Drink a Local at The Wheaty / Wheatsheaf Hotel plus The Font of Darkness
There is normally a good reason to go to the Wheaty on the first Monday of the month with the opportunity to meet the brewers and taste their new brews going on to tap. This Wednesday, 3 July 2011, there is the extra incentive of the “Font of Darkness”.
The two locals will be going on to tap as usual. This month sees the Lobethal Red Truck Porter and the Barossa Brewing Company Grenoch Dark Ale. Both beers that have poured at the Wheaty in the past and both are excellent beers. The Lobethal Porter recently scored the award for Champion Porter at The Royal Adelaide Show Beer Competition. The Grenoch Dark is always one of the fast selling and most popular beers at the Wheaty.
The highlight this week is the Font of Darkness. One font plus the hand pump gets turned over to dark beers. The line up is pretty good too. On top of the two locals there is the Renaissance Chocolate Oatmeal Stout and, one I’m really looking forward to, Karma Citra black IPA from Feral. The highlight is going to be the Moo Brew Imperial Stout done three ways. First is the Vintage Barrel Aged on a regular tap. Next is the Vintage Barrel Aged on the hand pump which hasn’t been done before. Finally we have the regular stout through the glass hopper filled with Indonesian Kopi Luwak Weasel Coffee which is being referred to as Moo Poo.
I suggest not driving the car on Wednesday as it’s quite a line up and you may, like me, want to try them all. It’s sure to be a great night with Daryl from Barossa and Alistair from Lobethal along for the ride too. Get There!
A New Beer Venue in Town?
Last Friday I went along to a lunch and tasting panel at The Highway Hotel. Not the first place you think of when you think of a good beer selection and of making an effort to be a great beer venue. I can say it was a fantastic surprise to find some great beers already available. Even better was meeting the staff that are really keen to take it even further and get serious about a great beer selection.
They are taking the first steps at the moment but getting a group of beer geeks in to talk about beer is a great sign. It would be pretty easy to just put whatever the local rep tries to sell you into the fridge or onto the tap. Currently the tap selection isn’t too exciting but there was a James Squire pale ale and The Mad Brewers Stout Noir pouring. Things get more interesting in bottle with a wider range of locals and a couple of Brew Dog’s to spice things up a bit. It’s a good start and I think a sign of things to come. If good beer isn’t enough for you the food is great too. Certainly a cut above the average pub food. I had a great piece of salmon after a mixed entree including some fantastic pork belly.
So get down and check out The Highway. The more people that ask for good beer the more good beer we will see them serving. They seem genuine about getting a great range of beer going and are just a good bunch of guys.
Lobethal = Win
Lobethal Bierhaus has scooped the pool at the Royal Adelaide Beer Show. Lobethal Bierhaus has taken out ten trophies at the awards ceremony on Friday night. A number of other local breweries also did well including a Champion ale for the GTS from Brewboys. Nobody came close to the sweep from Alistair at Lobethal though. Check out the article on Adelaide Now for some good mainstream press for craft beer.
So if you ever needed an excuse to get up to Lobethal and try their beers or drop in again to remind yourself how good it is you now have a good excuse. Go and see some other local breweries too. Get There!
Like beer? Like Food? Go to Shankers
Another recent addition, at least recently discovered by me, is a great Indian restaurant just outside the city in Prospect. Shankers has been around for a long time but the move to their, current, Prospect Road location and increased focus on beer are relatively new. I dropped in for dinner recently and was very pleasantly surprised with the extensive beer list on offer.
The focus of the available beers is on Australian micros in general with a large portion of them being from South Australia. There is also a great range of styles on offer with everything from easy drinking lagers to robust IPAs and stouts. Whatever dish you pick from their menu you are sure to find a excellent beer to go along with it. Should be a good spot for English expats too. Now they can have a good beer with their curry at the end of a boozy night.
The staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic too. It’s great that they are not just paying lip service to beer but are really keen on promoting it too.
So if ou want a good meal and want to be able to have a good beer with it to head on over to Shankers and enjoy both in a great restaurant with excellent service.
Beer People are Good People
Over the last couple of years in general and in the last couple of weeks in particular I have been catching up with a bunch of beer people around Adelaide, the country and even overseas on a couple of occasions. One thing that comes through again and again is that beer people, for the most part, are good people.
Particularly in the last week I have had some good conversations with people I had never met before or more involved conversations with people I had only met very briefly. To my great delight they were all really cool people. Everywhere you go and everyone you talk to in the beer world you find good people that make every pint a great experience.
When you are out have a chat to the other beer people around you. Say hello to me if you see me at the pub. You can see a photo of me on my list of articles at Brew News, though I’m more beardy now. I will be at The Wheaty on Monday night if anyone wants to join me for a beer.
Pulse at The Wheaty / Wheatsheaf Hotel
This Friday, 8 July 2011, the latest release from Doctor’s Orders Brewing will hot the tap at The Wheaty. Once again Doc is presenting us with something a little bit different. The new release is what Doc calls a Belgian Oatmeal IPA. While everyone else is stuck on black IPA, something Doc did a long time ago, he has taken it to the next level.
I was lucky enough to catch up with Doc at Harts Pub in Sydney earlier this week and got to try it just after it went on tap there. I can tell you it is a great and very interesting beer. The combination of the spicy Belgian yeast flavours and hops works really well as does the smoothness of the mouthfeel and the bitterness. It may take you a couple of sips to wrap your head around the complexity of flavours but you will want more once you have.
So get on down to the Wheaty and give this beer a try. It’s a great pub with great beer and this beer is made by one of the best brewers and nicest guys I know. Get There!
UPDATE: Well it was a great night at The Wheaty last night. Caught up with a bunch of people and the response to the beer seemed pretty good. Quite a few people not sure what to make of it at first but enjoying it. I will be back for more shortly.