Inspiration for an Ale Stars handshake?!

The Ale Stars are having some fun thinking of our own special handshake. Thanks to Katja, here's one for Molson beer which is very funny. Gee, we really have to aim high!

Matilda Bay's new Dunkelweizen on tap very soon

For all those awaiting the release of the next Matilda Bay Vintage Brew, it'll be on tap in the next week or so (replacing the 'warehoused' Rooftop Red)! Here's what MB say about it:

Sebastian, the name of the new Dunkelweizen comes from the name affectionately given to our brewer, Jeremy's pet duck - which co-incidentaly happens to be the ideal food match with the brew! It is surprisingly easy drinking, yet staked full of flavour and follows up the successful previous vintages of Grayston and MB21. The product was originally created to celebrate the 21st birthday of Australia's original craft brewery, ultimately a blend of Dogbolter Dark Lager and Redback Original- the two original Matilda Bay brews.

Löwenbräu Triumphator Doppelbock not coming :-(

After months of waiting, I have been emailed from a distributor to say that the Löwenbräu Triumphator Doppelbock won't be arriving from Germany after all. Apparently, Lowenbrau have come back to say the product is not available and was never dispatched. Crap!

Tangerine Lineup for next Tuesday

It's Tangerine time of the month again next Tues and Colette has just released the lineup of films. See more at the Facebook site.

Spring is in the air, the lunar eclipse has shifted everything and have you noticed it is not dark at 530pm!!!! It is dark in time to watch some fantastic films at tangerine – and there is no better place to be on a Tuesday spring evening, with good food, the roof garden and comfy sofas…

September is a special month, with short films from London, Paris and Australia, including spectacular animation from Daren Burgess.

Completing the evening is Lior's Music Video Exploring shadow puppetry followed by tangerine’s first documentary of the 'making of'. Q and A: with LIOR and Director: Natasha Pincus.

Next Ale Stars 'Session' on German Celebration Lager - Sept 16 - Book Now

After such a great turnout for our last Session, Sept 16 is locked in for the next Ale Stars Session. As it will be a few weeks before the Octoberfest SpecTAPular Beerfest, we thought we'd explore the world of German 'celebration lagers'. Price is $25 and includes 4 beer tasters and food. You MUST pre book - the form is at the top right of this blog page.

All Hail the Ale!

Dan Murphy's Ad in The Age

I was flying home from a holiday in FNQ last night and was intrigued to see Dan Murphy's had a huge ad for craft and premium beers, together with tasting notes. This is certainly a sign of changing (and fantastic) times..

Ale Stars 2nd Meeting - Report

Our second Ale Stars meeting was held on Tuesday, August 19th with Shandy talking us through this month's beer style - Stouts. We tasted Guinness Draught, Coopers Best Extra Stout, Red Hill Imperial Stout, and Youngs Double Chocolate - all great examples of the style.

Our special guest for the night was David Golding - Head Brewer from Red Hill Brewery - who chatted with us all about his brewery, beers, and all things stout. He also brought along some malts that he uses for his award winning stout which were tasty to munch on in between courses. A big thanks to Dave for making the trip - we certainly hope he keeps his great beers coming (the Weizenbock is going down a treat on one of our showcase taps right now).

We almost doubled the turnout from the first meeting and there already appears to be a great community feel to the Ale Stars. Stay tuned for details of next month's get together.

Normandy drinks and Red Hill Weizenbock Sells Out in less 2 hours

Last night, Shandy and I dropped in to wish Jeff luck with his new Normandy Ale House venture in Clifton Hill. It is a big place with three areas so it certainly has the potential to bring in the masses. I suspect there's been a strong Carlton Draught culture previously so it'll be a challenge (as it is for all of us!).

Also, read here this afternoon that Red Hill's Weizenbock was released today at the brewery at 11am and sold out by 12.30pm. Our Ale Stars sponsor, Cloudwine, will surely get some but they're very clever those guys @ RH in creating good product and good hype.

We have a single keg which will be tapped probably today and I've heard good reports.. I'll send out an SMS Beer Bulletin.

Is this the world's best (fake) TV ad?

A friend emailed me this video clip tonight exclaiming it's the best beer ad ever. He's not far off the mark. It's very funny, very lewd but very fake. Diageo, owners of Guinness, have had You Tube take it off their site a number of times so I'm not sure how long this will be active.

Normandy Ale House Opens for Biz

Normandy Ale House opens officially tomorrow night in Clifton Hill, Melbourne. Good luck to Jeff and Janet. I hope to get down there in the next couple of weeks.

There opening lineup of beers on tap is:

Jamieson Beast IPA (Jeff's own)
Jamieson Son of Beast DIPA (Jeff's own)
Holgate Hoppinator IPA
Mountain Goat Hightail
3 Ravens ESB
Coopers Pale
Jamieson Raspberry Ale (Jeff's own)
Holgate ESB
Hargreaves Hill ESB
Clifton Hill Pale Ale (brewed by Jeff)
Matilda Bay Bohemium Pilz

Proof - at last - that beer goggles really work

A few stiff drinks really does make other people appear more attractive, according to researchers who say the alcohol makes us think about sex.

