An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scot walk into a bar...

While it might sound like the opening line to a politically incorrect joke it came to life in living, breathing, drinking colour recently when The Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick held its first Great British Beer Dinner.

When putting together a wishlist for beers to showcase for the average punter in the outer eastern suburbs it soon became apparent that some of the favourites were representative of the united Kingdom’s combined classics. With a reasonably large population of ex-pats living in and around Berwick it seemed logical to offer a taste of traditional and new world interpretations of regional styles and match them with similarly themed dishes.

As for the post title? I figured it was a logical step to match three traditional beer drinkers to their land of origin and, to this end, I convinced three mates to join me in selecting, presenting and drinking these fine beers. James Smith (The Crafty Pint, The Age and father of Good Beer Week) agreed to represent England even though he was born in Scotland and often secretly curses his father for moving the family from Fife before he had the chance to craft a fine Scottish accent.

Andrew ‘Shandy’ Gargan couldn’t say “YES!” quickly enough when asked to represent the rolling hills and rolling drunks of Scotland and promised to use all his skills as the host of The Local Taphouse’s Ale Stars beer appreciation sessions to regale the assembled diners with tales of beer history and Scottish lore. As a vegetarian, I promised not to make too much fun of him.

Chris McNamara may have an accent as laconic and broad as the Queensland beaches for which he yearns but his surname and his knowledge of beer was passport enough to get him the gig representing The Emerald Isle. Each lad was asked to suggest food matches for beers of their choosing and the stage was set for a night of fun and frivolity.

Kicking off with a Celt Cwrw Lager as a token representation of Wales (Tom Jones wasn’t available) we got straight into the first course of Scotch Pie with Clapshot and the gentle charms of Fraoch Heather Ale. Shandy’s tale of paternal loyalty and recipe protection had the room wondering as to the true nature of the Scotsman and his beer. (Without wishing to give away the ending if you don’t know the story – they all die)

Chris then regaled us with tales of youthful devotion to a cute Irish lass and how he felt a little giddy – not from her Emerald charms but from the near cardiac arrest-inducing qualities of a traditional Irish Fry and Boxty such as was paired with the Kilkenny Irish Ale. It was up to James to provide some semblance of history/culture/context to a night that was fast becoming a series of stories of drinking and misspent youth.

Not to be. James kicked off by reminiscing about the last time he was at The Courthouse and had to endure the double pain of being sat next to Shandy for the night AND having to drive an hour home and therefore unable to savour the joys of our extensive beer list. Tonight he was able to sip plenty of Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale with his beer battered fish supper & mushy peas.

We finished with a dish whose provenance seemed something of a mystery to the guests. Is Sticky Date Pudding an Irish, Scottish or English dish? Is it even originally from those parts? Some figured English merely because it has the word ‘pudding’ in it and that’s just about good enough for me. The beer we matched with it and a serve of homemade banana chip ice cream certainly WAS English – though far from traditional. Wells & Young’s Banana Bread Beer worked a treat with both the pud and the ice cream and of that there was no argument.

A very special ‘Thank You’ has to go to the boys – not the least for the trek of some two hours on public transport from their cosy, craft beer friendly inner suburbs – but for the generosity and compassion shown to those of us ‘East of Glenferrie’ who don’t have the world of good beer on our doorsteps. Their insights and anecdotes were well received, if only because it meant that the regulars didn’t have to listen as much to me.

The next Beer Blokes Beer Dinner at The Courthouse Restaurant Berwick is our famed Oktoberfest dinner and the boys have already revealed that they are at least 1/16^th German one and all.

Cheers

Prof Pilsner

One down and one more to go

Last weeks’ Beer Blokes Beer Dinner at The Courthouse Dinner was a cracker with another full house, plenty of beautiful food, wonderful beer and just a few tears.

You see, during the preceding week an offer to buy the restaurant was made and accepted within the space of three days bringing the curtain down on the six year tenure of Chef and owner Tim O’Brien. It also meant that I was out of both my restaurant manager role and my very successful gig as Beer Dinner host.

It was tough having to look around the crowded dining room at the faces of those who had supported the concept of our Beer Dinners and the handful of new faces who had only recently discovered them – people who, six years ago might have taken a bit more convincing to take a punt. It was a difficult task to tell them of the sale and that this would be the last Beer Dinner at The Courthouse.

And then, a reprieve! Tim decided to throw open the last Friday before handover to one last almighty beer-driven funfest. One last chance to celebrate beer and food and fun and friendship to get really, really loud. Just the way a Beer Dinner should be. But it hasn’t always been like that.



When we first began slotting dinners into the restaurant calendar we had high hopes that the concept would fly but were equally realistic that we were entering unknown waters. Not only was there nowhere in Melbourne holding regular functions, but there also didn’t seem to be an understanding by the general public of what a beer dinner entailed. “You’ve heard of a Wine Dinner, haven’t you?” I’d ask and the reply was always the same; “Yeah, of course but how does a Beer Dinner work?”

In addition to this road block we were the only restaurant for miles around that had more than ten beers on the list meaning that the area wasn’t really considered a haven for beer lovers. But this was to work to our advantage as we kept promoting and pushing and speaking to anyone who showed even a passing interest in our extensive offerings (about 40 beers at the time and now close to 100) and the word began to spread. Plenty of punters showed a real excitement for the prospect of a five course dinner with five matching beers, but turning good intentions into actual bookings proved harder than we thought.




