Good Beer Week events in St. Kilda! Get Involved - May 18-26th

We just can't wait for Good Beer Week, May 18th - 26th!

There are some great events around town, and we're putting on one of our favourites - Brewers & Chewers!

Join the following line up of great international and local brewers in a great night of delicious food, exceptional beer and fun company.

Jasper from Camden Town Brewery (UK), 

Jos from Garage Project (NZ), 

Eric from Brooklyn Brewery (USA), 

Brennan from Burleigh Brewing (QLD),

Ashur from Illawarra Brewing Co (NSW)

Leo from Birra Del Borgo (ITA) 

Scott from Bright Brewery (VIC) and

Tim from Hop Dog (NSW)

This dinner party incorporates elements of "meet the brewer", speed dating and musical chairs, all hosted by the inimitable Pete Mitcham. Brewers are seated at each table until the bell rings and then they move on to a new table to start up conversation with a whole new crew.

Wednesday, May 22, 7pm $85.  Book here and don't miss out. Limited seats available. This event has sold out the past two years!

Next up is everyone's favourite combination, beer & cheese. Join us for 'A Beer & Cheese Experience" where we pair 5 delicious cheese with 5 memorable beers to delight and challenge your palate.  Open to cheese & beer novices through to connoisseurs.

Thursday, May 23, 7pm $45  Book here.

Last up is the High Country Brewery Trail Taphouse Makeover.

Join the High Country brewers as they release their inaugural High Country Collaboration Beer. Meet the brewers, enjoy the collaboration beer and other selected beers from their respective ranges on tap. This FREE event is one to mark on your calendar.

Friday, May 24th, from 4pm, FREE

For more information on event details please email us.

All ticketing is through the Good Beer Week website - follow the individual links to reserve your spot in these great events.

Bring on May!

Book a function in St. Kilda this Autumn and win 1 of 3, $500 bar tabs!

Function options at The Local Taphouse are endless - a cocktail party, a sit down dinner for 30, a relaxed BBQ, a farewell party with your own Bocce court - just drop us an enquiry and let us know what special event you'd like to celebrate.

As a special promotion, book a function with us in either April, May or June and go into the draw to win 1 of 3 x $500 bar tabs. A winner will be announced each month. Email here full the full set of terms & conditions.

Our popular 'Host a Roast' packages are perfect for a delicious Autumn meal. Choose your meat, choose your sides and optional dessert. Vegetarians and dietary concerns are easily catered for so no one has to miss out!

Email us today for your function pack and menus!

St Kilda Bonza vs Darlo Black & Tannin - - Fight!

Last Wednesday, the Darlinghurst Ale Stars descended upon the Local Taphouse for the highly anticipated launch of the Ale Stars brews.
This was the first time that anyone in Sydney got a chance to taste the beer that the Sydney Ale Stars went up to Hunter Beer Co to brew (Black & Tannin), as well as the St Kilda offering (brewed at Mornington Peninsula Brewery), the BONZA IPA.

To start off the night, we invited Hunter Beer Head Brewer Keith Grice up to talk about one of his favourite beers; his own Hunter Bock. A beautiful bock, with rich caramel and toffee notes, this one was the perfect start to a very boozy evening. Keith talked us through the recipe, and how he's changed it recently, tweaking it to deliver the flavours that you'd expect from a bock.

We then moved onto a delicious Black Imperial Pilsner brewed by our very own 'Ale Stars Czar' Doc from Doctor's Orders Brewing. A beautifully balanced, yet very extreme beer, this found a really nice middle ground between getting dark flavours without being too thick or roasty, and being very hoppy without being aggressive.

We then sampled the competition, the BONZA IPA that the St Kilda Ale Stars brewed at Mornington. Named BONZA for its mix of Belgian yeast and Aussie, New Zealand and American hops, this one was very fruity and spicy, coming from both the Belgian yeast and the pacific hops.

Finally, we got to the moment we were all waiting for. The tension in the room was palpable as the final beer was brought out. The Black & Tannin, a huge, rich Baltic Porter aged in Hunter Valley Shiraz Barrels. Needless to say, the crowd loved this beer, enjoying its layers and complexities. The Ale Stars had wanted to make a big, bold, ambitious beer, and in that, they succeeded.

The interstate fight continues... say tuned.

The CHUCK NORRIS to Launch in Darlo

On the 10th March 1940 a deity was born. One whose physical prowess, cowboy hat and ginger beard were known to all and a man that neither god nor goddess could possibly hold down.

