# Hand Pump Ales In Melbourne?



## brettule (24/6/10)

Wow, what a surprise to find a hand pump at the little bar in town called Penny Blue. However it was the Real Ale they had on it which properly surprised me. Two Metre Tall is the small Tassie farm-based brewer and the drop was called Cleansing Ale. I could have been back in a heratige listed thatched pub in Kent it was that good.

So now I'm on a mission. Where else in Melbourne (preferably the inner north) can I find real ales on pump?


----------



## brendo (24/6/10)

the only one I have seen is out at Holgate Brewery - Paul has a pair of them and usually runs his ESB and Temptress Porter through them.

Where's Penny Blue??


----------



## mitysa (24/6/10)

www.pennyblue.com.au


mike


----------



## brettule (24/6/10)

Holgate Brewery is way out in Mt Macedon, bit far to travel from Fitzroy for a Friday night pub  ESB and Porter is not the real ale I had in mind either.

Penny Blue http://www.pennyblue.com.au/ is right in town, 2 Driver Lane. Pretty good bar really, a little bit toffy but the beer is A1.


----------



## brendo (24/6/10)

brettule said:


> Holgate Brewery is way out in Mt Macedon, bit far to travel from Fitzroy for a Friday night pub  ESB and Porter is not the real ale I had in mind either.
> 
> Penny Blue http://www.pennyblue.com.au/ is right in town, 2 Driver Lane. Pretty good bar really, a little bit toffy but the beer is A1.




yeah bit far to stumble for a session - but def worth a visit. Will have to check it out next time I head over there - i know that the beer on the hand pumps are served out of cornies, unsure if it is done real ale style or not.

Other than that and penny blue - I reckon you will be hard pressed to find too much on offer - however I will be watching this thread with interest to see what pops up - hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.


----------



## Fents (24/6/10)

penny blue rocks. probably kooinda's best selling venue and one of the least talked about "beer venues". ask for dave he knows a crapload about good beer. everytime we go in he has something different for us to taste, he got me hooked on the bairds range.

its in driver lane just on the corner of elizabeth st and lt bourke st and the venue adjoins the money order office which is a top restraunt.

two of melbournes best kept secrects imo.


----------



## brendo (24/6/10)

Fents said:


> penny blue rocks. probably kooinda's best selling venue and one of the least talked about "beer venues". ask for dave he knows a crapload about good beer. everytime we go in he has something different for us to taste, he got me hooked on the bairds range.
> 
> its in driver lane just on the corner of elizabeth st and lt bourke st and the venue adjoins the money order office which is a top restraunt.
> 
> two of melbournes best kept secrects imo.



just around the corner from work... so going to have to pop my head in and take a peek!!


----------



## Maple (24/6/10)

brendo said:


> just around the corner from work... so going to have to pop my head in and take a peek!!


What, now? Call me, I'd be in.


----------



## brettule (24/6/10)

Fents said:


> two of melbournes best kept secrects imo.



Two? What's the other bar you speak of?


----------



## brendo (24/6/10)

brettule said:


> Two? What's the other bar you speak of?




Fent's is referring to the sister restaurant... MOO - Money Order Office


----------



## Fourstar (24/6/10)

Maple said:


> What, now? Call me, I'd be in.



What about me?! 

Lambsgobar serves 3 Ravens Bronze on handpump too!


----------



## RobW (24/6/10)

The Royston still has hand pumped Holgate ESB AFAIK


----------



## brettule (24/6/10)

No other real ales on pump yet aside from Penny Blue though. Surely there is more than one bar in all of Melb?


----------



## Leigh (24/6/10)

The Penny Blue beer menu looks great!


----------



## brettule (24/6/10)

Just saw this on 2MT website:

Hand Pumps:
Bar None, Camberwell
Penny Blue, City
The Precinct, City
Railway Hotel, South Melbourne

Can anyone validate this?


----------



## SpillsMostOfIt (24/6/10)

brettule said:


> Holgate Brewery is way out in Mt Macedon...



Woodend. But still a bit far for some.


----------



## Shed101 (24/6/10)

Are any of these fine folks actually serving from casks yet?

