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Thursday 1 March 2012

A Worship to Great Beer

One of the latest microbreweries to open their doors to the public in the inner Melbourne area is Temple Brewery & Brasserie in Brunswick East.

Temple has been brewing their craft beers for a few years now (I had tried a number of their brews thanks to Purvis Cellars), however the brewery only opened up to the public in late 2011.

First impressions obviously count…and the solid timber doors with their polished ‘logo door handles’ are mighty impressive and give off an aura of class and professionalism. These guys mean business! Inside isn’t much different. Shiny new floors, mirrored rear wall (making the place look a lot bigger than it really is!), black and silver ceilings. Solid white/silver/black bar. This isn’t a rustic old ‘English style’ pub! The highlight however is the active brewery itself. If it wasn’t for the large glass wall separating the bar from the tanks and other brewing equipment, you’d think you were actually sitting in amongst it all. It’s a perfect use of the space.


A visit to the toilets is also a bit of a treat (not in any perverse kinda way)…the trip up the stairs behind the bar not only takes you past a second (secret) bar on the second floor, but at the toilet doors you get a birds eye view of the brewery. Special mention also goes to the image of the two jugs of beer on the female toilet door. I got the double meaning! At least I hope that was a double meaning otherwise now I do look like a perverse fool!

The Brasserie

Let’s quickly look at the food being dished up at Temple. When someone decides to open a brewery I doubt the food is the first thing the brewers think about. It’s the beer. Surely. But the food at Temple is in no way an afterthought. It’s good. Bloody good.

The menu includes gourmet snacks and nibbles – chicken liver pate, roasted almonds, fried potatoes, beer rarebit, olives, popcorn (yes homemade popcorn!), as well as more substantial mains such as beef chilli, pulled pork sop and goulash.

We went with the more dinner options and selected the beef chilli (‘Chilli Bag’) and pulled pork sop (‘Drowned Pork Sop’) and also munched on the Almonds (with herbs and pink sea salt) went very well with the beer.

This is a beer blog rather than a foodie blog but I do have to say the food was delicious. After travelling the US last year we both have a soft spot for pulled pork and all things chilli and these dishes were right up our alley. 


The biggest disappointment on our behalf was not trying the popcorn, but we just couldn’t manage to eat anymore. It sucked at the time but now I’m okay with it cos it just means heading back there again soon!

The Beer

As I said, the beers on offer are not as new as the establishment itself; however their range is certainly a lot wider than I had previously appreciated.

We started (like you should) with the Tasting Wheel ($12) which included five of their brews – Brunswick Draught, Bicycle Beer, Pale Ale, Soba Ale and their highly regarded Saison. Thanks to my wife’s sad puppy eyes we were also allowed to try the Midnight IPA! Bonus! 


Brunswick Draught
This is a good draught beer…very easy drinking and like most lagers or draughts made by microbreweries, has a good noticeable amount of hops and malt so you can actually taste something in the glass. Certainly suited the 30 deg weather!

Bicycle Beer
Temple’s lightest beer but isn’t especially light in alcohol (4.2%). The thing stopping it from being a run of the mill ‘lager’ is its level of tartness. I found this one really unique, which could be the ‘salt from an ancient sea bed in the Grampians’. That or they’re just taking the piss!

Pale Ale
An American style Pale Ale that is damn good. Not a lot to say really. Lots of hops and taste. If you like Pale Ales or more importantly IPAs, this is a beer you’ll enjoy. I certainly did!

Soba Ale
I tasted this half expecting some sort of Japanese noodle flavour! Whether it’s Japanese inspired I couldn’t tell. I could tell that it was a tasty, crisp ale and just a little bit bitter. I guess the wheatie taste gives it its clever name. Another good crisp brew that sits between the Pale and Bicycle in terms of lightness.

Saison
This is a cracking take on the infamous ‘Belgium farmhouse ale’. It seems every Victorian microbrewery is having a go at creating a Saison and Temple do a great version. High on aroma, faintly sour and very refreshing. Actually it’s almost too refreshing. It made me want another!

Midnight IPA
Hard to split the Pale Ale, Saison and this brew as the standouts. All three are excellent and this one is as unique as you’ll get. I’d previously tried Kooinda Brewery’s (excellent) Black IPA and this one is also fantastic. Black as stout and as hoppy as, well, an IPA…it’s a seriously good tasting beer. I wait with baited breath until this becomes more widely available!

That’s it folks! If I haven’t convinced you to head over to Temple Brewery & Brasserie sometime soon then clearly you mustn’t like beer. Or food! I certainly look forward to heading back there and sharing the place with a few friends.

Temple Brewery & Brasserie
122 Weston Street, Brunswick East
http://www.templebrewing.com.au
03 9380 8999

Till then,
Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!