A lot of people like beer, some really love it. However a growing trend is the appreciation of finer beers. What is often called ‘craft beer’. The beer produced by a small scale brewery known as the microbrewery.
I don’t think you necessarily start out loving craft beer. I’m sure some people do, but my ‘path to the craft’ was via traditional everyday beers. Just drinking tap beer or run of the mill lagers.
Bouncing between my personal favourites like Boag’s Premium and whatever was drinkable and on special at Dan Murphy’s.
But then I got bored.
Beer started tasting more and more like beer flavoured water and I started drinking red wine at most opportunities as a preference over beer. I wouldn’t say beer was dead to me, but it was dying a slow, painful death.
Thus began the trips to Dan Murphy’s staring at the shelves of beer. Having lived overseas I recognised a lot of European labels, so drinking random Belgium beers was a good start. However it was mighty expensive.
‘Hmmm, Carlton Draught is only $30 for a slab? Well okay, maybe just for one last time…’
The biggest turning point for me was finding a bottle shop that specialised in craft and hard to find ‘foreign’ beers. Enter Purvis Wine Sellers. If you live in the Eastern suburbs do yourself a favour as Molly Meldrum would say, and get to Purvis for a look. Their range is brilliant, the staff helpful, and they also do regular beer tastings including themed tasting nights. For $10 you can try a lot of different beers. If Surrey Hills is too far away, the crafty buggers have opened a second store on Bridge Road, Richmond.
But hey, I’m not a Purvis employee, nor unfortunately am I on the take so that better do for spruiking my sponsors, ummm, I mean mentioning my favourite bottle shop!
Suddenly the world really did open up. So many craft beers from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, Asia (well Japan)…
Whilst it is a daunting task selecting craft beers to try for the very first time (especially for a palate only used to lagers), the best thing to do is dive in and try a few different styles from different breweries. They won’t all be good. You’ll dislike some of them, but soon you’ll know what styles you like best. Then, and this is the best part, once you realise you like an Irish Red Ale (for instance), you can explore the world trying Irish Red Ales from hundreds of different breweries! I am however still trying to find one that tops Moylan’s Irish Red Ale…hmmm that’s some good shit right there.
Whilst it can be an expensive exercise, discovering and trying craft beer is like a 13 year old boy discovering the benefits of long showers…a whole new world just opens up to you. For instance, I never had an appreciation of just how many and how good American craft beer is. They cop it for the quality of their flagship brews (Bud, Miller, Cors), but their beers from microbreweries are consistently good!
And don’t get me started on Australian craft beer. The quality is improving rapidly and microbreweries are opening up everywhere, especially in Victoria. Visiting a microbrewery is a brilliant experience. Trying their selection of beers is great fun, and many combine the visit with tasty but simple food. Again, you may not like every beer you try at a microbrewery, but I reckon if there is at least one you like then that’s a successful visit cos next time you are in a bottle shop looking for something different, you can at least rely on that random Weizenbock you ‘once had at a brewery in Mornington’.
The magic of the microbrewery is also the ‘tourism experience’ itself. Visiting a wine region is a lot of fun, but there is something about doing a day trip to a particular region or town knowing there is a brewery there to visit. I mean the Macedon Ranges are nice and Woodend is a cute little town, but the presence of Holgate Brewhouse at the top of the town just makes the place a little more magical! Even if a random visit to Woodend leads to drinking a few too many Temptress pints resulting in a panicked search for a B&B within walking distance of the brewery! Argh so grown up. Holgate Brewhouse though, go have a look!
Special mention also needs to go to Beer DeLuxe in Melbourne’s Federation Square for the exploration of craft beer. The dozen or so rotational beers on tap are well worth a look, but the real attraction is the ‘Beer Bible’ and its pages and pages of global beers. A tip however…when drinking an ale start looking through the bible for your next selection well before finishing your first. Maybe there’s too many to choose from, maybe I just can’t make a decision (shhhh Mrs Sweeney) but it does take time to select a beer (or cider!).
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the occasional Carlton Draught when I’m out, especially in the right setting such as being at the footy, but craft beer is just so bloody interesting. The colour, smell, taste…its an experience itself appreciating the complexities of craft beer!
That’s it folks. Next time I will go into more detail about my experiences visiting specific breweries!
Till then,
Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!
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