How SpecTAPular - St Kilda has biggest festival in Taphouse history!

Gee Whiz... we are still recovering from the week that was Good Beer Week.

All the events were really successful but the week culminated in the biggest of them all - The Kiwi SpecTAPular.

The crew were here late on Friday night putting the beers on, making sure they poured ok, and of course making sure they tasted ok! Then from 8am, in came Ange with her decorations to begin making the place look more amazing than it had ever before. Ange was joined by some backup a little later and the place got Kiwi'd.

At 10 mins before we opened, the Valiant pulled up at the front door and was unloaded of its last minute glassware and a variety of posters and menu boards for the day by its driver (a somewhat bleary eyed, grey headed chap who appeared to be in need of some sleep) and some staff. At this stage there were already 80 odd punters waiting patiently for their chance to sample some of New Zealand's finest brews.

Final touches on the place and the bells rang as the first beers began pouring. Half an hour later, there were 180 people in the place and it wasn't long before a queue formed again (and didn't disappear until after 10pm). Inside, the beer lovers were working their way through the list. And loving it.

It was our biggest and best festival yet and kept pumping until stumps at 1am, at which time the staff sat their tired selves down and set about sampling some of the beers. And then after that, they sampled a few more.

A huge thanks to all the brewers, distributors, and other industry people who came and supported the day, and to all the punters who made it such a successful day. Thank you all for being so generous with your donations on the door as well - stay tuned for the total amount raised.

Thanks to Rich and the kitchen crew for pumping out so much food, Ange for the decorations and Benno, James and Dave for making sure the whole thing got off without a hitch. And all of the other staff who worked so hard to make the day so much fun.

Thanks to Nick and Matt, and Sim and the Holiday Adventure for the entertainment - the dance floor was still jumping late into the night.

And a huge thanks also to our sponsors - Cryer Malt, New Zealand Hops and Beer NZ, for helping us get the beer over here in the first place - and then for David Cryer (Cryer Malt) and Doug Donelan (NZ Hops) to come and join us for a few beers as well.

Until the next SpecTAPular, cheers and beers.

To view the full photo slideshow, click here.