HOPS update (c/o Willie Simpson)

I just got this email from Willie Simpson. I hear it's a great night and hope to make it one day!

HOPSters, all

As already alerted - Dr Chuck Hahn is our special guest at the next HOPS gathering, brewmaster at Malt Shovel Brewery – he’s be introducing his latest creation Sundown Lager, along with James Squire Pilsener (Gold Medal winner at 2008 World Beer Cup), IPA and he has smuggled in a keg of New Norcia Abbey Ale (an absolute first for Tassie). We’ll also have a mystery local beer to round the last gathering for 2008.

Hobart Organoleptic PractitionerS (HOPS)

6-8pm Thursday November 6
Upstairs, New Sydney Hotel
Cost: $25

Baron Wilhelm von Biermeister

New Sundowner Lager the first beer lined up for the Summer SpecTAPular

Chuck Hahn and the Malt Shovel guys have confirmed we can have a keg or two of their new Sundowner Lager for our Summer SpecTAPular. Now to find another 19 great summer drinking beers!

Interesting Beers coming up

Having just updated our list of what's coming up (in the right column of this blog), I thought it was worthy of a separate post!

Mountain Goat Dunkelweizen
Bright Brewery's Fruit Lambic (exclusive)
The Decommissionator (Little Creatures)
Red Hill's Bohemian Pilsner
Mountain Goat Rapunzel Belgian Ale
Matilda Bay Fat Yak APA (launch Nov 14)
Red Angus Pilsner
Wicked Elf Wit
Flying Horse Dirty Angel Ale (during Aust.Golf Masters)
Murray's Pilsner
Coldstream Pilsener

As usual, any ideas or recommendations welcome!

William Bull's Red Angus Pilsner coming to our taps

William Bull Head Brewer, Neal Cameron, has offered to send me a couple of kegs from NSW of their Red Angus Pilsner. Needless to say I'm excited as it's a good drop and hasn't ever been on tap in Victoria before.

Watch the blog for an arrival time but I expect it'll be a nice festive experience..

Kate & Andrew - farewell & good luck

Kate & Andrew, our inaugural Assistant Manager and Duty Manager respectively, have sadly left us (boo) to have a crack at opening their own bar (yay) in Smith Street, Collingwood (next to Vibe) with a green theme. On behalf of JJ, GG and me, I'd like to thank them for all their efforts and energies since we opened together in February. You'll be missed.

Good luck with the new venture and we look forward to dropping in from time to time. PLEASE have a good beer on tap!

As a reminder of the good times (and Andrew's penchant for biting people's heads, here's a short slideshow!

ANHC Dinner & Awards - Report & Photos

Ale Star Shandy (who peaked a tad early!)

GG and I were invited last night to the ANHC dinner and Australian Homebrewer of the Year Awards. Held at Ormond Hall (behind the Belgian Beer Cafe on St Kilda Rd) after a two day conference, the night was hosted by Paul Mercurio. There was a great attendance with home brewers coming from around Australia (including Brent from Darwin), NZ and the Special Guests from the States.

While I didn't attend the conference (the first of its kind), I heard many great things about it. Congratulations go to the organisers and sponsors (Grain & Grape, Beermasons, Fosters etc) for working together to put on a great show. We were thrilled to give away the first prize from us & Mountain Goat (see here) to Ross Mitchell from ACT when he was announced Australian Homebrewer of the Year. I can't wait to see what he and the Goat team come up with!

Afterwards, the beer folk hung around for a few drinks and later a handful joined us at The Taphouse to end a fantastic evening..

Click for the full slideshow..

ACT Brewers

Moi and GG (right) with Australian Homebrewer of the Year, Ross Mitchell.

Lachlan Strong (ANHC) and Guy.

ANHC delegates arriving in town

It's been great to see quite a few delegates in town for the ANHC (Australian National Homebrewing Conference) checking out Melbourne's better beer venues and breweries.

Guy and I (and Ale Star Steve) got talking to two from Sydney last night and realised they had been there since lunchtime!

University researchers developing cancer-fighting beer

Local imbiber Jurgen has graciously emailed me an article about a team of researchers at Rice University in Houston who are working to create a beer that could fight cancer and heart disease.

Taylor Stevenson, a member of the six-student research team and a junior at Rice, said the team is using genetic engineering to create a beer that includes resveratrol, the disease-fighting chemical that's been found in red wine.

