It’s being released all over the place very soon now. However, the first Adelaide tapping, that I’m aware of, is this Wednesday the 22nd of March at The Wheaty from 1700. If the Doctor’s past efforts are anything to go by this is certain to be an absolute cracker. It is coming up at The Lion too and as soon as I know when it will be tapped there I will be sure to let you know.

The beer this time is what the good Doctor is calling a Black Imperial Pilsner. Labelled a lager interpretation of the Mind Warp Black IPA. I have had the Mind Warp and it was sensational. Doc did a black IPA long before everyone jumped on the bandwagon and it got really trendy. It is up there with the best black IPA I have tried too. You won’t want to miss it’s lager version. I’m certainly not going to.

What could you possibly have to do that would keep you away? Get There!

Lots of good beer stuff going on at the moment. New stuff from local breweries and interesting beers arriving at local pubs.

At the Wheaty there is plenty of good stuff coming up. This week has many exciting new beers coming up. Already announced in the regular Wheaty mail is lots of tasty treats. This Friday, the 10th of February, is the start of a run of what promises to be excellent single hop IPAs from Mikkeller. First up on tap this Friday is Citra. I love this hop so can’t wait to see what Mikkeller has done with it. Also coming up, hopefully this week, are some excellent new arrivals from Green Flash and Bear Republic. I had the very good luck of having some of the Bear Republic beers fresh from the taps when I was in the USA and Racer 5 is one of the best IPAs I have had. I personally can’t wait to get a chance to try it again. Also in stock right now are a bunch of new wheat beers from German brewer Schneider. Things are looking good over the next few weeks. Get There!

Shanker’s on Prospect Rd is updating it’s list again. They keep turning it over and adding more good beer. Recently some beers from Bridge Road Brewers have found their way into the fridge and I hear there may be some India Saison on the way soon. I also managed to get to Shanker’s for my Birthday which happened to coincide with the Prospect Road Street Party for the Tour Downunder. On the night they had a special beer brewed by Beard and Brau on tap. It was a very tasty pale ale which went down a treat in the hot weather and with the great food. To top all this off there is a rumour some very tasty locally made beers may be turning up on tap on a permanent basis at Shanker’s in the near future.

Across town at the Earl of Leicester there are some great beers hitting the taps and in the fridge. I’m not sure if I mentioned it previously but they are, as far as I’m aware, the only venue pouring the Double Red from Beard and Brau. It’s a great beer and my favourite from Beard and Brau so far. They currently have the Poleeko Gold from Anderson Valley on tap too. I’m yet to see it anywhere else in the country on tap and haven’t seen a mention of it in bottles either. There is a bunch of other great beers in bottle too and the food is always great. Get down and check them out.

The Highway have been putting some god beers on tap too. On my last visit they had both The Runt and Barrel Fermented Hop Hog from Feral. They have had great stuff in bottles for some time now and it’s great to see some great Australian craft beer hitting the taps. In bottle there is a great selection from across the ditch in NZ and from the USA. I enjoyed some tasty drops from Epic, 8Wired and Yeastie Boys on my last visit. The beer list is improving with every visit and the food coming out of the kitchen is excellent too.

At The Lion in North Adelaide they have been turning up the craft beers in recent times too. Recently there have even been beers from American favourite Rogue. However they seem to always have at least a couple of Australian crafts on tap. On my most recent visit there were beers from Lobethal and Moutain Goat on tap. In the fridge was the Pike’s Stout which I hadn’t had before. They are brewing their beers at Hargreaves Hill now and this is a pretty good drop. There is normally beer from the likes of Yeastie Boys, Brooklyn Brewery, Sierra Nevada and Hitachino. There really is a good range of beers now and you should get down there and check it out.

On the brewery scene Brewboys have updated the Charger lager now called Charger E55. It’s a great drop and I don’t know how long it will be available for so get down there and try some. In addition there are always new single batch and or single keg beers going on tap. If you don’t get down regularly you won’t get the chance to try them ever. The regular lineup is great too so just go and talk to the brewers and have a few beers.

Over at Beard and Brau there is the aforementioned Double Red that they have out at The Earl. You really should get there to try it. I don’t think it’s available any more but if you can find it the Tourrific Pale Ale was a great drop. It’s a great and really drinkable American Style Pale Ale. To try the range get to the Earl of Leicester as they usually have a large number of Beard and Brau beers. Shanker’s generally have a couple available too. You can drop into Shanker’s just for a beer too.

