Ale Stars let their hair down.

When you are attending a beer event that features a beer called Rapunzel, you have to take the opportunity to do the ‘let ya hair down line’ – so now that it’s out of the way, let’s go straight to the review.

How good was Ale Stars, hey!?! What a cracking night – sensational beers, iconic guest brewer, a great crowd and a new host with an amazing trivia quiz! Does it get any better than that!? Think not.

Seriously though, we did miss Shandy as I’m sure he missed us all. Taking a break from the hosting duties to prepare for the arrival of number two bub, Shandy allowed me to stand in for him – an honour and a privilege that I hope I did him proud. Nearly forty Ale Stars including a couple of new faces braved the cool Melbourne winter to warm up to some very lovely, but all very different, Belgian Blonds. And haven’t we all wanted to do THAT at one time or another?

Very special guest for the evening was Dave Bonighton, head brewer and founding Goat of the Mountain Goat Brewery who was there to ensure that his special limited release brew, Rapunzel, was introduced respectfully to the gathering. Dave, with Cam Hines launched Mountain Goat back in 97 and were one of Melbourne’s first craft brewers and have certainly proven themselves to be one of the most successful. Dave was on hand to lead us through the not-too-technical aspects of the style, although he could have got as technical as he liked – anyone know where the tech-foul BS bell went? Shandy, trying to handicap the Prof? Hmmmm?

We began with the Murray’s Sassy Blond as this seemed as good a place as any to begin. When you’re sampling Strong Belgian Blond ales, it’s nice to start with a 4.5% easy drinking starter as you know, at some point, you will need to ramp up the ABV to around 8 + and you don’t want to go too hard too early. Speaking of which, I have mentioned in previous Ale Stars posts that SUBS, or Sneaky Upstairs Beers prior to our 7 o’clock-ish kick off, have become a tradition. Well, it seems that not only are more and more doing it – and earlier and earlier – but we don’t even bother lobbing upstairs anymore!

While Murray’s Blond played along to the style tune well, it wasn’t until the Red Hill Belgian Blond hit the tables that we all realised that this style held some lovely wonders. A warmth of aroma, yeasty and fresh, a malt backbone of biscuity sweetness, restrained hop flavour and bitterness and a lively carbonation leading to a delicious dryness – this one ticked a few extra boxes.

This led us nicely into Duvel – the flagship Belgian Strong Blond and not just one of Dave’s favourite beers, but also the inspiration for his Rapunzel. This ticked all the boxes as well as turning the amp ‘up to ee-leven’. Brightly golden with a rocky foam that crowns the glass, Duvel has aroma and flavour and dryness and a yeasty punch set that it apart from the previous two. Carbonation and dryness that combine to refresh and invigorate, this was Belgian Blond as God meant it!

As Dave had admitted to wanting to attempt a replication of a Duvel, and had admitted to having visited the brewery at about the same time as the Duvel yeast found its way into his carry-on luggage, it seemed fair that we finished with his beer. It also meant that he had to stay til’ the end in the event that he didn’t like the new host. What everybody DID like, was Rapunzel. Dave led us through her story from conception through to creation and nobody was left wondering what a Belgian Blond COULD taste like. This one ticked every box and then drew in a couple more boxes to tick as well! True to style but also true to the Goat creed of Funky & Flavourfull.

The night finished with Dave sharing his brew with the winners of the trivia quiz, and it was good to see the winning team contained only one previous title holder. Personally, with a winning score of 8/15, I’m amazed that the quiz didn’t end in a seven-way nil-all draw! And it was all multiple choice! I blame the alcoholic strength of the beers we had. More on that in a later post.

My thanks to Justin, Guy and Steve for the opportunity to play host for a night, to Shandy for all the text messages he sent through the night and special thanks to Dave Bonighton for bringing a beery credibility to the proceedings that I could not even have hoped to achieve.

Cheers,

Ale Stars – The Next Generation

This month’s Ale Stars meeting at The Local Taphouse will be held next Tuesday July 21. Nothing new in that. The beer theme is Belgian Blond Ales and the beers chosen are nice representation of the style which transition well from light and easy drinking through to some firm and fruity brews. As they usually do.

