Darlinghurst's first Brewshare of 2013

We are only 10 days away from our first Brewshare of 2013!!

For those who are not familiar with Brewshare, once every quarter Dave Gumm from Daves Home Brewing  hosts a night here at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst which allows home brewers to bring along their creations and sample each others beers. Each time the group vote which beer is the winner, they then set the theme for the next Brewshare. The group split up, discuss individual techniques and methods whilst nibbling on tasty treats from the kitchen. 

The theme this time is 'Any beer with an Australian Hop used in it'. It's a simple and straight forward task but what other ingredients and flavours will the home brewers come with? How does one rise to the top in this challenge? What will make his or her brew the best, better than the rest? 

Tickets are only $20 which includes tastes of the other brewers beers and nibbles from the kitchen. If you think what it takes and you want to join in click here.

Tuesday 19th February

7pm, Wilfred's (1st floor of the Local Taphouse)

Darlo's BrewShare Report from Sydney Craft Beer Week

November's BrewShare was intimate with only about 10 beers entered but what we lost in quantity we certainly made up for in quality. The style for this night - beers under 4% - was decided at the previous BrewShare so we had an English Mild, light IPAs and a Berliner Weiss.

Anna and Olaf’s Berliner Weiss won the day with its almost lemonade sourness with Michael's British Mild coming a very close second. Best Other Beer was Ben's American Red Ale (also a great beer but at over 6% not quite to style).

The style for the next BrewShare is Anything With Australian Hops! We also decided that the BrewShare after that, in May, will be Sour Beers. So, if you think you have what it takes to create an outstanding brew then do not hesitate in get brewing and book in for February's edition of BrewShare on February 19th starting at 7pm. Tickets are only $20 which gets you some tasty treats on the night too. Click here to book.

Thanks to Dave's Home Brew for their continued support.

Sydney Craft Beer Week at your Local Taphouse!

So here it is, what you've all been waiting for! Get your diaries out and your pens ready. 

Here is The Local Taphouse line up for Sydney Craft Beer Week. 

 On Saturday 20th October we have our quarterly Charity Fundraiser, SpecTAPular. The theme is "Hopp'n Mad" so we'll let you use that imagination of yours to think of what we have in store for you all. It's a gold coin donation on the door, there's 20 Hoppy craft beers on tap, a fantastic new menu for the day and great entertainment. Doors open at Midday so get in early to avoid the 'madness'!!

 Right next event, Crafty Trivia on Monday 22nd! After a weekend of SpecTAPular and a nice Sunday roof session you'll need to get your heads back into gear. Come and test your beer knowledge against like minded people. Hosted by John Barrand, there's some great prizes and it's free and starts from 7pm - Why not?!

 If Trivia's not your thing and you happen to be a beer loving female and proud of it, then do we have a treat for you! Head upstairs to The Louvre and the infamous 'Beer Diva' Kirrily Waldhorn herself is hosting Barley's Angels where 'Beer will meet Life Art'. Share some fantastic brews whilst the Beer Diva teaches you the secrets behind them, but it may be hard to concentrate while you're drawing a beautiful Male Model! For a ticket please click here.

 Moving onto Tuesday 23rd October we feel the need for it all to become a bit extreme! The chaps from The Beer Lovers Guide will be here with the new edition of 'The Beer Lovers Guide to Extreme Beer' for all guests! There will be a selection of extreme beers with a paddle of 5 on arrival for all guests. Feeling adventurous? Ready to turn up the notch on your beer drinking? Then click here for a ticket.
 Still on Tuesday, we are now making one home brewers dream come true!
Back in September we gave home brewers the chance to get their creations pro-brewed! Well the time has come to launch the 'Beer mimics Food' Winning brew (brewed in part by our friends at 4 Pines).
The beer will be on tap from 7pm so come down and grab yourself a glass while you still can!

