers that have greater distribution in future votes.
“It could be bought at a cellar door or sold nationally by Dan Murphy’s,” he says. “But it has to have been brewed and tasted this year.” Commercially available beer brewed by anyone other than Foster’s or Toohey’s main operations is ineligible (so Matilda Bay and James Squire are OK).
This year voting has been simplified from your favourite ten to just five, which you can enter online here. Voting closes at midnight on January 16, 2011. A randomly selected voter will win a case of each of the top FIVE beers as available. In the meantime, look out for related articles on The Crafty Pint as we look to make this the biggest vote yet and the most accurate snapshot possible of the tastes of the growing number of Aussies enjoying good beer.
Crafty Pint /
01.11.10
Of all the barrel-aged beers to roll out of Victoria’s breweries last year, perhaps the most exciting was Holgate’s Beelzebub’s Jewels. Taking their 8% Belgian Dubbel style Double Trouble as its starting point, it spent several months in French Oak pinot barrels from Curly Flat Winery, undergoing two additional fermentations to finish as a rich, sweet beast of a beer registering at 12.5% and presented in 210 eye-catching, wax-sealed champagne bottles.
And now it’s coming back. Earlier this month, the brewers transferred a specially concocted batch of beer into barrels, kickstarting the process ready for release next Easter. Whereas last year, Double Trouble was used as the base beer, this year it’s something altogether new.
“This year it’s a batch brewed in its own right,” says brewery founder Paul Holgate. “There’s been massive tweaking of the recipe and using Belgian candi sugar and abbey malt. After fermentation and and a short lagering stage it’s transferred to the barrels for aging, prior to bottling towards the end of summer. Due to the recipe changes and other factors it is going to be significantly more expensive, and I can say, significantly better – it’s going to outstrip the original try by far and will be a very drinkable smooth drop!” [EDITOR’S NOTE: The original article stated that they used a base beer of Double Trouble again this year. Now updated.]
The “Devil’s Balls” by any other name is due to become an annual release at that time of year for Holgate and, to mark the barreling, they’ve posted photos and a short video of Paul on their newly launched Facebook page.
The 2010 version retailed for between $50 and $55 a bottle, making it one of the most expensive beers ever produced in Australia and one that has been used in place of champagne to celebrate engagement and births. The Crafty Pint was lucky enough to secure a couple – with one still left awaiting a suitably special occasion, perhaps a vertical tasting with the 2011 release when it arrives.
Crafty Pint /
01.11.10
The second Australian National Homebrewing Conference took place in Melbourne over the weekend. Hundreds of delegates from across Australia and further afield gathered at the William Angliss Institute for masterclasses, beer dinners, competitions and talks from many of the biggest names in homebrewing, some who had flown in from the US.
As they return home with fuzzy heads crammed with ideas on how to make better beer, The Crafty Pint spoke to ANHC chairman Andy Davison. He described the weekend as a “real buzz” and picked out the visit of Randy Mosher, the American author of Radical Brewing and creator of some wild beer recipes, as his personal highlight.
“We were a bit anxious about it, given the standard we set in 2008, but by all accounts we met our intention to make a better event – and that scares me in itself, as we start to plan for 2012,” he said. “Personally I loved club night this year. We had more clubs turning out for the event, and nearly everyone put a significant amount of effort in to create a fun and entertaining atmosphere, which was great – club night is, after all, for and about the clubs and the sense of community was really strong.
“All of our guests gave brilliant presentations and shared an enormous amount of information with us, but Randy ignited a little flame inside me, making me want to seek out more in beer than the technical skills needed to produce good beer. I think he has inspired a large number of the homebrewing community to look outside the box in search of strange and wonderful ideas, techniques and ingredients that adds the extra spark that produces a truly outstanding beer.”
The plan is to run the conference every two years, with the next full ANHC in 2012, although there will be associated events 2011.
“ANHC has provided a venue to bring the homebrewing community in Australia into the one physical location, for a fleeting moment in time, to share and learn. We’re keen to continue creating these opportunities,” added Andy. “I guess even more exciting is observing clubs becoming inspired to start up some inter-club social activities themselves, so I think that we will see a trend over coming years of more and more homebrewers gathering en masse.”
The main prizes were:
Champion Beer of Show (Sponsor: Matilda Bay)
LYALL COTTAM (QLD) for his Bohemian Pilsner
Runner-up: Brendan Guild (VIC) for a Traditional Bock
Champion Brewer (Sponsor: Grain & Grape)
CRAIG WEBBER (ACT)
Runner-up: Brendan O’Sullivan (WA)
A full list of results will appear on the ANHC website later today. There, you can also find out more about homebrewing and becoming involved with ANHC activities.
