Patrick walks into a bar in Dublin...

Being half Irish, I can post this joke I've just been sent guilt free!

Patrick walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness & sits in the corner of the room, drinking a sip out of each pint in turn. When he had finished all three, he went back to the bar & ordered three more.

The barman says, "You know a pint goes flat soon after I pull it. Your pint would taste better if you bought one at a time."

Patrick replies, "Well now, I have two brodders, one is in America ; & de odder in Australia ; & here I am in Dublin . When we all left home, we promised dat we'd drink dis way to remember de days we all drank togedder." The barman admits that this is a nice custom & says no more.

Patrick becomes a regular customer & always drinks the same way; ordering three pints & drinking a sip out of each in turn, until they are finished. One day, he comes in & orders just two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice & fall silent. When he goes back to the bar for the second round,

The barman says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss."

Patrick looks confused for a moment, then the penny drops & he starts to laugh. "Oh no," he says, "Bejesus, everyone is fine! Tis me, .................. I've quit drinking!"

Happy 2nd Birthday to Darlo

With the St Kilda Taphouse turning 3 just a couple of weeks ago, today the Darlo Taphouse turns TWO! Thanks to all who joined in our ride so far..

Holgate Empress poured through coffee beans and vanilla pods now in the Funky Brewster

Currently in the Funky Brewster in both venue's downstairs bars is Holgate's Empress poured through coffee beans and vanilla pods.

Homebrewers - We still have kegs for sale in Darlo

We didn't sell all our kegs recently so if you're interested in buying any, we still have 3 x 50L ($100) and 3 x 30L ($60) for sale. All are the black rubber variety.

Don't forget the unforgettable Trappist Ale Star session in Darlo next Tuesday night

If you're in Sydney, don't miss out on next Tuesday's (March 1st) Ale Star beer appreciation session on the legendary Trappist Ales. The night will include 5 samples from Chimay, Orval, Achel, Westmalle and Rochefort. Our guide will be special guest, Michael Lonard, from Beer Importers & Distributors.


The 5 beers are as follows:

- Orval 6.5% ABV
- Chimay Blanche - Tripel 8% ABV (on tap)
- Achel Blonde 8% ABV
- Westmalle Dubbel 7%ABV
- Rochefort 6 - Brown Beer 7.5% ABV

Tix are $35 and you can book via our website's Event Diary. How gets under from 7pm.

Feral Tap Takeover starts May 3rd

As some people are planning their holidays around this event (I kid you not!), we can now confirm that the Feral Taphouse Tap Takeover will start on Tuesday May 3rd in both venues from midday.

All 20 of each venue's taps will feature 20 different Feral beers at the same time - until the beers run out. Depending on the beer, there will be 1-3 kegs of each beer so if you want to not miss out on any, don't dawdle in getting down to your nearest Taphouse.

For the full incredible lineup, click here.

It's on again! Taphouse Tippers is back for 2011

Last year we had over 50 tippers for our AFL and NRL comps (heavily skewed to AFL). The AFL comp was hotly contested with the result decided in the very last round while the NRL was won by yours truly.

This year we're looking to expand the number of tippers, especially in the NRL comp. NSW & QLD punters,  don't let the VICs show you how it's done - AGAIN!

So here's how it works for each comp:

Entry = $20

1st = 60%

2nd = 30%

3rd = 10%

(of prize pool)

Each round winner also wins a $20 drink card (only redeemable in Darlinghurst or St Kilda).

Click:

Join AFL

to join the AFL comp. Password = "greatbeer".


Click:

Pay for AFL

to pay for AFL comp. Payment must be made by midnight of the conclusion of round 4 (17th April 2011).

Click:

Join NRL

to join the NRL comp. Password = "greatbeer".

Click

Pay for NRL

to pay for NRL comp. Payment must be made by midnight of the conclusion of round 4 (4th April 2011).

Bridge Road to launch their anniversary ale at St Kilda Ale Star's 3rd birthday party

We can happily confirm that to help celebrate the 3rd birthday of the Ale Star beer appreciation sessions, Bridge Road beers will be showcasing beers with brewer Ben Kraus as special guest.

