Sunday 4 November 2012

when you need a stray root.....

So much for attending Sydney Craft Beer Week. I waited so long for it to arrive, only for some money issues to rob me of my opportunities. Timing is everything, so it's lucky I'm not a comedian by trade. If bad luck with money was a disease I’d be a terminal case. Fortunately, there was one event that popped right into my lap. Perfect timing, perfect opportunity. I even had some spare cash. This was one beer event I wouldn’t miss for the world.

That beer event was at the Pumphouse Bar at Darling Harbour, Sydney on Friday 26th October. The occasion? Well, head brewer of St. Peter’s Brewery, Matt Donelan, had decided to run his own Sydney Craft Beer event. Rumour has it that he hadn’t been invited to any Sydney Craft Beer Week (SCBW) events. I guess this was an event that gave the rest of the SCBW organisers out there a raised middle finger in an otherwise clenched fist.


Entry level Hefeweizn
But that clenched fist opened with friendliness and warmth. His openness and chattiness to all patrons at the Pumphouse bar was excellent. When I managed to get to the bar the list of beers he had on tap made me drool. Being a huge fan of wheat beers I couldn't go past Matt's version of a Hefeweizen for my first beer. It was described as a "Bavarian style wheat beer slightly modified for the Aussie palate".

I felt it was a lighter, more sweeter beer than I would anticipate with normal German wheat beers. Unfortunately, soon after I finished the hefe I had to strangle the weasel. It just so happened that I bumped into Matt while I was exiting the male toilets. I asked what made his hefe different from the rest. Matt enthusiastically said "Eighty percent pale malt, twenty percent wheat with WB-06 fermented at thirteen degrees (Celsius)". I almost chocked on my next breath. "Thirteen degrees," I asked? "That's nearly lager temperatures!" Matt agreed it did cut it fine but he was pretty damn happy with the resulting beer. So was I.

I was so happy with my first beer that I was hanging for the next. Luckily for me there was a particular type of beer I had heard was going to be on tap, and it was one I desperately wanted to try. I needed a root, a Stray Root. No, not some 'no strings attached' sex with a cheap floozy, rather a beer made with Beetroot.  Actually, cheap sex with a floozy does interest me......but anyway, back to the Beetroot beer. The beer was smooth and sweet. It had very subtle overtones of Beetroot on the tongue. It's like the Beetroot sailed passively over your tongue giving you a quick wave as it floated by. 
Stray Root (Beetroot beer)

What didn't float by was my desire to sink another beer. Well, another craft beer brewed by Matt. So, another pint came across my lips and I knew it was going to be interesting. This time it was an IPA. Ironically, while the beer menu was clearly visible I didn't even bother reading the description of it. All I saw was "Gangooly's IPA" and that was enough for me to order one. While I bring back the beer to my seat I sit back and try to dissect the malt, hops and yeast of this creative brew. Unfortunately, I didn't get as far as dissecting anything apart from the hops because I was yet again going to the toilet. I think I had what they call a "Japanese bladder".

Call it coincidence, but as I exit the toilet after choking the one-eyed monster yet again I somehow managed to bump into Matt. This time I asked whether I was tasting Fuggles or East Kent Goldings hops in the IPA. I felt very proud when he said they were "EKG" (East Kent Goldings). Stupid me then asked why there was no real hit of aroma on the nose. Matt simply stated "Well, this is an English IPA". Oops. With my head down in embarrassment I hop to the bar and order another beer wondering to myself why I even asked that stupid question. I then picked up a beer menu and read the description of the IPA. Huh. It was an English IPA after all. Oops number two. 

English IPA with EKG
Thankfully, no more words of the same ilk as oops ever left my mouth for the rest of the night. For my next beer I made an effort to read the description: "Absinth Friends: Try this one for size. A total "one off" using the famous "green fairy" to spice up our dry pilz style lager blended with a finish of fresh lime, to enhance the liquor character, 5.9% (approx)". It's been twenty years since I last had a drink with absinthe in it, but I knew this was going to be an interesting experience nonetheless.

Apart from the spelling error on the menu (it should be spelled as "Absinthe"), why did I know the Absinth Friends brew was going to be an interesting experience? Well, I've actually known Matt for many years and have tried his beers at special monthly events over at The Nag's Head in Glebe. He no longer does those events, but I know on many occasions he'd come up with some extraordinary (and not so extraordinary) brews. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to be one of those beers that would be either out of this world or a flop.

Absinthe. Yikes!
It was certainly not a flop, but it didn't blow my mind either. It certainly had a very liquor-like flavour that came across strongly. Not enough to throw you off the beer, but by the same token enough for you to know it was a friendly companion ever so slightly hugging the beer. Overall, this was great and the mindset in trying to conjure up a beer of this nature gets full marks from yours truly. In fact, Matt mentioned to me later in the night that this was actually the peoples' favourite. I was surprised. It wasn't to my taste buds, but it certainly was with others. To me that rates as a successful brew.

And from one successful brew to another, up came the one I had been waiting for since my Stray Root (and it wasn't with the cheap floozy). The "Trew Chilli Beer" had a "range of chilli varieties added to "spice up" your night. Surprising drinkability with a looooong finish. 4.6%". Well, with that amount of O's in the word "long" it surely has to be a pretty long finish. Even more reason to try it. I am also a fan of chilli beer, and done correctly it can be a fascinating and wonderful experience.

Chilli beer. Yum.
Trust me when I say that this was indeed a fascinating and wonderful experience. I absolutely loved this chilli beer. It had enough bite for you to notice it yet it was not too strong to call in the fire brigade and extinguish the burning flames in your mouth. The long finish was very much evident. It was so long a finish that the chilli taste stayed around in your mouth longer than a Giraffe's neck....and you can't get much longer than that.

After grabbing a couple more Stray Root's it was, sadly, time for me to leave and go home. The Pumphouse bar and Matt Donelan put on a great event and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the night. The beers on tap were amazing and the feedback Matt got was sure to have pleased him to no end. I, too, gave Matt some feedback as I left for the night. But honestly, at the end of the day craft beer won. An outstanding array of craft beer, new creations and wonderful experiments. If he holds this again next year, this is one beer event I wouldn’t miss for the world.