But this month will be a little different. Our affable regular host, Shandy, is off on Beer-Ternity Leave preparing for the impending arrival of the new bub, and so a ‘stand-in’ host was sought. After an exhausting series of auditions, interviews, a world-wide casting call and an elimination process that would make Masterchef Australia proud .... they couldn’t get anyone suitable.

So, in the warm and honest tradition of Ale Stars, Prof. Pilsner was offered the gig. Actually, truth be told, we were having a few quiet ‘afters’ at the bar last month when Justin and Guy told me I had it because when the music stopped, I hadn’t found a chair. That’s the way the game’s played.

I will do my best to lead the gathered masses through the delights of Murray’s Sassy Blond, Red Hill Belgian Blond, Duvel and the very, very special limited release seasonal from the Goat Guys at Mountain Goat, Rapunzel.

Assisting us in our journey of beery discovery will be none other than Dave Bonighton, head brewer and co-founder of Mountain Goat who showed what real passion for craft beer is all about by travelling all the way to The Local Taphouse in Sydney yesterday to taste his own beer for the purpose of writing some tasting notes for me. That’s true dedication.

Of course, as is customary, delicious pizza will be served throughout, Ale Stars will have the chance to ‘Ask the Brewer’ and Beer Trivia will be presented in between beers. Strap yourselves in for that one! Also available on the night will be a range of special limited release items and memorabilia including T-Shirts featuring ‘I Was There When the Prof Hosted Ale Stars’, ‘Ale Stars – How Good Was The New Bloke?’ and ‘Shandy – I remember him!’ Also, don’t forget to pick up your ‘Prof. Pilsner for Ale Star Tzar voting cards. Just pop them in the box provided – I’ve already filled them in for you. That’s just the kinda bloke I am.

I have even gone out and done some serious ‘Tom Hanks in Castaway’ style method preparation for the night so that I can do our mate proud in his absence. Hope to see as many Ale Stars, new and old, as we can fit in as it may be a while before Shandy hands over the reins of this beast to anyone else again. I’m really looking forward to it. But I have to be honest with you all ...

I’m just a wee bit nervous ...

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

P.S. Shandy, so that you don't miss out completely, I will make sure we take plenty of phoor-toors for you!

High Country living

I have always been a ‘city boy’. More specifically, I have always been a suburban ‘city boy’. Never lived outside of a standard, common garden-variety, outer suburban postcode. Didn’t really even spend much holiday time on farms or anywhere else in the country – no relatives with sprawling properties or acres of livestock and all that. So our recent getaway to Mansfield in Victoria’s magnificent high country was a welcome change.

I’ve spoken plenty before about just how lucky we are at the moment to have so many dedicated and passionate craft brewers out there producing beers of a high quality and varied style. Our three days away was a great chance to relax and seriously (as serious as I can take beer) enjoy some fine ales and lagers. There is just something about a roaring fire, sprawling mountain ranges as a backdrop coupled with the knowledge that you don’t have to be anywhere the next day that makes beer even more special.

I was able to put my feet up with a selection of Jamieson Brewery’s offerings – excluding the IPA which I later found was to be brewed the next week – as well as a few I had brought from home and one I had not even heard of. Jamieson make some very good craft beers and I will write more about our visit there in the coming days. A Brown Ale was their first beer brewed ten years ago and. Embarrassingly, I haven’t had one for years. it’s probably one of those styles that isn’t in my Top Ten, but it is one that fits into my resolution to try more beers that are not in my Top Ten this year. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it as much as I did.

A Jamieson Pale Ale (US style), a Mountain Ale (Dark Wheat) and a Raspberry Ale (errr) went down a treat with the family seated around and the crackling of the fire at my feet. The new brew I found was from up near the border, New South Wales way, just out of Swan Hill. Glenbar on the Wakool does not have the slick beer name like the Fat Yak or the Summer Lightning or even the Growler but it does have a very fine beer taste. Glenbar claims to be the first beer in Australia made from organic Australian malt and is a pretty good story that I will tell shortly. As soon as I find out what the story is.

A couple of Ben’s Bridge Road Pale Ales finished the beer side of the story. These were chosen because, although Beechworth is a short trip from Mansfield on a paper map, the issue of the small group of hills collectively known as the Victorian Alps are plonked fairly between the two.