 Well, it's Wednesday 24th October, we've been pretty SpecTAPular and quite artistic with an extreme twist, but now it's time to get 'Epic'. It's an Epic Brewery Tap Make Over for October's edition of Ale Stars. Our monthly beer appreciation society are in for a treat and we've always got tickets for you too. As per usual doors open at 7pm, we will have special guests, quirky Trivia and tasty treats from the Chef.
Ale Stars, this is the only way to begin the better half of the week! For a ticket, book here!

 If you're still here, you've done a smashing job so far so let's keep this beer ball rolling into something a little classier! Thursday 25th October we are hosting our annual 'Brewers & Chewers' event, a delicious 5 course dinner with the brewers themselves who are bringing some special (and in some cases, one of a kind) brews.
Come and dine with the brewers at a feast that will surely make your week. For tickets book here.
 Every day that we do not have an event on, it is business as usual, the DJ's, the Bands, all the goodness that you love about your Local, just stay were you belong! Any queries please give us a call on 02 9360 0088 and we'll show you the way.
 Come and be a part of history!

Bottom fermented Brewers in Sydney!!

Attention all home-brewers. Well it's just over 24 hours before we kick off August's Brewshare. The theme for tomorrow is 'Bottom Fermented' brews, the tickets are only $10 and you have a chance of winning a $100 voucher from Dave's Home brew. If you haven't booked in yet here is the link. If you have booked in but haven't filled out the entry form, then here it is. 

So far the numbers are looking good and it's shaping up to be a very interesting night indeed with only a few spaces left. We've also re-located it to the warm surroundings of the Louvre Room on the first floor. 

 We hope to see you all here! 

Cheers and Beers.

First Darlo BrewShare of 2012 next Tuesday

G'day brothers & sisters

It's only a week away before we host the first Brewshare of 2012 and kids are we excited!?If you are new to Brewshare, it's a great chance to come and experience individual techniques and styles of creating and brewing some great beers. It's the perfect chance to learn some fantastic ways to perfecting something so personal and unique. To book the $10 tickets for Tuesday Feb 21st, please click here.

Here's how BrewShare generally work.

Darlo Brewshare 9 February

A huge turnout of 30 homebrewers for our second Darlo Brewshare last night meant we held the event in the downstairs bar for the first time. The chosen style was American Pale Ales and we had 14 entrants as well as 5 various other styles in the Open Class.

The beers were separated into two groups and the APA's were judged together with the open class. In a closely fought contest with a couple of countbacks the Peoples Choice Award and overall winner on the night was to Jon Setlins Citra APA.

Big thanks again to Dave from Dave's Home Brew (go say hello!) was along again as our sponsor for the night - shown at top sampling the winning beer.

The date set for our next Brewshare is Tuesday 18th May with the chosen styles being Stouts/Porters. A few Open Class beers (judged separately)will also be accepted so get these applications in early.

The button to book will be put up shortly in the left hand margin and you will have to fill in the questionnaire to submit yout beer.

For the newbies, here's how BrewShare works.

BrewShare nights - how they work

A few people have asked for clarity about how the BrewShare nights work. While we still may tweak the night as they develop, here's the lowdown:

Held each quarter on a Tuesday night, BrewShare nights are about homebrewers bringing their own home brew to barter and socialise with their peers.

You can brew either the Style of the Night (announced at least two months in advance) OR there is an Open Class. You cannot submit a brew in both classes.

There will be a points winner in both classes but there can only be one People's Choice Best Beer (and this can come from either class). Best newbie brewer will also get a slap on the back!!

If there are more than 10 homebrews, beers and punters will be divided into 2 groups for tasting, discussion and scoring. After 90 minutes, each group is required to present its top two beers (so we were now down to the top four). After that, each group samples the other's top two and then complete a secret individual vote for their Public Choice Beer.

Anything goes - bottles or kegs but bring your own beer in an esky to keep it cool though.

You need to bring at least 3 litres of beer.

There is a $100 worth of vouchers to be won at BrewShare, thanks to the generous support of Grain & Grape in Melbourne and Dave’s Home Brew in Sydney. What beer gets what prize is still being tweaked although People's Choice Best Beer always gets something.