But we kept plugging away. We ran the dinners – seasonally in the first two years and often with just a table of two and a table of four (mostly mates and true believers!) – and we stuck at it. To his credit, Tim allowed me to stick with the formula – it worked with those who DID come along, we just needed more bums on more seats. We decided to maintain the same high standard rather than ‘dumb it down’ in quality or price just to ‘buy’ patronage. Before long we could fill the smaller Magistrate’s Chamber function room at the back of the restaurant and every now and then we’d move to the main dining room.

And so to the present. In the past eighteen months we have filled the front room and rescheduled the dinners to the point where, instead of once every 2 or 3 months we have held them every month and have had to knock back as many bookings as we have taken. Yes, I’m glad we stuck with it. We’ve showcased a hundred different beers from home and abroad and exposed novices to the different tastes and flavours of the beer world. We also now have an e-mail list as long as the bottling line at CUB and I’ll let you all know where the Beer Blokes Beer Dinner turns up in the future.




And so for one last dance. I’d post an open invitation here but that would be teasing as we have already filled every seat and even have a waiting list happening. I guess that means I’ll just have to take the show on the road after November 13th when the Courthouse closes its doors and moves into its next phase under new owners and a new concept. Happy to talk to anyone who might like to see what all the fuss is about!

Thanks to Tim for his faith in me and thanks to all those Berwick beer lovers who have stuck with it and made these dinners not just the only regular beer dinners around, but probably the most fun as well.

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

Get Set ...GO!!!

This next week looks like being a rather busy one for Beer Blokes and for those who similarly love their beer.

It is even busier for the fact that it is inter-connected with this current week which is also filled to overflowing with beery goodness-wrapped events.

Last weekend was spent checking out the Matilda Bay Brewer’s Bite which brought beer and food to the market and the masses and was a well run and well received event.




After catching up with mates and fellow beer writers at Biero (long night) on Monday, Tuesday was spent preparing for Wednesday’s 3rd meeting of the newly formed (and soon to be incorporated ABWG*) – and when I say ‘preparing’ I mean drinking three beers for tasting notes, which leads us in to today, Thursday.


Tonight you can come and see Prof Pilsner at the Oktoberfest Beer Tasting at Purvis Cellars in Surrey Hills (not to be confused with Purvis Beer in Richmond) where I will be pouring the De Molen range from Holland and the very lovely Stone & Wood range from Byron Bay. You can have some samples, chat with me about beers and perhaps even stay back to help me choose a special ‘surprise beer’ for Friday night’s Beer Dinner at The Courthouse Restaurant.

This Beer Dinner looks like being an absolute cracker with media attending and everything!! I must be on my best behaviour for that. A full restaurant on Saturday before a pleasant Sunday afternoon of drinking lovely beer around a BBQ with mates round out the weekend before the ‘real’ beer week activities begin.







Monday will probably consist of recover/prepare with Ale Stars at The Local Taphouse St Kilda featuring the very talented Shawn Sherlock from Murray’s Brewing (long night) before the hectic and very beery two days of the Microbrewery Showcase at Federation Square. That takes care of Wednesday and Thursday before we are back at The Courthouse to showcase some more craft beer before doing the same again on Friday night and Saturday night and then collapsing in a heap at the end of the week.

The things we do for better beer!

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

Courthouse Beer Dinner, Ja?!

Dust off the Lederhosen, tighten your Drindls and unpack your Oom-Pahs as The Courthouse Restaurant gets set to celebrate beer in October with ... well, an Oktoberfest Beer Dinner, of course.



5 sumptuous courses, including dessert, matched up with 5 beers in either a German traditional style, or a lovely Australian beer brewed in a traditional German style. The beers are chosen and the menu almost finalised (I'm still trying to perfect the Bratwurst Ice Cream) and I may even have a special guest so that the guests don't have to listen to me prattle on all night.


$55 will get you a seat (I'll provide the table) and it's only $50 for Courthouse Restaurant Beer Listers.

Friday October 15, 7 for a 7.30 start with a few 'specials' in stock at special celebratory prices fro those after some nice 'tweenies'. The Courthouse Restaurant, 1 Gloucester Ave, Berwick.

Prost!!

Braggot finds new friends

The Courthouse Restaurant Beer Dinner

I have to admit that I was going to begin this post by telling you how many Beer Dinners I’ve hosted at The Courthouse Restaurant over the last 6 years but I can’t actually remember the total and I can’t find all the menus that I’ve kept which would have given me an idea at least.

Let’s say that I reckon it’s about twenty.

My point was going to be this; each dinner has featured at least five and sometimes six and one time seven beers and I have only used two beers more than once (Schofferhoffer Kristallweizen and Bridge Road Brewers Australian Ale) and rarely use more than one beer that we already have on the Beer List, so it’s fair to say that we have always tried to give value for money.

But, to be fair, I have generally had to cater mostly to a market that, while willing to try something ‘new’ is not one to really embrace anything ‘different’, and so particularly early on we had to use a more mainstream standard of beers to make sure we didn’t scare too many away. After all, you don’t win a Grand Prix on the first lap.