Better than that, and the icing on the (birthday) cake, will be Ben tapping their anniversary ale for the first time.

So here's the Ale Star programme for the next 5 months:

March – Ales with Crazy Ingredients
April – Lambics
May – a surprise! TBC
June - Scotch Ales
July - Ale Stars 3rd birthday with Bridge Road

Darlo Brewshare - heat troubles some homebrewers

The summer heat in Sydney wasn't kind to a few backyard brews over the past few weeks and while there was a strong roll up of 23 people, a reduced total of 12 beers were entered for the BrewShare event Tuesday night at Darlo.

Stories flowed thick and fast about the latest trials and tribulations, including Josh who is experimenting catching his own yeast from under a lime tree in his backyard...watch this space for the results (if you dare)!

At this event there was no specified beer styles so there was a broad range of brews and fluctuating ABV's (thanks for the 12.8%er Doc). Teams were separated into two groups each with 6 beers. The top two from each group - Sam's Hibiscus Ale, Mike's Amber Ale, Alex's Hotside IPA and Jack's Honey Wheat - made it through to the next round.

Cam stepped into Jordan's shoes to help cast the final votes with Dave between Michael's Amber Ale and Alex's US style IPA, and in what can only be described as a photo finish, Alex's IPA's considerable hoppiness and expressive malt character just pushed it over line to win.

Alex won a $100 gift voucher from our illustrious event sponsor Dave from Dave's Home Brew. Big thanks for your continued support Dave.

The next Brewshare will be held on 24th May with the vote for chosen beer style as ' Belgian Ales'. $10 will get you a ticket and you book on our website's Event Diary.

Best wishes to all in Christchurch - including our better beer allies

As we tweeted last night, our thoughts are with everyone affected by the horrific earthquakes in Christchurch. Naturally, we have friends, colleagues and associates there in the beer industry so here is a post from the Society of Beer Advocates in New Zealand with an update of these people and their businesses.

Guy and his wife are in New Zealand but thankfully in and around Auckland.

Check out this documentary "How Beer Saved The World"

Thanks to a Local-in-France, Andrew Hussey, check out this documentary "How Beer Saved The World". It's about 45 mins long so crack open a beer and sit back!

Our blog finally gets mobile friendly

Finally, Blogger has come up with a mobile friendly modification for their blogs (such as ours). So we activated it and you can now see all our posts in a more suitable format on your mobile.

Alex from Little Creatures graces the Ale Star stage

Another great turnout for another great guest at Ale Stars this month in St Kilda. Alex Troncoso of Little Creatures and White Rabbit fame popped in to share his wares and a few stories about a career that has taken him around Australia and overseas.

For only the second time, we fired up the Funky Brewster, filled it full of Motueka hops and ran the White Rabbit Dark Ale through it. Sound yum? you bet.

A big thanks to Alex for being so generous with his time, and to Jimmy and the Prof for the photos.

Speaking of the Prof, click here to see how he saw the night. The P.S.S. of his story is interesting - thinly veiled accusations of handicapping of trivia using handwriting recognition techniques...I would never, err I mean I am sure Justin would not even entertain such a thing. Perhaps Professor, just perhaps, your team simply doesn't get as many questions correct as you 'profess' to. But seriously, congratulations on chalking up a victory this month. We wait with bated breath to see if you can back it up next month.

Incidentally, next month we taste ales with 'crazy' ingredients - Tuesday, March 15th. Click here to book. We hope to see you there.

Cheers,

The Local Crew

BrewShare in St Kilda cancelled tomorrow night and until further notice

Due to a continuing lack of interest, we have cancelled tomorrow night's BrewShare night in St Kilda. There will be no St Kilda BrewShare nights in the forseeable future.

We remain keen to support the Melbourne homebrew scene but clearly BrewShare isn't resonating. If, for instance, some enterprising person wants to establish a new homebrew club in our area, we'd be happy to discuss the Taphouse being the "home ground".

A tremendous thanks for John Preston at Grain & Grape for their support and the $100 gift vouchers they offered for each BrewShare.