Read the article here and keep the contributions coming!

Mt Goat's new Belgian Strong Blonde

It's awesome that microbreweries around the country (Mt Goat, Red Hill, Holgate etc in Victoria) are increasingly trying their hands at brewing one-off batches of interesting beer styles. While they have their regular 'core beers' which provide cashflow to operate the brewery, it's these lesser brewed beers which is often where the real fun can be had and more breweries are doing more of this, more of the time. It's a real sign of the developing beer market and growing demand for such beers from punters like us..

Here's a new post from the Goat Blog about their new Belgian Strong Blonde:

This one made us all really nervous. Brewing Belgian Beer is every brewer’s Mt Everest; so tricky, so rewarding. We approached with due caution, trepidation - hell, fear! Bear with me for a little beer-nerd talk to explain…

At the heart of any beer is yeast - it’s the engine room. These little fellas do all the hard work. Brewers just feed it, water it, then take the glory. But yeast actually makes beer out of malt, hops and water. So we like to keep it happy. Now here’s the thing, Belgian yeast is fickle. Really high maintenance. It just doesn’t want to be happy. Its like it’s so sick of living in a cold, wet country that it just wants to get warm, not only warm, but in its own good time. Try to cool these little fellas or tell them what temperature to ferment at and you’ll get bitten on your hot liquor tank. We chose a high alcohol style (8.3%) that has it’s own issues - will it get there? What if doesn’t?

Why do we put up with it? Well, its Belgian. People who love Belgian Beer know - its all about the yeast.

Anyway enough of our problems, you’ve got your own. You’ve probably worked out that we tried one and we think it’s great…we’ve called her Rapunzel and she’s a Belgian Strong Blonde. Come in and try her for yourself.

We used Aussie Pilsener malt, German Hallertau hops, a funky, temperamental, high maintenance Belgian yeast and she’s 8.3%alc/vol.

As usual, there’s not much to go around.

Coopers Club night confirmed for December!

We're VERY excited to announce that the Coopers Club are having their annual get-together @ The Local Taphouse on December 11th. Everyone is welcome and we'll be blessed by the presence of Dr Tim Cooper, Brewmaster at Coopers.

More news as it comes to hand...

The 'Real' Report on last night - by Ale Star Prof. Pilsner

I wish I had the time (and the writing skills!) to post in-depth reports of what goes on @ The Local but when you have Ale Stars like Prof. Pilsner (that's him on the right - does anyone know his real name???) doing such splendid work, why bother!

Read Prof's report on last night's Ale Stars here.

Oh, and I've now linked to your blog PP..

The Local Taphouse & Mountain Goat offer prize to Australia's Best Homebrewer

Mountain Goat Brewery

The Australian Homebrewer of the Year at this week's Australian Amateur Brewing Championships (in conjunction with the Australian National HomeBrew Conference) will now win, as first prize, the opportunity to brew a one-off seasonal beer of their choosing with Mountain Goat Brewery and then have it sold on tap at The Local Taphouses in Melbourne & Sydney.

This is really exciting for us and I love the concept of having the best homebrewer in the country going from brewing in their garage to having a beer they've brewed on tap in specialist beer bars in Sydney and Melbourne.

Guy and I are looking forward to the dinner this Saturday night and meeting the lucky brewer!

Bitter and Twisted Beer Festival

A reminder about the Bitter and Twisted Festival in Maitland in NSW on the first weekend in November

More here.

Report: Ale Stars Session on Farmhouse Ales

Shandy and Ben Kraus.

Well, it's after midnight and I'm just in the door after the 4th Ale Stars Session, this time on Farmhouse Ales. It was another great turnout and Special Guest, Ben Kraus, travelled all the way from Bridge Road Brewery in northern Victoria to chat about his Saison and Bier de Garde beers. See the slideshow here.

Jamil Zainasheff, who is in town from California for the ANHC over the next few days also came down and said nice things about Ben's Saison. Jamil is the most awarded homebrewer in the world.

Thanks to Shandy, Ben and all who attended (and stuck around afterwards).. The biggest thanks goes to Cloudwine for sponsoring the Ale Stars Sessions. You can get all the beers we tried last night (and many, many more) at their stores.

We hope to see you at the Rogues Ales Session on November 6th and the Ale Stars Christmas Session on wheat beers on Tuesday December 16th.