Ashley's 2MT beers have been on hand pump in Tassie for years, but they were still kegged. Still a lot better than most keg beer  

Can be a bit too cold for real ale, though ... I once phoned 30 mins ahead to the New Sydney in Hobart to get them to pull a pint and let it warm up a bit... they thought I was nuts.


----------



## brendo (24/6/10)

Shed101 said:


> Are any of these fine folks actually serving from casks yet?




It's a questions I will be asking when I stick my head in... big difference between serving real ale through a hand pump and serving CO2 forced beer through a handpump... either way I am sure it is a cracking beer.


----------



## kevin_smevin (24/6/10)

Was at penny blue last week and the hand pump was on. They said the beer wasn't cold enough though so i had an epic Armageddon instead (bloody expensive!)


----------



## Fourstar (24/6/10)

yum yum yum said:


> Was at penny blue last week and the hand pump was on. They said the beer wasn't cold enough though so i had an epic Armageddon instead (bloody expensive!)



hasnt it been sub 16 deg for the past fortnight? Sounds like real ale temps to me! :icon_cheers:


----------



## kevin_smevin (24/6/10)

Fourstar said:


> hasnt it been sub 16 deg for the past fortnight? Sounds like real ale temps to me! :icon_cheers:



I thought so too. I was only in there for a quick beer before dinner so didn't bother asking.


----------



## remi (24/6/10)

the brandon (in carlton north) used to, but i'm pretty sure they've had a gentrified re-fit since i was last there...

remi


----------



## QldKev (13/8/10)

Transport Hotel at Flinders Station also has hand pumped beer, don't know if good or not, but my wife has researched as she is taking me there for my 40th in 2 weeks. Also she says Penny Blue on 2 Driver Lane. Can't wait awesome pub crawl coming up :icon_chickcheers:


----------



## cpsmusic (13/8/10)

As a previous poster mentioned, the Royston has Holgate ESB on a hand pump and it's great!


----------



## hazard (18/10/10)

brendo said:


> the only one I have seen is out at Holgate Brewery - Paul has a pair of them and usually runs his ESB and Temptress Porter through them.
> 
> Where's Penny Blue??


I was at Woodend 2 weeks ago, the missus wanted a weekend away in the country and I like beer - so a night away at Keatings Hotel was a win-win for us! And for the kids as well becasue they got to stay up all night watching whatever they want, and since I've got 3 boys you can guess what they were watching!

Anway, the they had the Temptress Porter running on the beer engine, and they had a randall attached to the beer line, instead of hops it was filled with coffee beans. It was fantastic, I enjoy this porter and have had the odd stubby, this gave it an entirely new dimension. At first the taste is porter as you would expect, and then there is a distinct, yet subtle coffee bean flavour that complements the roast malts perfectly. Genius stuff, if you ever get up that way i recommend it highly. Even better if you book a table for dinner and a room to save the drive home.

I also had the ESB. The old saying was that english beer was warm and flat. Well this wasn't flat but it was warm. Had trouble getting into it. I could have sworn that the hops were American, but the bar man told me that they were fuggles. Maybe it was just the warm temp that changed my perception of the hops.


----------



## WarmBeer (18/10/10)

hazard said:


> ...the missus wanted a weekend away in the country...


Dude, you live in Eltham! How much more country do you want?


----------



## Polar Beer (18/10/10)

Highly reccomend the Holgate (Keatings Hotel)

Moving to Gisborne in November, which puts me within taxi ride home. :icon_cheers: :icon_cheers: :icon_cheers:


----------



## hazard (18/10/10)

WarmBeer said:


> Dude, you live in Eltham! How much more country do you want?


Yeh, but it's the built-up part of Eltham. We used to live in Research, that's country, but we moved to "town" so that kids could walk to school.


----------



## big78sam (5/2/11)

hazard said:


> Anway, the they had the Temptress Porter running on the beer engine, and they had a randall attached to the beer line, instead of hops it was filled with coffee beans. It was fantastic, I enjoy this porter and have had the odd stubby, this gave it an entirely new dimension. At first the taste is porter as you would expect, and then there is a distinct, yet subtle coffee bean flavour that complements the roast malts perfectly. Genius stuff, if you ever get up that way i recommend it highly.




The Temptress is back on again with the coffee beans. Plus the esb on hand pump as always.