Lobethal have been releasing some new beers too. The latest verion of the Devil’c Choice is out and a tasty drop it is. If you like high ABV Belgian style ales then this should be right up your alley. They have recently started brewing a new beer just for the Good Life Pizza shops. I haven’t even had a chance to try it myself yet. I’m told it’s quite a tasty drop. This is unconfirmed but I believe it’s an American Pale Ale with a good hit of Citra hops. The Pilsener has recently undergone a change in recipe too. I’m not sure if this is just for The Wheaty or it’s a availble generally. Either way they have dried it out and made it a little more bitter. It has worked a treat and made what was a good beer even better. It’s currently on tap at the Wheaty and tasting great.

Down at Steam Exchange they also have a new release. It’s a Belgian Trappist style called Flurieu Family Reserve. I have to admit it is a little sweet for my tastes but it does have some really interesting flavours and should be given a try. My tastes are more on the bitter side anyway. I haven’t been down to Goolwa for a while to visit the brewery so plan to do that in the next few weeks. Always good to hang out at the brewery and have super fresh beers.

Well that is the wrap up for now. This has turned out much longer than I expected. Apologies if I have missed anything it’s just that there is so much going on. Just get out there and drink some great beer. Support your local breweries and your local venues. See you at the bar.

Times are pretty good for us beer lovers in Adelaide. Over the last year or so we have seen a number of venues adding more craft beer to their lists and an increase in the rate of release of new beers from local breweries. Add to this some breweries in the start up phase and some new ones just launched and you have an exciting time for local beer people. While we would all like there to be more good beer available it is increasing.

I’m going to do some updates to the drink and breweries sections of the web site soon to reflect this. Thought in the time being I would do a really quick summary. Swell Brewery launched in the last year to plenty of good reviews. I have tried their first two beers but am yet to make it to the brewery or meet the brewer. There are a few other projects on their way to becoming breweries but we will wait until they launch before we say too much about them. The existing local breweries have also had a number of exciting new releases including the latest Devil’s Choice from Lobethal and the excellent Glactic Pale from Brewboys.

As far as places to drink go I still have my favourite. As anybody who has ever read this site know the Wheaty is my favourite and the Wheaty is still great but there are a number of other choices around too. As per an earlier article the Earl of Leicester is stocking some great beer, The Highway has started to really upgrade their list and The Lion has some great beer on their taps and in the fridge too. If you are looking for a restaurant then look no further than the excellent Shanker’s on Prospect Rd and Press in the city. While in the cbd the Crown & Sceptre and The Kings are certainly worth a look too.

All around things just keep getting better. I have even started to see some of the more accessible craft beers in mainstream bar. If I can walk into any pub and find a Pacific Ale or Punk IPA I would be pretty happy with that. Go to the pub and get some beer.

I’m back. The site has been very quiet over the last few months. I have been travelling extensively for my day job which just hasn’t left me the time for writing. While still busy my travel is being drastically reduced so I will have time to start cranking out some content again. Lots has been happening in beer in and around Adelaide and there should be plenty more happening in the coming months.

Onto the topic at hand though. I would love to catch up with other beer writers around Adelaide. Really I just like drinking and talking about beer and always like to meet more beer loving people. Maybe we can even help each other out. We could work together on campaigning for issues affecting craft beer in our town. We can lobby venues to get more good beer. We can also have some fun and enjoy a few beers together.

If you are interested in getting together for some beers and talking to other beer people let me know. I would like to set up a meeting at a beer venue but even if you just want to catch up one on one let me know or you could just hand around at the Wheaty for half an hour. Hit me up and lets get something organised. Comment on this post, send me an email aaron at imhereforthehops dot com, hit me on twitter or just come up and say hi if you see me at the pub. Let’s get the craft beer movement going in Adelaide. We have some great venues and there are some great beers around but I’m greedy and I want there to be more.

See you at the pub.