Beers really do seem to taste better when the occasion is right. Right company, right location and right frame of relaxed mind – great beer.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

What makes a great pub?

To finish off the school holidays I took the two older Pilsners ‘into town’ as my Nana would have said, for a visit to the State Library – yeah I know, pretty edumacational and not at all very beery – but sometimes you just go with something different. And something indoors if it is a rather chilly Melbourne morning.

After a tour and some activities we headed off in search of lunch –here’s where beer comes into it – and found ourselves inside Melbourne Central shopping complex. And I mean complex. The joint is a fair old rabbit warren if you’re not familiar with it. There’s only one place that didn’t look like a cheesy generic fast food outlet so that made the choice a bit easier. From the outside it just looks like one of those built-from-a-kit ‘Plastic McPaddy’s Original Pretend Irish Pub Co” kind of places but I could see beer taps and in we went.

As we sat waiting for lunch my mind wandered; what is it that makes a great pub? Because, while I couldn’t answer that, I COULD decide what DOESN’T make a great pub. And a lot of it I was looking at right now.

A stage area is fine. Having a velvet rope circling it – not. Especially when it doesn’t look like its had a run for a while and is currently a holding pen for a raffle prize. And the prize is a scooter.

Ye olde weighing machine – not. Who goes to a pub and then wants to weigh themselves? Is it a challenge to piss heads to get lagered up and see who can put on the most weight? Or who can drink the most and then LOSE the most weight the quickest?

Windows all around – good. Windows all around a pub that is completely INDOORS – not. I love to window sit and drink while I watch the passing parade, but grandma lugging shopping bags and a thousand teenagers queuing to buy movie tickets ... nuh.

And one of my favourites after years in the hospitality business – a quick run of the fingers under the table edge revealed a gallery of other people’s chewy. That one’s not an overall killer, it’s just a sign that management is not on top of the ’one percenters’.

Standard pub menu featuring the usual suspects – acceptable. A chicken parma that Sergei Bubka couldn’t jump over – nuh. I would rather one a quarter of the size that tasted like something.

Having said all that, we three had a great time and, really, I’m probably being a bit picky. It is just an interesting exercise to try to nail down just what it is that makes a pub NOT great!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner
P.S. The picture above is a shot of what I imagine a great pub looks like :) It's just a snap of some random pub from somewhere;)

I'll have a beer please

Saturday night, freezing cold weather, restaurant as full as a state school hat-rack and the phone still ringing at seven o’clock with late diners hoping to sneak in. All we need now is beer.

I am always scanning the bookings list during the week to see if I can recognise any regulars, especially those who enjoy their beer. When I know these folk are coming in I know it will give me a great opportunity to showcase the 70 odd listed beers that we stock all year round
as well as the chance to treat them with something ‘off-list’ from the cellar or spoil them by getting something extra special for them. The other bonus is that if they don’t want it – I get it!

This night we had two tables in the dining room who were beer nuts of a pretty high order as well as a few other diners scattered throughout who were hoping to try something a bit different. Because we had hosted our Beer Dinner the night before, I had been out to Purvis Cellars for some stock so I had a bit of a stash of ‘specials’ in the cellar.

Both these tables are restaurant regulars and beer nuts but were unable to get to the beer dinner. So we proceeded to do something of a “I can’t believe it’s not a beer dinner, beer dinner” of our own. The younger blokes on a table of eight were more your international lager drinkers with a few different styles thrown in while the older party of four have pretty much got to the stage where they tell me what they are going to order foodwise and I just keep matching beers coming their way.

Working from a starting point of lighter flavoured styles through to a series of really full flavoured limited release ales was a real challenge – especially as I still had to look after the restaurant, restock, take bookings, deliver desserts .... not drink any beers.

From Kronenburg to Budvar, from Fat Yak and Barons ESB to Young’s Christmas Pudding Ale and Redoak Christmas Cheer, Innis & Gunn (half a slab between the two tables!) and Cascade First Harvest to Grimbergen Blond and Floris Fraise strawberry beer it was a beery feast fit for a king, a queen and a truckload of knaves.

Big HI and thanks to Rod and Barb who were back again last week with Rob and Jo and who cleaned out the rest of the Specials Cellar. It’s a good excuse for me to get out to Cloudwine and Purvis this week to restock. Love the shopping bit!