Big crowds queue at GABS 2011 in Darlo

The GABS in Darlo got off to a rocking start as 60 or more beer enthusiasts queued from 11am to be one of the first to sample the fine selection of 18 unique beers on offer for the day!

Paddles were flowing freely as the Beer Diva, Kirrily Waldhorn, and her group (pictured above) managed to snare a booth to kick back and wile away a few hours discussing the great selection from some of Australia's top craft brewers. The pace was a cracker and it wasn't long before the staff were ringing the bell to signal the end of each keg. There were plenty of local brewers and beer industry identities in attendance so it was a particularly convivial atmosphere!

The staff got into the spirit with an array of themed costumes and the beer flowed freely through til 4pm when the heavens opened and all but the most hardcore customers on the roof terrace were sent fleeing to the downstairs bars. The Jess Beck Quartet warmed up the crowd in the ground floor bar closely followed by Roxanne into the night.

A great day was had by all and a huge thanks to all the brewers for supporting the day.

Click on the fantastic photo slideshow below. Thanks to Andrew Mitchell for taking the photos.

Excellent Crafty Pint video report from GABS

Here is the first ever video report from the Crafty Pint website and it happens to be all about GABS 2011. Filmed at the St Kilda GABS, it also features interviews with many of the brewers involved.

Check it out below by pressing play!

An incredible $8596 from GABS' initatives to be donated to Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal!

As is now custom, we donate all our SpecTAPular door proceeds to a relevant or current charity initiative. Last Saturday, through door proceeds and raffles, Darlo raised $2257 and St Kilda $2339. A phenomenal and recording breaking effort in both venues. Thanks to everyone who put coins and stuffed notes into the tins.


Together with the $4000 The Local Taphouse has agreed to donate through Stone & Wood's Red Relief initiative, we will be donating an incredible $8596 to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal in Queensland. That also means that since opening in St Kilda three years ago, both Taphouses and our patrons have donated more than $45,000 to various charities.

The winners of the raffle prizes in St Kilda were:

1st Luke Antoniades
2nd Sam
3rd Baz...yes ‘the’ Hall of Famer Baz.

Thanks to Kooinda, Hargreaves Hill, Otway, Burleigh, Mountain Goat, McLaren Vale, Bridge Rd, Stone & Wood and Hunter for donating prizes along with us.

In Darlo the winners were Tim, Jack and Jim.

Donators were Kosciusko, Stone & Wood, Burleigh Brewing, Hunter, Kooinda and Murray's.

'The Victorian Women of Beer' event at Thornbury Theatre on March 4th

Given the female theme of some recent blog posts, check out this very cool event:

Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Event

The Beer Diva presents The Victorian Women of Beer

Thornbury Theatre ~ Friday 4^th March, 2011

Beer is sophisticated. Think not? Well Australia’s first ladies of beer are out to change your mind in a unique, witty, interactive theatrical experience coming to the majestic Thornbury Theatre.

Australia’s Beer Diva, Kirrily Waldhorn, alongside 5 wonderful Victorian Women of Beer, will be putting on stage the beer secrets and finer points of beer appreciation that they have previously shared only at private events in bars, restaurants and corporate board rooms and their own breweries, of course.

The five Women of Beer hail from some of Victoria’s finest craft breweries, Red Hill Brewery, Mountain Goat, True South, Bridge Road Brewing and Hargreaves Hill Brewery. A selected beer from each of these breweries will feature for tasting in the show.

In a stage show that is described as ‘part theatre, part sensory indulgence’, the women of beer promise to take their audience on a journey of discovery in five acts that will stimulate all of their senses through projected animation, original music, live performance and sampling five distinctive styles of beer. The show is “a joyous experience - punctuated by myth-busting facts, light-hearted history, global culture and beery philosophy — all which will leave you stimulated, entertained, and enriched by an unexpected education.”

“Beer is still misunderstood, despite its growth in recent years,” Kirrily says. “Even though beer is entrenched in Australian culture we happily muse on the lexicon of wine, but fail to appreciate the amazing complexities and diverse styles offered by beer. And the unjust prejudices and stereotypes surrounding this nectar still prevail. Beer is often seen, wrongly, as the domain of overweight, aggressive, bearded, belching, football-loving men. Not an image likely to seduce foodies, sophisticates, or women into wider experimentation and adoption - but they’re missing out on so much pleasure. It’s time to tear down these misconceptions!”