His name – CHUCK NORRIS

To celebrate this man, 73 years later - The Local Taphouse decided to mosey on down to Illawarra Brewing Co with one mission – To brew a beer in the style, colour and grace that no man could resist and thenceforth came “The Chuck Norris Red Ale” with the addition of the new hop varietal “Mosaic”

This collaboration ale is a beer born of genius, passion, and a love of all things Red. The malt bill is split between English and Australian Pale malts for it's foundation and then turns to the continent for the specialities. With German Carared, Carafa I, and Belgian Special B, the Chuck Norris displays a depth in malt body and palette that comes together like a roundhouse kick.

Mosaic is a new hop varietal from the American North West which displays all the wonderful characteristics that you could expect from the Yakima Valley with aromas of pine, citrus and tropical fruits with great bittering qualities to boot. When it hit the shores of Australia this summer it seemed the obvious choice so we got it in and started planning. 

Mosaic was added seven times throughout the brew and fermentation from the mash, first wort, kettle, and two dry hop additions to get the full breadth of what this hop had to offer.

The result is a beer with clean crisp bitterness, subtle pine and mellow malt body finishing with a tropical fruit pow pow PUNCH!

After some keg races, a BBQ bacon and egg breakfast and an open bar that included the full range of Illawarra’s crafty creations, the beer was born.

Style: Mosaic Single Hop American Red Ale

IBU: 33

ABV: 5.9%

OFFICIAL LAUNCH PARTY

The Local Taphouse Roof Garden

Wednesday 3rd April – 6pm-8pm

Entry to all, even if you’re small!

Free Autographs to be signed on the day…. By somebody

Twitter: #chuckdarlo

Like Chuck Norris counting to infinity-twice, you'll be left wanting your pint to never end*

(*oh yeah, and this beer only comes in Pint size! Because Chuck Norris doesn't do small)

Ale Stars launch their first ever brew! St Kilda wrap up...

Last Tuesday saw the highly anticipated launch of the Ale Stars' Brews from both Darlo and St. Kilda Taphouses.  Black & Tannin & BONZA (from Darlo and St. Kilda respectively) went head to head in a battle of the brews.

We warmed up our palates with the delicious black imperial pilsner, Iron Lung, from  Doctor's Orders Brewing and then moved on Darlo's Ale Star effort, Black & Tannin.

Black & Tannin was brewed by Doc from Doctor's Orders Brewing, the Darlo Ale Stars team and head brewer Keith Grice of the Hunter Brewing Co. The result was a delicious Baltic Porter aged in an old Shiraz barrel - rich with notes of chocolate, tobacco, ash, pepper & spice.

Next up was the St. Kilda Ale Stars' effort, BONZA, a Belgian IPA.

BONZA, which stands for Belgian, Oz, New Zealand and America, was brewed at Mornington Peninsula Brewery with help of MPB brewer AG. We decided late to add a soft "J" at the end for the Japanese Sorachi Ace hops that were also added to the brew (i.e. BONZAJ).  Members of the St. Kilda Ale Star committee behind the recipe for the Belgian IPA were also on deck to speak about the brew and what how their idea of a Belgian IPA unfolded.

The brew had excellent phenolic aromas and character as expected from a good Belgian and the significant hop additions yielded tropical stone fruit flavours ensuring it was true to the IPA component of its name.

Our final brew for the night was a fresh keg of MPB's Imperial IPA, a perfect way to round out a great night.

Thanks to AG for creating this fantastic commemorative poster for us - there were rumours the Ale Stars will brew another beer with AG and the MPB crew next year. Fingers crossed!

The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular needs you!

The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) is back for 2013 and is looking for 500 volunteers available for any of the sessions on Friday 24th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th of May. GABS particularly needs volunteers with Responsible Service of Alcohol certificates to serve beer.

In return for volunteering, each GABS volunteer can attend a free session and will receive a festival glass, beer and food tokens. All volunteers will also receive an exclusive GABS volunteer t-shirt.

Interested? Click here.

Questions? Email here.

St. Kilda Shaves for a great cause!

Last Saturday saw a few of our staff shave and dye their hair for the World's Greatest Shave.

Donation boxes at both bars and the door, a pledge of $1 for every beer sold in the "shaving hour" and the generous Taphouse staff who donated their tips from the day, saw us raise over $600 for the Leukaemia Foundation.

Wayne - the before Shot

Wayne - the Aftermath

Thanks to everyone who bought a beer or donated their coinage to our donation boxes.

Big thanks to James, Wayne, Rion and Becky & Ash for shaving and dyeing!

We're looking forward to a bigger team of shavers next year and to raising more money for this important cause.

If you'd like to donate, it's not too late. Click here.

Rion gets in the spirit

Willie Smiths Sydney Launch hits Darlinghurst!

 Willie Smiths Organic Cider held their official launch party on Sunday afternoon atop the rooftop of The Local in Darlo. 

With guests from Three Blue Ducks, Longrain, The Australian Brewery and Endeavour Beers - Andrew Smith (the Great-Great Grandson of the infamous Willie) gave a speech about the background of Willie Smiths while The Local's resident musician Alain De Carne provided a sunny Sunday acoustic session.