Tangerine in November changes date

As Tangerine is not able to happen the first Tuesday of November due to the Melbourne Cup, it will be on the 11th November instead.

Here's an interesting review of Fosters Lager found on You Tube

Thanks to Ale Star Steve, here's a link to a You Tube review of Fosters Lager. Dude, it's interesting to say the least...

"The Decommissionator" coming to The Taphouse

I have managed to score a couple of kegs of Little Creatures new beer mentioned in my previous post. I've been told they'll be delivered next week.

We're looking for staff for our Sydney Taphouse - pass it on.

We're looking for EXPERIENCED staff for The Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst which we hope to open before Christmas. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested AND is passionate about world class beers (or is keen to learn), please send them to our online questionnaire.

We're looking for:

VENUE MANAGER (full time)
To lead our team in Sydney, you must have extensive management experience and a genuine interest in top notch beers.

HEAD CHEF (full time)
If you're passionate about food and keen to get creative using world class beers as an ingredient in food, we might be looking for you. You must have certificate 3 in commercial cookery and 2 years or more experience working as a qualified chef.

There are also full time and casual positions available for floor, wait, bar & kitchen staff.

Exclusive - Bright Brewery's Fruit Lambic coming on tap

As per my previous post on fruit & nut beers, I've managed to secure a couple of kegs of Bright Brewery's Fruit Lambic. We'll be the only place outside of Bright Brewery with this interesting beer on tap.

Many are inspired by Belgian fruit lambic beers but Bright Brewery's recent release is probably closest in spirit to such beers, but without any of the "horsey" brettanomyces twang often found in Belgian lambics.

"I brewed our Fruit Lambic using a yeast-bacteria combination," Bright's head brewer David Cocks says. "The trick with this brew was to make sure that the classic lambic characteristics are apparent, but not over the top."

Bright Fruit Lambic could almost be classified as a "slow beer" or, at least, one with low beer miles as it is made with raspberries from Bright Berry Farm, hops from the Ovens Valley and triticale wheat from Porepunkah.

I'll probably tap it late next week or early the following week but sign up for the SMS Beer Bulletins to hear exactly when it happens.

Brewer accused of ripping-off iBeer idea

The magician and inventor whose creation is at the centre of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over a download that transforms the iPhone into a virtual glass of beer says he was surprised and hurt to discover that his idea had been pilfered.

Read the article here.

Little Creatures new brew - The Decommissionator

Hot off the press from Litle Creatures:

The team at Little Creatures has been busy for several months commissioning a new brew house. What is not to be forgotten, however, is that there was a hard-working little brew house behind all of our beers for the past 8 years. The brewing team decided to commemorate the old girl with a final brew before she gets born-again in Healesville. The beer was christened "The Decommissionator".

The beer is an Oktoberfest-style lager, slightly amber and malt driven. We have used local and German Pilsner malts, combined with a big whack of Vienna, Munich and carared malts. The bitterness is fairly high (around 30) with all of the hops hailing from Tasmania. 5.2% ABV.

It is on draught now at the brewery in Fremantle, with some soon to be delivered to the Dining Hall on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy .

Needless to say, I'm trying to get my hands on some kegs.

2nd Call for Ale Stars Session next Tues on Farmhouse Ales

Just a reminder you must prebook for next Tuesday's Ale Stars Session on Farmhouse Ales with Ben Kraus (Bridge Road Brewery) as special guest.

More here.

How about some fruit and nuts in, not with, your beer?

An article in today's Epicure (and written by Willie Simpson) talks about the use of fruits and nuts in beer, specifically mentioning Beechworth Chestnut Lager, Baron's Passionberry Porter and Bright Fruit Lambic. We've had the first two on tap already and I'm trying to secure the third on his recommendation (given I'd had to drive an 8 hour round trip to sample it at the brewery!).

You can read the full article here.

In other news, the Staircase Porter and Coopers Stout (and perhaps one of two others) will be taken off now the warmer months are a-coming. Their replacements are yet to be finalised but, as usual, I always welcome suggestions..

Summer SpecTAPular Beerfest Ideas & Other News

I'm starting to think about ideas for our next SpecTAPular Beerfest which will have a summer theme. It will probably be held around the Australia Day long weekend. Any ideas would be welcomed!

There's only a tiny bit of beer left over from last weekend which equates to a LOT of beer kegs having been drained in the past 8 days. I've ordered a few more kegs of the Paulaner Octoberfest and we got extra kegs from Colonial of their popular Kolsch.

