Thought I'd do a little update for those who care...
So we visited Newcastle for a few days, and managed to score some decent weather for winter time.
Checked out a few places:
Clarendon Hotel. First night was here... pretty bust little place, food was decent. I got the ribs, def reccomend! They had an OK assortment on tap and the barman was very helpful and said they'd be getting more on soon. I had a Fanny's from Burleigh Brewing, and a White Rabbit dark ale. They seem to be proud about having White Rabbit on tap around there?
After the Clarendon we went down to the waterfront to check out Silo, who advertise in Beer&Brewer as being Newcastle premiere boutique beer venue.... umm, did I miss something? We had a look and they only had 1-2 taps? Must have been bottled? Anyway, the vibe didn't look too impressive so we went nextdoor to the The Dockyard where it was pumping. They had some reall good tap beers AND they had awesome bottled beers... I had a Rogue Dead Guy ale and a Renaissance IPA, good prices as well...
Next day we walked around town, had a few local brews... Tooheys Old, terrible! Checked out the Brewery, nice spot, had an Alpha Pale ale that didn't taste as good as I'd had before... That night we went to Mary Ellen for some grub. Parma was OK, seafood basket was great. They had some great beers on tap, pick of the bunch. The atmosphere is not the greatest here, but too much like a TAB/Sports bar & bistro... but the beers made up for it. Shame I'd just missed the very well priced keg of Moo Brew Stout! Bugger...
Next day we went to Potters Brewery... we were there at 11am, I give em that, but no service and bit of a ghost town. We eventually got served some drinks. I had the paddle... some nice beers. The Pale was the standout (I think). Then it was off to Murrays. We did the little tour, was quite cool to see the brewery shed in action! Always gives me hope when I see a small brewery rocking along... the old 'I could do this one day'. Had a pricey pizza here that was AWESOME and worth it. Sat around in the sun for 3 hours chugging back 2IPA's... mmm tasty! Got a Shawn's Fault BIPA and an Imperial IPA for the road, headed back to the airport and cruised off!
I'm lucky to have a great wife!!!