But, as the base of regular supporters has grown (I’ve done Beer Dinners early in the piece with a table of two and a table of four and, more recently for 56 people) I’ve found that I need to ensure that the maturing palates are not disadvantaged. The beer selection has consequently matured to include lesser known styles and unfamiliar brands including a growing emphasis on Australian Craft Beer.




But the last Beer Dinner I took things a step further. Not only were the guests introduced to the mysteries of Dark Lager in the steely form of Matilda Bay Dogbolter, we then crashed their palates with a very hoppy Anchor Liberty Ale and then completely changed their perceptions of what beer CAN be by finishing the night with a Bridge Road Brewers Megachile Pluto Braggot. As you can guess there were so many foreign words in that one that it took us ten minutes just to introduce the beer!

Braggot, that Ale/Mead hybrid so well loved of the Medieval Britons, was recently reintroduced to the craft beer scene by Bridge Road Brewers Nardia McGrath (amazingly and coincidentally at the same time by Red Duck Brewery as ‘Ugly Duckling’ at 14%!). The Bridge Road Braggot uses a rather generous 85kgs of Beechworth Red Stringy Bark honey in its 800litre batch and this gives it warmth and mellowness and a nice big hug with its 10% alcohol level.

And here’s the point of this whole post. The Braggot went down an absolute treat. The response was terrifically positive and, considering the guests had already had at least four beers and four courses by then, there was very little left undrunk. Beer, that is, not people. Although, as I recall, there were very few people left un-wobbly! But happily so.

So from here on in I need to readjust my thinking when I’m standing in the beer aisle choosing the beers to suit the dishes I have in mind. While I still have to make sure that the beers fit into the per-head budget I reckon I can throw in at least one – and maybe even two – beers that are outside the comfort zone for the average drinker.

I might even call it The Braggot Principle. Thanks, Nardia.

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

Oh, and Ben? I might grab some B2 Bomber for the next Beer Dinner on October 15. I know you guys are still fighting over whose beer has the most positive review! You might even like to invite yourself down and I’ll make it a Bridge Road Beer Dinner...?

The Courthouse packs out – again

I had planned to post a quick reminder of the next Beer Dinner I’ll be hosting at The Courthouse Restaurant this Friday night featuring some really nice food matches and some beers that slip from the Winter Warmers into the fresher hoppy quenchers of Spring ...

But it has booked-out again.

The next is due for the second week of November but I think it might end up slotting into the last week or two of October so that we can give it a bit more lead-in.

As for this Friday, think of the forty of us as we settle in to some seriously nice food and, among other fine brews, Schofferhoffer Kristalweizen, Brew Boys Maiden Ale and Bridge Road Brewers Megachile Pluto Braggot.

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

Beer Blokes at The Melbourne Home Show

The last week of August saw the Beer Blokes join beery forces with The Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick to take the word on Good Beer to the masses at The Herald Sun Home Show and Garden Expo.

For those unable to attend, we presented a Beer & Food Experience in three parts. Showcasing three of Matilda Bay’s finest brews, we began with a nice crisp Munich style lager, Big Helga, and a brief introduction to Craft Beer. Tim (Chef & Owner of The Courthouse) then showed the crowd how to use beer as an ingredient in a pie which was then matched with a Fat Yak Pale Ale. We finished with the seemingly incompatible Dogbolter Dark Lager paired with a little chocolate mud cake. The fact that not a single crumb or drop was left behind makes me guess that the matches were a hit!




We were thrilled with the response to both our show on The Wine & Dine Stage and to the crowds we had visit us at our stand. Attendance at The Home Show was expected to be around 40,000 and it felt as though, between us, Tim and I served nearly all of them samples of Matilda Bay beers, along with some selected offerings from some of Victoria’s finest Craft Breweries. And when I say ‘we’ of course I mean ‘we’ plus our very dedicated support staff of Jess, Carol and Sam who helped us out – particularly after each stage show when a mass of ‘Beer Hunters’ headed over for some more of what they saw on stage!



We are all now totally exhausted but absolutely thrilled that so many people were keen to find out more about our burgeoning Craft Beer scene and were so willing to try some beers that were, until now, a mystery to them. We are busily preparing orders for shipping and selecting some special Craft Beers from around Australia for our visitors to enjoy. Needless to say there are more than a few Dads who will get a very nice surprise on Sunday September 5th!

A special thanks to Tom and the crew from Mountain Goat for your help – there are now heaps of little kids with Goat stickers on their bikes! To Ben from Bridge Road Brewers and all the others who helped us with posters and stuff to make the stand look ‘homely’ an extra big thank you. And the biggest thank you of all to Scott and the crew at Matilda Bay for the loan of the bar which made the stand look welcoming and gave the punters something solid to lean on while they learned all about good beer!

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

The Courthouse Restaurant overflows

About six years ago a bloke who loved his beer and loved sharing his love for beer sat down (over a beer) with a Chef who loved his beer and loved matching food with beer and discussed the idea of hosting regular Beer Dinners at the restaurant the Chef owned and the beer bloke managed for him.

After a few more beers they took a punt and marked the date in the restaurant’s diary. They put up some posters in the restaurant and started spruiking to anyone who’d sit still long enough to listen. After a few weeks they had heard plenty of people say; “Oh, that sounds ... interesting”, but the bookings book stayed blank. As the day approached they rang mates and regulars and eventually got the thing off the ground. A table of four and a table of two.

