First Public Appearance: Canberra Craft Beer and Cider Festival

Last weekend was the Canberra Craft Beer and Cider Festival. Wignall Brewery was making its first public appearance so I went along to help serve customers and document the event. We began by heading to the brewery and picking up the kegs to transport them to the festival. 

 

  

It was a beautiful clear morning as everyone was setting up their stalls and the organisers were laying out the tables and chairs and blowing up the balloons. After a quick coffee and a short but informative briefing - there are lots of volunteers who are willing to help - it was time to open the gates to the general public. 

 

There were 52 exhibitors with plenty of beer and cider to taste. The layout was along Batman Street and in the car-park of the Mercure Hotel. Stalls lined either side of the street with plenty of seating in the middle of the road. There were umbrellas and pine trees providing plenty of shade, and with suncream and water readily available, it was all set up to be a perfect beer-drinking environment.

I walked around early on to take photos of the people and their stalls before they got too busy, and I also sampled one or two beverages. Yes, I'm biased but I do love the Cole Porter from Wignall Brewery - it's deep and rich and chocolatey smooth. It did establish quite a reputation over the day and I heard many good things from customers.

 

 

 

We were next-door to Feral, who have long been a favourite of mine. I began the day with a Biggie Juice, which is so full tropical fruits and stone fruit and a pulpy hazy texture going on, that it totally tastes like a healthy breakfast beer. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

  

 

Of course we were sharing the stand with the crew from Pact; they make great beer and they stand out not just for the quality of their brews, but also for their bold colours and striking marketing.

There was a small queue of dedicated drinkers waiting to be let in at 11am and the crowd slowly built up to lunch time, when the street and the stands got really busy.

 

I had a Passion of the Puss from Wayward early on in the proceedings - the passion fruit and yuzu Berliner Weisse is so fresh and tart and delicious - it's a real sorbet of an amuse bouche and the perfect palate-cleanser.

 

These lads from Cupitt Craft Brewers make a great smoked porter that has a good depth and a subtle charcoal flavour - very nice indeed.

I'm not usually a fan of 'session IPAs' but there is a time and place for all strengths of beer, and about 2pm at the Canberra Craft Beer and Cider Festival seemed about right to try a Piss-Weak Sauce (Session IPA). For once I appreciated a session IPA that has all the hop flavours without the alcohol strength. Nice.

I also got in a sneaky cider: George the Fox is smooth featuring well-balanced tastes of apple and oak. It's very easy-drinking and makes a refreshing change. 

Drinky Pete is horrified to find himself empty handed.

 As well as Pact and Wignall, Canberra were well represented by Bentspoke, Capital and Zierholz. The latter's porter has a smooth coffee/chocolate richness and that signature berry taste.

 

The bands added to the atmosphere by supplying a relaxed and entertaining vibe. There were also food options, including burgers, nachos and 'loaded' chips. The food was good but a little tucked away in a back corner; I would have liked it to have been more plentiful and prominent.

Our friends at Willie the Boatman pour some of the finest beers around. The Crazy Ivan has a good malty hop balance, and the Nectar of the Hops is described as 'perfect beer for our warmer months'. It was certainly a festival favourite today with the big and juicy; sweet and fruity hops (tropical fruit flavours; pineapple; mango; lychees) and low bitterness for a smashable session.

 

Crazy Ivan

Pact Beer Co and Wignall Brewery collaborated on a blend of the Mt Tennet Pale Ale and the Stable Genius IPA. It's quite soft and sessionable with a good hop level coming through while the bitterness has been tamed. An on-line competition resulted in it being called Mount Pale McStable Face, and if you're not impressed with the name, here's the person to blame. 

 

As the day wore on the crowds kept coming, so we kept serving them beer. Fortunately, other people did too.

 

The boys from Akasha

Club Brewing are an interesting outfit, describing themselves as a beer subscription service with a difference. They focus on small batch releases designed and brewed in collaboration with some of the best breweries in the world exclusively for their members. I tried their stout (brewed in collaboration with Baird Beer) and their hoppy black ale (brewed in collaboration with Beer Here), both of which were jolly decent. 

Collaborators!

It was a big day and at the end of it we were tired but happy, as they used to say in the Famous Five. In terms of getting out and about, talking to and meeting customers and chatting with other brewers about their beers and the general market, it must be considered a great success. Roll on the next one!

 

Friday Five: Breweries

On our recent trip to Western Australia and Victoria, we experienced breweries as well as beaches. In consultation with Him Outdoors I have listed a top five below.

5 Favourite Recently-Visited Breweries:

1. Feral - the Hop Hog is delicious, the Rust, Fantapants and BFG are very tasty indeed, and the Boris Imperial Russian Stout is 'almost the perfect pint' according to Him Outdoors. If you find the perfect pint you may have to stop searching, which accounts the inclusion of the word 'almost'. The staff were very friendly and informative, and as it was swelteringly hot and we'd come a long way, they gave us free Feral baseball caps. We shall wear them with pride.