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Cop That!

I have often spoken about how my enjoyment of a beer – any beer – can be enhanced by the situation or the occasion that I find myself in. This is a cracker. Sipping a nice refreshing Bridge Road Pale Ale I laughed and laughed as I read the paper. The beer somehow just tasted – better.

I was brought up with a strong belief that you always do the right thing – sense of social justice if you will - and that you do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. Still think that way and Mrs Pilsner and I are teaching our girls to think the same. But, sadly, many couldn’t give a fat rat’s clacker about anybody or anything but themselves. It is to one of these groups that Beer Blokes raises a glass now and says; “Cheers! Cop that!!”

The federal government recently launched a series of ‘stimulus packages’ to help the Australian economy. These were a number of cash handouts to many regular people (including some overseas visitors, exchange students and more than a few dead people) payable in a lump sum of up to $900 for individuals and $2800 for families. There was only one stipulation – you had to file a tax return.

Here’s where it gets good. There is a group out there in Australian society who try to avoid their social responsibility to others by refusing to lodge a tax return. This way they can avoid such annoyances as child support payments, spousal maintenance and deductions to their welfare benefits. But sometimes greed, coupled with base stupidity means a win for the good guys.

Many of these deadbeat mums and dads – 21,327 of them actually - were busted big-time when they couldn’t file their tax missing tax returns quick enough so as to scoop up a piece of my hard earned taxpayer dollars. Their tax returns enabled the Department of Human Services to recoup 23.5 million dollars in child support.

That’s worth another beer.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Priorities

My recent trip with the eldest Pilsner to Canberra coincided with a Melbourne Storm home game. As a Premium member with reserved seats under the coaches box it is always tough to miss a game but attending the ANZAC Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial was a worthy substitute.



The Saturday night game was against traditional rivals the New Zealand Warriors – a nice ANZAC celebration match – and recent clashes have been close and exciting affairs regardless of the teams ladder positions. Our room sat right above the very comfortable lounge and bar which held a few hundred drinkers and around eight big screen tellies.


The bar was packed with ANZAC Day revellers and the courtyard raged all day with the raucous shouting and cheering of another hundred or so at the two-up ring. I fronted the bar in the early afternoon and chatted briefly with the bloke behind the jump as soldiers, sailors and various suits poured into the place in a constant stream. “Busiest day of the year by a long shot”, he said as he chain-poured lagers with one hand, sorted change with the other and organised another bloke to change the Carlton Draught keg with a nod in that tap’s direction at the same time.

I noticed that the biggest of the big screen TVs was showing the NRL game between St George Illawarra and the Sydney Roosters with regular promos for the Storm/Warriors clash flashing across the bottom of the screen.

“Coming up next – the ANZAC clash between Melbourne and New Zealand!!” “Stay Tuned!!!” “Right after this match, we go straight to Melbourne – Storm and the Warriors!!” “They were mates on the battlefield, now they face off in a clash for bragging rights on the footy field!!” “Get a Crazy Frog ringtone for your mobile!! Your mates will think you ROCK!!!”

The first game finished and I whipped back upstairs with the eldest Pilsner’s dinner, wished myself luck for the boys and raced back downstairs to hook a good spot in front of the TV closest to the bar. The last station promo before the Big Game wound up and I decided on my first beer. I turned back to see NOT the Melbourne Storm, but a RUGBY UNION game. Rugby Union?!? That’s the game in which three blokes try to push two blokes up one bloke’s arse!!! What happened? Where’s the Storm!?!

I turned to the bloke at the bar to forcefully – but fairly – register my disappointment, with a small attachment regarding the reversal of the aforementioned channel-change when my eye caught a wide-screen view of the whole bar. The game showing was the Super 14 game between the New Zealand based Crusaders and the Canberra based Brumbies and there must have been close to three hundred blokes all glued to every screen in the joint.

And there was not a single neck to be seen among them.

I tucked my Storm hat under my coat and quietly went back upstairs.

The Storm and the Warriors drew 14 all after one of the most exciting clashes between the two teams in their 12 year history after two periods of extra time. The Brumbies managed to just get out of first gear to be handed their own arses 56 to 10. If there really is a God, he doesn’t live in Canberra.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Festival of the Frothy

Just a quick plug for a beer trivia/tasting spectacular which is being held in Melbourne tomorrow (Saturday) night.