Read more here..

Last Call for Ale Stars Session next Tues

This is the last call for next Tuesday's Ale Stars Session on stouts. It's only $25 for four beers and matching tapas. You must prebook/prepay using the online payment facility top right of this page.

Shandy's back from the UK, David Golding (from Red Hill) is locked in and and our sponsor Cloudwine have the beers ready to go. Quite a crowd has signed up already so it promises to be a fun night.

All Hail the Ale!

Britain's Oldest Beer

A sensational cache of bottled beers dating back over 130 years has been discovered in Burton upon Trent, the home of Great British brewing. Found recently in the Worthington's White Shield brewery vaults, many are still in fine condition with their corks and wax seals still in place.

Read more here.

Breakfast in a Beer Bottle?

The name "breakfast beer" comes about from beers that contain many breakfast ingredients, including coffee, oatmeal and milk sugar. Sounds too good to be true? Read more from this blog entry.

A pub built from beer crates

This would be probably have to be one of the most daft things I've ever seen!


Beer Crate Bar - More bloopers are a click away

A Sydney Beer Crawl

My wife is working in Sydney so I inadvertently ended up on a solo beer crawl last Tuesday. I'd been to most of the bars/hotels before but I had to be doubly sure of what I thought!

I started at the Lowenbrau Keller in the Rocks (for a meeting). I didn't know it had been there in some form since about 1971... Instead of then going home (Kel wasn't getting home until late), I then moved on to the Lord Nelson (great atmosphere there. I could have stayed there all night), the Australian Hotel before checking out the Belgian Beer Cafe and then the Bavarian Beer Cafe in York Street. Finally, I ended up at Redoak shooting the breeze with co-owner Janet until I went home.

There's other beer-friendly bars in Sydney I'd still like to try but it wasn't a bad effort.

Our new website is now online!

Our new website has just been put online. You can see it now at www.thelocal.com.au. It'll take a little while to sort out the bugs but we're so happy with it. There are lots of ideas we have of things to add but if you have any ideas/comments, please let me know.

Thanks to Simon Russell @ The Pound Project for his efforts and patience!

Red Hill's Weizenbock just released

Just released is Red Hill's Weizenbock (8% ABV). Kegs are on their way to us. Here's how the describe it:

Our tall, dark and strong German. One batch only, brewed by popular request.

This Dark wheat beer presents deep rich toasty chocolate and nut characters, created by our blend of Vienna, Chocolate and Wheat malts. It is highly carbonated for a soft delicate mouthfeel, and we use traditional wheat beer yeasts to develop clove and banana aromatics. The sweet characters and high alcohol of this style are balanced subtly by our own Tettnanger and Halletauer hops.

Silver medal Australian International Beer Awards ’07 & ‘08

Tangerine photos from last night

Colette has posted some photos from last night's second Tangerine film night @ The Local. See the Facebook site here.

Red Hill Brewer to attend next Ale Star Session

David Golding, head brewer @ Red Hill Brewery, is confirmed to attend the next Ale Stars session (about Stouts) on Tuesday 19th to chat about his fabulous Imperial Stout. Book and prepay (for 4 beers and 4 matching tapas plates) now using the online form at the top right corner of this blog.

Barking Duck Saison is "warehoused" by MB. Replaced by Bridge Rd Saison

Matilda Bay, in their wisdom, have warehoused their Barking Duck Saison and (if rumour is correct) their Vienna Lager, Rooftop Red although their new beers are on the way. We finished our last Duck keg the other day and will replace it ASAP with Bridge Road's excellent Chevalier Saison.

James Squire Chef’s Match Starts Monday

In an Australian first, chefs from each state are going head-to-head in pairing their recipes with James Squire beers in the James Squire Chef’s Match (Aug 4-23).

We're a participating venue in the ‘Gastro Pub’ category and serve one entrée and one main course, each matched to a different James Squire beer including Golden Ale, Original Amber Ale, Pilsener, IPA and Porter. Judging will be by anonymous judges when they visit competing venues and will be based on three categories – flavour, innovation and passion.

There is some serious competition but our Head Chef, Tyrone Bailey, has done a great job with what he's come up with so we'll give it our best shot!

More on their official website.

VB and the Poor Germans

If it wasn't bad enough foisting Fosters on to the English, now it's the German's turn with VB. God help them!

Read article here.

New Matilda Bay Beers Launch Dates

While I was sampling the delightful Fancy Pants Amber Ale tonight, I learned that MB intend launching their Sebastian Dunkelweizen early September followed in November by their new American Pale Ale (the new improved version of which I was lucky enough to sample the other night). Like the APA, the Sebastian has been brewed again from scratch..