2. Bootleg - describing itself as 'an oasis of beer in a desert of wine', this brewery features a wonderful setting; great beer and knowledgeable friendly staff (and we were staying next-door so it was out 'local' for a few days). Between the Raging Bull, the Speakeasy IPA, Tom'a Amber and the Sou West Wheat, there was something for everyone!
3. Eagle Bay - some mighty fine brews, including a feijoa collaboration with the Yeastie Boys and an excellent Vienna Lager and Pale Ale. They are also a winery and a restaurant, but we didn't allow ourselves to be distracted.



The tasting paddle at Eagle Bay

4. Cowaramup - All the beers across the board were impressive with the porter being a stand-out for me. And the service was excellent.
5. Bullant - superb setting and accommodating staff; although it was very busy when we visited on New Year's Day we were still made to feel welcome. All the 'beers with bite' are named after local places along the Great Alpine Road, with the Mossiface pale ale being my favourite. They also do superb food as evidenced by this photo of my Moroccan chicken stack. 

Beervana 2011: Part Two

Now that's what I call real ale

Ta-Iti (Peak Brewery, 4%) - Now, that's a real ale! Low-carbonated hand-pulled tastiness.


Stu-dious drinking

Best Bitter (Cassels & Sons Brewing, 4.3%) - Surprisingly grassy and lemony for a bitter - if this were a wine it would be sauvignon, and it's not that far off as a beer, either. The tasting notes include the words 'gooseberry' and 'zesty', which isn't really what I'm after in a beer.

Hop Hog (Feral Brewing, 5.8%) - An American IPA that boasts a look of golden oranges and a smell of citrus pine needles. This tastes a lot better than it sounds and makes a refreshing drop. It's a quirky little Festival number - a short story in a glass.

Fat Yak (Matilda Bay Brewing Company, 4.7%) - Another American Pale Ale made in Australia, resulting in a malty fruity mix. I could taste cinammon and cloves but in more of an apple pie than a wheat beer sort of a way.

More random comments from discerning drinkers - "I'm impressed with the Australian beers; they seem to be smoother and more subtle - not a word I usually associate with Australians"; "Extremely bitter on the tongue and into the aftertaste, drowns out any other flavours" (Dusty Gringo, Deep Creek, 6.8%); "Drink more water!"; "Seriously, try the Boris - this is my third; it's brilliant!" (Boris, Feral Brewing, 11.5%)


Pretending we know what we're talking about



It's got a good nose, apparently

The Crown Prince (Ad Lib Brewing Co, 5%) - spiced pumpkin ale. Interesting. It really is bright orange, but it's got a delicate flavour, and is sweet and dry with lots of body. This is a fabulously intriguing beer of contradictions - a surprising favourite of the night.

South Island Pale Ale (Golden Eagle Brewery, 5.5%) - hoppy and malty, darker than the others and quite bitter. I would like to drink more of this, but have never see it anywhere.

Black Emperor (Golden Ticket Brewing, 4.6%) - I decided to move to the dark side but didn't want anything too strong just yet so thought this scharzbier would be a good choice. And I was right - bitter and black with very little sweetness - probably not for everybody but I enjoyed it.

Bennett's Classic Black (Bennett's Beers, 5%) - I've had this before but I knew I liked it - like a cold alcoholic coffee. I was trying to get some of the Garage Project's Manuka Dark, but there wasn't any, and the person behind the Wellington bar was short on advice and information.


Welcome to the dark side!

 iStout (8-Wired, 10%) - Imperial Stout that is creamy tasting without being actually creamy. It is black and tasty; those long imperial nights must just fly by with chocolate, malt, coffee and this.

Random comment update - "I am most impressed by the Aussies - I have to drag myself away from their stall"; "Good. Mmmm. Very good." (Old House ESB, Townshend Brewing Company, 5.3%); "Very deep, dark, smooth chocolate taste, recommended by J.C." (Doppelbock, Sprig & Fern, 8%); "A bit of liquorice - like a muddy puddle but without the grit" (Festivus 2011, 8-Wired, 7%); "Bugger, they've run out of Boris. What shall I do now?" (Boris, Feral Brewing, 11.5%)

RSB (The Emerson Brewing Company Limited, 5.2%) - An amber, fruity bitter. This is definitely a session beer, with a strong berry flavour, like a fruity cough medicine or a strawberry chupa chup.

 Black Bruge (Sprig & Fern, 5.4%) - created as a festive brew, I'd like to try this again. It was drinkable and I thought it tasted a bit like cake with a warm spicy flavour - more cakes and ale, please. I think I may have had too many other similar, because I found the taste didn;t stand out as much as it might.

 Black Op (The Emerson Brewing Company Limited, 8%) - Nice and tasty, piney and lovely. I enjoyed this very much - a wonderful end to a perfect evening.

mike's Imperial Porter (mike's Organic Brewery, 8%) - ooh, I liked this. It was full of yummy black goodness. Another one that I would drink again. That probably doesn't narrow it down too much, does it?


The Two Marks - like The Two Ronnies, but different

It's hard to compare different styles, and obviously there was a lot of the dark stuff - which I happen to like. I wasn't exactly conducting a scientific experiment or anything, but my top three would have to be Black Op, iStout, The Crown Prince, Ta-Iti, Fat Yak. Oops. That's five, isn't it? Oh well, it was a big night!