Good Craftbeer in Melbourne!

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Rowy

Drinker of Kegs, Slayer of Fish & Ruiner of Good F
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I will be in Melbourne tomorrow night staying at the Great Southern Hotel in Spencer Street. Can any of you southerners recommend a decent venue for good beer and tucker close to where I am staying.
 
Thanks for that Mrs Parmas does sound good!
 
Loads of great places in Melb for beer but Mrs parmas does the combo of simple food and wide range of aussie craft beer very well.

Have you checked out the menu (beer and food) of the place you are staying? From memory, I think they used to be good unless I am confusing it with another place on spencer.

^

just looked at the Great Southern website and it's completely different from what I was thinking of. Ignore.
 
Looking forward to it!
 
Cookies has some good beer as well, and food to match. I've not ben there for a few months but I doubt things have changed
 
IMO, Mrs P has been dropping the ball on the tap front for at least a year. Fairly ordinary and safe selection these days. Only the two rotating taps are worth a look in most of the time. Food is still okay, if a little overpriced.

Not much in the way of food (thought they do have a kitchen) but I prefer Deja Vu for a drink these days.
 
Rowy, I might have just had a bad day, but when I went to Mrs. Parma's last year I wasn't overly impressed, a little disappointed in fact.

Maybe because everyone seems to rave about it I sort of expected an older established place with heaps of atmosphere and big meals. What I found was an ordinary half modern place that in my opinion lacked totally in atmosphere. Purple walls, golden hand rails, shiny tiles and a raised seating area. Disgusting toilets at time of visit.

This is very, very subjective, but I just didn't like it, at all! Ate my meal (which again, I didn't think was that great, if not a little bland, one of those standard Parmas with something else on) and left. Maybe it was the time of the day (around lunch time), I don't know.

YMMVVVM (your mileage may vary very very much)
 
Respect your opinion Florian and yours Bum. May look at a few it seems I'm spoiled for choice. I'll search cookies.
 
If Mrs Parma's is "half modern" then I don't ever want to go to Brisbane. The place has more laminate surfaces than the average fish & chip shop.

Interior design aside, agree completely with the atmosphere. There's only narrow windows of time when the place isn't full of arseholes. I've made comments of this type in the past and been savaged for them so I'll leave it at that.
 
Being somewhat of an arsehole myself I may just fit in then................
 
bum said:
IMO, Mrs P has been dropping the ball on the tap front for at least a year. Fairly ordinary and safe selection these days. Only the two rotating taps are worth a look in most of the time. Food is still okay, if a little overpriced.
I agree. Not the finest beers on tap, most of the time.

It should also be pointed out that Mrs. Parma's specialises in Victorian craft beer, not Australian, as somebody mentioned previously.
 
In my humble opinion, I'd hit up the iconic Young & Jackson's, on the corner of Swanston and Flinders St's. My "go-to" place in the CBD. Good range of mostly good beers - maybe 15 or so on tap... the food is okay in the restaurant as well.

Beer DeLuxe is also with a visit. They have a focus on world craft beer, and they do a pretty badarse cheeseburger for $12 (sadly beers aren't so cheap though).

Cookie, has a good range of bottled beer - but I seem to recall their tap offering not being quite so special.

Have heard good things about Deja Vu.
 
I always drop into Young & Jackson's if I walk past. I've always been impressed with Beiro too, but haven't been there in a while. Can also vouch for Beer Deluxe, but they are pretty exxy though.

Edit: Beaten by Spiesy....
 
bum said:
If Mrs Parma's is "half modern" then I don't ever want to go to Brisbane. The place has more laminate surfaces than the average fish & chip shop.
I guess when I say half modern I meant neither modern nor 'old and established', a terrible attempt at trying to be both. Whatever they were trying to achieve with that look didn't appeal to me at all.

Heaps of great places around, beer related or not. Just go for a stroll around the area, sure you'll find heaps of places of interest. Had a good time at cookies both times I've been there but I think that's one of those places that could be a bit hit and miss depending on the time and crowd. Worth checking out, if you don't like it, head somewhere else.
 
Manythanks for the suggestion Spiesy. I would like some beer off the tap!
 
12 Beers (tasters) for $30.00 on Tuesdays sounds damn fine and the menu looks great! Deja vu it may be
 
I suppose I should say that I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't consider Mrs Parma's. Listen to Florian and lower the expectations, maybe. It can be good, they do okay food (though nothing terrific, as Florian suggests), beers can be good and the customers are not often aggressively hipstery (as you can find in other venues, what with Melbourne being Melbourne).
Rowy said:
and the menu looks great!
Ah, sent you on a wrong'un there, I guess. My apologies. Menu was heavily tappas based and dear as shit when I last looked (soon after they took the venue over).
 
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