Cameron's take on his first Darlo Ale Star session

Last Tuesday was the Darlo Ale Star beer appreciation session on strong lagers and Guy and I were both able to be there at the same time so, along with Doc and Richard Adamson (former Barons head brewer), we all gathered in Wilfred's Room for what turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening with beer, great pizza, robust discussion, trivia and even a few new annual members joining up.

New Assistant Manager, Cameron, joined the throng and here's how he saw it!

It was sensational to go through some strong lagers with Doc, Guy and Steve at the Darlo Taphouse for my first Ale Star session. I prepared my Movember topiary for the event and stepped into Wilfred's Room armed with my first beer trivia questions - Guy had asked me to throw them together for the night (i think this may have been a test!). Some lovely people were on board for tonight's Ale Stars including some who named the four Noble Hops (trivia question) as John, Paul, Ringo and George!

I must admit it was pretty daunting to try to come up with 15 beer related questions in a small amount of time which would challenge beer afficionados - so I tried to make them as hard as possible! Together with Guy's repetitive reading of my questions and "stop, start" checking of pronunciations, we made sure not too many would have a chance at getting full marks - not even Richard from 3 Pickled Monkeys, a walk-in guest for the night who teamed up with Doc as a trivia team.

So after some more moustache related jokes and foppery (and no, I am not the son of Wilfred) we ploughed into some Samichlaus (a beer that will turn your liver inside out), reminisced with Richard of the old rock n roll gigs at the Landsdowne Hotel, and said farewell to all until the next Ale Star session.. A big thanks to Doc and Richard for the night. It was a very informative and enjoyable evening. Thanks also to Guy and Steve for taking the time to introduce me to some of our regulars.. I think I will enjoy working at the Local!

Now, the December session will be one not to be missed. Feral Brewing's Brendan Varis will be the special guest - all the way from WA! Brendan is a champion bloke and champion brewer so please book early to avoid any disappointment.

Press play below for the strong ales session slideshow below.