We have a winner! Australia’s first People’s Pint is the Double Hoptendre, conceived by Queenslander Leo Hede. The beer – one of six selected for a shortlist by The Crafty Pint and the team at Temple Brewery & Brasserie from almost 150 submissions from across Australia – came top in the public vote, finishing more than 100 votes ahead of the second placed beer. Now it’s over to Temple head brewer Ron Feruglio to speak to the beer’s inventor and work the concept into a beer ready to be launched during Good Beer Week.
Rather appropriately, the person behind The People’s Pint is one who spends his life helping people – children to be precise. Leo is a counsellor for the Kids Helpline in Brisbane, part of the BoysTown charity. And it turns out he’d already had the idea for his winning beer before the nationwide competition was launched earlier this year.
“I was at a beer bar sampling a few pale ales and IPAs and thought it would be a good name for a beer,” he says. “Then two weeks later I saw The People’s Pint. I was chuffed with the whole idea of the competition and thought it was great to make the final six, let alone win it.”
He says he had in mind a beer inspired by those he was drinking at the time – “big hoppy flavours and a bit of bitterness” – but with a little bit of spice.
“The description was quite open ended and lent itself to the brewer’s interpretation,” he says. “I’d done a little bit of home brewing a few years ago but thought [the specifics] would be better left to the experts.”
The Double Hoptendre’s description in full – one that raised a chuckle at Crafty Towers for the way it recalled the humour of Tommy Cooper and British adult comic Viz – is:
“A woman walked into a bar and ordered a Double Hoptendre. So the bartender gave it to her⦠This is a spicy, flamboyantly hopped, cheeky beer, not afraid of making a statement, big flavours but enough subtlety to be acceptable for all occasions; it speaks its mind without offending anyone.”
It was the pick of a kaleidoscope list of entries that encompassed the fruity, the vegie, the smoky, the spicy, the native, the crazy, the sexy, the barrel-aged, the sour, the bitter and the unbrewable. For those that made the final six, they finished:
1 Double Hoptendre
2 Grassy Noel
3 Burning Red Heart
4 This One Goes To 11
5= WalkAbout / Chocolate & Cigars
The beer will be launched at a special event at Temple on the Monday of Good Beer Week (May 14), featuring nibbles matched to the beer, musical comedy, prizes, surprises and international guests. For more info or to book your place, head here.
Leo will be flown in by The Crafty Pint to be a guest on the night and sent back to Brisbane with a case of his beer. Hopefully we’ll be able to send some kegs to his local craft beer bars so his fellow Queenslanders can tuck in to it.
A house and techno DJ when not saving kids, he says: “I’ve got a mate who runs the Thirsty Critters brewery tour and he’s been my craft beer buddy. We’ve been out exploring the beer bars – there’s a real buzz about it up here now.”
Sadly for us here at Crafty Towers, licensing laws mean he won’t be able to dust down his old Underworld 12-inches at the beer’s launch, but we look forward to welcoming him to Melbourne for the festival – and seeing just what Ron makes of the Double Hoptendre.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the competition – we’ll be back again in 2013. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears peeled for some exciting news related to the venture – it’s a long way from finished yet…….
Thanks also to Bintani and Grain & Grape for agreeing to supply the ingredients, Code Create for the website and William Delmont for the logo.
