Life’s too Short to Drink Bad Beer

It’s Friday 11 May 2012.

In Victoria, that means the start of Good Beer Week. How very awesome. Dozens and dozens of beer events, tastings, beer infused dinners, festivals, brewery showcases…

That said, this blog is not about Good Beer Week. That speaks for itself.

In fact this blog isn’t really about anything. You may call it the ‘Seinfeld of blogs’.

With Good Beer Week only hours from starting this seems an apt time to flog the merits of craft beer and stick the boot into bland corporate swill. Quite frankly, life is too short to drink bad beer. Seriously, just because it’s made cheap and therefore sold cheap(ish) and is widely available, does not justify drinking it by choice.

Yeah craft beer can be a little expensive. But as a beer drinker there is nothing better than exploring craft beer, trying different styles and types and learning what suits your palate. I guarantee that once you realise how nice a good IPA or Red Ale is, the thought of drinking a ‘pot of draught’ will make you reach for a red wine. I mean, did any hops even die for that beer?

Despite a drop in beer consumption in Australia over the past decade, the sale of craft beer is increasing roughly at 3% per annum. That’s a great start but could be a lot better. Australia is a good decade behind the United States in terms of the number of craft breweries, sales and how craft beer is simply a part of the local beer drinking psyche.

Not convinced you should put down that generic lager which is on tap everywhere and reach for a beer with actual taste and flavour? Well let me put it in perspective for you by comparing it to that other major alcoholic beverage that most of us enjoy…wine.

Let me set the scene. You’re partial to a wine and therefore like everyone, make the effort to know what you like. It might be Shiraz, Pinot or Sav Blanc. You also know a few wineries that you enjoy and therefore make the effort to look for them when in the bottle shop. Maybe it’s a State or a Region you trust. Either way, most people have a maximum amount they want to spend on wine but wouldn’t touch the $5 bottle just because it’s cheap, or because you see it around everywhere like it’s soft drink. You assume it will taste like vinegar, right? So why on earth do you treat beer with such discontent and accept the cheap, tasteless shit as the ‘preferred choice’? Don’t be so lazy and show a bit of respect to your taste buds!

And hey, supporting small business is cool too right? What’s more enjoyable than realising that tasty Ale comes from Bright or Mornington Peninsula? Suddenly you have a damn good excuse for a weekend away! Sell it as a romantic getaway if you have to, but just do it!

Deep breaths Todd, deep breaths.

Anyway, enough from me…see you all over a glass of tasty, flavoured beer…

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!

Beer - The Anticipation

Yeah okay, sounds like a corny line from a VB or Carlton Draught commercial. Or even Guinness for that matter!

Let me explain…

Enjoying good beer is a bit like looking forward to something special. Christmas morning. Carlton winning the flag. My wife’s Malaysian Chicken Curry. Being handed a briefcase full of cash. All exciting things! Gone are the days for me where drinking beer was something to do just for the sake of it.

Now I generally get excited about drinking good craft beer and seeing as I have been thinking about this for some time, I think I should try and put it in writing.

Here are some of those exciting things that I think you just don’t get with other tasty beverages. And more importantly, here’s a list! Woohoo, I love a good list…

• Beer Deluxe. If you’re a lover of good beer and you haven’t been to Beer Deluxe then I am just speechless. Yes there are some other great craft beer joints around – Mrs Parmas, The Taphouse etc but Beer Deluxe is special to me as it’s located at Fed Square in the heart of the city where I work. These days it’s my must visit place for a good beer before heading to the footy or dinner. Whilst personally there is room for more beer taps (cos I’m greedy) than what they have (or at least don’t repeat the same beer over more than one tap), I do get mighty excited knowing I’m heading to Beer Deluxe for a beer. It’s the anticipation of what they might have on tap that night.

• Purvis Cellars. Purvis is also special to me as it is my main source of drinking craft / international beer at home. Since having a dedicated cupboard for craft beer, trips to Purvis (or for that matter Slow Beer) have gotten a little bit more interesting. These days a few beers at home ‘whilst watching the footy’ means sampling the highest quality Pales, IPAs or Red Ales. Now that’s worth looking forward to!

• Brewery visit. Bridge Road in Beechworth, Bright Brewery, True South in Blackrock, Holgate in Woodend, Temple in Brunswick East, Mornington Brewery in umm Mornington, a trip to the Yarra Valley or Red Hill…is there anything more exciting than lunch and beer at a local brewery? During the dreary winter months of Melbourne unless I’m watching the mighty Blues, nothing beats a planned trip to a brewery. The anticipation literally kills me! Okay it doesn’t but you know…

• Seasonal brews. Possibly the best thing to anticipate about craft beer are the seasonal / speciality beers. For instance, here in Victoria at the moment we have Bridge Road and Mikkeller’s Dark Harvest, Mountain Goat and Mikkeller’s The Gypsy & The Goat and Temple and Weihenstephan’s Unifikator. In America, beer fans are known to queue overnight at their favourite brewery for the release of a speciality beer. Many breweries create a speciality beer to match the season such as Summer Ale or Pumpkin Ale (for Fall/Halloween) and the beers simply aren’t brewed outside those seasons. Now that’s something to anticipate!

• New Brewery / Brew. Nothing quite like the anticipated launch of a new brewery or for that matter a new permanent beer from an existing brewery that you know and enjoy. A couple I'm currently looking forward to - the second brew from Two Birds Brewing (a Red Ale to follow up the great Golden Ale) and the wider availability of beers from newbie Black Dog Brewery. Cannot wait.

• Homebrew. Oh the anticipation. Look I’m not a great homebrewer. I think it comes out alright and others seem to like the beer (or are at least very polite), but there’s nothing quite like the anticipation as the bottles sit for a month before cracking into them. At the moment a Boston Red Ale sits in the dark cupboard seductively telling me to take its top off. Anyway, I look forward to having one…

• Good Beer Week. It’s nearly here! Good Beer Week in Victoria runs 12 to 19 May 2012 with 50 events around the state. Think Comedy Festival but for beer. Cept there’s nothing funny about this. I’m heading to ‘The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular’ – where the Royal Exhibition Building will resemble a massive craft beer hall. The exciting thing is there will be 60 beers brewed specifically for the event! Unavailable anywhere else! I’m also attending the ‘Brooklyn Brewery Degustation Dinner’ at Beer Deluxe. Having been to the brewery when in New York in 2011, this one is just a little exciting too! I can barely wait!

 

Whether it’s a specific event that doesn’t come around that often like the Good Beer Week, or just stumbling across a new craft brew that you are yet to try, the anticipation with good beer cannot be denied.

And for that maybe those corny VB or Carlton Draught ads are actually right. Just a shame about the beer…

Stay tuned folks.

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!