The Critic’s Choice Top 100 Beers of 2012

Over the past week at The Local we have been tapping the daily countdown for The Critic’s Choice Top 100 Beers of 2012.  These are the top twelve beers in Australia according to The Beer Lovers Guide and that are on tap today.

4th July - Star Spangled SpecTAPular - Line Up Confirmed

OK, so lots of people have been asking me what the final line up is for the next installment of The Local's seasonal beer festival, the 'Star Spangled SpecTAPular' on 4th July.

So here goes....(drum roll please)....

From the famous and spectacular Rogue Ales, we have the following awesome beers for the first time on tap anywhere in Australia:

Dead Guy Ale (German Maibock)

Chocolate Stout (American Stout)

Saint Rogue Red (American Red Ale)

Hazelnut Brown Nectar (American Brown Ale)

XS: Imperial IPA (American / Double India Pale Ale)

XS: Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout)

For anyone who wants to know a little more about Rogue Ales, it's worth checking out their web site. The About Us page is a great little story too.

And, for the Aussie beers that we've managed to squeeze into this somewhat looseley defined theme.....(another drum roll please)....

2 Brothers Voodoo, VIC

(Baltic Porter - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Arctic Fox Amber Lager, VIC

(American Amber Lager - 1st time on tap in NSW!)

Bootleg Brewery Epic 2IPA, WA

(American / Double India Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in VIC & NSW!)

Brewboys Brown Bomber, SA

(American Brown Ale - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Bridge Rd Candied Quince Saison, VIC

(Fruit Beer - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Colonial Brewing APA/IPA, WA

(American Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in NSW!)

Holgate Brewhouse Nut Brown Ale, VIC

(American Brown Ale - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Hunter Beer Co. Cranky Pants IPA, NSW

(India Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Moo Brew Pale Ale, TAS

(American Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in NSW & 2nd time in VIC!)

Mountain Goat Steam Ale, VIC

(Steam Ale / California Common - 1st time on tap in NSW!)

MT Brewery Yippy IPA, QLD

(India Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in VIC & NSW!)

Murray's Icon 2IPA, NSW

(American / Double India Pale Ale - back by popular demand!)

Red Duck Bengal IPA, VIC

(India Pale Ale - 1st time on tap in Oz!)

Two Meters Tall Cleansing Ale, TAS

(Real Ale / American Blonde Ale - 1st time on tap on the mainland!)

So there you have it peeps! I'm pretty excited about the line up packed full of sensational beers and plenty of exclusives. A couple are being brewed specifically in time for the event and don't officially have a name yet, so we're feeling pretty lucky. The line up is almost good enough to get Steve on a plane and back here to taste all the beers before they run out!

Looking forward to seeing you all at both Melbourne and Sydney for the next installment of the SpecTAPular series of beerfests....

Transport's Two Tones Pale Ale Launched This Thursday

Transport Hotel and The Melbourne Brewers are launching Two Tones Pale Ale this Thursday. They've kindly offered us two kegs (which we've graciously accepted and will tap as soon as possible). Here's the blurb:

The Melbourne brewers run Beerfest, one of Australia’s richest annual craft brewing competitions. Transport Hotel sponsor the ‘champion brewer’ prize which sees the winner have one of their craft beer recipes brewed on a commercial system and placed on-tap at Transport Hotel.

Beerfest 2008’s champion brewer prize saw a tie between: Tony Vandenberg and Tony Wheeler.

The ‘Two Tones’ agreed on the style of British Pale Ale and after some discussions with Paul Holgate from Holgate Brewhouse the beer was brewed at the Holgate Brewhouse facility in Woodend, Victoria. The resulting beverage is a golden coloured pale ale with delicate fruity aroma and moderate but lingering bitterness with pineapple and citrus notes

Congrats to all and can't wait to try the stuff!

Holgate Extreme Range launched at Cookie NEXT Thursday night

I'm not sure I can make it but Holgate is launching its extreme beer range at Cookie next Thursday (thx Brendan! I might be able to make it now.) from 4:30pm on... The beers are a Chocolate Porter, Hopinator (Double IPA) and Double Trouble (Abbey Ale). See their website for more.

Holgate Beer Dinner Photos

As promised, here are some photos from the Holgate beer dinner last week. See y'all @ the next one (James Squire on July 9th).

Paul Holgate

Holgate Dinner

Last night's Holgate Beer Dinner was a great success. We had a turnout of 26 people and the feedback we got about the beer and meal was A1. Photos to follow.

Thanks to Paul and Ian from Holgate for working with us to ensure it was a good night. I highly recommend making the hours drive to visit the Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend. They even have great accomodation upstairs. Thanks also to Ty and the kitchen staff. For the next week or so, we'll have a Holgate tap which will rotate the kegs we have left! Come one, come all!

Next beer dinner will likely be a degustation menu for James Squire on July 9th. Dr Chuck Hahn, Brewmaster, will be in town for this Tales n Ales night..

Beer events - Holgate dinner & 1st SpecTAPular

A 4 course beer dinner hosted by Paul Holgate and the brewing team from Holgate Brewery is coming up on Wednesday May 21st. You can download all the info here.

Our first seasonal beer festival - Beer SpecTAPular (Winter '08) - is locked in for Sunday June 22nd. Put it in your calendar now! Why? Because we have lined up 40 different beers (in approx 25 different styles) on tap from 40 different Australian breweries. Watch this space for more info.