# Bentspoke brewery Canberra



## Beamer (23/10/16)

Does anyone frequent this place and have a few heada up on things I shouldnt miss out on???

Cheers


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## mtb (23/10/16)

Yep. Depends on your beer preferences though. If you're keen on a hop-forward beer go the Crankshaft, if you don't mind a higher ABV give the Cluster 16 a go (or Cluster 8). Seriously heavy beers.
In general though - they have a pretty descriptive beer menu and are happy to give you a taster if you ask, so you can find your favourite without buying ten different beers


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## gone brewing (23/10/16)

Hey Beamer. If you're after intensely hopped beers then you shouldn't be disappointed. There are plenty to choose from. I didn't taste any double, triple or quadruple IPAs myself when I was there but making insanely hop-forward beers with stratospheric IBUs ain't exactly rocket science so they should be good if that's your thing.

The best beer I had there was actually the Barley Griffin, which was much like an American Blonde Ale. A very tasty, well balanced beer that was just too easy to drink. The rest of the beers I had were good but there was a bit of a turd in the punchbowl moment when I first got there...

Female bartender (I'm looking at what beers are on): "What can I get you?"
Me: "Any Belgian beers on tap? I'm after something interesting"
Her: "I'll get this guy to help. He's our beer expert!"
Him: "Whatcha after?"
Me: "Got any Belgian beers going?"
Him: "Sure. You can get a tasting paddle of our double, triple and quadruple beers. They're great. Really hoppy!"
Me: "Ummm, not really a Belgian beer if you put lots of hops in it"
Him: "Yeah but what I mean is that's our closet thing to a Belgian beer. It's got loads of hops in these beers"
Me (thinking WTF, that's an AIPA): "But that's not really a Belgian beer then"
Him (somewhat taken aback): "What kind of beer did you have in mind"
Me: "Westmalle, Westvleteren, Leffe"
Him: "Yeah, well, the closest thing we have are the really hoppy Cluster 8, Cluster 12 and Cluster 16. They're really tasty beers!"
Me (just in my head): "You're a f***ing idiot"
Me (out loud): "I'll take a pint of the Barley Griffin thanks."

Then there was a stuff up with my meal order. All up, not a bad place for a few beers and a meal, but a long way from being beer nirvana.


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## mtb (23/10/16)

gone brewing said:


> Then there was a stuff up with my meal order. All up, not a bad place for a few beers and a meal, but a long way from being beer nirvana.


A long way from *Belgian *beer nirvana. There's a good chance the "beer expert" had no knowledge of the style if that's how they answered your question. They definitely don't specialise in food either - their specialty is a particular subset of styles and that's it (except the scenery, gazing at their brewery while downing a pint really set the mood.. but maybe that was just the high ABV talking)


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## gone brewing (23/10/16)

With a pseudonym like mtb I'm guessing you might be into mountain bike riding which was the reason I was in Canberra (and there's no doubt that Canberra is close to MTB nirvana) and also the reason why I was drawn to the "beers and bikes" theme of the Bentspoke Brewery. I left there thinking what the hell do they have to do with cycling apart from the name. Any explanation there??

I had a great time at Majura Pines but no time for anything else unfortunately.


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## Beamer (23/10/16)

In need of some hop driven beers, so good choice for me! Thanks for the heads up. Just visited plonk very quickly great shop that one. You lads attending anything for the canberra beer week?


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## mtb (23/10/16)

gone brewing said:


> With a pseudonym like mtb I'm guessing you might be into mountain bike riding which was the reason I was in Canberra


Pseudonym aside - mtb is just my initials. Undoubtedly a great place for cycling though and I'd sure as hell be less fat if I did more of it. As for the name Bentspoke.. no clue, it made me wonder as well.




Beamer said:


> You lads attending anything for the canberra beer week?


I'm keen on a fair few of the events, being northside I was thinking Gungahlin Lakes @ 4pm November 4. That being said, I'm a huge fan of Hawthorn Golden Ale and they're doing a thing at PJ OReilley's on the same evening, so i'll need to make a difficult decision.


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## Beamer (24/10/16)

Had a great time at Bentspoke last night enjoyed all the beers that were tasted and the food too!


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## takai (24/10/16)

The bike stuff for Bentspoke comes from Tracy, Richard's partner. Richard does all the brewing, and has been following the trend with bigger and hoppier IPAs, although in the past he has done a lot of Belgian and cask ales (when he was at the Wig and Pen).

The Tour De Brune is about the closest that they have currently in a Belgian style and thats a Belgian IPA.

Others have covered most of the menu. Sometimes the randal has interesting stuff in it too, they were doing a seasonal Christmas ale one time.


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## pajs (24/10/16)

That Tour de Brune is a good beer. Trying to clone it at the moment.


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