The Festival Of The Frothy promises to be a night of beery excellence as trivia is contested, shared entrees and dinner are eaten, brewers and beer people are met and ... beer is drunk.

Ormand Hall, Belgian Beer Cafe is the venue and the Funky Bunch Trivia guys will provide the information/entertainment side of things while brewers such as Bridge Road, Temple, Mountain Goat, Holgate, Hargreaves Hill and Trumer Pils will lay on the beers.

This is the first of (hopefully) many events of this kind.

A shame that it coincides with

The Local Taphouse Stars & Stripes SpecTapular,
Melbourne Storm taking on the Newcastle Knights at Olympic Park and
Me having to manage a full restaurant with a half page waiting list.

For those who can, get down to Ormand Hall, Belgian Beer Cafe
557 St Kilda Rd (Enter via Moubray St) at 7 o’clock on Saturday July 4.

Tom, I promise I will get my s%$t together for the next one and assemble a crack team from The Local Taphouse! Contenders - and pretenders, beware!!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

It’s not about beer – or is it?

One of the variables that come into play while you’re holidaying is the food. Tourist destinations can be hit and miss when it comes to feeding a range of diets, preferences and attitudes – especially where young children’s appetites are concerned.

Country towns can often supply plenty of Road House crap, dodgy processed stuff wrapped in that crinkly plastic that won’t burn and massively large serves of Pub Favourites which are big on size and small on flavour. And, like Forrest Gump, until you get there, you never know what you’re gonna git.

These small rural and regional destinations will always, however, throw up a nice surprise every time. You just have to find it. In Mansfield I found the ultimate example of my all time favourite non-beer treat – The Vanilla Slice. Or The Snot Block to its devotees. For the uninitiated, The Snot Block is a tasty pastry made by sandwiching a thick slab of set vanilla custard between to thinnish layers of crispy puff pastry and topped with either a layer of vanilla icing or a generous dusting of vanilla icing sugar. Mmmmmmmm .... colesterolly!

Most Snot Blocks fall into the mid-range as far as quality goes – it’s pretty difficult to find a bad one – but a really good one is a rare treat. This was as rare a find as you could hope for. As you can see in the picture, this thing was less of a dessert and more of a doorstop; thick in a generous way, custard-y in a very homemade way and delicious in an overall way. $4.40 and it was a bargain. So much so that we stopped in at cafe Forty-1 on our way back to Melbourne. Partly to get another one and partly because this treat was SO good, I had eaten it all before I realised that I hadn’t taken a picture of it for the blog.

Why, you may ask is this Snot Block review on a beerblog? Good question – glad you asked. Eating this (after speaking to the staff at Forty-1 to confirm that it was not just homemade but homemade on the premises) I realised that the taste was better for knowing that someone had put some real care and passion as well as skill, to create this sensation I was feeling. Someone developed the process that resulted in something that looked pretty much like all the others but, when savoured, was an experience worth writing about.

And I’ve just discovered that this is why I like a good craft beer so much.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

Beer Blokes in the High Country

A pretty hectic two weeks has just been capped off by a very nice (if very short) break in Mansfield in the Victorian High Country.

The Pilsner family managed to squeeze a three day getaway into the first slot of the school holidays after a week and a half of two-day and all-day training courses for me combined with extra nights at the Courthouse Restaurant. We must be doing something right out there as midweek nights are getting busier and busier which is difficult for me – I have to stand and serve and then watch as people drink more and more specialty beers and I can’t join them!

Mansfield is a small regional centre at the foot of the Victorian Alps (read; collection of small hill-like objects) about two and a half hours out of Melbourne. It is at the heart of the King Valley, a region that produces some very good wines, and has some fair historical significance.

It is also bloody cold in winter and trying to marshal the little Pilsners into cold weather gear when they just want to bolt around in fairy dresses and bare feet is, I guess, just a part of the rich tapestry that is family holidays.

Once I get my head back in the big city game – and unpack and wash the last of the many, many, many suitcases that seem to have grown out of the back of the Commodore over the three days, I will sit down with a beer and write up my various experiences.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner