A mate and I were in Melbourne for 10 days recently for the Melbourne Cup Carnival. In between having a shocking time on the punt, we spent a cold and wet Friday at St Kilda. After having a beer at the Esplanade Hotel (just so we could say we had a drink at the place where RockWiz is filmed), we arrived at The Local Taphouse at about 1pm for (what we thought) would be lunch and a couple of beers. Seven or so hours later, we left - after sampling a significant number of the 19 beers they have on tap, plus a few bottled ones.
For what it's worth (and remember it's a matter of personal taste), my top three beers were:
GOLD - Hop Hog (Feral Brewing) - an citrusy IPA that the beer menu described as having "a dry and bitter finish that leaves you wanting more." That was certainly the case for me!
SILVER - Extra Special Bitter (Hargreaves Hill) - if you like passionfruit, you will like this beer.
= BRONZE - Mikkeller Dry Stout (the Funky Brewster) - a Danish dry stout with a hint of cherry and vanilla.
= BRONZE - Chevalier Saison (Bridge Road Brewery) - another citrusy beer with a honeycomb-sweet malt.
If you are in Melbourne, a vist to The Local Taphouse is a must. We sat at the upstairs bar and were lucky enough to have Stefan ("the Italiano") serving us for most of the time we were there, and he then arranged dinner for us as well. Stefan was very entertaining and has a wonderful knowledge of beer and explained the ins and outs of all the beer we tried. A most enjoyable afternoon/evening. I haven't yet had a chance to visit The Local in Sydney, but when I do it has a lot to live up to.
Other pubs of note we visited:
- Young & Jackson (corner of Swanston & Flinders Streets opposite the station) - has a number of Australian craft beers on tap, including a beautiful American Brown Ale by Two Brothers Brewery.
- Temperance Hotel and Bridie O'Reilly's Irish Pub - both in Chapel Street at South Yarra close to where we were staying. Neither have a huge beer menu but enough to get by, and both have a good atmosphere. If you are at Bridie O'Reilly's on a Sunday, they serve a $20.00 roast which includes a pot of beer.
- Mitre Tavern - (in a laneway called Bank Place off Collins Street) - apparently in the oldest building in Melbourne, it has a pretty good variety of beers on tap and in bottles. A nice courtyard is a great place to enjoy a warm, sunny afternoon, and it also has a pretty good steakhouse.
- Mrs Parma's and Cookies - both have been mentioned in previous posts on this site. Cookies has a beer menu about 40 pages long!
Overall, Melbourne is a great place for beer! I was amazed at how many licensed establishments there are compared to Sydney - there is even a kebab joint in Swanston Street that is licensed to sell beer.
Cheers.
For what it's worth (and remember it's a matter of personal taste), my top three beers were:
GOLD - Hop Hog (Feral Brewing) - an citrusy IPA that the beer menu described as having "a dry and bitter finish that leaves you wanting more." That was certainly the case for me!
SILVER - Extra Special Bitter (Hargreaves Hill) - if you like passionfruit, you will like this beer.
= BRONZE - Mikkeller Dry Stout (the Funky Brewster) - a Danish dry stout with a hint of cherry and vanilla.
= BRONZE - Chevalier Saison (Bridge Road Brewery) - another citrusy beer with a honeycomb-sweet malt.
If you are in Melbourne, a vist to The Local Taphouse is a must. We sat at the upstairs bar and were lucky enough to have Stefan ("the Italiano") serving us for most of the time we were there, and he then arranged dinner for us as well. Stefan was very entertaining and has a wonderful knowledge of beer and explained the ins and outs of all the beer we tried. A most enjoyable afternoon/evening. I haven't yet had a chance to visit The Local in Sydney, but when I do it has a lot to live up to.
Other pubs of note we visited:
- Young & Jackson (corner of Swanston & Flinders Streets opposite the station) - has a number of Australian craft beers on tap, including a beautiful American Brown Ale by Two Brothers Brewery.
- Temperance Hotel and Bridie O'Reilly's Irish Pub - both in Chapel Street at South Yarra close to where we were staying. Neither have a huge beer menu but enough to get by, and both have a good atmosphere. If you are at Bridie O'Reilly's on a Sunday, they serve a $20.00 roast which includes a pot of beer.
- Mitre Tavern - (in a laneway called Bank Place off Collins Street) - apparently in the oldest building in Melbourne, it has a pretty good variety of beers on tap and in bottles. A nice courtyard is a great place to enjoy a warm, sunny afternoon, and it also has a pretty good steakhouse.
- Mrs Parma's and Cookies - both have been mentioned in previous posts on this site. Cookies has a beer menu about 40 pages long!
Overall, Melbourne is a great place for beer! I was amazed at how many licensed establishments there are compared to Sydney - there is even a kebab joint in Swanston Street that is licensed to sell beer.
Cheers.