----------



## np1962 (5/2/11)

Good thread, am headed to Melbourne for a week at end of June, thank god they've moved Shools Rugby from Geelong.
Penny Blue sounds good as will be staying in the City, will have to get there as well as all the other bars I've read of on here.
Mrs Parma's may be a go also.
Nige


----------



## michael_aussie (5/2/11)

NigeP62 said:


> .........Mrs Parma's may be a go also.


maybe your Mrs Parma is different to the Mrs Palmer I know???


----------



## Shifter (5/2/11)

Would that the Mrs Palmer who has five daughters? - I think I have made her acquaintance!


----------



## np1962 (5/2/11)

Shifter said:


> Would that the Mrs Palmer who has five daughters? - I think I have made her acquaintance!


Noting your location it could well be your brothers sister.


----------



## Charst (21/2/11)

The Charles Dickens Tavern in collins street has 4 hand pumped with Tetleys, Newcastle Brown, Old Speckled Hen and something else on tap. went friday and saturday night.
alos a good range of english bottled beers.


----------



## RedHillBrewers (25/5/12)

Well was googling Melbourne hand pump venues, came across this thread, better late than never... We do! We've been running a handpump for awhile now, cask conditioned ESB. About to try a British IPA on it. Then Imperial Stout. But was wondering if any pubs in Melbourne can serve our casks (not kegs)? Royston is going to give it a shot, they have only used it with carbonated kegs tho. Never real ale. Would love to know any others out there as keen on it as we are. Thanks for this topic.
Cheers, Karen & Dave. Red Hill.


----------



## Charst (26/5/12)

RedHillBrewers said:


> Well was googling Melbourne hand pump venues, came across this thread, better late than never... We do! We've been running a handpump for awhile now, cask conditioned ESB. About to try a British IPA on it. Then Imperial Stout. But was wondering if any pubs in Melbourne can serve our casks (not kegs)? Royston is going to give it a shot, they have only used it with carbonated kegs tho. Never real ale. Would love to know any others out there as keen on it as we are. Thanks for this topic.
> Cheers, Karen & Dave. Red Hill.




Everyone on this site is about as keen as your are id say  
Hell im that keen I'm drinking hand pumped BUT force carbed newcastle brown at the charles dickens! 
Love to get a taste of yours and find out more about how its treated. Watching Michael Jackson Beer hunter british 
episode there seemed to be a host of different corks and Pegs and things to put into the keg to let it breath or manage secondary fermentation. 

How much management is involved from your end?


EDIT: on a side note, love the Bo Pils, glad it made it to bottles this year i missed out summer '10-'11


----------



## Danwood (26/5/12)

Charst said:


> The Charles Dickens Tavern in collins street has 4 hand pumped with Tetleys, Newcastle Brown, Old Speckled Hen and something else on tap. went friday and saturday night.
> alos a good range of english bottled beers.




How's the Tetleys...I never thought much of it in the uk even. A Newkie Brown or a Speckled would be good though. Good Speckled at Pig and Whistle, Olinda, Dandenongs if you're ever out that way. Well kept.


----------



## Wolfy (26/5/12)

Charst said:


> Hell im that keen I'm drinking hand pumped BUT force carbed newcastle brown at the charles dickens!


I don't think it counts as a hand pump if it's poured from beer taps that _look _like a hand pump when it's really served the same way as any other force carbed beer.


----------



## Ross (26/5/12)

Sounds like Redhill are doing proper cask conditioned real ales, but from my experience most of the hand pumps around are just pouring a degassed mainstream beer still being pulled from a regular aussie keg. 
If you are in Brisbane, the Scratch Bar, is the only bar I'm aware of, pulling genuine cask conditioned real ales. 

Cheers Ross


----------



## Bribie G (26/5/12)

Danwood said:


> How's the Tetleys...I never thought much of it in the uk even. A Newkie Brown or a Speckled would be good though. Good Speckled at Pig and Whistle, Olinda, Dandenongs if you're ever out that way. Well kept.



Elephant and Wheelbarrow in the Valley once had OSH on regular tap and it was pouring really slowly and they were complaining that it arrives like that because the Pig and Whistle had it on hand pump so the Brewery sent out low gassed "export" versions of their keg OSH and one ended up at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. Unless it's an old style IPA I doubt if proper cask conditioned Brit beers would ever make it to Australia. 