And JJ's headed off to New Zealand this morning for a well deserved 10 day break. Swine!

Finally, work continues apace in Sydney. It could be a Jan opening but we're still trying for before Xmas..

Emerald Hill Brewery Closed

Emerald Hill Brewery sadly closed last Friday for the last time (see below for Carl's notification.

Afternoon all,

Well, three years have passed since we took over 20 Ross Street and started building what is now known as Emerald Hill Brewery…. We’ve brewed, bottled, sold and drunk a lot of beer over the last couple of years…. We’ve served beers to our many loyal regulars every week, including Tony’s weekly 8 pints of Stout…. We’ve hosted parties for Gangsters and Pimps, Snow White and Scooby Doo, and managed to fend off one angry gorilla.... We received a signed cap from Cadel Evans after he enjoyed our Pale Ale during the off-season… We’ve had someone’s wife ring the brewery and ask for them to be sent home…. We’ve had over 500 pizzas delivered, as well as hundreds of meals from Thai Deli.... We’ve had hundreds of entertaining emails from Polish beer label collectors…. We’ve been interviewed by newspapers and TV, and I’ve been made to pose for some of the weirdest photos you can imagine….. We’ve won 5 medals at the Australian International Beer Awards, and our Pale even won the Australian Pale Ale category this year.

But to quote George Thorogood, it’s time for me to get a haircut and get a real job… so, before we close the doors, we’re going to open three more nights – Friday 19th September, Friday 26th September and the big finale on Friday 3rd October.

I thank you all for your patronage and your support over the past couple of years - we’ve relied on word of mouth to let people know we exist, and I am grateful for all of our loyal advocates out there. I look forward to having a beer with you all before we close the doors and head off on the next adventure. Thanks for the memories….

Thanks,
Carl Jacobson

A wise investment in beer!

An American friend emailed this funny story to me:

To put the Wall Street crash into perspective and in case you wondered about the 'best' option for your future retirement planning—

If you had purchased $1,000 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00

With Enron stock, you would have $16.50.

With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock, you have have $44.00 left.

If you had purchased United Airlines, you would have nothing left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for a aluminium recycling refund, you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle. This is called the 401-Keg Plan!!

Octoberfest SpecTAPular Wrap Up & Slide Show

What an awesome day Octoberfest SpecTAPular turned out to be! The weather was perfect, the Black Forest (oompa) Band brilliant and 20 German/German-style beers on tap to cater for the masses who turned out.

The day started off encouragingly as people waited for the doors to open and the crowd just built all afternoon. From the evening on, we had a queue for most of the remainder of the night.

The band were great fun and the audience-participation show of yodelling, slap dancing and cowbell ringing displays were hilarious.

After some feedback from our first SpecTAPular, we introduced new SpecTAPular tasting paddles which proved overhelmingly popular with punters and it was great to see so many people trying all the different beer styles and reading about them in the Tasting Booklet.

It was fantastic to see so many regular customers (and Ale Stars) as well as a host of new faces..

Thanks to Beach Ave Wholesalers for sponsoring the event and all the staff who worked so bloody hard (and long) to make it happen. Sorry you had to listen to Bavarian music for 13 hours straight - it was even boring a hole in my skull by the end of the night.

See all photos and videos in this slideshow.

Fancy a bit of slap dancing.

Claudes & Kate in costume.

Bec, Guy and Kate.

1st Leffe Blonde 3 Litre

We just served our very first Leffe Blonde 3 litre - yep thats not a Magnum, its a Jereboam of one of Belgiums finest.

The Lucky customers were Dom and Sam and despite the $120 price tag, they said "this is the best life decision we've ever made"... and you get the feeling they've made some good ones!

100th beer is tapped. Wooohhhooooo!

Thanks to Barons (and their new Passionberry Porter), we celebrated our 100th different kegged beer tonight. Thanks to all of you helped drink the first 99!!

Shandy
Guy, Steve and Justin

Beer lineup for next Ale Stars

We've just finalised the lineup for the next Ale Stars session on Tues October 21st:

1. Saison Dupont
2. Bridge Road Saison
3. Trois Monts Bier De Garde
4. Silly Saison

Don't forget as well that Ben Kraus, brewer of the Bridge Rd Saison will be our special guest! You must pre-book online at the top right of this blog. All welcome.

Thanks as always to our sponsor, Cloudwine..