The Earl has long been known for their amazingly good and huge schnitzels. I always go for the small size and am teased for it but I don’t know how any human can eat a large one. The Earl has also been doing some good beer for quite a while too. However, after going back for the first time in a a year or two recently I found they really had upped the ante in the good beer stakes. The Earl is now one of the best beer venues in Adelaide. There has been some new entrants to the market recently but the Earl just keeps doing good things well.

On my most recent visit, lunch yesterday, I was happy to find a new drop from Beard and Brau on tap. They are calling it the Double Red Tail and it is a very tasty Imperial Red Ale. I don’t think it is available anywhere else at the moment so if for no other reason go in for a pint. I teamed it up with a schnitzel that was really a good steak covered in crumbs. No messing about with thin crappy meat here, just good real beef. I don’t know if it would make the list of the gastronomer set but a good schnitzel and a great beer was a hit in my books.

In addition to the treats mentioned above the Earl has a huge range of beers from all over. A wide range of German, Belgian an other European favourites including some not so common British ales. Then there is the new guys from Europe like Nogne-0 and American treats like Rogue. If new world is more to your liking you can pick up some 8wired beers from NZ and of course the locals like the aforementioned Beard and Brau. In fact The Leicester seems to be becoming the “home pub” for Beard and Brau with a couple of their beers on tap a lot of the time.

All up it’s one of Adelaide’s best pubs with great beer and food. I would like to explore the menu more but can never go past the schnitzels when I go there. Check it out for yourself and head down for lunch or just a beer. Get There!

It’s time for another new and exciting range to hit the taps at The Wheaty in Adelaide. This time coming on to the taps is beer from California’s Anderson Valley. Some of their beers have been available in bottle and, surprisingly, in cans for a while now. However there is nothing like trying the beers fresh from the tap to get their real impact. While Anderson Valley may not be as in your face as some US breweries they produce fantastic well rounded and really well made quality beers.

The kick off event is this Friday, 25 November from 1700 at The Wheaty. First to go on tap is the very excellent Hop Ottin’ IPA. The IPA is probably my favourite of their range but that probably isn’t a surprise to anyone. Following will be the Boont Amber, their flagship, Poleeko Gold and the always reliable Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.

So get down to The Wheaty from 1700. While you are thinking about it you should follow them on twitter here and sign up for their mailing list so you never miss out on what is happening. Hope to see you there on Friday. Get There!

If you are a beer lover and food lover there is a new restaurant in the heart of Adelaide that you really should get along and visit. Opening just a few months ago press* is in Waymouth street and is serving some great beer along with a fantastic menu.

We dropped in for lunch early on a Saturday afternoon. I heard good things about press* from a number of people. The thing that really got me interested was the talk of an excellent beer list that was on offer. The list didn’t disappoint either. Unfortunately they don’t have it online. However, it included selections from Brooklyn Brewery, Rogue, Bridge Road Brewers, Brewboys, Yeastie Boys and Mikkeller. Pretty amazing for a new restaurant in Adelaide.

It was fairly quiet when we went in and were seated with menus very quickly. Our waiter was really friendly and was just the right amount of attentive. He seemed preety interested in the beer and seemed very knowledgeable about the food too. After telling us about the beers and and answering some questions about the wine it was time to consider the food. You can find a sample menu online here. The menu changes regularly with available seasonal ingredients so they don’t put the full menu online. I can assure you it’s a great menu.

The recommendation to us and one I would make to others is to hit up the smaller part of the menu and order a few different things to get a real taste of what they have to offer. We selected some corgettes with Persian fetta, fish fingers(not what you remember from your childhood) and duck boudin. All of these were excellent. The duck was my pick but I can’t go past anything with Persian fetta either. All were good size serves and these three alone could have served as lunch for two. We didn’t stop there though and I am very glad that we didn’t. The decision was made to indulge our gluttony. We decided to share one dish from wood-grilled lowline Angus section. There were many steaks there that were really appealing but we decided to go for the six hour brisket with macaroni and cheese. This sounds like an odd combination particularly for a good restaurant. It works incredibly well. The brisket was moist tender and just plain fantastic. This is a cut of meat that for a long time was derided as being a bad piece. It just needs to be cooked right and the kitchen at press* has it sorted. I recommend trying it with the Mikkeller Jackie Brown or Brewboys Ace of Spades.