In a show like none ever seen before, Kirrily alongside the Women of Beer will guide the audience, seated at tables in cabaret style, through the lighter side of the history of beer and brewing, and lead them in the sampling of five distinct beers.

If you’re not convinced that beer belongs on stage, come see for yourself.

One show only on the 4th March 2011. 9pm-10.30pm $40 includes the show & beers

Doors open 7pm for dinner featuring brewers craft beers (extra $)

Bookings : www.thornburytheatre.com

Picture borrowed from Crafty Pint.

The Local Taphouses to be the home of 'Barley's Angels'!

Beer Diva, Kirrily Waldhorn is launching "Barley's Angels" in Australia as part of an International Network of Women's Consumer Beer Clubs and The Local Taphouses will be their home. Here's the press blurb:

Angels Are Drinking It for Themselves

Fabulous female beer advocates across the globe are poised for their own special brand of justice for the craft beer world through the Global launch of Barley's Angels

Barley's Angels: The Primary Mission
From Australia to the UK, Canada to the USA and even as far afield as Argentina, some of the world's leading beer experts have decided it's time to encourage women all over the globe to enjoy incredible brews.

These acclaimed evangelists will be unmasking the unjust myths that hold their fellow females back from the truth of craft beer, helping them to joyfully discover the unique and diverse flavours found in these artisan products, whilst beating down the doors of beer prejudice wherever they find them.

Lisa Morrison, Oregon Chapter Archangel explains, "The point about Barley's Angels is to ensure that women have a welcoming and friendly environment in which to learn more about the world's greatest beers and chart their own course of discovery."

Melissa Cole, London Chapter Archangel added, "There's so much fabulous flavour to experience, so many great food matches to enjoy and new friends to find in the craft beer world that it would be a crime for women to miss out."

Mission Make It-Possible
The second part of the Barley's Angels mission is to raise funds for the Pink Boots Society, an international trade association of women beer professionals, dedicated to furthering women's careers in beer brewing and the beer industry through scholarships and support networks.

Teri Fahrendorf, President of Pink Boots Society stated, "Women attending their first Barley's Angels chapter meeting will enjoy an environment connecting beer, food, beer history, and women's role in it. They'll have the opportunity to make connections through Barley's Angels worldwide communities when travelling, and will enjoy the camaraderie of new female friends over a pint of fine beer."

She continued, "I believe that women are developing our own beer culture that is strongly related to communication and community. Women's beer appreciation perhaps has less to do with alcohol and bittering rates, and more to do with balance, flavour, and a growing knowledge of women's historical role as the first beer brewers."

Lisa Morrison, Director of the Barley's Angels program added, "Ladies, it's time we got our malty mojo back."

The Australian Launch
The Beer Diva Chapter launches on Friday 30th March 2011, at The Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst. We are proud to announce that The Local Taphouse venues (Darlinghurst and St Kilda), will be the official homes of the Beer Diva Barley's Angels, with the majority of events taking place at these venues.

Kirrily will be showcasing a selection of stunning international and local craft beers which will be paired to a variety of canapes, specifically chosen to enhance the flavours found in the beers.

Details
When: Wednesday 30th March 2011
Cost: $20.50 p/p
Where: Wilfred's Room, The Local Taphouse, Darlinghurst
Time: 7pm

Tickets can be bought here.

Brisbane's Platform Bar no longer the "better beer" oasis it was

Australian Brews News has broken the news on it's website that the craft beer friendly Platform Bar in Brisbane's CBD is no longer a craft beer oasis after the Big Brewer's not unreasonable crackdown on contract compliance. It seems that the owners were not fulfilling the requirements of the contracts they signed with the Big Boys in return for their cash inducements.

Platform Bar operates as a small bar within a much larger hotel - The Grand Central. If it were possible, I'd love to see the hotel owners tear up (or pay out) all, or som,e of the contracts they have signed and negotiate to maintain the Platform Bar's tap independence. Yes it might cost them some money in lost incentives but they could gain in the long run from maintaining a point of difference from their competitors. It would also reassure us all that they are indeed genuinely passionate supporters of the craft beer sector.