Fast forward to last Friday and the dining room of the very same restaurant was as full as fat lady’s sock with 42 people awaiting the commencement of the very same restaurant’s fifteenth regular Beer Dinner. They had beaten another dozen and a half folks who left their booking a little late to secure their tables as well as at least twenty more who had replied that they had other engagements on the same night. I know how THAT feels.

I guess that counts as success borne of persistence, experience and being too stubborn to admit defeat. It also points to a pretty healthy state of affairs in the Australian Craft Beer scene that more and more people are (A) aware of what a Beer Dinner entails and (B) willing to turn up to one and enjoy themselves. That more and more venues are also now taking a chance and hosting Beer Dinners is also a great sign for the future. Just saying, we blazed the trail, OK!

Special guest for the night was Matilda Bay Brewing Company Head Brewer, Scott Vincent, who led the assembled mass through five of the brewery’s finest drops, all matched to some sensational dishes from the Courthouse kitchen.





Beginning with the iconic Redback Original wheat beer and a similarly beer battered prawn with chermoula mayo, Scott told of his passion for brewing beer and, in particular, the joys of being the head brewer and thus brewing beers that you prefer to drink yourself. A short history of the brewery gave the guests an insight into the growth of the craft beer scene – without giving away the answers to the upcoming trivia quiz, planned by yours truly.

The next course, courtesy of one of our local suppliers of fine meats, was a German style Bratwurst matched with a German style Munich Helles, Big Helga. She turned out to be one of the most well received beers of the night as the Bratties were ... how should I put this? ... a little more spicy than the ones we normally get! There was a little trepidation throughout the room at the realisation that a Potato & Cauliflower Curry was listed as the second entree!

Fortunately, the curry was a flavour, rather than temperature-based dish and the Matilda Bay Bohemian Pilsner partnered delightfully with its sweet malt backbone, cleansing mouthfeel and taut bitterness. Just the thing to lead us into the main course, a mouth-wateringly sweet and rich lamb shoulder, slow cooked for six hours and accompanied by my MB personal favourite, Alpha Pale Ale.




I had promised in my introduction to the evening that Beer Dinners at The Courthouse Restaurant are designed to inform and educate – even delight – but also to challenge the drinker. Challenge the perceptions of what beer really IS, to challenge notions that ALL beer is pale gold and fizzy and the challenge palates to accept that FLAVOUR in beer is not a dirty word. Or an optional extra.

Alpha is probably the perfect beer to do all of the above and so it came to pass that many who had never tried it before said they would probably not have thought to seek out such a beer but were glad they had tried it. Others were kicking themselves that they had taken this long to discover it. For others it was a case of “I understand why you came up with Fat Yak”.

I always prefix my Beer Dinners by encouraging discussion. I point out that I don’t brew any of the beers on the menu and therefore I won’t be offended if someone doesn’t like one of the beers. Obviously, there was a need to qualify that statement when you have a brewer of the calibre of Scott present and, as predicted, somewhere between Beer Number Three and Beer Number Four (not counting the two or three ‘earlies’ consumed) plenty of opinion was offered. Fortunately, much was positive and the appreciation for the combinations of beer flavours and food characteristics made up for any lack of love for a particular beer style.

To finish, the now well-warmed crowd was treated to a rich chocolate mud cake with Carla’s dreamy coffee sauce and a homemade tuille with a decorative “MB” piped onto it. It was paired with Matilda Bay’s limited release coffee-infused dark ale, Longshot. The retelling of the meeting between Scott and gourmet coffee roaster Toby Smith from Toby’s Estate had the guests realising that beers can sometimes come from the most unlikely sources and that sometimes a true story can be better than anything a marketing man can up with.

If the previous beers hadn’t challenged perceptions, then this one certainly did.



I’m glad that early setbacks with hosting Beer Dinners didn’t deter us from ‘fighting the good fight’ and persisting with the concept. I’m glad that people like Scott and Neil from Matilda Bay are happy to ‘invite’ themselves over when I call them for some tasting notes. I’m especially glad when I look around a crowded dining room and see so many familiar faces mixed with new faces, all of whom have taken a punt, like we did, to try something different and to allow oneself to enjoy it.

Just kinda makes it all worth the effort, really.

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

Courthouse Beer Dinner comes in from the cold

What you really have to love about a traditional cold Melbourne winter is (A) How much it makes you appreciate summer and (B) How good a nice hearty meal served with winter warming beers can be.

The Magistrate’s Chambers in the Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick is the perfect setting for a night where the wind is sending chills up even the hardiest spine. A separate room behind the old Magistrate’s bench it is an ideal place to seat twenty or so guests and treat them to the joys of two open fires, four warming courses and six beers that will challenge the novices’ preconceptions of beer in general.

And so it was on Friday when the back room was filled with anxious punters waiting to see what wonders a nice winter brew can bring. A palate-preparing Gosser Pale Ale bought me some time to introduce the newcomers and welcome back the ten regulars while the first course of sweetish corn fritters and egg croquettes was prepared. This was paired with a Holgate Big Reg Vienna Lager which not only complemented the meal well with its caramel sweetness but also opened a few eyes to lager in its different forms.