There will be a points winner in both classes but there can only be one People's Choice Best Beer and this can come from either class. So as minimise vote influencing(!), The Taphouse (and/or special guests) make up 30% of the People's Choice Best Beer vote.

The cost of the night is $10, all of which goes towards pizzas (to help soak all the beers). The cancellation policy is that you can only receive a refund if you cancel more than 24 hours before the event start time.

You must prepay by using the appropriate button in the left hand column of this blog.

All homebrewers attending will be emailed a questionnaire (after booking is confirmed) about their beers before the event. These are then handed out at the BrewShare..

A minimum 5 home-brewers must pre-book for the event to go ahead.

Non home-brewers who may like to attend, taste some homebrew and socialise may do so must still prebook and pay.

Night officially starts at 7pm but you must be ready to go with your beers so we strongly encourage you to come earlier!

Have I left anything out?? Post a comment below..

Here are photos from the first BrewShare in Darlo.. Just press PLAY and wait for slideshow to begin.

BrewShare - Darlo attendees

All attendees, in addition to prebooking via the button in the left hand column of this blog, must fill in this questionnaire about their beers. These are then handed out at the BrewShare..

Melbourne BrewShare cancelled for tomorrow night. Is Darlo next? Feedback wanted.

Melbourne BrewShare has been cancelled today (for tomorrow) as we didn't get a single person booking.

While there is a week to go, Darlo only has 5 people booked so far (we will review the numbers later this week to see whether to cancel that too). Last time in Darlo, we had a room full of 25 people eager to come again and dozens of people voting for APA to be the style for the next night.

Together with Grain & Grape and Dave's Home Brew, we're really keen to support homebrew crews in both cities but hardly anyone appears interested in this round of events and we announced the dates two months ago, have posted updates on these forums and on our blog!

Please post your comments as to whether this night is worth supporting moving forward.

American Pale Ale the homebrew of choice for the next BrewShare

Your votes have been tallied and the beer style for the next BrewShare on Tuesday Feb 2nd (St Kilda) and Feb 9th (Darlo) is:

American Pale Ale (but you knew that from the headline didn't you?!)

As per our BrewShare posts, most people will probably brew an American Pale Ale but if you can't (or don't want to), there is an Open Class. There will be a points winner in both classes but there can only be one People's Choice best beer and this can come from either class.

The cost of the night will now be $10, all of which goes towards pizzas (to help soak all those beers!). We'll open a pre-bookings button closer to the date.

BrewShare - poll now open & other stuff

As per feedback at the Darlo BrewShare, I have posted an online poll for BrewSharers to vote on which style they want to brew for next BrewShare in both venues. You will find it in the top right corner of this blog. The poll closes next Sunday.

We got so much other great feedback last time. Here are some changes:

Next time we will split the night into two beer classes - Style of the Day AND Open Class. This means you can submit a brew in EITHER class (not both). There will be a points winner in both classes but there can only be one People's Choice best beer and this can come from either class. Best newbie brewer will also get a slap on the back!!

Non-homebrewers can come along and taste and learn although we will look at having a limit on how many.

Also, quite a few people have asked about food so we're looking at a nominal charge of $10 for future BrewShares which would get you some great pizza to soak up the booze. Anyone have a major problem with this?

Next BrewShare will be confirmed soon but will most probably be late February.

First ever St Kilda BrewShare

A small but keen group of home brewers gathered in St Kilda last night for the inaugural Local Taphouse BrewShare evening. 6 beers were tasted one at a time with a brief rundown from the brewers about their setup, ingredients and a few stories of successes and, of course, the failures.

The beers were assessed as we went and ultimately adjudged reverse-Brownlow-style 3-2-1, with 1 being the best.

Everyone received votes which was a credit to the brewers for their great beers.

The placings were as follows:

1st Peter Hope (see photo above - not the guy with the devious moustache) - 'Yeast Beast' Mongrel Ale (with his own home-culture strain of Chimay yeast no less!!)

2nd Peter Lowndes - 'Premium Chocolate Stout'.