If this pans out as the ABN report suggests, it would be a tremendous disappointment for craft beer lovers in Brisbane. Thankfully, they still have the terrific Archive Bar which is rumoured to be increasing its tap range..

Crafty Pint (whose photo of Platform Bar I have used above) also picked up on the story and you can read their piece here.

The inaugural Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular - St Kilda report and photos

We we knew it was going to be big...but not that big.

Miraculously and perhaps for the first time ever for a specTAPular, the doors opened on time at midday and in flooded 70 people, Myer Stocktake Sale style - who had been patiently waiting outside - some of them for over an hour. With this level of keenness, we knew we were in for a big day and it wasn't long before we filled up.

The buzz in the crowd about the opportunity to taste beers never previously available anywhere in the world was palpable. Most people quickly worked out that there was not a bad beer on the list and some of them were dangerously moreish.

It was great to see so many industry people here supporting the day. We had brewers/owners/staff/friends from Kooinda, True South, Stone and Wood, Otway, Red Hill, Hargreaves Hill, Mountain Goat, Little Creatures/White Rabbit, Thunder Road, Jamieson, McLaren Vale Beer, Matilda Bay, and probably more, as well as a heap of crew from beer loving venues like Josie Bones, Beer Deluxe, Cookie and Biero, and loads of other industry people - suppliers, distributors, and everyone else involved in craft beer in one way or another.



Easily the biggest SpecTAPular yet, this one had a friendly and festive vibe that lasted well into the night. Thanks to the huge effort put in by all the bar staff, managers, kitchen guys and security for making the day such a success.

Thanks also to all the punters who made the day such a success - from the nerdiest of beer nerds to those just out to sample something new and have some fun.

Thanks again to those breweries that we able to donate prizes to the raffle - total money raised TBA as soon as we've finished counting it!

Click below for the fantastic slideshow of the whole day/night. Thanks to Guy, James and Prof for the photos.

Tomorrow night (Tues) is Ale Star beer appreciations session with Alex Troncoso

This is the Final Call for tomorrow night's (Tues) Ale Star beer appreciations session with Alex Troncoso in St Kilda. Read more about it here and come on down! It's gonna be good..

That is all.

Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular - only 1 sleep to go!!

How excitement!!! Only 1 sleep to go until the much anticipated Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular is finally here. The finishing touches are all happening as the crew start to get the decorations in order, the musos warm up for their gigs, the chef's start marinading their offerings, the Funky Brewster gets loaded with cherries and the beers all get tapped for the very first time!

A late inclusion into the festival has also just been announced: The Guvnor from 2 Brothers Brewery is an 11.5% Barley Wine that has just made it in time. Unfortunately JUST too late to ship up to Sydney in time but it'll be gracing the taps in Melbourne to take the tally back up to 19.

I CAN'T WAIT!!! Really hope to see y'all there. I'll be in Melbourne this time and Stevo will be up in Syders. Let the fun and shenanigans begin!

Taphouse and the social media app "Untappd" partner for GABS

The Local Taphouse and Untappd have joined forces to celebrate the inaugural Great Australia Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) by creating a special edition badge for attendees. When you check into a beer at either venue this Saturday you will receive the GABS 2011 badge to signify that you were at the inaugural GABS! This is the first time an Untappd badge has been created for any event outside of the US.


What is Untappd?

Untappd is a fun new mobile, web application that enables beer drinkers to track, share, and discover beers, beer-drinking establishments and feedback about beers with friends and other beer-drinking enthusiasts.

Users can share the beer they are enjoying, add the location where they are enjoying it, and share this with their network of friends. In response, friends can comment on or toast these beers. This interaction allows users to discover different beers outside of their normal drinking preferences, as well as different places to enjoy those beers.

To get started, all you need to do is point your mobile device to http://untappd.com and grab your favourite brew!

For additional help with creating an account or learning the basic of the interface, you can refer to these help documents: Creating a new account and Navigation.