And as a Geordie I can assure you that Newkie Broon never ever got served on handpump as it has never been a cask conditioned beer. The pumping is just for show. However the pasteurised filtered keg versions of OSH etc do give a bit of a hint of what the genuine version might taste like in the UK. If anything a _nitro _served version would give a more accurate rendition, which is why a lot of UK breweries put the widget in the cans.


----------



## Charst (26/5/12)

Wolfy said:


> I don't think it counts as a hand pump if it's poured from beer taps that _look _like a hand pump when it's really served the same way as any other force carbed beer.




I know its not the same but upon seeing hand pumps i still got all excited. had the Mornington Brown on Pump at the Great Northern but again I'm not sure the way the keg is treated, its certainly hand pumped, not just a replica pump tap as such, not chilled (perhaps a bit too warm for me, didn't seem like a celler temp, more room temp.) and the carbonation is very low, much lower than the bottles or other kegged is previously had.

oh and it was quite nice, best local brown ale I've had.


----------



## Bribie G (26/5/12)

When I was in Wellington I noted that their hand pumped beers often come from a polypin (very big wine cask) which is filled at the brewery and presumably "live" beer, not pasteurised or force carbed. If polypins were available in Australia this could be a very viable option for micro breweries. 

It's not new, the Hull brewery where Ringwood yeast originally came from in the UK did their ales like that in the 1970s and served on hand pump.


----------



## Thirsty Boy (27/5/12)

main struggle is going to be finding a place with a cellar and the will to do the work involved in serving and maintaining a proper cask... there's considerably more to it than just whacking on a keg.

Dont want to be a hater - but in 5-6 visits, penny blue's handpumped beers have never been in good condition. Flat and too warm.... and I'm not talking vs the australian "ideal" of ice cold fizzy beer. I'm talking about a cask thats not been properly maintained.

Cask ale requires infrastructure and skill - we can only hope that the two coincide in a Melbourne venue one day... so far I dont think teay actually have.


----------



## Tricky Dicky (2/9/18)

Any updates on venues in Melbourne with hand pump beers?


----------



## Nullnvoid (2/9/18)

Tricky Dicky said:


> Any updates on venues in Melbourne with hand pump beers?



The Foragers Drop in Mitcham has a hand pump.


----------



## Tricky Dicky (3/9/18)

Nullnvoid said:


> The Foragers Drop in Mitcham has a hand pump.


Thanks mate, will have to check it out.


----------



## koshari (3/9/18)

Tricky Dicky said:


> Thanks mate, will have to check it out.


lovely place as well,


----------



## nathang28 (3/9/18)

Try a visit to Dr Watson's bar, above the Sherlock Holmes in Collins St.

Hobgoblin on the hand pump is very nice.


----------



## koshari (3/9/18)

the loch brewery and gin distillery in loch, south gippsland have an Angram CO hand pump as well,







https://www.lochbrewery.com.au/ales-tasting-notes/


----------



## altone (3/9/18)

Nullnvoid said:


> The Foragers Drop in Mitcham has a hand pump.


Ooh not too far away from me - better go have a taste.


----------



## Nullnvoid (3/9/18)

altone said:


> Ooh not too far away from me - better go have a taste.



Absolutely! 499a Whitehorse Rd Mitcham

They have 20 taps plus the hand pump serving beers from independently owned breweries. 

Taplist is forever changing, rarely have the same beer twice.


----------



## altone (3/9/18)

Nullnvoid said:


> Absolutely! 499a Whitehorse Rd Mitcham
> 
> They have 20 taps plus the hand pump serving beers from independently owned breweries.
> 
> Taplist is forever changing, rarely have the same beer twice.



20 taps? luckily there's a bus that goes to Mitcham within walking distance from my place


----------



## Tricky Dicky (3/9/18)

Nullnvoid said:


> Absolutely! 499a Whitehorse Rd Mitcham
> 
> They have 20 taps plus the hand pump serving beers from independently owned breweries.
> 
> Taplist is forever changing, rarely have the same beer twice.


What's on hand pulled there?


----------



## Nullnvoid (3/9/18)

Tricky Dicky said:


> What's on hand pulled there?



Not sure at the moment. Up until the other day I believe it was the Bandicoot Southern Courage Barrel aged RIS.


----------

