Federation Square Microbreweries Showcase

[aaronpetersen]

At True south we have a secret stash of aged Wee Jimmy.... h34r: only one keg

Oooh....will you be serving it tonight? I was at the restaurant on Sunday and the Wee Jimmy wasn't on tap so would love to try it.

 

[MPH]

Heading along tonight. Looking forward to it!

Just wondering why people avoided the Buckleys, Two Brothers and Grand Ridge?
Over exposure, bad experience, generally no good?
Haven't tried any Buckleys so I can't comment but I've tried the other two and enjoyed them. Two Brothers Growler in particular.

Think I'll be making a bee-line for Sweetwater to try the weissen!

 

[HoppingMad]

Sigh. Won't be there this year either. Shame as have been part of the furniture at the last 3 and enjoyed every moment.

Was eager to try the new brewery - Thunder Road's (Brunswick, Vic) wares - anyone given it a go? Tell us your thoughts.
Have heard nothing about this place since a short thread popped up on AHB a while back then disappeared.

Manticle I think the mussel stout is Bellarine Brewery you'll find - was available at the last one - they claim you can taste a slight saltiness in the beer but I couldn't detect it then - maybe you have to warm the beer up though to get to it. The mussels are taken from Port Arlington fresh and added right away I gather. Quite an interesting idea.

And cmon Brenos, lighten up on Andy (ANHC Director & Melbourne Brewers Prez), give the man some space - he has had an epic two months organising Melbourne Brewers events that everyone here was able to attend (not just members) (Examples- Weyermann Grain Discussion at Fox Hotel, Taylor Brown Beer Launch at Mrs Parmas) as well as being involved in the ANHC circus. He even got Jamil out to one event earlier in the year which is pretty cool. When that finishes he's going head-first into assisting with plans for the Beerfest Awards held up at Grand Ridge. Give the man a beer I say, he's earned a night off.

Hope all those going tonight lend us their thoughts on the beers so the ones that couldn't make it can vicariously live through their pleasure.

Hopper.

 

[brendo]

Heading along tonight. Looking forward to it!

Just wondering why people avoided the Buckleys, Two Brothers and Grand Ridge?
Over exposure, bad experience, generally no good?
Haven't tried any Buckleys so I can't comment but I've tried the other two and enjoyed them. Two Brothers Growler in particular.

Think I'll be making a bee-line for Sweetwater to try the weissen!

in my experience, it is really a result of them having had infected or fault laden beers.

Buckleys are the masters of aceteladehyde (green apple flavour) and I have heard them deliberately pass it off as a character of the beer - rather than an issue they should be addressing.

Grand Ridge are the masters of diacetyl (butterscotch) something that is present in all of their beers (to a varying extent) - again a fault, but one that has become accepted as a character of the beer - so they are loath to change it.

Two Brothers - in my experience they have been a bit hit and miss with infections or issues across beers - which has been disappointing. That said, of the three I am most willing to keep backing up and trying what they have to offer - at least they look to fix the issues where as the other two pass off brewing faults as beer characters.

just my opinion (and I am sure I am not the only one), but each to their own and your mileage may vary.

 

[Leigh]

Was a good night at the Microbrew Showcase...managed to score a couple of free tickets, so weel worth the outlay too.

...and only tipped one beer (not because it was bad, I just don't like wheats lol)

The Buckleys I tasted had definate issues...

The aged Wee Jimmy was a great drop, the aging has really cleaned it up. The mussel stout was another great beer, as were the 3 offerings from Hawthorn Brewing Company and the Lager from Thunder Road...there was also an Oktoberfest beer (Vienna Ale IIRC) that was a fine drop (but the name of the brewery excapes me).

Top night out and some great beers...and best of all, the crowd was down on previous years

 

[Fourstar]

I'm confused by this, isn't Andy the president of Melbourne Brewers? Isn't he also the director of the ANHC? So where is he going to be come 7pm?

IMO a monthly club meeting comes well behind in the priority stakes over a bi-annual event that takes just as long to organise.