All of the food was excellent. The service was great. There is a fantastic selection of beer and wine. I can’t wait to get back for a longer meal when I don’t have to drive afterward. I am particularly looking forward to getting a group together and going in for the half Berkshire pig. The idea to sitting down to half a pig with a group of friends is very appealing to me. I have already decided this is what I am doing for my birthday if I don’t find an excuse to do it before then.

I can’t recommend highly enough that you get in and have a meal at press*. They are good people that serve great food and drinks. They have a real commitment to good beer so they deserve the custom of Adelaide beer lovers. You can follow them on twitter too.

I have been quiet for the last couple of weeks and I apologise for that. My day job has been getting in the way more than I would like. I have been running all over the riverland regions of SA and VIC. I have managed to find the odd good beer but not really a lot to report.

This weekend though AABC(Australian Amateur Brewing Championship) is being judged in Adelaide. While beer judging isn’t an exciting thing to watch there are some events around that may be worth checking out. First up on Thursday is a get to know you session at The Wheaty. This is just an informal get together. If you want to talk beer and brewing with a bunch of hatdcore geeks this will be the place to be. On Friday evening the party will be moving to Brewboys with more beers and a bbq too. Should be a fun night and it’s just within walking distance for me so I may have to treat myself to a couple.

On Saturday it’s time for the presentation and Club Night. You have to registered to get into Club Night but if you can get in it’s usually a great party. Home brewers from around the country will bring along their beer and serve it for everyone else. There are so many great beers and it’s such a great environment. If you can find a way in take it. All the details for the weekend can be found here.

Get There!

Well Adelaide we are in for some real treats over the next couple of weeks. There are a couple of great events coming up at The Wheaty that you really should add to your calendar and get along to. First up this Wednesday, 5th of October, it’s drink a local night again. A week later on the 12th of October the movie “Beer Wars” come to Adelaide with a screening at The Wheaty. Add these to your calendar then read on for details.

Beer Wars has been on a tour of Australian craft beer venues and this month it lands in Adelaide at The Wheaty. A quick description from the site:

“Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers. The story is told through 2 of these entrepreneurs – Sam and Rhonda – battling the might and tactics of Corporate America. We witness their struggle to achieve their American Dream in an industry dominated by powerful corporations unwilling to cede an inch.”

A very appropriate time to see this in Australis with the recent take over of Foster’s by SAB Miller. Adelaide’s own Cooper’s brewery is now the largest Australian brewer. The big brewers keep getting bigger but we have a bunch great small local brewers who are bucking the trend and make great beer from small breweries that focus on flavour. Some of those brewers will be along on the night for a Q&A session after the movie. Included in the line up will be Ben Kraus of Bridge Road Brewers and the man responsible for bringing the movie to Australia, Alistair Turnbull from Lobethal, Simon Sellick from Brewboys and Gareth Andrews from Steam Exchange. Should be plenty of opinions and plenty of discussion. Like we need an extra excuse to go to the pub for great beer. Hope to see a bunch of people there. Hope to see plenty of people there supporting the event.

Coming up even sooner is the regular “Drink a Local” event. Every month we get two new beers from breweries in and around Adelaide. This month we see beers from Lobethal Bierhaus and Barossa Brewing Co. From the Barossa we have the Miller’s Lager. A Bavarian style lager that actually sees a real lagering period unlike the big boys who just make claims about time in their advertising. From Lobethal Bierhaus we have my favourite of their beers, surprise surprise, the double hopped IPA. It’s a great hoppy beer with tons of flavour and aroma and the bitterness isn’t too high for those that don’t like to be knocked over by bitterness.

So plenty coming up over the next couple of weeks at The Wheaty. Hope to see you there.

There is so much new and exciting stuff in at The Wheaty right now. It is a very exciting time for the Adelaide craft beer lover. We are seeing a nice influx of beer from the USA and some new and interesting beer from our European friends too. The above is a small selection of what is available that picked up on my most recent visit. Mine includes goodies from Victory, Moylan’s, Schmalz and Amager. There are many more besides too. Far too many to list.

Keep checking the web site though. The bottled beer list should be going up on the site in pdf form in the very near future. You can find it on the bar now in dead tree form. Much easier to browse than the old folder. This is happening more regularly and I think it’s a great thing. It feels like there is something new on tap or in bottle every week. It sure is a great time to be a beer lover and it’s always a good time to be at The Wheaty for a beer. Get There!

This Saturday, the 17th of September it’s time for Blue Mandarin Curry Night at Brewboys. It should be another great event at their cellar door on Regency Road. The live music kicks off at 1800 and curry is served from 1900. Brewboys regularly do food and live music events and curry night is one of the most popular. Cool music, good food and great beer, what more could you ask for? They shopw a real commitment to getting involved with the community and supporting great live music. You just don’t see enough of either of those now days and it’s nice to see brewers leading the way. So get down there this Saturday and support your local brewer that is supporting the community.

While you are there try the GTS Pale Ale that recently took out Champion Ale at the Royal Show Beer awards. Make sure you give my personal favourite the Ace of Spades stout a try too. It’s coming to the end of stout season so have a couple before the weather gets too warm. Hope to see you there. Get There!

Recently I was in Melbourne for a week of training for my day job. It’s nothing interesting so I shan’t trouble you with the details. I was staying right in the CBD so took the opportunity to enjoy the beer delights Melbourne had to offer. I ended up running out of steam at the end of the week but managed to get to some cool events and have some fun before a cold took over.

Day 1 I arrived in Melbourne late afternoon and checked into my hotel after a typical late flight and surviving the taxi ride from Tullamarine. It had been nealry a year since my last visit to Biero and I thiought it would be fairly quiet on a Monday so this was my first stop.

Quiet was an understatement. I was the only customer around when I arrived, it was very early in the evening. I was outnumbered by staff three to one so I didn’t have to wait at the bar. Biero had it’s Black Friday event the previous Friday so it was mostly stouts on tap. There was a few I hadn’t tried so decided that was the best place to start. I actually started with one I had tasted before but wanted to revisit. The Hargreave’s Hill Imperial Stout is a cracker and really easy drinking for something with such a high ABV. As a side note I didn’t make any notes about the beers on this trip so won’t be able to provide much in the way of tasting notes but this trip is more about the Melbourne experience anyway. Next up was one of the highlights of the trip, the Stubborn Russian from Bright Brewery. This was thick chewy and warming. Maybe not the best thing for early in the night but a really sensational beer. From here I moved to something a little lighter, Phin and Matt’s Extrordinary Ale by Southern Tier. This just seemed like a fairly standard APA to me and not really remarkable. I finished off the session with another pallet cleanser in Bruggen Blonde. Biero has a great range and there was a number of other beers I wanted to try but most of the were 9% plus and came in 750ml bottles. Not really an option when you are out by yourself. I prefer being at Biero on a Monday night as it gets a bit night clubby for me later in the week, or it did a year ago when I was there previously.

From Biero I decided to check out a little bar I had heard good things about but had never made it to. Penny Blue is one of those classic down a lane running off a lane running off a backstreet in Melbourne places. The difference to most others is that Penny Blue has great beer. The wine selection looked pretty good at a glance too but I wasn’t there for the wine this night. As you would expect, for a Monday night, it was quiet with a couple of small groups scattered about the place. Penny Blue has a real lounge relaxed feel and I felt really comfortable there. It’s the kind of place you expect to find the cool people but it pulls it off without being at all pretentious. If a beer geek from Adelaide drinking by himself can feel comfortable there surely anyone can. The bar man I spoke to was knowledgable, wanted to talk about the beers and was keen to make reccomendations. I started the session here with the Harvest Ale from Red Hill. This beer is starting to get a little old not but it’s still tasting great. Penny Blue obviously look after their stock. It was one win after another here with the Kooinda Full Nelson Black IPA next. I finally found it in small bottles so treated myself to one. Another great beer amongst the recent trend to blackify traditional pale styles, (see everybodies black IPAs and black Saisons from Doctor’s Orders and Bridge Road). Luckily there was another beer geek around. I wanted to try the Moylan’s Hopsicle but 750ml of 9.2% Imperial IPA wasn’t going to happen at the end of the night. The barman, I’m sorry I forget your name, organised us and we split a bottle. If you haven’t tried it yet make sure you do some time soon when it gets back into stock. That wrapped up the night for me. Not a huge night but I had big things planned for the next two nights so it was probably a wise decision.

Tuesday after a day of death by powerpoint I couldn’t to get out and get to the pub fast enough. Tuesday was to be a/the big one. I had managed to be in town for the Mikkeller tap takeover at the Local Taphouse in St Kilda. This means 20 different Mikkeller beers on tap at once. Looking at the lineup there was 14 or 15 I hadn’t had before and Mikkeller is one of my favourite brewers so to say I was looking forward to this event would be a mamoth undestatement. I almost sprinted to Southern Cross Station and onto a Sandringham line train bound for Balaclava station. A tram could have gotten me closer but this looked like the fastest way to get there. Once off the peak hour train packed with people who merely served to annoy and couldn’t possibly understand the momentous event ahead of me it was a left turn on Carlisle Street and straight to the Local. I did turn my head as I passed the bottleshop but decided I would head in there for takeaways later. This proved to be a bad decision but we shall cover that later.

Once inside and upstairs I found some local beer geeks I had previously only met online, beer people are good people, and grabbed my first paddle of tasters. I’m not even going to begin to try to list all of the beers or talk about them specifically as there was just too many and frankly it’s all a bit of a blur. The Taphouse is a great venue and has so much good beer. The staff are pretty good, are very enthusiastic and friendly. The place has a great vibe and it’s easy to get spome conversation going with complete strangers when it’s a collection of beer people. Beer people want to discuss what they are dinrking and their thoughts on different beers. We all like to compare notes, I find it particularly intersteing when someone has a polar oposite view on a beer that I either love or hate. After a couple of tasting paddles I noticed it was getting close to 2000, the closing time of the bottleshop, so I thought I best head down and pick up some stuff I can’t find in Adelaide. This is a bad idea when you are already well into a session at the Taphouse, I think they may count on this. I spent far more money than I should of. Though I picked up plenty of good beer and the money certainly wans’t wasted I’m not sure my better half was happy with the credit card bill.

After making my way through all the tastings it was the moment of truth. After tasting all of those beers what do you actually go back to for drinking and not just tasting. For me it was the Simcoe IPA and Ten. While I really liked the Black there is a limit to how much 17% Imperial Stout I can drink and IPA is my default position. After a few more beers and much excellent conversation I realised. A) It was getting late. B) I had a reasonably early start back in training the next day. C) I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch time. D) I was quite drunk. E) I was doing it all again the next night. So I bid farewell to my new beer geek friends and made for the station. I picked up some terrible junk food on the way back to the hotel and collapsed with my half eaten burger onto the hotel bed.

Wednesday was spent in training cursing Tuesday me but as the day wore on I started to come good. By the time I was done with work for the day I was running out the door and heading for the pub onice again. This time I was off to North Melbourne to visit the Courthouse Hotel. Renowned as a good beer venue that is getting better all the time it was my first visit. Once again my timing was exceptional as the Courthouse had on a Crafty Pint sponsored beer food and wine matching dinner. With each course we were to be served an accompanying beer and wine to compare and contrast. First things first though. I hit the bar and was soon joined by the local Melbourne members of the Australian Beer Writers Guild. We snuck in as many beers as we could before being called upstairs for dinner. I managed to squeeze in a couple of previously untatsed, by me, 3 Ravens beers that I quite enjoyed.

The dinner was exceptional. Initially I was a bit dissapointed as I got sat with a bunch of people I didn’t know and was looking forward to a conversation with some of the local beer geeks. I quickly pulled myself out of that funk and got chatting with some locals who were all fairly new to good beer. These were people who had the Courthouse as their local saw a poster for the dinner and decided to give it a go. It’s a good thing to see. I think these were the only people at the event not closely related to someone at the pub or Crafty Pint who was putting the event on. All of the courses were great though I thought the pasta course which was one piece of tortellini on a spoon was kind of odd. I didn’t need more food overall but I felt I couldn’t really get a real sense for the dish never mind contrast two drinks to it with only one piece of pasta. The pick of the courses because of the match was the cheese with the Westmalle Tripel. These went together so well I would have been happy if served nothing else. The pork dish was also excellent but the match of the cheese and the Westmalle was truly excellent.

Once dinner was over it was back to the bar and a few of the higher ABV and weirder beers that were on offer. Unspurprisingly people start to care less about prices at this time of night and bottles of Brew Dog Tokyo were ordered. Festivities, for me at least, were cut short only by the imminent arrival of the last tram back into the city. This meant it was time to leave the Courthouse. It’s a great pub that you wouldn’t pick for what it is from the outside. It camouflages it’s self well with it’s suburban pub look and Carlton Draught sign above the door. If you are in North Melbourne I reccomend a look.

Thursday wasn’t a pretty thing. After three fairly drinkie nights in a row Melbourne had taken it’s toll on me. After making it through the days training session I decided a walk around the streets of Melbourne would be a good idea. There was a big tasting on a Purvis Cellars I would have liked to make it to but I was a bit rundown at this point and it was at their Surrey Hills outlet which seemed a fair way from the CBD. In the end my night was a wander about the city and a couple of local craft beers and Young and Jacksons. In the end this was a good decision after a fairly full week of beer drinking.

This trip was not planned particularly around any of these events. This just seems to be what happens in Melbourne. There is always some kind of beer event going on. Just head over for a visit I’m sure you will find something to do in the local beer scene. Make sure you look around when you are going over and give the venues I have mentioned here a go and tell me about others you find.

While I can’t go into detail as it hasn’t been announced yet it’s a good week to be in Adelaide, at The Wheaty and drinking beer. There are some exciting new Australian and New Zealand beers hitting the taps this week that you really won’t want to miss. Right now you can head down and find the Mountain Goat Coffee IPA on tap. There are very few kegs of this beer around so I would get down soon if I were you. Also on tap at the moment is the Black Noir Saison from Bridge Road Brewers. This is the second black saison we have seen in recent times and it’s a good one.

There is plenty more good stuff coming up this week too. You are going to need to follow @TheWheaty on Twitter and subscribe to their email to get the details. Make sure you keep a close eye for the details. Over the next week there will be a couple of new IPAs from Bridge Road Brewers hitting the taps. Two single hop IPAs, one made with Galaxy hops and the other with the new Stella variety. The Galaxy has been released in the past but it’s the first time for the Stella. The Galaxy is an excellent beer that I have had the last time it was made and I got to try the most recent release in Melbourne last week. You don’t want to miss it.

The other big release coming up some time this week is Super Conductor by 8 Wired. This is their new keg only double IPA. According to the web site this has 80% more hops than the Hopwired IPA. The Hopwired is a great beer so I can’t wait to try the Super Conductor. All reports are that it is an amazing beer and that there isn’t much of it around so you will want to get to The Wheaty to try it. You need to keep your eye on @TheWheaty on Twitter and their mailing list. Get There!

Most beer geeks have experienced that moment. I know I have. That moment when you really discover beer. Mine came after drinking beer even some good ones but there was the aha moment when beer just became an obsession for me. Most beer lovers have had and can remember that moment. My moment was on a trip to the US many moons ago. For me that beer was Sierra Nevada Pale. A beer quite a few people have had that kind of experience with. There was almost no good beer to be found here in Adelaide back then. The closes thing to craft beer I had ever had was Cooper’s Sparkling Ale. At the time the Sierra Nevada was a revelation to me. I had never tasted anything so bitter and hoppy. I didn’t quite know what to think about it but I knew I liked it. While it may seem quite restrained now days at the time it was an extreme beer particularly for my inexperienced pallet.

I was at the Wheaty the other night and I got to see someone else have their beer moment. For this person it was the Moo Brew Imperial stout through the glass hopper filled with Kopi Luwak coffee. Quite an exotic combination and a truly awesome one too. After tasting it the guy walked around the bar telling anyone that would listen how awesome it was and trying to convince them to try it. I think most beer lovers and probably anyone who is passionate about something knows what that moment was like. It was great to see someone else experience it. I’m really passionate about beer and it’s great to see someone else joining the club.

So what was your beer moment like and what beer was it?

THis Friday, 12/8/2011, from 1700 The Mikkeller 1000 IBU will be on tap at The Wheaty. This beer is a bit of a gimmick but it’s still bloody good and it is something you really should try. While it’s not really 1000 IBU it is still really bitter, really hoppy and, not surprisingly, really tasty.

There is plenty of other good stuff on tap at the moment too. So come on down to The Wheaty this Friday and enjoy the 1000 IBU and something else too. Get There!

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!

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 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!

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.

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.