3rd Brendan Harney - 'Belgian/New Zealand IPA'

Congratulations to Peter Hope for a truly great beer complete with a great label and his own cheer squad!!

A huge thanks to all the brewers for attending and for their feedback. This looks like being the start of something big! Thanks also to Grain & Grape for their terrific prize of a $100 voucher for Peter.

Stay tuned for dates on the next BrewShare.

See all the photos from the night here.

Lineup for Darlo BrewShare so far

While there are a few home brewers yet to fill in the online form (deadline is Wed night or your beer can't be included), here is the awesome (sounding at least!) lineup for Thursday's Darlo BrewShare so far:

1-Jack McIntyre-Batch 17-English IPA
2-Dugal McIntyre-Batch 18-ESB
3-Jason Scala-n/a-ESB
4-Peter Hope-Yeast Beast-Mongrel Ale
5-Doc-Doc's Rhubarb Breakfast Ale-Specialty - Vegetable Beer
6-Mike Meissner-Artisinal Belgian Blonde-Belgian Blonde
7-Kris Rogers-Centennialorama-American IPA
8-Jon Seltin-n/a-Munich Dunkel
9-Ivan Bate-n/a-Pale Ale
10-Daniel Patomaki-n/a-US Hopped Summer Ale
11-Trey Shugart & Sam Clayman-Redneck Porter-Porter
12-Ben Landsberry-n/a-Bitter/Brown Porter
13-Andrew Gaul-n/a-Amber Ale
14-Graham Eyres - Peyton's Golden Ale-Golden Ale
15-Kelly Eyres-Not sure Oaty Porter-Robust Porter

More info here.

Taphouse BrewShare - Information for Attendees

Here's some more information for BrewShare attendees next week..

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How much beer do I need to bring? At least 1.5 – 2 litres in bottles, kegs etc. You need to be able to refrigerate and dispense the beer yourself.

All home brewers must fill in this online form at least two days prior to the BrewShare. These Fact Sheets will be printed and handed out to all attendees.

The running order for the night:

7pm
Greeting & Introduction. All attendees will be provided with a running sheet of all beers (max 24 beers)

7.15pm – 9pm
Tasting: 3 beers at a time at 10 minute intervals.

90-100mls of each beer is to be dispensed by the home brewer into an official tasting glass (one per person for the night). The Fact Sheets to be handed out with beers.

If they wish, home brewers will have 60 seconds to explain their beer!

9pm – 9.15pm
General discussion and Q&A about all beers.

Secret Ballot for Public Choice Beer of the Night using 3-2-1 system (1 being your favourite). Home brewers cannot vote for their own beer. All votes from attendees make up 70% of the final score. 30% of Taphouse staff (and any other special guests) will make up the final portion.

9.15pm
Formalities end – social chat and drinks

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Taphouse BrewShare is about homebrewers bringing their own home brew to barter and socialise with their peers!

There is a $100 Grain & Grape/Dave’s Home Brew voucher for People’s Choice Beer.

For this first event, home brewers can brew whatever they like.

ST KILDA: Tuesday Nov 24th from 7pm & free
DARLO: Thursday Nov 26th from 7pm & free - BOOKED OUT

Despite being free, you MUST book by emailing stkilda@thelocal.com.au.

New night for home brewers & prizes to be won!

Thanks to the generous support of Grain & Grape in Melbourne and Dave’s Home Brew in Sydney, we're launching a new night for homebrewers!

To be held each quarter, Taphouse BrewShare is about homebrewers bringing their own home brew to barter and socialise with their peers!

Even better news is that there is a $100 Grain & Grape/Dave’s Home Brew voucher for People’s Choice Beer!

The dates for the first events are below. Home brewers can brew whatever they like for the first event. In future, however, we may have style-specific nights.

ST KILDA: Tuesday Nov 24th from 7pm & free
DARLO: Thursday Nov 26th from 7pm & free

As it's free, we need to know how many people are coming so you MUST book by emailing either stkilda@thelocal.com.au or darlinghurst@thelocal.com.au.