A White Rabbit Dark Ale was matched with a beautiful dish of Crispy Pork Wontons and Asian style Pork Belly and the warmth of the ale and its open fermentation flavours worked a treat with the sticky unctuousness of the pork. I decided on a beer that I had only recently discovered as a favourite to go with the main course. A cold night and warm company demands a nice hearty comfort-food kind of meal and a rich Beef and Ale open topped pie was a fitting centrepiece for the dinner.

We coupled it with Timothy Taylor Landlord Strong Pale Ale and the nuttiness, the biscuity sweet malt and the light freshness of the hops just seemed to go hand in hand with the rich and filling elements of the beef.

To finish we popped the top off a Harrington’s Wobbly Boot Porter Ale which we matched with a lovely rich homemade Tira Misu. The coffee and chocolate in each saw a fitting end to the official part of the evening although it took another hour and a half and several beers for the last three tables to make their way gingerly into the chill Melbourne night.

But that’s probably what I like best about these Beer Dinners!

Cheers
Prof Pilsner

Fancy a Beer Dinner?

I don’t know if it’s the colder weather setting in, or if it’s the ‘flavour of the month’ or if it’s just a reflection of our growing affection for that wonderful amber nectar but it seems that Beer Dinners are all the rage right now.

As something of a ‘pioneer’ in this field I am obviously particularly stoked because I know what a great night they can be and how well they introduce people to beer in a non-threatening and informal way. If nothing else, they are a great opportunity to show folk how beer can be a crafted product, not just a manufactured item.

Here are a few of the offerings that have passed across my desk in the last few weeks and if you know of others on the way, leave a note and I’ll follow it up and post the details.

The Royal Mail on Spencer is having a Mountain Goat Beer Dinner on July 28. I’ve already booked my table. Here is their blurb;
Mountain Goat brewery of Richmond will join us for a fun night of beer & food matching on Wednesday 28th July. We'll create a menu to match a selection of Mountain Goat's beers & cider from Punt Road Wines. This will be a unique opportunity to learn about beer & food matching & enjoy Mountain Goat beers in an informal & fun atmosphere. The folks from Mountain Goat will be joining us & will happily discuss the finer points of beer matching & introduce us to some of their limited release beers. We'll have prizes on offer & look forward to a fun night. Please ensure you reserve your table as this event will sell out. Please phone Anna on 9329 6955 if you require any additional information.
Bookings: 03 9329 6955
Young & Jackson’s is one of Melbourne’s finest venues for a Beer Dinner and is steadily gaining a well deserved reputation as a ‘go-to’ venue for craft beer. Upstairs in Chloe’s Bar and adjoining restaurant you can enjoy a Beer Dinner featuring 6 craft beers from each of Otway Estate, Bridge Road Brewers, Matilda Bay and Mountain Goat between now and December with each brewer having a two month showcase spot.

This month the featured brewery is Grand Ridge and their Beer Degustation Dinner is on either June 15 or June 22 depending on whether you take the SMS or the website as accurate. 6 courses and 6 beers including two special new releases are on offer for $80 per head so if you’re keen it might be worth a phone call to clear up the confusion.

And The Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick is holding a Winter Warmer Beer Dinner, hosted by your very own Prof Pilsner on Friday June 25. Four courses and six beers for $55 per head but there are only a couple of tables left because, well, they are just so gosh-darned good fun.

And, if you haven’t already heard, The Local Taphouse in St Kilda is ramping up the whole food and beer matching thing with some sensational regular menu offerings which really showcase just how versatile and flexible beer can be as an ingredient as well as an accompaniment.

We are certainly becoming spoiled for choice, but it up to us to support these events so that continue into the future.

Cheers,
Prof Pilsner

http://www.theroyalmail.com.au/events.html
http://www.youngandjacksons.com.au/dining.html
http://www.courthouse.com.au/index.htm
http://thelocaltaphouse.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-weeks-st-kilda-food-specials.html

Beer & Cooking

We had a group in the restaurant last night who wasted no time at all in getting straight into our rather extensive beer list. In fact, the guest of honour and his missus had been in for their anniversary a while back and made the decision to return for his birthday because of our amber offerings.

From Tuskers to Leffe Blonds and Estrella Damm to Grozet Gooseberry they were keen to try as many as they could. One bloke had a big game today and so he rationed himself to a single beer which he tipped over on the table-join after the first sip and one bloke who didn't want to drink beer at all had Budweisers all night, so there was really something for everyone.

We got talking about our Beer Dinners and the new menu items making their way onto our regular menu which feature beer as an ingredient. We've got some intensive research going on in the test kitchen and it's quite amazing just how much beer you are forced to sample when getting the delicate balance just right.

We nailed a Beer Damper using Cooper's Sparkling, the residual yeast giving the bush bread a bit more texture and lightness and that might pop up as a starter soon. We have shelved plans for a Chicken A La Bier until we can get the presentation right - after all, we eat with our eyes first. Taste-wise it's deluxe, the look on the plate just needs tweaking.

Our Beer & Barley Soup (from the now-famous Matilda Bay Beer Dinner) may poke its head up as the weather turns colder and the Lamb Stew could certainly get a look-in about the same time.

But it was the Stout Ice Cream that captured the attention and I promised I would post some tips on the blog: here they are. Feel free to use the comments section to add your own beer/food secrets. I have no shame, I'll adopt any and all of them!

