Good Beer Week (Part Two)

We kicked off the next day with a culture break, heading to an exhibition at the art gallery and then I went to a play - more of both on the other blog. And then the drinking continued. Today we hit the breweries, beginning with Stomping Ground. Located in Collingwood, this brewery was established by the founders of The Local Taphouse and GABS, Steve Jeffares, Guy Greenstone and Justin Joiner. The guys have a mission to 'change the world just a little for the better', and that's not a bad goal.

The vibe is friendly and open with a big beer hall, the brewing bling on show, great-tasting beers, and superb food. The 'steamed local mussels with shallots, garlic, tarragon and white wine' are designed for sharing, but Him Outdoors doesn't like mussels so I had to eat them all by myself. Shame. We also befriended a lovely chap called Mike who is the sales person for Bootleg Brewery in Margaret River, so we took him along with us to our next couple of venues. 

At Dr Morse in Abbotsford, there was a silent auction for prints of some of the can art that has recently brightened up the aluminium containers of several beers. We placed a couple of bids and drank a few brews. 

Jedi Juice from Hop Nation

Hop Eagle from Capital Brewing (we now own this)

I mentioned in a previous this post that I have been impressed by the positive messages found on the walls of women's toilets in craft beer pubs. I have no idea what this means, but I kind of like it. 

The evening ended at Moon Dog, as it so often does when we find ourselves in Melbourne. Every year they release an Abbey Collaby: a collaborative brew made with Mountain Goat and Matilda Bay. This year's edition was launched with a heap of hoopla at the 'Abbotsford County Fair' party at the brewery, described as 'a hootenanny with a whole lot of hoot and just a touch of nanny'. There are straw bales, banjos, and a dunk tank in which unfortunate brewers get dunked into water while the drinkers encourage such shenanigans and donate money to charity. 

Abbey Collaby VIII (because Roman numerals are classy) is a Brut IPA. It is very dry and very hoppy. I like it. What I liked even more, however, was the Abbey Collaby IV, which found its way on tap that night after someone found a barrel of it at the back of the brewery. It's a 10.6% sensationally smooth American-style barleywine that I had a few years back when we were here before. It is aging superbly, and the only problem is that it tastes too good. We caught an Uber home. 

Abbey Collaby IV

Him Outdoors with Mike from Bootleg

Thursday morning began with a talk presented by Pink Boots about The Changing Face of Beer. On the panel were Melissa Cole, Jaega Wise (of Wild Card Brewery in London), and Alexandra Nowell (brewmaster at Three Weavers Brewing Company, whose Knotty IPA just won Champion International Beer at the AIBA awards). It was a fascinating discussion (about which more on the other blog) with much food (or should that be beer?) for thought to begin the day.

The Changing Face of Beer

We then went to another art exhibition and our heads and minds were full, so it was time to see to our more physical needs - off to more new breweries (for us) and of course we had to pay a visit to Burnley Brewing in Richmond. Their location is actually Bridge Road and they are situated pretty much on the river - their artwork features frogs and rowing boats, which is a world away from the Burnley that Him Outdoors knows 'and loves'. I particularly liked their Irish Dry Stout and their Double IPA, but all of the beers were good and well balanced. 

They also pride themselves on their food, and rightly so. My beef and pork ragu open lasagne was delicious. Him Outdoors had the special, which was a crispy duck leg confit with spinach and raspberry jus - yes, he could even cope with the jus!

Walking through Melbourne, even on a grim, overcast day, provides plenty of sights.

Burnley Bees in Richmond

Fitzroy Gardens

Beermash in Collingwood is the most spectacular little shop/ bar. For this week it has become the Pint of Origin for Scandinavia, and the bar offers beers from the likes of Dugges, Amager, Mikkeller, Beer Here andTo Øl. The venue is all clean lines, light pine and back lights; it's a fabulous little drinking spot and the displays are enticing. Like kids in a sweetie shop we were at pains to restrict ourselves, but the fresh and fruity Riesling People NEIPA brewed with Meierer Riesling Juice by Mikkeller was one of my favourite beers of the week.