The club still does function if the Pres doesnt attend 1 meeting. :icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

Manticle I think the mussel stout is Bellarine Brewery you'll find - was available at the last one - they claim you can taste a slight saltiness in the beer but I couldn't detect it then - maybe you have to warm the beer up though to get to it. The mussels are taken from Port Arlington fresh and added right away I gather. Quite an interesting idea.

That was it. Knew it wasn't temple but that's the problem with so many tastings. I definitely got a saltiness.

As for Thunder Rd - I was going to give them a try as they are local but the marketting put me off a touch and all they seemed to have available was 'pale lager'

@MPH: My only experience with buckleys was a dark bock that tasted like a huge glass of vegemite. My feedback to the brewery was answered in rather patronising terms and that, coupled with a very average reputation has made me not want to go there.

Two Brothers I tried at the first microbrew showcase I went to and again at Mrs Parma's. Found the beer confused (not confusing). Tasted like a mess made by someone who didn't know how to brew (both times). Having had a few spitters at these events I wanted to try and change things.

Grand Ridge have a rep for a few infection issues. I've only ever had good examples so my reason for staying away is that I can readily get any of their beers. I was mainly aiming to try new stuff that I can't always find.

 

[Fourstar]

Grand Ridge have a rep for a few infection issues. I've only ever had good examples so my reason for staying away is that I can readily get any of their beers. I was mainly aiming to try new stuff that I can't always find.

C4H6O2 - thats their issue, not infections.

 

[manticle]

I was under the impression they'd had some infected beers as well as butterscotch. Sorry if I'm wrong.

 

[Fourstar]

I was under the impression they'd had some infected beers as well as butterscotch. Sorry if I'm wrong.

I havn't experienced an infection yet. :icon_cheers:

 

[BrenosBrews]

Thunder Road had a drinkable Pale Lager. That was it. It was extremely grainy. They were the newest brewery there, only serving one beer & they had more staff than probably 6 other breweries combined. They also had a couple of attractive blond females there, because we all know that's an integral part of brewing good beer.

 

[edoeven]

i thought the "James Brown" two brothers had was pretty interesting, but drank too much of it at mrs palmers later and have a shocking headache today, lol

 

[Quintrex]

C4H6O2 - thats their issue, not infections.

ffs can't you just say diacetyl, oooh if you really want be technical you could give the iupac name 2,3-butanedione. C4H6O2 says nothing of what the chemical is, but simply it's elemental makeup.

[/rant]

edit : indeed felten

 

[felten]

diacetyl is too hard to spell

 

[joecast]

2,3-butanedione

Thanks for that, was trying to work it out.

 

[///]

diacetyl is too hard to spell

VDK then ...

 

[reVoxAHB]

i thought the "James Brown" two brothers had was pretty interesting, but drank too much of it at mrs palmers later and have a shocking headache today, lol

The James Brown (at least what was on offer at showcase) is laden in fusel mild@aroma, more pronounced in flavour (though I had one person reciprocate the reverse which is moot as fusel present to both of us - just depends how you best ingest it).

This explains your headache today.

reVox

 

[Fourstar]

ffs can't you just say diacetyl, oooh if you really want be technical you could give the iupac name 2,3-butanedione. C4H6O2 says nothing of what the chemical is, but simply it's elemental makeup.

[/rant]

edit : indeed felten

Thanks for that, was trying to work it out.

^^^ Thats the reason i did it. Just stirring the pot for once, it seems to have worked!

 

[murrayr]

went last night and had a blast.
thunder road. yawn. all that excitement of a new brewery and we get a bland pale lager.
best new find was a little set up from geelong way, beacon brewery. lovely bitter and a similar but coffee infused one.
arctic fox dry cider was a nice surprise too.
neil from matilda bay had a few bottles of a nameless dark beer which was really good, hopefully will be part of their otherwise disappointing (yes i said it) range.
cheers, murray

 

[aaronpetersen]

best new find was a little set up from geelong way, beacon brewery. lovely bitter and a similar but coffee infused one.

I agree. I thought the bitter was one of the best beers I tried last night.