Hall of Famer Jade gets immortalised in print

In what we hope will become more than just a one-off, we have produced an ad for a forthcoming book - The Critics Choice: Australia’s Best Beers which features a portrait of Jade, a Hall of Fame inductee in St Kilda (click on the image for a larger version). Hopefully more Hall of Famers will be immortalised in this way. Incidentally, the first Darlo HoF will be inducted in the not-too-distant future.

In a great companion to our Hottest 100 annual poll, Scribal Publishing are bringing out The Critics Choice book which will list the Top 100 Favourite Australian Beers for 2010 as judged by a panel of over 40 beer industry figures.

The book will be available from "all good bookstores and newsagents"from April 18.

A surprise guest brewer pops in to Darlo!

Me & Alastair Hook saying cheers over a Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale

While on holiday in Australia, Head Brewer and owner of Meantine Brewing, Alastair Hook, popped into The Local Taphouse in Darlo to say hi.

It was a glorious Sydney day and the new terrace was a great place for us to sit and go through a tasting paddle. Alastair has a heap of brewing mates in Australia so he was no stranger to all of the great beers coming out of Oz at the moment. He was very much impressed with how far the Aussie beer scene had come along since his last visit and how much variety and quality there was to choose from.

Of course all the punters of The Local Taphouses will know the fantastic beers that Alastair produces. We've always had his Meantime Coffee Porter, Meantime Chocolate, Meantime London Porter and Meantime IPA in the bottle. More recently we've had his Meantime Union Vienna Lager, Meantime Helles and Meantime London Pale Ale on tap. All cracking beers!

It was great to meet the man behind the beer! Alistair reckons it won't be long before he's back here for a visit of a more official nature. He promised that when he was he'd do everything he could to be a special guest at our Ale Stars sessions making them ones not to be missed!

White Rabbit/Little Creatures beer lineup announced for Feb 15th Ale Star session with brewer Alex Troncoso

As per a previous post, Alex Troncoso, chief brewer for Little Creatures/White Rabbit will be the special guest at the February 15th Ale Star session in St Kilda to tell us the story behind the beers.

We can now confirm the beer lineup as follows:

* Little Creatures Pale Ale
* White Rabbit Dark Ale (served through hops in our new Funky Brewster)
* Little Creatures East Kent Goldings Ale - their brand new Special Batch beer
* White Rabbit White Ale
* Rogers Ale

Tix are the usual $40 for beer/pizza and can be booked by clicking here.

Mash scratch their beer for GABS :-(

And then there were 18..

Mash Head Brewer, Dan Turley, rang me this morning to say that despite their best endeavours after his nasty accident while brewing their GABS beer, he is not happy with the result and very regrettably scratched the beer from the GABS lineup.

Like the other breweries to have scratched their beers (Moon Dog, Thunder Road), Dan has promised Mash will be back for the next GABS. Hallelujah!

There are still 18 awesome-sounding beers in the lineup so I'm not complaining! See you on Saturday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to The Local Taphouse in St Kilda!

Above: Day one of trading. Recognise anyone?

While Steve will be celebrating 10 years this December since he opened the original St Kilda Local (which opened on the same site), today is the third birthday of it's reincarnation as The Local Taphouse by Guy and Steve (ably - and thankfully - supported by JJ, Benno, James, Becky and the gang).

Happy birthday to all and to those that share it with us (Charles Dickens take a bow).

Above: The building before it became The St Kilda Local (Dec 2001) and then The Local Taphouse (Feb 2008)

Press play for the slideshow of our first day's trading. We all look like children!!

Our Randalls are officially christened... The Funky Brewster

Thanks to everyone for their suggested names for our Randall beer filter but it was Guy and his wife Claudia who came up with the winning name.

We ultimately wanted an easy and short name that references beer/brew etc and preferably not including a hop reference as we'll be putting far more than that in them.

While Brewser the Infuser was our early fave we discovered that the name was already being used in the US. So, without further ado we christen both our Randalls............ The Funky Brewster or The Funky Brewster Booster (GG’s addition).

So there you have it! It will be tried officially for the first time this Saturday at GABS when we will have Wig & Pen's berliner weisse pouring through Morello cherries in the downstairs bars.