Our prehistoric ancestors lived in them, Batman had one and Nick Cave actually is one by legal deed. But what exactly is the attraction of caves? They’re generally dark, dirty, full of terrifying insects and, if movies can be relied upon for accuracy, a hibernating bear.
So there was slight consternation when Geoff Huens and Richard Kelsey, owners of Beer Cartel, sent word that they were about to open their cave, one which had lain dormant for years. Who knew what may have been lurking in those murky depths? But then they assured us there was nothing to fear, and clarified that their Bear Cave was in fact a Beer Cave. At which point this suddenly became cause for urgent investigation.
As it turns out, the Beer Cave refers to the newly christened tasting room above the Beer Cartel’s Artarmon store. And, we must say, for a cave it’s remarkably light, welcoming and roomy – it even has a fuíball table. It’s a well-suited environment for a beer tasting, centred around a large table with seating around the outside of the room, which means the focus rightly becomes the beer and the conversation.
To call it a ‘tasting’ may be a little unfair in that it might conjure up thoughts of an opportunistic sip of something new while you’re on your way in or out of a liquor store. This is more of an experience, taken deliberately slowly and thoughtfully to allow time for adequate digestion and discussion. The official title was the much more catchy ‘Sip & Sample’.
A large part of the fun comes from the range of people contributing to what becomes a fairly open forum: Geoff and Richard, the audience and a representative from the featured brewery – in this case the perfectly amicable Devon Tong from New Zealand’s Moa Brewing Company – all participated freely in the beer banter, leading to plenty of healthy, but not heated, discussions. As with the grand unveiling of any new project, there was a degree of uncertainty from Geoff and Richard as to how things would go. But due in no small part to their own efforts, they needn’t have worried. They orchestrated a great experience for their guests, notably with the food they had prepared personally to compliment the beer – no doubt having had to sample the beer many times beforehand just to ensure the flavours matched perfectly. Just to give an indication, the pairings were as follows:
Hops and malt
Moa Original (Pilsner Lager) with Swiss cheese and water crackers
Moa Methode (bottle fermented Pilsner Lager) with Tropical Fruit skewers
Moa Blanc (Wheat Lager) with Smoked Salmon toasties with Cream Cheese and Dill
Moa Pale Ale with Spicy Chicken Wings
Moa Noir (Dark Lager) with Chocolate Brownies (which were actually homemade by Geoff’s better half)
Every course was unanimously well-received, as indeed was the whole Sip & Sample event itself. It was difficult to believe the best part of two hours disappeared so quickly, but time does fly when you’re having fun…
The new tasting element seems set to be a great addition to the Beer Cartel’s growing online and retail presence and gives them a valuable means to interact with their customers on a more personal level. It’s also an extra incentive for those that might not often travel to the store to be able to check out the impressive global range of craft beer. We’ll be looking forward to seeing how many of them might appear in future tastings.
The date and theme for the next tasting is yet to be confirmed, but it’s probably a good idea to keep an eye on their website and get in early once it’s announced – we’ll look to post it in the Crafty events diary too.
