GABS 2013 - Cellarman's Selection

The highly anticapted Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular, or GABS for short, is being held this coming weekend in Melbourne and wraps up the end of Good Beer Week. With 92 specially brewed beers it's going to quite a task to sample them all, so we spoke to our local cellarman, Ozzy, and beertender, Scott, to gather their picks for GABS.

Menu for St.Kilda's Brewers & Chewers Event announced

The menu for Good Beer Week event Brewers and Chewers has been announced!

Lucky guests will be dining and chatting with brewing 'royalty', drinking delicious beers from said royalty and enjoying the most scrumptious three-course menu around.

Entrée
Beet cured ocean trout, celeriac remoulade, toasted crumbs and horseradish.

Main
The Local's roast pork, sweet potato gratin, buttered sprouts, Chantenay carrots, parsley, rose and date salad, jus.

Dessert
Honeycomb ice-cream, chocolate stout brownie, hazelnut praline, butterscotch sauce

There are still tickets available, so book here and get in quick!

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!

Good Bye Good Beer Week 2012 - hello Good Beer Week 2013

Good Beer Week 2013 has just been announced. It will take place from May 18 - 26.

For those of you who have already forgotten about how good GBW 2012 was - here's a reminder of what went down at th Taphouse here in St Kilda...

With 9 events planned for the week, we knew it was going to be a long one - especially coming off the weekend that was GABS - a little beer festival you may have heard of. Pics.

Sunday we kicked off with Janet's 'Beerified' Trivia which saw a packed house cram in down stairs and compete for beery prizes.  Janet was back on Monday for Local Laughs- Melbourne's longest running comedy night. On show were some of Melbourne's best comedians including superstar Greg Fleet, all entwining beer into their show is some way or another - including consuming quite a lot of it once the gig was over.

Beerista 101 with Ange was also on Monday which was a great way to start Good Beer Week for those looking to learn a little about great beer before they ventured off to attend other events around the city. Whilst this was happening, 30 lucky people were next door in the BottleStore for a beer and cheese night hosted by Ashley from Cheese Culture.

Tuesday night saw the first of 3 official visits by Norwegian home brewer turned commercial cult brewer Kjetil Jikiun from Nogne O. It was time for Ale Stars and a record crowd came down to taste Kjetil's amazing beers and learn how to pronounce the name of his brewery once and for all. Fortunately we had been infiltrated by some expat Norwegians who showed us how it was done. Pics.

On Wednesday night, downstairs was transformed from a bar into a dining room as 60 people gathered for the now infamous Brewers & Chewers, hosted by the main man - Professor Pilsner. 7 special guests made their way around the tables for 15 minutes at a time regaling the crowd with tales of brewing successes and failures - one particular brewer brought a special gift to each table in the form of his very own whisky! Pics.

Over in the BottleStore, the guys from Beer Lovers Guide helped us put on an awesome night of extreme beer which had the beer nerd salivating.

Finally we made it to Friday and a get together for the Melbourne chapter of Barleys Angels. The girls took over the bocce room and got stuck in to some great beer, beer cocktails, food and pin the tail on the brewer!'. By all reports all had a great time and a few new Angels were recruited to the cause of good beer. Pics.

Last but not least, Kjetil was back on Saturday afternoon as guest judge of BrewShare - an event for those who brew their own. Kjetil was extremely generous with his time and imparted a few tips on the group about how to transform themselves from garage brewers to commercial success stories.

So that was Good Beer Week 2012 ... next year promises to be even bigger so put it in your diary now and we'll see you there.

Good Beer Week - Ale Stars with Kjetil Jikiun (Nogne O - Norway) - May 15th

Ale Stars, Melbourne's longest running beer appreciation club, celebrates Good Beer Week in style this year with special guest Kjetil Jikiun (Nogne O - Norway) coming along to share the story of his rise from talented homebrewer to the founder of a Norwegian craft brewery with a cult following.

On tap will be 4 of Kjetil's beers. There will be finger food and of course the trivia. So come down and join in - all are welcome.

Tuesday, May 15th, 7pm ish.

Click here to book your place now!

...its going to be fullt syk.

Good Beer Week - BrewShare - Saturday May 19th

In just a few weeks, BrewShare returns to the St Kilda Taphouse for Good Beer Week, thanks to ANHC and Grain & Grape.

Homebrewers are being asked to bring along their wares to share and be judged.

This special edition BrewShare is on Saturday May 19th from 3pm and will see us joined by a very special guest, Kjetil Jikiun from the world-renowned Nogne O brewery in Norway. Known as an outstanding homebrewer before he became an outstanding pro brewer, Kjetil will be part of a 'Q & Ale' session before judging the best homebrew brewed especially for the event.

The style to brew to is Porter, or you can enter your beer into the open category.

Click here to see how the event works.

Click here to book.

Good Beer Week - Barleys Angels - Friday May 18th

Barley's Angels is an international sisterhood with the common thread being great beer. The ladies meet every second month at events in Melbourne and Sydney (as well as around the world) where women can learn more about beer in a friendly, educational and supportive atmosphere.

As a celebration of Good Beer Week, this female-only night will be supersized as we experiment with beer cocktails, play party beer games, enjoy all female entertainment and great food and drink delicious tap beers brewed by females!

No blokes allowed!

Friday, May 18th. 7pm. $45 per person.

Click here to book.

Good Beer Week - Beerista 101 with Ange - Monday May 14th

Good Beer Week is just around the corner and for those new to great beer, we have the perfect way for you to start the week.

Ange will be hosting her last ever Beerista 101 and all are welcome.

One of the Taphouse's passionate beer enthusiasts (or Beerista!), Ange Connell has introduced hundreds of newcomers to the wonderful world of craft beer for several years. Ange will give you the beer basics as she takes you through a tasting paddle of 5 different beers, after which you'll be better equipped for your future craft beer journey. Tickets include a regular glass of your favourite beer at the end. What a great way to welcome in Good Beer Week!

Monday 14th May, 6pm.

Click here to book.

Good Beer Week - Brewers & Chewers is back!!

The undisputed highlight of last year's Good Beer Week, Brewers & Chewers returns this year with an amazing lineup of guests from around the world and our own backyard.

Hosted by the inimitable Professor Pilsner, here's how the night works:

We start with an intro to the guests and then seat them one at each table. The guest has a chat about all things beer, brewing and generally just having fun, with those at the table and then, after 15 minutes or so, a bell rings and a waiter escorts the guests from one table to the next. They then have a chat with that table, the bell rings, they move on, etc. This is repeated until each guest has been seated at each table.

Its sort of a meet the brewer session, beer and food dinner, and a speed dating session all rolled into one!

This year's amazing guest list is as follows:

Brendan Moylan (Moylans, USA)

Kjetil Jikiun (Nogne O, Norway)

Stu McKinlay (Yeastie Boys, New Zealand)

Shawn Sherlock (Murrays, NSW)

Steve Grossman (Sierra Nevada, USA)

Owen Johnston (Moo Brew, TAS)

Sam Fuss (True South, VIC)

Tickets are $85 and it all kicks off at 7pm on Wednesday, May 16th.

This event is well on the way to selling out already so get in early and book your spot by clicking here now!

Poster for Taphouse lineup during Melbourne's Good Beer Week launched

This poster almost says it all. This is what we have happening at the St Kilda Taphouse during Good Beer Week (and after GABS).

All the events we ran last year sold out so book early to avoid disappointment.