For the ice cream, I reduced a 375ml Cascade Stout down to about 150mls on a low heat that barely raised a bubble, leaving it for about 45 minutes. This produces a nice, thinnish syrup that concentrates the sweetness and the coffee and caramel notes of the beer but leaves an unmistakeable beery bitterness. As a result, we used very little stout syrup to ice cream ratio and still got a beautiful stouty middle palate, a tingly bitter hit before the sweetness of the ice cream ran in to settle things down. A good quality vanilla bean ice cream helps a lot.

Now, for a Stout cake, our friends had used Guinness as part of the liquid component of their recipe. I reckon Guinness has a bit too much sharpness and roasty astringency for a cake, although you could balance it out with some extra sugar. I'd prefer a Young's Double Chocolate Stout in place of the Guinness and, rather than adding it 'wet' I'd reduce it down as in the example above.

Hope that makes more sense than it did late alst night!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

The Courthouse Restaurant Cross-Tasman Beer Dinner

A long weekend is either a Godsend or a curse when it comes to running a restaurant. In some regions it is a rare opportunity to fill the dining room once or twice extra or it is an opportunity for the town to pack up and head off for three or four days and leave the town empty.

Berwick, the little village township in the centre of a massive sprawling suburban development wherein sits the restaurant I manage, can easily be one or the other. Some long weekends sees it left a ghost town and the next we are knocking back enough bookings to fill the joint twice. So it was with a fair bit of convincing that I encouraged the boss man to let me host an Australia/New Zealand themed Beer Dinner on the Friday of the ANZAC Day weekend.

And I’m glad we did. We not only filled the dining room with happy punters looking forward to some friendly beer-flavoured rivalry but we were also pleased to receive the feedback from them that it was great to have something nice to do when you’re not going away for the weekend. And something nice - and very beery – is just what we gave them.


The trend towards food and beer matching is gaining momentum and I have seen the general level of interest grow particularly over the last two or so years. At The Courthouse restaurant we have dabbled in various areas of matching and we have often listed recommended beer styles that might pair well with a dish and we have attempted to use beer as an ingredient on special occasions. With this beer dinner we decided it was time to take it up a notch.

We started with a beer damper, using Cooper’s Sparkling Ale, as a starter which went down a treat and we followed this with a dish of Chicken a La Bier using Gosser Dark Ale in place of stock. These dishes were paired with a Mountain Goat Steam Ale and Bridge Road Brewers Australian Ale respectively.

The main course of very Australian and Kiwi Lamb on mash was matched with two mystery beers. The diners knew only that one was a NZ craft offering and the other a similarly styled Australian. Introduced as Left Beer and Right Beer, they were then asked to try each beer against the food and nominate their favourite without the restrictions of nationalistic preference. In a fairly close run thing, NZ’s Epic Pale Ale was pipped by The Flying Horse Brewery’s Whale Ale by a handful of votes. Fortunately for me and the chef, all agreed the beers matched beautifully with the lamb.

The crowning glory, and fitting tribute to the Skippies and the Kiwis both, was a Cascade Stout Ice Cream sandwiched between two ANZAC biscuits and paired with a Dux Brewery Sou’wester Stout. I had tried the ice cream while at the Cascade Brewery last month and was unashamedly happy to rip it right off – with the appropriate acknowledgement of course – and make my own version. So popular was it that you will now find a similar offering on our menu.


It was very pleasing to see plenty of regulars returning but also as many newcomers which gives me a good feeling about the future of craft beer at the grass roots level. If we can keep offering good products in the form of Beer Dinners, tastings and showcases, then slowly but surely we can keep the momentum and grow the industry.

I usually mention, before, during and after these events, that beer never ceases to amaze me and throw up nice surprises at every turn. Imagine my surprise when I was talking up the virtues of Red Hill Brewery and their estate grown and dried hops when one of the guests introduced himself as David and Karen’s next door neighbour and the bloke who, in fact, dries the brewery’s hops in his apple drying kit! And as much as he loved my Stout ice cream, so too am I looking forward to trying his ‘honeycomb-like’ dehydrated ice cream. If we can combine the drying of the ice cream WITH Red Hill’s Imperial Stout ... hmmm?

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

The Courthouse Cross-Tasman Beer Dinner

This Friday your dedicated Professor will be hosting a Beer Dinner which will celebrate the special bond shared between Australia and our friends from 'across the ditch', the Kiwis.

A very special night is promised with 6 beers (3 Australian and 3 New Zealand) to be matched with some very special dishes. I have devised a couple of the courses myself with specific beers in mind and the highlight might just be a Taste-Off with a main course of lamb to be matched with a mystery Aus beer and a mystery NZ beer - the punters will decide on the 'winner'.

There are three or four tables still available - if you are able and keen, call Timo at the restaurant on 9707 4459 (and tell him you heard about it here!) It's just $55 for six beers and four courses. 7 O'clock it gets underway.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Big Helga and the Beer Dinner

It was pretty appropriate, really, that the biggest Beer Dinner I have been involved with was also a showcase for Matilda Bay Brewing Co’s newest release, Big Helga. Big on numbers, big on atmosphere, big on service and food and big on guests – we had the lot.


I have hosted Beer Dinners at The Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick for the past five years and we usually manage to attract between 12 and 26 people to each which is more than enough to ensure a fun night that never manages to take itself too seriously. This time around we stopped taking bookings when the numbers breached 60 as we were already committed to a couple of tables who had booked for a ‘normal’ night in the restaurant. To the thirty or so we weren’t able to accommodate – sorry!