The Local Taphouse are excited to be working with Willie Smiths on such a truly distinctive Australian organic cider so feel free to drop on in, have a glass and grab a free apple from the tea chest!

facebook.com/williesmithscider
twitter.com/WillieSmiths

(Photo Courtesy of Regan Drew - twitter.com/ReganDrew)

Darlinghurst do a Masterclass in Cider

A few Wednesdays back, Darlinghurst invite James Kendell (from Small Acres Cyder) and Neill Cameron (from the Australian Brewery) to host a Cider Masterclass. It was super interesting getting the inside scoop on Australia's fastest growing alcoholic drink from two of the leading names in the business. 

We started off with a bit of a world tour of cider styles, starting in the historic home of the fermented apple drink, England. We had two English styles, the Westons Old Rosie Scrumpy and the Henneys 2010 Still cider. Some really interesting (and pretty funky) flavours in those ones.

We then took the Eurostar across the channel to sample some French apple cider and perry (or 'Poire', the french name for what we call Pear Cider). These had huge flavours that were a lot different from what we know as cider here in Australia. 

We then travelled back to Australia, and had a range of Aussie ciders, ranging from traditionally made still cider, oak-aged cider, commercial sweet cider and some craft-made cider. It was truly eye-opening to see just how much variation there was in such a relatively young market.  

Big thanks to Neill and James for sharing their knowledge and insight with us, and for hosting such an interesting night full of delicious apple goodness, it will certainly not be the last event like this so stay tuned. 

When 4 Pines came to Darlinghurst

Every month, a like-minded bunch of beautiful beer-lovers come and join us for our Alestars Beer Appreiciation evening. This past Wednesday we were also joined by the lovely guys from 4 Pines Brewing, Andrew and Chris, all the way from Manly. With them, they brought a handful of beers, 3 Single Hop Ales and their galaxy famous Stout. 

First up was the Hallertau Mittlefrüh Single Hop. Brewer Andrew Tweddell explained that they wanted to showcase the different hop-growing regions of the world, so what better place to start than with a classic German Noble hop? This one was the cleanest tasting of the lot, with all of the subtleties of the noble hop coming through. 

Next was Target hops from the UK. This one was rich and earthy, and more bitter than the Hallertau. Having this side by side with the Hallertau showed just how much impact hops have on the flavour, aroma and bitterness of a beer, despite sharing the same base recipe. 

The last single hop we tried was the very New-World style American hop, Centennial. A favourite of craft brewers for its potent buttering capabilities and its distinct grapefruit and line flavour, it was used more sparingly than usual so as not to overwhelm, but to illustrate the subtle flavouring possibilities. 

Finally, we were treated to the 4 Pines Stout, the first beer to brewed specifically to be commercially available in space. A rich, yet perfectly drinkable stout, this is a perennial favourite of Aussie beer lovers, and went down a treat the other night. 

We were also treated to a full explanation of 4 Pines' latest addition to their brewing arsenal, the huge new Brookvale facility that has just started production. Brewer Chris Willcock walked us through the challenges and advantages of the new system, and helped explain how each beer was brewed and the individual characteristics of each hop. 

Big thanks to Andrew and Chris, and everyone who came down to Darlinghurst for a lovely night of Beer, Trivia, Fun and more Beer. 

Join St. Kilda in The World's Greatest Shave - Sat. March 16th

Join us in the upstairs bar for the World's Greatest Shave this Saturday, March 16th at 4pm.

Staff with shave or dye their hair for the Taphouse Trimmers - our own team to raise money for Leukaemia Foundation.

If you're keen to sponsor us, please click on this link and donate online. Otherwise donations will be collected at the event.

If you're keen to join us and shave or dye please email here.

Be Brave and Shave!

See you Saturday!

Ale Stars Brew Launch in St. Kilda & Darlo in March

The wait is nearly over!

Tues. March 19th in St. Kilda and Wed. March 20th in Darlinghurst, Ale Stars will be launching the very first ever Ale Stars' brew.  St. Kilda has redefined the IPA - making it Belgian in genre and Darlo is all over the underrated style of Baltic Porter. We can't wait to sample the beers and speak to the brewers themselves.  Check out the post here about the St. Kilda brew day.

AG from Mornington and Doc from Doctor's Orders will be at St. Kilda and Darlo Taphouses respectively and we'll be sampling two of their great beers as well.

Details:

Ale Stars Brew Launch - St. Kilda
Tuesday, March 19th, 7pm
$40 includes beer & food
Book here

Ale Stars Brew Launch - Darlinghurst
Wednesday, March 20th, 7pm
$40 includes beer & food
Book here

This is a very special Ale Stars not to be missed!