Crafty Pint /
28.10.10
Either The Crafty Pint timed this East Coast trip remarkably fortuitously or there’s so much innovation going on in Australia’s craft breweries these days that there are unexpected treats waiting around every corner. Because just over 24 hours after helping out with the brew of Stone & Wood’s one-off kellerbier* the opportunity arose to be the first person to taste Murray’s new Pumpkin Ale, due for release this weekend to coincide with Halloween. Made with pumpkin (of course) and a heap of spices, it’s the second time brewers Shawn Sherlock and Ian Watson have produced the beer.
“We’ve taken the flavours and aromas of pumpkin pie and put them into beer,” says Shawn. “We sliced and diced 70kg of pumpkin before dry roasting it to soften it up and enhance the caramel sweetness. This was then added with the grain at the start of the mash, by which stage it weighed around 50kg.”
Also added are cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice – just like a traditional pumpkin pie.
“It’s relatively highly hopped,” says Shawn, “to give it some bitterness and dryness. It means it’s not as sweet as some American versions, even though by this brewery’s standards it’s sweetish.”
So what of the result? Well, to look at, I can think of no better reference point than Irn Bru, the Scottish soft drink once promoted with the advertising tagline “Made in Scotland from girders”. Sadly, to an Australian audience, it’s as useful a reference point as the kits worn by Wolves for midweek floodlit games in the 1950s so we’ll move on. Let’s just say it’s a bright, bright orange – tangerine on fire sort of bright – and develops lovely golden bubbles when swirled. As for taste, it is kinda sweet, mainly in the caramel sense, but the spices – in particular the cinnamon – are as defining a feature in a beer that is remarkably drinkable and has Crafty looking ahead excitedly to the spiced beers brewers have planned for Christmas.
It’s the star at Murray’s Brewery’s Halloween Bash this Sunday and also appearing at Biero’s Fright Night and on tap at Beer DeLuxe and The Local Taphouse St Kilda.
[* OK, admittedly weighing out a bunch of hops and sprinkling them liberally into a tank of beer is akin to adding seasoning to an already cooked gourmet dish just before it’s taken from kitchen to diner, but allow us this one brief moment!]
Crafty Pint /
27.10.10
The results of the People’s Choice Awards from last week’s Fed Square Victorian Microbreweries Showcase are in. They’re a way for the beer drinking public to have their say on who’s impressed them over the two days. And, with 1,800 people through the Atrium last week, there were plenty of votes to count.
Despite the massive vote, there was still a tie for Best Brewery between White Rabbit and Holgate. White Rabbit also picked up the prize for best Wheat Beer for their White Ale, something that will please the brewers who have been constantly tweaking the recipe since its launch.
The other winners were:
Best Lager: Mildura’s Desert Premium Lager
Best Pale Ale: Hawthorn Brewing Company
Best Dark Ale: Holgate Brewhouse Temptress
Best Stout: Grand Ridge’s Hatlifter Stout
Best Belgian: 2 Brothers Brewery James Brown
Best Other / Specialty: Southern Bay Ranga
26.10.10
Fresh is best when it comes to beer. And never more so than when dealing with a kellerbier. It’s a German style of lager – literally translated as cellar beer – that’s served totally unfiltered, resulting in a cloudy beer, with hops added just before it’s delivered to the pub. Rarely seen in Australia (The Crafty Pint is only aware of one from Hargreaves Hill in recent times), another will be appearing on taps early next week from Stone & Wood.
A once only release from the Byron Bay brewers, the final touches took place today when Herrsbrucker and Hallertau hop pellets were added to half a batch of their Pale Lager in the fermenter. It will be transferred to 50 recyclable kegs and sent out around Australia on Monday, with instructions that it’s tapped and served straight away in keeping with the kellerbier tradition.
Stone & Wood head brewer Brad Rogers says: “It’s something we’ve always wanted to try. It’s gives a real expression of the grain with nothing filtered out. The carbonation in the beer will give the hops the chance to release all of their spice and flavours.”
Also in keeping with tradition, all the malts and hops are German. And The Crafty Pint can guarantee it’s as fresh as the brewery claims. Why? We were lucky enough to add the pellets ourselves.
Find it at:
Archive, Pig & Whistle, Urbane and Grand Central in Brisbane
Local Taphouses in St Kilda and Darlinghurst
Beer DeLuxe, Royston, Terminus and Courthouse Hotel in Melbourne
The Rails in Byron Bay
Harts and Yullis in Sydney
Spotted Cow in Toowoomba
New Sydney in Hobart
The Wheaty in Adelaide