Neil Whittorn from Matilda Bay ‘invited’ himself along for the festivities along with an offer to talk about beer and bring with him as much liberated product as he could sneak out of the brewery without Scott noticing. The fact that we had planned to showcase Big Helga probably helped make the decision easier for him.

Our theme for this Beer Dinner was Australian craft beers based on traditional international styles and from European and Munich lagers to English ales, American Pale Ales and Chocolate Porters we had a fair slab of the beer world represented.

A full house provided a solid buzz throughout the night and some masterful food matching and culinary skill meant that everyone was treated to some pretty intense experiences of taste, flavour and texture. From the opening beer, a crisp and palate-prepping Coldstream Pilsner the stage was set for a sensory symphony.

The guest of honour (Big Helga, or maybe Neil) then took centre stage and a Beer & Barley soup made the perfect partner for a dry Munich lager. So rich and full were the soup’s flavours that many are still wondering whether it really was vegetarian.

A beer braised beef cheek followed, along with a pair of beers to demonstrate the amber nectar’s ability to complement or cleanse. A Fat Yak and a Beez Neez are as different in body, flavour and finish as you could get and they showed beautifully just how easily beer adapts to the drinker’s requirements for refreshment and interest on the tongue. The beef was braised in a James Squire porter and the richness was delightfully offset by the citrusy tang of the honey wheat beer and nicely complemented by the boldness and body of the American Pale Ale as well.

Pork belly slow cooked in an Asian master stock was the main course and a James Squire Original Amber Ale was the perfect partner for these flavours. Mellow yet firm with enough middle strength to match the pork and just enough bitterness to clean and prepare the palate for the next instalment, this English amber ale did the job well. It was also a nice way to introduce some of the novice drinkers to something a little different to their usual tipple.

The evening finished with a Holgate Temptress from Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend. A chocolate porter, deep dark and rich with some bright notes hidden within due to the inclusion of Dutch cocoa and whole vanilla beans proved to be a terrific pairing with a rich chocolate mud cake with a dollop of mousse made from Southern Tier’s Raspberry Porter.

A huge thanks to Neil for generously sharing his time and passion with every table and for giving the proceedings an air of technical efficiency without letting it get beer-geeky at all! While the large crowd made for a few service challenges it certainly made it a busy, noisy and very beery evening and. Although we will probably look at capping the numbers next time around, this dinner will go down as a cracker.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

A goal achieved

I was going to use this post to spruik a Beer Dinner that I’m hosting at The Courthouse Restaurant at the end of February. We missed out on a dinner during January as things just got a bit too busy and people were away but figured the weather would still be OK for some nice Summer/warm weather beers matched to some nice dishes this month.

I even had Neil Whittorn from Matilda Bay offer to ‘invite himself’ for the event, an offer I readily accepted. All I had to do then was get some bums-on-seats. I’ve been hosting beer dinners now for about seven years and, while getting people interested in a beer dinner is relatively easy, getting them to actually book and come to a dinner is a different thing altogether.

At The Courthouse we have held at least five or six dinners a year for the past five years and have built a solid base of reliable regulars who love coming along. But so many others make all the right noises while they’re in the restaurant having a few beers and then fail to reply when you send them an invite.

But not this time. Since just before Christmas we decided to set up a sub-list from our e-mail data base just for our Beer People so that we could send them a newsletter and an invite before we advertised the date to the general public. We did a mail out just over a week ago and I have spent the last couple of days writing to people to apologise for being unable to fit them all in! That’s right, after those early days of hosting a dinner for two tables and a total of six people we have now had to cap the numbers and put up the Sold Out sign.

This week, after we get through the joy of three separate sittings for Valentine’s Day, I’ll have to go out and get more beer. And more food. And some more staff.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Another one of those nights

Two in a week! Last night we were fortunate to have a booking of ten consisting of some local Fine Wine Department managers from one of Australia’s large liquor retailers. Fortunate for them because they got to experience the charm and atmosphere of the area’s most beautifully appointed restaurant and fortunate for us because they were each bringing along a special bottle from their own private cellars.

How is that fortunate for us when it means we lose out on drink sales? Because the trade-off was that we would get to share each wine with them in return for us selecting several small courses to match to each ‘mystery bottle’. How was that fortunate for me when I am very much a Beer Bloke and not a Wine Wanker?

Well, while I do enjoy the odd lager, ale or assorted other, I can also appreciate other forms of imbibing fluid when it is a good representation of the style or when it’s matched to food or even when it’s just something special. That’s the kind of guy I am.

But last night gave me a new insight into something I might have been taking for granted. These guys and girls were really passionate, not just about how old or rare or special the wine was but also about sharing an interest, getting together and having an experience. And, as an ‘outsider’ I really enjoyed watching the interaction, the camaraderie and the slow but inevitable effect of a table of people and ten bottles of wine!

I guess that my passion for beer is seen by others in the same way that I saw theirs. At Beer Dinners and Ale Stars meetings and Spectapulars and Microbrewery Showcases and just at a simple table at home with a mate or two, sharing a beer and a bit of bullshit is what life is really all about the other stuff can either wait, or get stuffed!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

The People you Meet

Last night was ‘one of those nights’. A nice warm evening, a full restaurant and fridges full of beer. But it was also the night after the full moon which, for restaurant managers and owners is a bit like ‘Forrest Gump chocolates’ – you never know what you’re gonna git.