In the evening I went to the theatre again for a spot more culture (a review of Hungry Ghosts will appear on my other blog), and then we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant, which was far too flash for me to take photos of my dinner.

Bright (ish) and (sort of) early the next morning we headed out to the Queen Victoria Markets. I love this place for breakfast or provisions, or just enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of a busy food market. I'm glad that many of the deli items have signs, otherwise I wouldn't know what they are. Even with signage, I'm not sure I do.

Can we talk to you about cheeses?

If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in the borek shops

After a trip to the Vikings exhibition at the museum, we went to the opening session of GABS. There's a lot of beer and a lot of fun to be had. I shall be posting about each of these things on Kate's Blog, but here is a composite of photos from the festival to be getting on with...

After the day's session we went to the USA POO, which was at Carwyn Cellars in Thornbury. Their aim was to tap 120 American beers which had never been tapped in Australia before. I tried beers from Firestone Walker and Against the Grain Brewing. After the 12.5% English-style Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels I wondered, where do we go from here? The answer was 'home'.

We called in at The Lincoln for a nightcap, and who should we meet but this hen-night soon-to-be-princess.

Before our next day of festival fun, we loaded up with breakfast at Cumulus Inc - healthy and not quite so healthy. I wanted to eat at this place because it has absolutely rave reviews, and I can see why. It was rammed, and there was a fifteen-minute wait for a table, but the food and the service were delightful.

As previously mentioned, I will be blogging separately about the GABS Festival itself, but here is a photo of the hard-working paddles at the end of the day.

GABS Paddles

We left the magnificent GABS venue (Royal Exhibition Building) with hoards of other people pouring into the streets. There were happy people and loud people and obnoxious people and oblivious people, but there were also frighteningly semi-comatose people. I don't know if alcohol or drugs had made them this way, but they were clearly unable to take care of themselves. We stopped and talked to one such woman and did our best to make sure she got home safely. 

Evidently I like a drink: I am not criticising anyone for imbibing. Sometimes we can take on too much and damage our health, which is not a good thing, and I'm not condoning it, but neither am I going to give anyone else grief on account of it. But what does concern me is people getting into a state where they are patently unsafe. Much as we would like them to be, our streets are not safe places. There are bad people out there who will hurt others if they consider them to be vulnerable. A young woman slumped on the footpath and unable to focus is vulnerable. 

Yes, I agree we should be teaching people not to harm others - that is a given. We should not be teaching young women to see themselves as victims. Young women should not have to take preventative steps against being harmed. But we live in a world where young women are raped and murdered walking back from the pub at night. There have been several high profile cases of this occurring in Melbourne while I have lived in Australia. (Three weeks after writing this, a young woman was raped and murdered less than three kilometres from this spot). I know this is wrong and part of an inherently broken society and messed up culture. 

But if any of us can do any little bit to keep each other safe, I'd plead with us all to do so. Without judgement. Without condemnation. We are part of a community: let us look after each other. Let's not just walk on past; let's ask people if they need help. Let's try and help everyone get home safely. That is all.

Back to the artwork...

 

Forester's Hall was the NZ POO and the Kiwi takeover was in full swing when we arrived:beer; music; tv (What We Do in the Shadows). I've not heard The Exponents, Split Enz and Dave Dobbyn in the six years since I've left. Can't say I've missed it. That beer on the other hand: Yeastie Boys; Garage Project; Kereru - nectar of the Gods! The pub also comes complete with sticky carpet, holes in the walls, and dubious toilets.

 

Russian dolls and cockatiel lamps guided us home... 

...where we put our feet up and watched the royal wedding. You can see how eagerly the princes were awaiting our arrival.

The last day was overcast but with dramatic skies as we walked around town.

Him Outdoors was part of a panel discussion about 'putting weird things in your beer'. Since some of the other panelists had brewed with snails and crickets, I don't actually think Rogan Josh is that odd an ingredient, but he was happy to be invited to talk about his brew. So, I'll end with a collage of the event.