A Baby Cow

I had one of my regular and overwhelming cravings for a real fat, meaty, juicy and very greasy burger but wasn't sure of where and when to get one. Where would fill the spot and satisfy my hunger. After thinking about it over a cup of tea, a 'Tiny Burger' from Forty Burgers at Craft Beer Co N1 was perfect. A greasy double stack of meaty goodness topped with more salty bacon and cheese. It was the meat, fat and salt combination that I desired so much.

It was a damn shame the pub wasn't open. Maybe it was a Thursday, or could it have been a Wednesday. Either way it doesn't really matter as it was shut. They didn't open until the mid afternoon and it was moments after 1pm.

Salvation came in the form of a very sinister looking clown. 'The Joker of Penton St' is on a list of places to visit drink and eat. In fact it features as the place to start a proposed drinking thing/pub crawl called the 'Chapel Market Triangle'

I'd not eaten there before but the food sounded tasty and with a fancy little kitchen in the corner (complete with a flat top grill) and a comprehensive list of burgers, I can safely say it was the ideal spot.

Slight confusion over a very child menu looking menu with pictures of bears and silly names, it took a while to realise it was in actual fact the adults menu. The only menu. The burgers had odd yet obvious names. Even now I think the idea of calling a vegetarian burger a 'Koala Bear' after the cute, furry little leaf eating marsupials. 'Angry Bear' was a burger featuring jalapeños and 'Greedy Bear' was a double stacked burger of meaty madness.

Frank being vegetarian had no choice but to eat a koala, I was spoilt for choice but with an unhealthy craving for meat I thought it best if I went for the Greedy Bear. When I saw the size of the meat patties as they were slapped onto a sizzling flat top, I was slightly fearful that I had made the wrong decision. The balls of meat were the size of grapefruits, not oranges, or satsumas but the size of a large pink grapefruit. Make that two of those balls, with a side of cheesy chips and onion rings. Possibly not the best idea.

I could see movement behind the bar. Like a dog hearing a distant sound and its ears pricking up and seemingly staring into the distance at nothing. I could see food being plated up. Meat, meat and meat. Two meat burgers were brought out to us. Some kind of mix up had taken place and instead of receiving a koala Frank was given a angry bear. He wasn't angry but explained the mix up and that he was vegetarian. The waiter/chef apologised and was about to walk off with the little meat mistake but then stopped. Just as he was about to remove this angry little thing off the table, he asked me if I wanted it. He went back to the kitchen and immediately put the koala bear on the grill. While the vegetarian disc of meatless goodness was cooking away, he prepared the cheesy chips placing them underneath the salamander grill to melt the cheese and waited as the onion ring bubbled away in the fryer.

Could I take on this unexpected meat challenge, like hell I could and was I was determined to eat every last mouthful down to the crispy little meat crumbs that had fallen from the bun in my hand and into the sauce and grease filled bowl below.

The burger(s) were amazing, so fresh, so meaty with so much naturally meaty flavour. Every bite was as exhilarating as the one before. All the meat in front of me eventually disappeared into my belly, it was like I'd eaten an entire baby cow. Not quite a calf, but a week old little baby.

Thankfully I have so many meat loving and carnivorous mates as we will most definitely be coming back again. I want more 'Burger Bears'.

I know there isn't anything about beer here but I did have a couple of pints of this drinkable beer that had been steeped with herbs. And it is a pub after all.

joker

burgerbear

Vanquishing the Toilet Demon

I've always had this almost romantic vision of St George slaying a huge, grotesque and other worldly beast of a dragon. This huge creature, covered in thick hard scales and teeth the size of lambs and wings as broad as a tall ships sails. St George, a brave patron for more than one nation. Slaying this monster, driving his spike into the animals chest and standing proud above its cold dead body with his battered shield in one hand, a bloody sword in the other and his foot on top of the dragons skull.

That romantic notion was destroyed as soon as I saw several paintings from various eras, all depicting a different story. The hero, a knight, St George slaying the ungodly and unruly beast. In most if not all the paintings, the beast turned out to be no larger than an average sized horse and quite often took the form of a snake. What happened to this big dragon larger than a double decker bus, who decided the dragon would be no larger than a horse.

If there was anything remotely religious or patriotic about me, I would have been devastated, dealt a crushing blow with my imagination getting the better of me. But I'm not. The creature I'd assumed was as big as a mountain and devoured men like a child eating popcorn, burning entire villages to the ground in a similar scale to us starting a small bonfire. It was all a lie.

The hero who slain the toilet demon was not a piece of fiction. This brave individual tackled masses of human excrement in the form of a solid brown snake. The hero slaughtered the big brown beast making life a safer and more pleasant place. Life being the interior of the 'Euston Tap' and the metaphorical toilet demon happened to be a leaky drainage pipe coming from the upstairs toilets, seeping through the ceiling and causing an horrific stench throughout the establishment.

Not only had this demon been vanquished, in its place was now peace, calm, beauty, serenity, the picturesque vision of deer and birds feeding gracefully by the shore a peaceful lake.

Sanity had been restored. Life once again held value. No fictitious dragons or scaly horse/snake like creatures needed to be harmed.

Without the putrid stench of death and disappointment, the place had a very different aura. Something bright, colourful, almost celebratory was in the air. It hadn't been long since I'd been back from Australia, sampling hundreds of Antipodean offerings, I craved some good English beer.. or whatever decent I could find. And find we did, Frank and I. I mentioned in a post a while ago about how fantastic an establishment the Euston Tap was and is. It still is and was a million, billion, trillion times better since the toilet demon had been slain.

Already seeing into the future with no sours, I concealed the unhappiness of my inner self by allowing my outer self to enjoy some really good beer. With a couple of mix ups, we ended up having the odd pint instead of a half. Luckily they weren't the ones that were upwards of 7%. The beer was very good so none of it went to waste, it just meant that overall we drank a lot more.

Frank had a couple of Stouts, and I was on a Red IPA, a Pale, more IPAs, anything, everything. I was glad to be back in England and what a fine place to announce that and come to terms with it. I did try this oddly sounding beer, a 'White Chocolate IPA' from Summer Wine Brewery. It stood out to me, big white lettering on a black board, white in white. I had a half of it and wasn't that taken by it if I'm honest. In my mouth it felt and tasted unsure of what it was, it had smoothness and sweetness but wasn't what I had expected or wanted in an IPA. It did have the buttery oiliness you get in white chocolate due to the fat content of the cocoa butter. It was in no way horrible, far from. All I'm saying is that I personally didn't enjoy it. They do make some amazing Pales and other IPAs that are definitely worth sampling, and their branding is brilliant.

My penultimate drink of the night was 'Liquid Monstrous', an Imperial Red IPA from one of the most experimental and brave breweries in the UK, Siren. I'd had it before and knew exactly what I was getting into, a 7.4% beer that would do more than hit the spot.

Originally I wasn't looking forward to being back but after drinking with Frank, enjoying good beer and great conversation, things were looking up. Time to leave, and I readied myself by putting on my 'High Viz' cycling jacket and zipping it up. Just as we were about to leave, Frank decided he'd go for a wee, partly out of desperation and curiosity. He'd never been upstairs before, I hadn't until that evening either. He ascended the most elaborately and beautifully decorated wrought iron spiral staircase I'd ever seen. It was a sight to behold, a piece of Victorian engineering at its finest. So nice in fact that I would be happy to have it as some kind of focal piece in my house if I ever get one. The only toilets in the place were the naughty little buggers that had caused so much grief beforehand.

While he was up there I took the opportunity to have a 'cheeky' half waiting for his return. The barmaid obliged, served me one and there I was, another half pint in hand. Moments away from drinking it. It took me so long to acknowledge what had happened that I still had half my half left when Frank appeared.

eustontap

sirencraftbrew

summerwinebrewery

A Beer Adventure Down Under (iii, b)

A pub I mentioned before and one from an older post, 'The KB Hotel', used to be terrible. With the usual piss poor excuses for beer on tap, full of horrific locals and dirty prostitutes, now boasted more beers than you can count on your hands and feet. Too many beers to mention and changing so frequently it is impossible to keep up. Owned by the same people as another fine establishment, 'The Dove and Olive'.

An unassuming and quite traditional looking Irish pub, 'The Trinity Bar' looked plain and a bit poo from the outside. Inside was wall resembling a fake library and all in all looking rather tacky. It actually ended up being a really good pub, again with many beers on tap and some particularly fine examples like 'Fredericks Hop Cannon' from 'New England Brewing Co'. More craft beers and some of the older regular examples that the locals love so much. It is pubs like this that really make the beer scene in Australia different to that in England.

A corner pub that I remember visiting a fair amount when I lived in Australia was 'TheLocal Taphouse'. A beer pub through and through. So many beers or tap they actually have a daily menu so that staff and customers can keep track. I went in on an abnormally rainy day. The weather was so shit outside yet I didn't let it get me down so I cracked on and ordered a tasting paddle of beers from all over the world. A point that has to be mentioned is that this pub had a beer from world renowned Danish brewery 'To Øl'. A beer with a wonderful name, 'Mine Is Bigger Than Yours'. Having that beer itself is enough to consider this to be one of the great pubs in the whole craft beer scene and made better by the fact this place was doing the same thing three years ago. A place that truly has done everything in the world to showcase craft beer and they've done an excellent job at that. I tried a 'Peated Pale' for the first time, from a Melbourne based brewery, 'Killer Sprocket'. A Lambic style fruit beer from a New South Wales brewery, 'Bacchus Brewing Co'. And a Brown Ale from 'Six String Brewing Company'. It wasn't the best Brown Ale I've ever tried but still bloody good, I can only imagine their other beers are as good if not better.

The Local or Local Taphouse is one of those special places that no matter how expensive it is, you'll always find yourself going back for more. Unusually catering for large groups of Stags/Bucks or even Hens and serving up some delicious food, all with one of the greatest assortments of beer across all of Australia.

Similar to the Trinity Bar and KB Hotel, somewhere in North Sydney that from the outside looks like a traditional pub and taking the briefest of moments to look on in astonishment at the clientèle and how drop dead gorgeous every female member of staff is, you begin to notice the craft beers on tap. Then your eyes wonder off and follow someone, then back to the bar, then off again as you notice in the corner of your eye some bar legs and a handful of dirty glasses. When you finally examine the beers on tap you are taken aback. Astonished, how and why would a place like this have so many decent craft beers on tap. Along with serving some of the best top crust pies I've had, actually, I'd go as far to say that the Beef and Guinness Pie was the best top crust pie I have ever had. So meaty, juicy and yum. A beer like 'Hangmans Pale' from the 'Rocks Brewing Company' isn't going to blow your socks off but with it being so easy to drink and packed full of hoppy goodness, it is delight to have in a glass.

Drawing closer to the time I had to leave, a few places of significance and importance had to be visited and deserve a mention. A German/Alpine restaurant, 'Una's' in Darlinghurt had the BEST schnitzel I have ever tried. No word of a lie they are beyond amazing and great value considering the higher than normal price tag. It is BYO so you can bring your own wine or after a quick look at the drinks menu, chose a beer from the list. Strangely most of the beers on the list were from a brewery '2 Metre Tall' in Tasmania. All in the natural style and most having a slight sour tang. We had the 'Derwent' as it was the only one left. All the ones we'd asked for were out and the waitress just brought this one over and opened it. Optimistically I might say as we hadn't asked for it and could have turned it down. A good thing we didn't as it was possibly the best beer I'd had in Australia. After forcing myself to drink sour beers over the last few months, I had built up an appreciation and longing for them. I cannot have a session without one now. That is how much I admire them. I can't quite handle the full blown sugar free Lambics. I did have the fruit Lambic the other day but the sourness was mellowed by the addition of fruit. Derwent was something else. Not a true sour but a beer made using spelt and spelt having a slight sour tang to begin with. Their production method must be so natural that they almost taste like wildly fermented beers and are spectacular beyond belief. I really do want to see them in the UK. Even with them costing over $10 for a 500ml bottle, maybe after shipping and tax and all that they might reach a hefty price tag of maybe £15, they are more than worth it. If only you could get them here.

So, one of the special events that takes place once a month or however frequent it is at the 'Dove and Olive', is a thing called a 'Craft Beer Fight Club'. An event where two brewers or breweries enter two beers each into a face to face challenge. I went to one of these and to be honest left feeling cheated, disappointed. The beers were good apart from one example that was worse than any home brew I've had or made. The others were really good though so they kind of made up for the bad ones inadequacy. The night was poorly organised and full of drunken plums. A noisy bunch of idiots seated directly behind where I was sitting and other the course of the evening, getting louder and more annoying almost forcing me to ram an empty glass down one or more of their throats. A 'Hefe' and 'Pale' from 'Moo Brew', Tasmania stood out as great beers. Along with the 'Redhopulous Maximus' from 'Hop Dog Beer Works' from New South Wales. It was an eventful night but not one I think I'll ever attend again. I'd rather drink each of the beers in peace and make up my own mind about them.

Another unassuming bistro pub, 'The Shakespeare Hotel' in Surry Hills looks bad and a place to avoid from outside and downstairs but upstairs is different. A rather cool and quirky bistro serving famous $12.50 mains and craft beers on tap.

I tried this beer called 'Norman' from a brewery 'Yullis'. I happened upon the Yullis restaurant on Crown St in Surry Hills one evening. The beers there were good, really good. Norman, a great Aussie Ale and the Vanilla Porter. The Porter snuck its way into my top list of Porters. I don't know the name but it had a silly caricature of an office worker or something like that on the label. All Yullis beers are good and the place itself looks great, smells great and is almost enough to turn a meat eater like myself into a vegan.

The last place I visited was the little tucked away craft beer bar. Secretly nestled in an upstairs room on a horribly dirty patch of Oxford St in Surry Hills. The amount of times I missed the sign trying to find it as I walked past. Me and my bro finally went in one night after a big session of drinking. It was amazing. More closely resembling a craft beer pub or bar that you might see in some London back street. It was cool, hip, trendy, however you want to describe it. Very welcoming and with a beer selection similar in greatness and diversity to that at the Local. 'Bitter Phew' is one of those places that will soon be massive but I feel will retain its cool its character and do wonders in further increasing Australia's love for craft beer. They even have a selection of beers on their way from a brewery regarded as being the finest in the world, 'Hills Farmstead' form Vermont, USA. I mean, you don't even see many if any of their beers here and their doing a takeover kind of thing at a small craft beer bar in Sydney. That explains a lot about what is actually happening in the craft beer scene in Australia.

Overhearing a conversation about Guinness in Australia doesn't really say much about craft beer or the beer scene in general, it was just an interesting thing I overhead. How this group of men had taken such a love to Guinness that they were willing to seek out every single Guinness that was available for sale in the greater Sydney area. They had even created a spreadsheet to evaluate the Guinness' they had. It is something like that that shows at what lengths Australians are taken to spread the word of beer and their individual and group appreciation for craft beer and beer in general.

I think there is something we can learn about the craft beer scene in Australia. Even if in my opinion, the beers coming out of England are better, what is happening down under is something that I think we should take note of.

A few links to breweries to name a few

rocksbrewing  

2mt

yullis

moobrew

A Beer Adventure Down Under (iii, a)

How and where to begin, I'm unsure really. The easiest place to start I imagine would be at the beginning. This is not an essay as such but a summarised story of the events that took place on my recent visit to Australia. I think a good way to do this and to keep it concise would be to have it in a roughly chronological order simply mentioning the beers I have had and the places I had them.

The first beers I had when I arrived, almost the moment I sat down after walking through the apartment door was a beer from New Zealand Brewery 'Moa'. A session Pale. The next was another session ale from 'Gage Roads' another on of the up and coming breweries that was around when I was last in Australia. They appeared to have grown massively in the time that I've been gone. It still strikes me as being odd that Kiwi beers are so readily available in the UK but Australian ones are not. There is only a short flight between the two countries and I would imagine roughly the same shipping channels. Why then are Australian beers not as common in England?

Another good brewery that didn't seem to exist last time I was in Australia was 'Feral Brewing Company'. They produce a Smoked Porter that is good enough to rival the likes of our home grown 'Beavertown' or the American giant 'Stone'. Feral have a selection of fabulous beers to excite the taste buds of any person and suit any palate. I only got to try a few of their beers but the ones I had were basically faultless, so with that in mind I imagine the others in the range to be equally as good and some of the special limited brews to be unreal.

Then came 'The RoyalAlbert'. It happened to be on the same block as the apartment I was staying in Surry Hills and with a combination of having brilliant beers and a chatty and knowledgeable bar man, became my regular. It was pricey but you get what you pay for with that place. I arrived the week after a tap takeover from one of the best breweries I tried beers from, 'The Black Dog Brewery'. They had Saisons, Pales, IPAs, and a particularly fine and extra strong Double IPA. Then in the same session I had to try my first experience of an Australian hand pull, 'Hargreaves Hill', ESB. Hand pulled beers are commonplace in the UK and are occasionally seen in American, in Australia they are so new, so so new. Newer than a moment old baby. They are getting quite common in Australia now and can be seen in many craft beer pubs and even some regular looking pubs from bigger pub companies. It was a very good attempt at recreating a very traditional British style bitter with many similarities. I hadn't come to Australia to try their version of an English beer. I wanted something Australian. I finished that session with a Berliner Weisse from the same brewery and named 'Small Beer' which I haven't got a clue about. It was expressive of that style and a perfect representation of a sour beer. 4 pines had their Stout on. An Irish style dry Stout with lots of burnt toast and rich maltiness.

I had to go back to my favourite bottle shop in the whole of Sydney. When I stayed with my brother all those years ago, I used to go there regularly and buy whatever they had that took my fancy. It was amazing to see how many craft beers they had from all over Australia and even the world. I couldn't peel my eyes off a Saison from 'The Brooklyn Brewery' from America. I didn't get it but will one day give it a go. I got two beers from a brewery named '2 Brothers'. An appropriate name for a couple of beers for two brothers. The beers themselves had brilliant names, ''James 'Belgian' Brown' and a Porter that I can't remember the name of. Great beers, great brewery and like I keep saying, the best or my favourite bottle shop in Sydney.

Then came a little pub crawl going back over my old haunts. The East Sydney Hotel, a place I will forever mention always with a selection of decent beer, had a selection of decent beers. That was where I was introduced to 'Modus Operandi' another amazing brewery and one of the best in Sydney. All of their beers have impressed, every single one. I want more, I want them in England now! I had my first introduction of both hand pulled and tap beer or the same variety. 'Young Henry's' 'Real Ale'. A kind of best bitter style beer with a rich and complex malt body and strong hop notes. Everything you want in a craft style best bitter. Young Henry's are one of the more popular and hip breweries of the moment in Sydney. They make great beer and have a cool bar at the brewery. They have nailed the scene and have lest what looks like it will be a permanent mark.

Of course I went back to my old place of work, 'The Hollywood Hotel' or Hotel Hollywood. There were always a couple of crafty beers on with one permanent one being the classic, 'Coopers Pale'. A beer that is always one to go back to and enjoy again and again and again. It was good to see it was still there and that Marc, the manager had introduced another craft beer. 'Moon Boy' from Murray's. A brewery from the wine country. They make good beers and have such a broad spectrum, they are worth checking out for sure.

I took a trip to Newtown with the intention of visiting the Young Henry's brewery. I tried many decent beers that day, from 'The Cricketers Pale' a Pale expressing all the qualities of a great Aussie Pale. Fruit, citrus, hops in abundance and a clean crisp finish. The are owned by 'Asahi' but even with that fact, they still produce great beers. Maybe there is hope for the likes of 'Goose Island' in Chicago, USA or 'Stone', California, who may or may not have been bought out.

It was that day where I got to try some truly memorable beers. A Milk Stout from 'Batch Brewing Co' and a beer so out of the ordinary and tasty and verging on spirituous, a Porter that had been aged in barrels that previously contained spiced rum. 'Holey Porter' from 'Shenanigans Brewing'.

I got to try some good beers and one not so good raspberry Stout at Young Henry's. I mean, the fruity Stout might be popular for some, I just am not partial to that style. Their other beers were really good and even the 'Natural Lager' is a light and incredibly refreshing beer that is perfect after or for a long session. Another of note is their 'Hop Ale'.

One of my favourite beers of the whole trip was a Belgian Pale that had some resemblance to a traditional Farmhouse Ale, 'Florette' by 'La Sirene'. Unquestionably one of the best breweries in Australia and producing some of the best beers I tried there.

A Beer Adventure Down Under (ii)

Picture this in your head, the earliest life form on the Earth, splitting into two, then doubling again and again and again. Those simple single celled organisms becoming ever more complex, former cell structures and eventually coming together as tissues and then organisms in even more complex creatures. The first form of creatures to move on the Earth were in the acidic and blisteringly hot oceans that once covered almost the entire surface. At a stage where things began to cool and more and more varied life existed, there formed the bacterium we now know and love and refer to as Yeast. Yeast, the most vital component in the production of alcohol. Without the humble simple organisms, the sugars and other starches would not be converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This could go on for ever but I'll simply used the analogy of the creations and formation of life or the simple celled organisms. Imagine Australian beer or breweries as these very organisms. Once there were only a few then in no time at all there were millions. Obviously there still aren't millions of breweries or brewers to that matter but they all seemingly appeared out of nowhere. No that many are established and/or expanding or changing, it can be likened to the evolution of the simple organisms to the more complex.

That might seem like a ridiculous analogy but I think it quite accurately represents what happened in the life and development of Australia's craft beer scene. Like fungal spores leaving the parent, younger brewers left bigger companies to form small or micro breweries of their own. With a big gap waiting to be filled, the ones that produced decent beers quickly grew into something great, something know, something you might find in the odd bottle shop around the cities in Australia. 4 Pines in Manly and Sydney Brewery in Surry Hills. Both with humble micro brewery beginnings, one as a brew pub and the other a micro brewery/bar. The popularity of the smaller brewers rapidly grew with the more trendy pubs quickly snapping their beers up. The thing that seems to be the case in Australia, or Sydney in particular is the whole thing of fads or trends. Sydneysiders seem to latch on to something that was once 'cool' and overuse it and eventually destroy it making it redundant and beyond being uncool, something you wouldn't be seen dead talking about or thinking of. Thankfully this was not the case with craft beer. Differing slightly to the whole coffee scene, it grew and actually gathered so much momentum that like a huge snowball growing ever larger, it collided with big breweries and pub companies and an explosion of such great magnitude happened. Back to the evolutionary analogy, like the meteor that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs. This explosion of micro breweries, big boys and pub companies did not destroy the scene or make it uncool. What it did was make the whole thing a hell of a lot more accessible. It brought craft beer to the masses. The scene continued to grow underground and above ground in the public eye and the two occasionally cross paths. This crossing of paths is beautiful. Holding more beauty than any orchid from the remotest parts of Asia and possessing so much power and control that it quite literally took hold of the nation, Hipsters, oldies, young people, suits, everybody united in a love of good beer.

The scene continued to develop and evolve. Craft beer pubs holding regular tasting events and even tap takeovers from local breweries, breweries from other states and even the odd one from breweries over seas. It seems that like the native wildlife inhabiting Australia, the beer and beer scene evolved completely separately and therefore differently to the ones in the UK and America. With so much available space, Australia has a major advantage over the UK. Property here is a premium, as is in Australia, it is just that London is so built up already and every single inch of usable space is either being used or set to be developed into housing or some kind of stupidly stylised office space. I mean, using an old shipping container as a market plot seems to me to be a bit more than pretentious.

This freedom for space in Australia and it being such a vast nation means that even places out of the city or somewhere not so cool and fancy still get noticed, recognised and quite often picked up and bough, sold or utilised.

The most recent incarnation are breweries in Sydney like 'Young Henry's' in Newtown, 'Modus Operandi' in Mona Vale, 'N.O.M.A.D' in Brook Vale among many more. Pubs like the East Sydney Hotel have always showcased these smaller, often independent craft breweries bringing them to the masses, or whoever enters their great establishment and purchases a beer. You even have places like 'Yullis' on Crown St in Surry Hills that not only creates some of the tastiest beers in Australia but also has what I'm told by a reliable source having “the best vegan food in Sydney”. Pubs and bars like 'The Royal Albert Hotel' in Surry Hills offering regular tap takeovers and some of the finest beers on the standard assortment, or 'Bitter Phew' a really trendy but openly welcoming craft beer bar hidden in a cavernous upstairs on the grubby and disgustingly trampy part of Oxford St in Surry Hills. It is amazing how a place like that remains so underground considering its location and yet at the same time is so open and nice, standing out massively in its surrounding. Then there are the bigger pubs part of larger pub companies with often a few locations like 'The Dove and Olive' or the 'KB Hotel' or 'The Trinity Hotel'. All regularly changing their assortment of some of the best beers Australia has to offer. Even places like 'The Yardarm' in Manly with its unbelievable value $8 craft beer pint happy hour, has some amazing beers. Every time I went in they had a different beer on one of the many forever changing taps. It is a fabulous thing to see. Not only are the underground places doing as much as they possibly can to promote craft beers, but the larger establishments are also getting in on the act.

The beer snob could either view this development as some kind of negative progression. Taking something really good and successful, seeing how brilliant and money making it can be and almost using it until it no longer has any meaning or worth. I can see how one might form such an opinion but I cannot share that view. I am taking the standpoint that the fact that these beers have gained so much popularity is a good thing, no, a fantastic thing. If it wasn't for the support of these places, maybe the smaller of the craft breweries, the ones that take risks and bring out experimental beers like hopped Saisons and Sours might not make it in the real world. I mean what pub in Central London that isn't a Craft Beer Co pub or doesn't have anything directly to do with a craft brewery, would you see a 'Dry Hopped Saison' or 'Sour' beer, it just doesn't really happen, if it does it is incredibly rare but an excellent thing. In Australia things are very different. I went into some pubs, looking much like any pub you would see just off a high street or near to main roads in England or elsewhere in Australia. Some of them had more than one beer from more than one craft brewery either local or from elsewhere in the country. That alone is something that is commendable. The clientèle of a place like one of those pubs is tradesmen, suits or the average Joe, yet they quite often have an amazing selection of beers.

I have began to notice new cafés springing up all over London with some stocking craft beers like 'Beavertown' or 'The Kernel'. In fact one that my friend works at in Teddington, 'The Fallow Deer' stocks several different craft beers. I may have mentioned them previously in posts about Odell's beers.

I hope you enjoyed my idea of what (might have) happened as the craft beer boom swept across Australia.

Some of these new(er) breweries and bars/pubs

younghenrys

nomadbrewingco

mobrewing

yardarm

A Beer Adventure Down Under (i)

As part of my recent trip to Australia, I thought I'd sample as many beers as possible in order to compile a list and figure out what is happening with the craft beer scene down under. With only a month give or take, and fairly limited finances I tried my best.

My adventure into antipodean beers originally began with 'Coopers Pale' in bottle about maybe 10 years ago. Then it was only right that I tried the 'Coopers Sparkling' which was directly after as the shop that they were bought from had both. At the time Coopers was such an exotic beer, there were numerous American beers, and the usual continental stuff along with some regular favourites from Belgium and Germany. Coopers however was extra special, where and when could you find an Australian beer on the shelves in England. I'd say roughly ten years ago to the present day. Things changed over the years with the introduction of 'Stone and Wood', 'Pacific Ale' and then shortly after, 'Little Creatures', Pale Ale. Drifting in and out of knowledge of beers and Australian beers to be precise, I don't know when the Little Creatures disappeared from our shelves, all I know is that it is nigh on impossible to find it in England now. Stone and Wood has fizzled away too, which is a real shame as both were exceptional beers and so different to what was available at the time. Stone and Wood is still available for purchase at shops like 'Real Ale' in Twickenham and possibly some others. I have not seen Little Creatures for a long long time but I feel it may be available somewhere. Some Coopers varieties are available in 'Real Ale' and other outlets. Hopefully they will all become more readily available and more beers will find there way over a couple of continents and onto our shelves and into our fridges.

When I left Australia three years ago to come back to the UK, the craft beer scene was on the up in a big way. Breweries like '4 Pines' and 'Little Creatures' where pretty much in one in five pubs. Coopers Pale was the craft beer of choice for most main stream pubs with the slightly fancier places choosing something a little less common like the 4 Pines or Little Creatures. In the year that I was in Sydney I saw the popularity of craft beer sky rocket. It quite literally was in the process of taking off. There were other beers and breweries such as the 'Lord Nelson Brewery' producing typically Australian Pales like 'Three Sheets', you couldn't get more Australian than that. I noticed the main beer style was either of the Lager variety or Pale Ales. The Pales differed to the ones in the UK, Australian ones having a lighter body, more pronounced hop notes and with the introduction of very punchy, tropical fruit hops like Galaxy, much much more fruit notes than the herbal and vegetal tastes you often get from classic British styles. The Australian Pales were very similar to those being produced across the Pacific in America. Not as hopped, not as boozy but in my opinion fresher feeling, lighter and more balanced. Pales being the beer of choice kind of makes sense, given the hotter climate and recent abundance of one of the tastiest hop varieties. It was an ideal situation, with so much of the market open for the taking it was theirs to get out and grab it.

In the years since I've been away, I can picture what it might have been like. This next bit is a fictitious account of what happened to the craft beer scene in Australia. It began the moment I turned my back to board my Korean Airlines flight to England (which was a very pleasurable flight with lovely food and all-you-can-drink-beer). I didn't want to go back to England and in hindsight should have really put my foot down and said 'NO', but I didn't and I went back.

4pinesbeer

littlecreatures

lordnelsonbrewery

Last Night at The Albert

My Australian holiday was coming to an end. Actually it was the last night I had left and was flying out the next day on a marathon 36 hour or so journey back to England. I was satisfied that I'd done most if not everything I wanted to do. Most of that involved relaxing and drinking lots of fine Australian beers. A month passed before me so quickly that the times seemed to vanish in a single blink of my slightly ruined left eye.

I'd spent the day catching up on some writing at 'Café 1812', the café upstairs at 'Berkelouw Books' on Oxford St in Paddington. I feel I may have mentioned it before but I can't remember exactly. I had visited before and found it difficult to find any power points so only managed to write a single post even though I needed to catch up with loads. Again I couldn't find any so predicting this drama I charged the battery until it was full so it would give me the full 100% of the time to use it. I managed to finish a couple but still had plenty more. I had a large coffee to see me through then left to start packing my things. I packed so badly when coming out to Australia that I had no space to take back any beers. I really wanted to take home some mementos of the great beers I'd had on holiday but with three jackets and a coat I had no space. Weight was not an issue, I had simply filled my bag so that it had to be sat on to close.

It was decided, the last meal was to be 'Sushi on Stanley'. A great value and delicious little sushi bar on Stanley St. I'd never been but was assured that the sushi was top quality and it was cheap as chips. The menu was clear and simple with many combo variations. I went for a chicken katsu curry combo, Dom had the same and ordered some deep fried chicken pieces. I had a salmon and avocado hand roll as something extra on the side. Nina had a sashimi combo. It was BYOB (bring your own beer) but we arrived empty handed. We had to make to with plastic tasting tap water, it was free and colder than room temperature.

Dom had arranged to meet up with P-Slatez and his fiancé after we'd eaten. They were having dumplings in the restaurant bit of The Royal Albert. Which just so happened to be the place I had arranged to meet Dan. After we finished eating we slowly walked up the hills to get to the flat. Partly because it is so hilly that if you exert yourself too much you get very tired, also because we'd eaten it was best as nobody wants to suffer from indigestion.

I went ahead directly to the pub, Dom and Nina went back to the flat to change or whatever. I didn't actually know that P-Slatez was in the pub. Dom had been messaging him and mentioned about meeting him but none of us were privy to the information that was contained within the messages. I could only assume that he would meet us after he'd eaten. I was being hassled by Dan as I had told him I'd be about ten minutes and half an hour had already elapsed.

I walked passed the dumpling section and could have sworn that I saw P-Slatez and his fiancé dining there. I know I mentioned it but this was before I actually knew he was there. I thought nothing of it. Dan had just finished the last bite of his burger when I walked into the pub. During the week in Manly, we'd missed a Stone Brewing Co, from California, USA, tap takeover at the Albert. I'm sure they would have been ridiculously expensive but beers so amazing they would have been worth the price. There were a lot of beers to chose from, I was unsure of where to start.

Dan was sorted, he didn't need a beer at that exact moment. I scanned the pump clips and settled on a Porter, a very tasty porter. It had plenty of chocolate and something sweet in it like caramel or vanilla. A bit of sugar and a bit of spice. It was delicious. When I returned to the table I saw P-Slatez saying hello to Dan. I went over and joined them. His Fiancé was going home as she had an early flight the next day so I said goodbye and good luck for the up and coming wedding which is taking place in a couple of months. P-Slatez had a sip of my beer to see what it was like. He liked it enough to go and buy himself one, as I had only recently bought mine I was okay for the time being. Shortly after that, Dan's girlfriend arrived.

She was lovely and it was so nice to have a chance to meet her before I left. A little side note here. A strange coincidence or something more, I don't know but there is something that connects these people. Maybe that connection is me, I'm like Kevin Bacon in 'The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' where you name an actor/actress and within six people you will reach Kevin Bacon, it's a certainty. Any way. This probably wont look anything special when written but the idea of it was quite something to me when I found it out. So... my ex girlfriend's brother is now dating a girl who works as an accountant or something for an eyewear company. Dan's girlfriend works at that company in one of the shops. Not a big deal as it is quite a large company but they both do know each other. Back in the day, the companies office was upstairs at the same store that Dan's girlfriend works. So they know each other. A friend of mine Dylan also knows Dan's girlfriend. They share a friendship group. Megan, Dan's girlfriend, it seems a bit rude to constantly refer to Megan as her or Dan's girlfriend. Megan was talking to Nina about fashion, she is in her final year of studying at the moment and really wants to get into the industry. Nina currently works in the industry and a fashion label. It probably goes on some more but for the time being that is where the connection ends here.

So when Dom and Nina arrived, Dom got me this Double Stout that was on, it was about 9% and really strong. So much flavour but it wasn't as well rounded or balanced as the previous one I had. They were both great but the weaker and sweeter of the two was easier to drink. We all conversed with one another at some point about all sorts. It was good occasionally sitting back and seeing everybody interacting in a friendly and natural way. I was happy. Good beer, good company, a strong feeling of warmth around me, at that very moment life was perfect.

After a few strong dark beers, I was in need of something more refreshing. With no sours on, the barman recommended a Saison. It naturally had a slight tang to it but was more soft and fruity than straight up sour. It wasn't perfect but did indeed refresh my palate, leaving my mouth feeling as though it had just been massaged and spent the last fifteen minutes in a jacuzzi.

Night was drawing in and the evening was almost over. I wanted to go to the Hollywood for one last time before I went back to England. Who knows when the next time I'll be in Australia is. Knowing Marc though and with it being almost 11pm on a quiet evening, I had a feeling he would have shut or wanted to close early. When we got to the door, he was standing there with a cigarette. I thought he was joking when he said it but he said that 'they were closed'. He said he'd already cleaned the bar area and removed the taps. I honestly thought he was joking and so stood for a moment looking at him, waiting for him to say, 'ah, only joking, come on in guys'. That never happened. I think the moment actually lasted longer in reality than I thought. Sometimes things like that happens so quickly in reality that nobody even notices, not a second even goes past and a whole scenario has been played out. I thought that was the case here but after being told by Dan that I stalled a while, it was clearly obvious to everyone that the micro second vision had in actual fact lasted quite a few seconds, possibly long enough for it to become awkward. I said a long goodbye to Marc, wished him the best and left. Slightly disappointed, and embarrassed. It was a bitter defeat and I needed another beer to make up for it.

The only place around that was open was 'Harpoon Harry's', formerly the Macquarie and many other names. The former home of the Sydney Brewery, one of the first brew pubs out of the current boom, now what looks like a Spanish themed pub/restaurant. They had actually tastefully redecorated inside and out. It looked the part but with a smaller selection of beer and no weekday happy hour, it was a lot quieter than it used to be. We finished up and went our ways. Saying goodbye to Dan was like seeing a child of mine go off to war. In the classic films where you see the parents waving frantically as the bus drives off into the distance, maybe they'll never see their son again. I would see Dan again for sure, with Megan I hope. They seemed like a good couple, I liked them together.

Fuck packing, I'll have to do that in the morning.

A good place to read and write and eat but you need a long battery life if you plan to use an electrical device

cafe1812

Is this the best craft beer pub in Sydney???

royalalberthotel

Across The Bridge

Loving the good weather, I went out for another bike ride. This time rather than riding around the city, popping into a pub or something local, I decided to go over the bridge to North Sydney. I didn't come to that decision easily. I spent the good part of two hours sitting in the botanical gardens thinking. Not just thinking about what to do for that day but on another day or another week and even what my plan was for when I returned to England. Part of me really wants to sort some stuff out and work out a plan to get myself back to Australia to live there permanently, the rest of me is unsure. I'm still thinking about what to do but am leaving it up to chance rather than pondering and getting worked up about it.

The sun was still out, it was really hot, too hot and sunny for me to be without shade and reading. I can only handle a little bit of sun, coming from a Mediterranean family I should be fine with the sun but it gets to me, I simply can't handle the heat. I got on my bike and rode.

Unless you're used to doing it, it can be quite confusing trying to find to entrance ramp to the cycle path side of the Harbour Bridge. It wasn't like I was riding around for an hour trying to find the most inconspicuous little entrance but it certainly wasn't signposted the best possibly way. The cycle path is on the opposite side of the bridge to the foot path. Bikes are not allowed onto the footpath. Pedestrians are definitely not allowed on the cycle path, in fact either entrance/exit is guarded by very bored looking security guards. Their politeness didn't waiver, not matter how bored they were. I received a very smiley hello, acknowledged the greeting and was on my way.

The Harbour Bridge has a very shallow gradient going up to the central peak, then the same or similar gradient on the other side. You have to really put your back into it when you're getting up but once you get other the top, you don't even need to peddle. If you do want to peddle though I would advise putting the bike into the highest gear and keeping your hands tightly on the handle bars, you do get up to some considerable speed. I forgot to check at the time but I wonder if it was fast enough to puff out your cheeks like when you stick your head out of the car window and open your mouth, allowing the wind to get in and rapidly fill you mouth with air stretching your cheeks as far as they can get without tearing. There isn't much of a view on this side. The Opera House and city view is on the footpath side. Plus there is a massive steel cage going up high, rolling over at the top with a small gap between the two sides with barbed wire at the edge. I can only assume that it is to try and prevent suicides, the bridge is big, long and very high, you wouldn't want anybody jumping off now would you. Roughly just over a kilometre end to end, it takes a good few minutes to cycle over even with the speed.

I'd been over the bridge before but never ventured into North Sydney. I had no idea where I was going. To make matters worse, it was really hot and sunny now, I was sweating profusely and my eyes were starting to sting. The sweat was running into my eyes causing a serious amount of discomfort.

It was lunch time and all the workers were out filling all of the million food courts that North Sydney seems to have. Everywhere you look there is another pedestrianised little square or walkway with cafés, restaurants and fast food vendors all along and around them. It looks like there is any cuisine to cater for the most difficult and fussy person. I wasn't in the mood for food and was lost so pulled over the the pavement, mounted it and into the shade. In the confusion of being somewhere I'd never been before, I somehow managed to miss the turning and carried on along the Pacific Highway. I must have ridden about two miles before I thought it best to stop and check a map. All it took was taking the wrong turn at a fork and I was miles away. I back tracked all the way to the fork and then took the right turn, not the left. I spoke to my brother Dom and said I'd meet him in the Rag and Famish Hotel from the other week. Not for a steak but I was really thirsty and needed to catch up on some reading and writing, any maybe drinking.

I locked my bike up across the road and went inside. When I first arrived it was packed, full of suits and lots of people resembling characters you might be more familiar with from a Brett Easton Ellis novel. I didn't blend in at all but did my best to fade into the background and sat at a stool by the window and read. I didn't really want to drink alcohol but had a mini, like really small craving for a beer. I only bought a midi and got a large glass of icy cold water to rehydrate myself. There was food everywhere around me, I was starting to get hungry. I didn't plan to eat out but as every moment went by I felt the rumbles getting larger and closer together. I held off for a while though, I wasn't hungry enough yet and it was probably too busy to eat.

The midi I bought was a Pale Ale of sorts. I can't remember what one it was all I knew was that I'd had it before and it had a relatively plain label. It was a typically great Pale, light, crisp, fruity with hints of the tropical hops I love so much. I still had some left when Dom arrived. He wasn't drinking or eating as he'd been out to some other work function thingy. He seems to have a work function almost every other day, actually in the time I was there probably more than every other day. It was more like he only had a regular day once a week. Now I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, certainly keeps you busy.

The pub was slowly emptying out leaving behind the tradesmen, old aged pensioners and me. To an onlooker I probably came across and probably still do come across as being unemployed. Maybe I was or maybe not, I was on holiday and that was all that mattered. I was relaxing and enjoying a good beer and great food. The stale smell of sweat masked by expensive aftershave lingered in the air and mixed with spilled beer and cigarette smoke. Even though it had almost completely emptied out, I waited until I finished my second midi before I ordered food.

I was so excited to see Coopers 'Vintage 2014' on tap. I hadn't had that vintage before and the last time I had a Coopers Vintage was years ago. It was a beer I used to treat myself to after a month of hard work. I do really like Vintage ales as they are so complex, intense, long lasting, quite often improve with age and have a lot of booze in. Unlike Barley Wines which seem to serve a purpose to get you drunk, Vintage ales are more likened to fine Cognacs or Whiskies and often as complex.

The time was right now, I was a few sips into my gorgeous Coopers Vintage and the hunger had set in. The rumbles were now loud enough to be heard out of my body. My decision to order a pie had been made long before I was any where ready to order it. Dom had told me the last time we were in the Rag and Famish that the Beef and Guinness pie was amazing. So much tender, seasoned meat in a rich and thick beefy beery sauce topped with a crispy and buttery pie crust. It was served with a big pile of chips and they had a counter top full of many different sauces. I wasn't in the mood for anything too spicy or ketchup so I had a small pot of sweet chilli sauce. I tapped the crust with my fork until it cracked. I felt like an Eskimo ice fishing for one of those big fish that seem to live and thrive in freezing conditions. My fork went through the pie crust, directly impaling a piece of beef like a trident spear penetrating the side of an Arctic fish. When I pulled out the fork, the tender piece of beef was still attached. That was until it went into my mouth and was not allowed to escape the grasp of my teeth.

If the first piece was anything to go on, the pie was destined to be fantastic. It was more than fantastic, it was incredible, amazing. So meaty, rich and flavoursome. The meat was melt in your mouth tender and seasoned so perfectly that it required no further thoughts about salt or pepper. My eyes were playing a trick on me. It was a small pie but was very very filling. With the chips on the side it made for a very fulfilling lunch. At $13 it sounded expensive but was worse every cent.

After I finished I sat for a good while digesting my lunch and reading until I was satisfied my food would not come up to haunt me as I rode back over the bridge and into the city.

Amazing top crust pies and an excellent and forever changing assortment of brilliant craft beers

ragandfamish

coopers

Cafe De Wheels

After such a miserable few days of pissing rain and constant wetness, I decided that as the sun had come out and it was supposedly going to be a clear day I might as well make the most of it by taking my bike out for a ride. I should really explain that I have a bike and how this bike came about.

When I was living in England, I used to ride my bike to and from work every day which was about a 10 mile round trip. I got so into cycling that I bought a top spec vintage Italian frame from the 70's. I built it from the ground up using all high end parts of the era. It was a dream, my little baby. An incredibly fast and responsive steel framed bicycle. I was in love. Only about a week into having wheels built to my specifications, and riding it and running in the recently refurbished (by myself) groupset. It got stolen. My beloved bike, taken from me. I turned my back for near on 30 seconds and it was gone. An opportunist thief none the less. In fact just as I'd come to terms with it being gone I saw someone riding it. I jumped out the car and immediately gave chase. With dodgy old knees and not being used to running at all, I was buggered to say the least. To make matters worse, an unsuspecting bystander must have witnessed the events and notified the police. I got back into my mates car and as we were driving around, a police car pulled us over. I was asked to step out of the vehicle as somebody matching my description was just reported to be chasing and threatening a young chap on a bike. Too bloody right I was chasing and threatening the little shit, for all I knew he was the one who stole my bike in the first place. I wanted to break his legs, both of them. Instead of getting the kid on the bike, the police were more interested in pursuing me and winding me up, even when my story checked out they seemed disinterested in it. A bunch of lazy bastards is all I can say.

Any way, when I moved out to Australia about a month after that horrific life event, I was desperate for a ride. I bought myself a bike on Australian eBay after searching all over and finding the best deal. A great little bike popped up. A well regarded Melbourne frame builder, using lightweight steel tubing and having a high spec groupset, it was perfect. Coming in at about $200, and being around the corner from where Nina's parents lived, it was even better. When I collected the bike, all I really needed to do to get it riding was buy some pedals, so I did. I should also mention that I had to buy a helmet, it is the law in New South Wales if not the whole of Australia. The first day I went out on a ride on the bike I was pulled over by police who weren't having any of my ignorance. They walked me to the nearest bike shop which was only about a hundred metres away, then waited until I had purchased a helmet. I suppose that was better than getting a fine or risking serious head injury.

So the first day of sun after so much crap and Paconi, my bike, was destined to be ridden. She was crying out to be ridden. So loudly that I could just about hear her soft wails as I was getting dressed on the 6^th floor. I opened the door to the flats lock up and got out the gear, a helmet, a lock and her, Paconi. Flouro pink, orange and yellow with soft pink handlebar tape and bright white tyres. A beauty to behold and even nicer to ride. A smaller frame than the ones I have currently in the UK, but at the time that was what I was used to. A short wheelbase, with tight geometry allowing you to really cut into corners and glide around sharp bends at hare like speeds.

It was so good riding around the city again. Zooming down steep and long hills, then having to ride back up them or the other side. Powering across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and into and around North Sydney. This day I didn't do that, I felt like a slight change so went and did a couple of loops of Macquaries Point near the botanical gardens. Then stopped in to check out the Art Gallery of NSW. I'm so glad I did that, it was amazing. Some really good pieces of art in there, I'd say all in all it is a better gallery than the MCA. So many floors, so many rooms, it's free (mostly) and the art work is really varied, not just renaissance pieces or those of the Dutch Masters even though there were loads of the latter. The only downside to doing that was that the sun was blazing outside and I was busy indoors walking around looking at paintings and sculptures, and the sun through tinted windows. I was in there for about two hours and decided to call it a day, I had to make the most of the lovely weather just in case it pissed it down like it had the last few days.

I rode from the gallery close to the waterside until I got to Wooloomooloo. It was there that I'd been aiming for. A famous café right on the waters edge, next to the Australian Naval base. Not the most breathtaking view or picturesque but still better than looking at a busy main road or pedestrianised shopping street. I got in the queue and chose what I wanted.

My usual at Harry's Café De Wheels is a 'Lean Beef Tiger' a peppered, lean beef pie with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy. All that for a snip at under $8. I ordered, paid up and once I received it, I walked along the water front until I found an unoccupied bench seat. Basking in the suns rays, I sat and ate my pie. Forgetting to get a napkin I made a bit of a mess but wiped my face with my hand and then wiped my hand on my shorts. Nobody would have ever noticed that I got gravy and shit all over my face. I wanted to ride off but was too full up from the pie and bottle of water I'd drunk so sat it out for a bit. Reading in the sun on a relatively peaceful afternoon. Learning from experience, I never try to get lunch or a coffee any time between 12-2pm. That time of the day is manic, people rushing all over trying to get food and eat it quickly so they can get back to work as soon as possible. After about an hour of chilling I was ready to go off.

I fancied a beer or something, maybe somewhere quiet to go to catch up with some writing. Due to the amount I'd been going out and drinking, I had so much to write about and keeping on top of it was really quite hard. I try and still I manage to constantly be chasing my tail. Where to go for a drink was the problem. I know a couple of places in Wooloomooloo but fancied something different, somewhere I wouldn't normally go. There were a couple of places where I was but I remember one not being that great and I couldn't remember the name or where the other one was. I gave up and rode to the Old Fitz. I went there a couple of weeks ago with my bro and dad and used to go a lot when I was living in Sydney. They did free pool on a night of the week but which one I couldn't remember. Not that made any difference to me as I wasn't there to play pool.

The selection of beers wasn't as good as the last time I was in there but they had a couple I liked so I got one of the Red IPA's. I only got a midi as it was still quite early, I had been riding my bike so was a little dehydrated and I didn't want to get drunk, at that time anyway. I couldn't find any power points so was limited to the time left on my battery which was currently at about 90%.

I managed to get a couple of bits done and was thinking that the current situation wasn't of any merit so wasn't going to bother writing anything. That was until a bunch of guys came in. A variety of ages, styles and the like. I thought it may have been a stag/bucks do but at that time on a Thursday afternoon seemed a bit odd. Then I thought it could have been a pub crawl of sorts. Who knows.

It wasn't until I started to eavesdrop a little whilst writing that I was able to figure out what was going on. I overheard them mention Guinness a few times. Then saying about a meeting and this and that. Then it got really technical with one guy taking the minutes as the meeting got under way. They were discussing strange things like, a forfeit/penalty because one of the guys tried to sneak in a Heineken in a round. The penalty they all agreed on was that the guilty culprit had to drink a Piña Colada. One guy even mentioned making a spreadsheet so that they can accurately measure and record or rate the Guinness that they have. They had a long list of what sounded like it must have been every pub in Sydney that sold Guinness. Quite a lot do nowadays, I don't remember getting a good one. As far as Stouts go, Guinness is in no way my favourite and I'll only opt to have it if there isn't anything more pleasing.

I sat and listened to this meeting go on for a while. It was all a big formal discussion about Guinness in Australia, Sydney in particular. It was such an odd occurrence that I thought it necessary to include a little story of it on my blog. What was a fulfilling bike ride in the sun, an exciting trip to the gallery, a delicious pie on the water front and a potentially uneventful beer ending with some covert eavesdropping over some kind of Guinness Appreciation Societies monthly meeting.

It would seem that Guinness has some very dedicated followers Down Under.

guinness

A truly awesome gallery

artgallerynsw

harryscafedewheels

oldfitzroy

You Lose Some... You Win Some

A day to commemorate a failed exercise from the First World War between Australian and New Zealand forces against the Ottomans in Turkey. The whole thing and the armed forces of both Aussie's and Kiwi's is known as ANZAC. This year happens to the be the 100^th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. I haven't bothered to look up the history behind the annual event that takes place on ANZAC day, 25^th April. It's known as 'Two-Up' and involves a coin being tossed.

Maybe the soldiers played it in the trenches, I don't know.

After watching the highlights of the 'Dawn Service', a remembrance service that happens to be held at dawn, most probably when the soldiers landed on the beaches, it was time to head out. I didn't get up at 5am or whatever to watch it but watched some of it on TV and the beginning of the through the city. It was about the time that the bag pipes started that we left, I can't stand the sound of bag pipes. They're even worse when combined with the clickety drum sound. I know or at least I don't think 'clickety' is a word but it describes the rolling tapping drum noise the marching drummers seem to play. Not the big old bash on the huge horizontal drums but the persistent almost rain like sound on the smaller snare style drum. Any way, we walked to the fish markets to get some Yum Cha for brunch in the upstairs restaurant. I'd been to the fish markets numerous times but had never ventured upstairs, to be honest I hadn't even realised there was a set of stairs. Not that I didn't notice them but because I'd never used them, my conscious never thought to remind my unconscious of their existence.

The restaurant is massive. I feel that the fuller it got, the larger it became. The tables must have been modular or laid out in such a way that they fit together creating one gigantic sized table for a family who's belief says nothing about contraception. It was my first experience at yum cha so I did feel like a younger version of myself. It wasn't quite like the moments before you open your presents on Christmas day but was a bit more than opening what are usually disappointing gifts on your birthday.

These little old Asian ladies were walking around, navigating their way through the masses of tables pushing these carts that they were not much bigger than. It wasn't that busy, maybe about five or so groups of between say three to six people. I had been warned that it does get very very busy come the lunch rush. For now we were relaxing. I was taking in this completely alien (to me) experience and enjoying some fine quality dumplings and dim sums. Like a kiddie in a candy store, Nina and myself wanted to grab everything that passed us by. It took an awful lot of restraint and maybe we did end up getting too much but it was all so tasty. We started on calamari and scallop dumplings. Then some spring rolls and these bbq pork cannelloni. We had some soup dumplings and then some steamed choi sum, after it took about ten minutes to come out. We finished the whole sitting on mango pancakes. Eggy pancakes filled with mango pieces and whipped cream. The whole meal was amazing, I could have eaten a lot more but was comfortably full and didn't want to sacrifice my comfort and stomach just to satisfy some mental block about never feeling full until I'm bursting.

It was all washed down with Chinese tea which did nothing to quench my thirst. I think it made it all a lot worse as when I left I had a banging headache and had a craving for the lychee flavoured aloe drink.

I failed to find that so settled on a not so refreshing or thirst quenching 'root beer'. I did want a coffee but would not have been able to handle it as my brain was throbbing behind my eyes already. Any more precious water being used up elsewhere in my body would have tipped me over the edge and I would have collapsed. Actually that is a bit of an exaggeration but I was thirsty and did have a bit of a headache.

Not sure of where to go for Two-Up and what to do for the rest of the afternoon, we settled on the idea of going to The Rocks. Maybe The Rocks would have something in store for us. We walked there via the waterfront all the way around Pyrmont and Darling Harbour until we got onto George St and walked through the city catching a final glimpse of any remaining parade. Luckily we got there just as some bag pipe band had finished. We didn't hang around to wait for them to start up again. There was something quite exhilarating about walking down George St when there are no cars on it, usually it would be packed full of cars, taxis, buses and even motorcycles.

I don't think I'd ever seen so many people in The Rocks. It was packed, every single bit of outdoor seating or standing was taken. Men and women wearing uniforms or smart jackets, decorated with medals were intermingling with locals, westies (people who live out in Western Sydney) and tourists. It was a big melting pot of absolutely everybody and anybody, of all ages too. The regular Rocks market was on. It was okay but the only thing that took our attention was a candle stall. The kind of smell that you could see, if it were an animation there would be that mist that goes on for ages. Not the green kind but the white foggy looking one that sits just under the characters noses. The smell was intensely of caramel or toffee. A thick, sweet and sticky aroma. It got caught in the cilia in the nose and remained for some time. All the candles smelled amazing. We decided that if we won anything on Two-Up, the winnings would go towards getting some of those candles.

We ended up in a pub/bar called 'The Argyle' for Two-Up. There was a red carpet laid out in front with a few big angry looking door men. If there was going to be any trouble, those guys looked like they could handle it. The Rocks is great but a vast majority of the pubs and bars are full of tourists and are commonly know as 'tourist traps'. The Argyle is a mix of one of those and the kind of bar where it wouldn't look out of place to see young women with so much cleavage on display they might as well not be wearing any clothes, or guys so pumped and roided that their brains have shrunken to the size of a pea and they haven't seen their manhood in years. An oddly entertaining place, not one I think I'd ever go to again though.

It took a while and a lot of pushing and squeezing to make out way through to the bar. A small selection of beer but a wheat beer that would have been and was refreshing on a hot autumn day. The forecast was for rain but that had been held at bay by the strong and bright sun. The bars beer garden was where all the action was taking place. A very legit and officiated event with a guy from some gambling thingy majig and other guys helping to make the event run as smooth as possible. People were selected out of the crowd to toss the coins.

So, from what I gather of Two-Up, the rules are very simple. There is a short time period where participants are able to place bets on either heads or tails. There are two of the same coins on a small wooden paddle. The coins are tossed into the air and allowed to come to the ground naturally. To win, or lose, there needs to be two of the same. The betting goes, someone bets on heads and somebody wanting tails bets against him/her. Said person holds the money, if it's heads, they win, tails they hand all the money back. Probably the most simple form of gambling with the least amount of variables and most amount of luck. If however one tails and one heads come up, then it is know as 'onesies' meaning the tosser has to toss some more. If they get three onesies in a row, the often incur a forfeit. In the case of The Argyle, the forfeit was to drop and give me ten, ten push ups. When we arrived we took note of the tosses. Before we'd even placed our first bet, 6 heads had already come up, no tails yet. The guy in front of us was on a roll, he won every single time, but one when he decided to deviate from his heads and go for tails, although he went tails the next time and did win again. Thirteen heads and one tails in the time we were there. This one tosser managed to get two lots of three onesies in a row.

Having only a $20 note in my pocket, I took a big gamble on tails. It was about the time there had been five heads in a row. I thought, there must be a tails soon, the laws of probability depend on it, I depend on it. If I win I can keep betting the winnings until I lose, if I win more I can keep going. I lost. Bloody heads again, it was the sixth in a row. Dom and Nina didn't fair to well either, we all left the Argyle on a loss. A bit of a waste of time but it was fun to see such a primitive and barbaric bunch of people, behaving like monkeys fighting over scraps of food. It was hilarious.

Even thought the forecast said rain, it was hot and sunny and wearing jeans and a flannel shirt was a grave mistake. When one is not used to sweating or smelling then suddenly gets a whiff of their own not too pleasant scent, one knows something is wrong. I was fine, the smell was not coming from under my pits, I had sweat on my brow but other than that all was well in my scent department. By the time we'd walked back from the Rocks to Surry Hills, the temperature had dropped somewhat, enough to decide that actually jeans did make sense and to change into something shorter was ill advised.