As it turned out, not only did we have plenty of lovely guests, pour plenty of lovely beer and make plenty of lovely money, we also got to make some new friendships. Every now and then it happens – you just meet people who not only GET what it is that you’re doing, but they are more than happy to let you know how they feel. For all the hard work it takes to run a good place well, it’s nice to hear it every now and then.

Glenn and Cara are regulars at the restaurant and last night they brought James and Alison (over from England on holidays) for a dining treat. From the extensive beer list, to the revelation that we had another twenty or so beers ‘off-list’ in the cellar to the chef/owner regaling them with his awful English accent and the excellent meals, I think they had a ball.

As the intention was to try as many Australian beers as he could while he was over here, I promised James I would post a bit of a list of ‘must try’ craft beers. They are in Melbourne until Wednesday and then in Sydney for four days until flying home so I will list as many pints and paces as I can think of quickly. I’m sure my readers will use the comments section to fill in any gaps that I leave. Here goes.

Places.

You absolutely, positively, beer-a-tastically have to get out to St Kilda East to The Local Taphouse for a quiet ale/lager/wheat beer/specialty brew or four. See the link on the right hand side of the blog for their details. If you have time, a trip out to Coldstream Brewery will cover off your fresh beer, cider and Morris dancing requirements and they serve a decent meal as well. If you find yourself closer to the city, pop into Beer Deluxe and ask for Barney. He’ll hook you up with some really nice craft beers and the atmosphere there is great. Transport (on the other side of Federation Square) is also worth a look for the range alone.

Pints.

Mountain Goat (Richmond – but probably not in the time-frame) or Bridge Road Brewers (they had the Chestnut Lager last night) will give you a great taste of the Australian take on craft beer while any of the Holgate’s offerings will reveal an Australian take on some English classics. It’s really hard to recommend any without leaving out as many as I can include but judging by what you liked last night, you won’t go wrong with Red Hill (Wheat or Golden ale), Matilda Bay Redback, Fat Yak or Bohemian Pilsner and Hawthorn or Kooinda Pale Ales.

I might leave the list there as, even though James is ex-Navy and showed a fair beer-capacity I don’t want to turn the list into a dare!

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Four into Three won't go

A severe lack of free time and 'head-space' has meant little time for quality posting and so, rather than peppering the blog with random uninteresting posts I figured it was better to starve you all and make you keener for the return!

December this year is effectively a three week month with Christmas Day and Boxing Day taking up the fourth weekend and for the hospitality industry this means trying to squeeze four weeks of fun, frivolity and festiveness into three weeks. Which you can do. Kinda. Almost. But you end up working like a one-armed Beirut bricklayer and finish up as flat as a shit-carter's hat.

We hosted a wedding yesterday and, while local beers were included in the tab, a table of younger blokes saw our International Beer Passport and decided to dig into their own wallets and pick out a few specials. However, when they spotted one particular offering, a new game was begun. "Pete, can I buy an Old Fart and have you send it to the two blokes on table 2?" Much hilarity ensued and a return attack came in the form of a Sheepshagger Lager. A Fat Yak followed and defeat was finally admitted when 500 mls of both Old Growler and Sweet FA was sent over.

While I don't encourage drinking irresponsibly, it WAS pretty funny seeing the reactions from opposite sides of the room. The dark looks from the Bride and Groom were trimmed when I assured them that the Top Shelf beers were not finding their way onto the bill!

Goes to show you, though, that the name of the beer can sometimes have an impact on it's saleability.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Beer Dinner will go off!

Almost a full house for The Courthouse Restauant Beer Dinner next Friday night. As of last night (Friday, I think ... it was a long week!) I had room for a table of four and a table of two - or one table of six. Or six tables of lonely ones. Whoever gets in first.

This one should be a cracker with some nice summer styles making their first appearance as well as a special dessert beer and a surprise beer too. Four courses and five beers for fifty bucks. Good work.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Pass me my trumpet, please

Last night an 'industry' awards night was held. Well, an awards night run by Melbourne's largest suburban newspaper group anyway.

They run a customer vote-driven program each year called Local Favourites where people can nominate and then vote for their favourite shops, businesses, services and stuff. Restaurants & Cafes is one such category and The Courthouse Restaurant in Berwick (very capably managed by chef and owner Tim O'Brien along with yours truly) was sufficiently supported to win last year. Then we backed it up with another win this year which was nice recognition for a lot of hard work. I like to think it has a lot to do with the extensive local and international beer list that I have developed but the food and service might also be a small factor.

Anyway, back to the 'trumpet blowing'. This year the awards were expanded and the 17 restaurants that won their Local Favourite award went to the Hilton on the Park last night to compete for the title of Melbourne's Favourites - the Best of the Best.

And we won. Number One. The Best. Most Votes. El Champion.

Nice to be rewarded and a nice feeling to know that we shared the glory with our staff and our loyal guests. As we toasted our success with an Innis & Gunn, Tim and I both realised that the bit of publicity that would follow wouldn't hurt but the pressure of staying on top was going to be even harder next year.

Wish us luck.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner