Tag Archives: Bridge Road Chestnut Pilsner

Good Beer Week: that time of year again when beer is had with breakfast

Last year beermen.tv did a truly wild and wacky thing: they put on a breakfast and beer event. This year, it was tied to Good Beer Week and was bigger and badder than ever.

Ten beers were served up with five delectable courses. How did they manage to pull it off? It was great value too – $35 a head was a very reasonable price for so much on offer. Upon arrival, everyone was greeted with the Feral Brewery Golden Ale. I recalled that Brendan Varis, the head brewer was keen on Sorachi Ace hops so when I picked out lemony notes in the beer, I was chuffed to see that yes, the hop in question had been employed – such palate epiphanies are awe-inspiring. My palate is not that great and though it’s slowly improving, it has a loooooong way to go. Good excuse for more beer imbibing? In any case, Golden Ace was quite a refreshing start to the day.

The next beer remains a bit of a personal fave – Bridge Road’s chestnut pilsner. Though some may criticise, I actually like that it’s so variable. The first time I had it, I couldn’t taste any chestnut, but the last time I had before this, it was nothing but roasted chestnutty goodness. Autumn in a bottle. This time around, the chestnut was subtle and sweet and it felt less like a pilsner? It could be the first beer colouring my palate, admittedly.

Then the first course came out and all thoughts of beer dissipated: a smoked trout and lemon myrtle quiche. Fantastic match with the Feral but not too shabby with the chestnut pils either. It was great that they served us our beers, gave us one course between the beers and let our taste guide us to decide which beer matched what food best.

Our next duo of beers was the Red Hill Hop Harvest ale and the 8 Wired Hop Wired.

I’m a massive fan of both, but have to say that the Hop Harvest ale matched the veal sausages with caramelised onion beautifully – the beer really accentuated the caramelisation long after the sausages had been polished off! (note: I’m hoping it’s veal – a few staff members serving didn’t seem to be sure about what they were bringing out. A menu along the beer menu would’ve been awesome for us food blog wanksters)

I think the Hop Wired would have worked on fattier sangas – but that’s just a guess. Half a sausage wasn’t enough: take from that what you will…(I wanted two full ones, ha)

Next up, a beer that is an old friend, Holgate’s Temptress, and a brand spanking new one, Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude – the latter causing quite a bit of dissension amongst the ranks: a fair few folks (brewing industry folk and ‘regular’ punters alike) had a a lot of trouble finishing their Rex Attitude because it was one smoky whatsit. Maybe I’m broken or just in want of more good whisky, but I freaking loved it.

Rex Attitude was my official number one beer for the breakfast, however neither Temptress or Rex suited the dish it was served with – steak and onion on bruschetta.

At this point of the breakfast, a bottle of Holgate’s Empress (a limited release beer that is a divine jazzed up version of their Temptress) was auctioned off for Beyond Blue for the princely sum of three hundred and one dollars. Yea for socially conscious beer lovers *heart swells with pride*!

Dessert time! Darren Robinson of Doctor’s Orders Brewing was on hand to take us through his creation to be served with one of the desserts – his Zephyr. I’m not sure that Doc’s beer matched dessert but wow, it’s summer in a glass. Imagine, stinking hot day, horrible day at work, go to the fridge and quench your thirst with a glass of this…almost makes me long for summer and I loathe summer!

Thankfully, we didn’t have to travel through jungles in the Congo or listen to boring-arse stories by a dude on a boat – no horror whatsoever, just reach for the bottle of Murray’s Heart of Darkness stout, thanks.

It’s pictured by the side of the ‘space beer’ by 4 Pines, the Vostok Stout.

Greedily, I scoffed down my share of rhubarb and ANZAC crumble…

…before moving onto the chocolate sauce pancakes. I confess I cannot tell you which of the stouts were best suited to the pancakes because I was too busy stuffing my face.

There were also plenty on non-beery highlights. I absolutely adore this photo of my #beergirlrage mate Jenn and her glee at winning trivia:

Soon-to-be-leaving (pout) Mountain Goat head brewer Jayne Lewis wearing merch of the ‘competition’, so to speak (as you can gather from the photo, it’s not really like that, is it?)

Mark of beermen.tv explaining how Damo lost a bet and ended up in a rather fetching costume. Details of the bet lost were not divulged…

Two punters consenting to a blind tasting – first of some evil cola soft drinky whatsit then the liquid that united us all.

And what happened to the jolly good sport who lost the beer taste-off…

But wait, that’s not all! Clear out you bastards!

And enjoy your last beer, the Stone and Wood Pacific Ale (formerly draught ale) outdoors (Tristan insisted I use this photo. Sorry).

But be buoyed by Brendan Varis and Shandy never looking so damn happy in his life.

Beer Deluxe did an amazing job with the Hair of the Dog breakfast: the staff were phenomenal, always attentive, helpful and just damn hospitality ninjas. Thanks to all involved as it made for a cracking start to the weekend.

Beer Deluxe on Urbanspoon

a beery weekend begins

Those wonderful but mad folks at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda decided to organise a road trip. Wonderful because they were going to hire mini-buses to transport those who were interested. Mad because that meant at least three of them had to abstain as our designated drivers (many thanks to Guy and Justin at the Local Taphouse, and Prof Pilsner because he’s all-round awesome!).

And so our Beechworth brewery road trip began. Pretty bloody awesome, really – you forked out $150 (a tad more if going as a single) for overnight accommodation in Beechworth to be entertained by the following beery itinerary: brewery, rest, pub, sleep, breakfast, brewery, home.

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Our first port of call was Ben Kraus’ Bridge Road Brewery for lunch and beer as soon as we arrived. Cue thirty hungry and thirsty Ale Stars. It was agreed upon that we would all pay $16 a head for pizza which was absolutely delicious (hey, even the vegetarian pizzas were scrumptious!). Sadly, I think more than a few of us were a little underfed.

Quite a few of us were excited by the fact that the new seasonal beer, the B2 Bomber was on tap – a Belgian IPA that is dark in colour and just divine. Can they please make this permanent? If you can’t get to the brewery to have it on tap, check out The Crafty Pint to find out where you can enjoy it around Melbourne. Despite having tried it, I’m actually keen to fork out $30 for a limited edition 750mL bottle: word on the beery street is that this may be worth cellaring.

Ben Kraus, the head brewer, was behind the bar and served many of us before treating us to a tour of the brewery and give us a bit of a sneak peek into what goes on when you have your own brewery.

There’s fermenters…

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And kegs…

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And machines that bottle!

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If you’ve not experienced the aceness that is Bridge Road Brewery’s beer, here’s a list to get you started:

Bling IPA – I first had this number on tap back when my palate was still a bit wimpy with strong hop presence. However, in revisiting it at the brewery, its maltiness is way more evident. A most satisfying brew.

Robust Porter – oddly enough, as porters go, I don’t find this that ‘robust’. In fact, I find it quite muted in flavour. Still, it’s essential drinking from Bridge Road.

Chestnut Pilsner – don’t let it warm up! This is one of those beers that’s lovely cold but will leave you guessing…is that chestnut I can barely taste…is it a figment of my imagination? Wait…there it is! Naw, who am I kidding: I can’t taste the chestnut. Let’s have another sneaky pint and see if that’s more…’successful’ *giggle*

Chevalier Saison – the more I have of this, the more I love it. One of my fave posh thirst-quenchers – I mean it sounds fancy with the ‘Chevalier’ in the title, but remember, this is a humble farmhouse ale for the peasants. Mmm.

Honourable mention to the seasonals/limited edition…

B2 Bomber – quite plainly, you would be stupid not to try this while it’s around if you are even remotely interested in beer. I have one pint of this, and I want another but politely remind myself that I have to give the other beery children in the playground a chance to try this (and have to continue to educate my palate by trying other beers I’ve never had). Fellow beery blogger James does this beer more justice in words than I can at his blog.

Femme Fatale Ales’ Megachile Pluto braggot – assistant brewer Nardia (who is interviewed on The Crafty Pint) is actually responsible for this medieval drop which features lots and lots and lots of local (Beechworth) honey! A little stronger than your average beer at 10% ABV, it’s a tipple you might like to finish a night with. Honeyed, spicy warmth in a bottle.

To all those at the Bridge Road Brewery – thanks for your hospitality. If you care to read more detailed descriptions of some of the beer imbibed, you can check out this post where Ben’s brews were thoughtfully matched to specially prepared dishes.

Bridge Road Brewers on Urbanspoon