A couple of Dom's work mates were having some pre-game drinks at a pub formerly famed for being one of the better underground music venues in Sydney, The Excselsior. It had a few years ago been transformed into a Mexican themed 'Taqueria'. Or to you and me, a pub that had a Mexican themed kitchen serving a variety of tacos. On the menu is a 'secret taco' the main ingredient changes regularly and is sometimes 'sweetbreads' thyroid glands or testicles or brain or whatever one decides sweetbreads are at that very moment in time. I wanted to try some sweetbreads but never got round to it last time or this time.

A light drizzle started, slowly picking up into light pouring. What is often the case in Sydney, these light pours soon become torrential rain lasting for short periods but enough water comes down to that would easily wash away entire villages in Africa. The rain came down, light, then heavier and heavier until we took shelter inside the pub. It was then that it got really heavy. You could no longer see further than a metre out of the window, it was a solid wall of water. The only time I have ever water obscuring the view so much was the time I visited Niagra Falls and went to the lower level viewing hole thing. The people who run that little section know how wet it gets and you are given a disposable poncho to protect yourself for the wall of water and any mist or splashes that are projected from it. Even with the protection of a flimsy plastic sheet with holes for your arms and head, you do still get wet.

You'd need more than a poncho to protect you from this current downpour. The water is everywhere. The roads have become fast flowing rivers, faster than the Amazon which is said to be so fast that it deposits the most amount of water into the ocean out of any other river in the world, I believe the second is a river in the Congo or somewhere like that. The Amazon was temporarily leapfrogged by the Foveaux St River in Surry Hills, Sydney. At that moment exactly it was depositing more water than any of the worlds fastest flowing rivers put together.

Even taxis had briefly stopped moving. Not a single pedestrian braving it. Luckily it was only short lived and within half an hour the rain had subsided and was back to a gentle pour. In the time since the rain had started a lot had happened. I'd managed to consume two pints of an IPA by 'Little Creatures', one of the biggest and best brewers producing great beers such as their Pale. The IPA was better than the Pale on all counts. I was very impressed and it was a good distraction to the rain and recent kitchen closure and water leak problem the pub seemed to be suffering from.

My mate Dan arrived with a friend of his who only lasted two sips of his pint before he was called off to an emergency. His sisters apartment was flooding, with such heavy rain it wasn't surprising. The only places safe were either at the tops of hills or in high rise buildings. Dom's mates left and went on their way to watch a rugby game at some big stadium out west, where apparently there had been golf ball sized hail stones. We left soon after and escorted Dan to the station via some really big and horrible pub full of local drunks and smelling like the stale smell of spilt ketchup and rancid and sweet spirits. You could even detect failure and disappointment in the air, it was an awful place that thankfully we only stayed for one beer. Dan was on his way to a lovely sounding roast dinner cooked by his housemates. Me and Dom were off on our way to seek more beer and fast, I needed something amazing to make up for that last place and I was famished. If only we were in North Sydney, I would have definitely ordered a steak. There was a little bit of positivity to gain as on the way to that horrible pub, we passed another. The KB Hotel, which was really busy and full of the drunken dregs who were still out and about from a day of gambling and heavy drinking. We didn't stay long enough to order a drink. On the way out I saw a crumpled up thing on the floor. It looked like money but could have quite easily have been a discarded betting slip or receipt or something useless. It was a $20 note. Things started to look up, the lord had shone his light on the exact spot where the note was, I was gifted what I'd lost because I'm such a good boy.

We sought sustenance by the way of the $12.50 mains at The Shakespeare. We both had burgers, mine with cheese, Dom's without. All was well apart from a group of really annoying people who had 'reserved' a whole room. When reading this, the sarcastic quotation marks must be made when reading 'reserved'. There may have been say ten to twelve of them, the room had more than enough space to seat us two. Nope. A rude little bitch said to us as we walked in looking around and scouting out seats, “sorry dear, this area is 'reserved'”. Oh my, I was furious, we were both furious. I needed beer and food, food, beer, I needed some kind of distraction.

The atmosphere was lacking and we didn't feel to stick around for another. The downstairs bar was full of redneck hicks and upstairs c***s.

We walked to work off the burgers we'd eaten, thinking how quickly the weather had turned bad and then good again. Up to Crown St, along it until we chanced upon this vegan restaurant that just so happened to be operated by one of Australia's finest Breweries, 'Yulli's'. It seems like such a long time ago now since I arrived in Australia. When we tried the Yulli's 'Norman Aussie Ale' over two weeks ago felt like a lifetime ago. It was certainly a good enough beer to remember and wish to sample once again. In fact I wanted to try what else they had on offer.

It was quite late at this point, sometime after 10pm. The kitchen had closed but we were not interested in food. We wanted beer and good beer at that. The kind lady behind the counter allowed us to sit at the bar and order a beer. She obliged and joked in the usual Aussie way, I don't quite get the humour but I entertained it any way. Even though the kitchen had closed I almost felt like I should order some food. With a full belly and not being able to I didn't but I did want to. A piece of fried tofu with some kind of fancy dressing or a vegan dumpling. Beer what we were after and that is what we had. I went for a Vanilla Stout or Porter, it was one of the Seasonal beers on tap. Dom had a Brown Ale or some kind. Both were Yuilli's brews and both had wonderful names which I cannot remember. In the dim light is was almost impossible to distinguish between the two. However, with a light being shone behind the glasses, one was jet black and almost opaque and the other was a slightly lighter shade of a murky dark brown.

They were both fantastic beers but the vanilla one was altogether unreal. Never have I had a vanilla flavoured beer working so well, sweet, almost spicy, hints of coffee and burnt toast yet at the same time being well balanced and flavoursome. A little party going off in my mind and my mouth, a party that there had been no invitation for and I was the only guest.

I think due to the spacing between drinks and the time and how early we'd risen, I was getting tired and I gathered that so to was Dom. We decided to walk home along Oxford street to see it one last time at night before I left back for England. Like always, we spent the walk swerving between drunkards, homeless vagrants, transvestites, seedy homosexual men with dribble in the corner of their mouths and then there were the piles of vomit and puddles of piss on the floor. Not painting a great picture of Oxford St but that is the only thing I've ever experienced on the Surry Hills end of the road. The other end in Paddington and beyond is a completely different story, it couldn't be further from what we saw here.

Somewhere between Crown St and where Dom live is a newish craft beer establishment. Tucked away up a flight of stairs with a barely noticeable sign hanging out the front. 'Bitter Phew', a place I wished to visit and Dom hadn't yet. Going boldly where we'd never been before, we braved the steep steps leading up to a dimly lit hall and turned the corner into what was the bar and seating area. We had tried once before to enter but left it too late and the place was closed. This time it was open and sounded quite busy.

It wasn't busy but comfortably full. There were places to sit and so we sat. a long communal style tables, seated opposite a couple who were happy enough to not be disturbed by our arrival and continued their conversation as if were non entities. The tap beer list was small but varied, some beers from all over the world and some great home grown beers from down under. Quite a few beers from the USA, some of which I'd not even seen in some of the best craft beer establishments across London. I had a Saison by 'LaSirene'. I'd fallen in love with their 'Florette' and the Saison didn't disappoint. Everything a Saison should be and perfect after a heavy and sweet vanilla stout or porter that I'd had at Yulli's. I think Dom went for the Founders 'Breakfast Stout' regarded as being one of the best Breakfast Stouts in the world and after having it previously, it was clear why. He enjoyed it as much as I'd bigged it up which I was happy about. Hyping something up is dangerous as it opens up and greatly increases the probability of being disappointed. Luckily this was not the case and he loved it. Two amazing beers in what really felt like a cool and quirky craft beer establishment that would fit in perfectly in London or The USA. It was a shame that I wasn't to be around any longer as they had some beers coming in from what is reputedly the best brewery in the world, 'Hills Farmstead' out of Vermont, USA. I'm still to try any of their beers.

A great end to a day of mixed emotions, some brilliant beers in a variety of locales.

bitterphew

The best mains for $12.50

shakespearehotel

One of the original Aussie Pales and makers of a lovely IPA

littlecreatures

If only I didn't love meat so much.. or was an hour earlier then I could have had some delicious vegan food to go with the tasty beers

yullis