Temple Midnight IPA

American Black Ale - 7%, 77 IBU, Colombus, Centennial, Simcoe Hops

The return of Temple Brewing with their brand new facility in Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north is a reason for all whom share a passion for good beer to rejoice.  Pilgrims to this fair city should not hesitate to head to Temple and pay homage before the altar of the brewing gods, sing your praises to the Saison, anoint yourself with the coppery liquids of the Special Bitter and receive benediction from the Soba Ale before finally prostrating yourself before the High Priest, the Midnight IPA.    

The Midnight IPA belongs to a style of beer upon which no-one has quite come to consensus as to what it should be called.  Many go with Black IPA, as the beers are quite hoppy but this designation is an oxymoron and therefore stupid.  A number of American brewers want this dark, yet intensely hoppy style to be christened Cascadian Dark Ale after the Cascade Ranges in the Pacific Northwest where a number of American Hop styles were developed.  I’m really not a fan of this name either as it is too much of a mouthful and difficult to say when drunk.  The Brewers Association uses the term American Black Ale which I find to be as good a descriptor as any but at the end of the day the brewer whom crafts the beer gets final say and when a beer is as good as this he can call it what he wants...

Tried on tap, the Midnight is blacker than all NWA combined and twice as aggressive, only with more hops than glocks.  It pours from the tap with a modest creamy head of similar colour which leaves a small ring of lace around the glass.  A really delicious aroma, a sniff reveals hop notes of sweet mandarin and passionfruit with a tinge of lemon while the new style of wheat malt from which this beer derives its name announces itself as fresh cut grass with a dry ryvita like character.

 

The Midnight is a medium bodied, smooth drop which slides over the tongue like velvet.  There is great depth of flavour in this beer  with a rich earthy character with toasty malt notes laying the foundation upon which sit the hops with a pronounced mandarin flavour on the approach which transitions to passionfruit and a touch of rockmelon in the mid-palate before a deep, roasty finish with a long aftertaste of rye.

 

A few beers of this style have been released over the last year or so and all have been worthy with the likes of Feral’s Karma Citra, The Thorny Goat, Kooinda Full Nelson and Prickly Moses’ Black Panther but I have to say, the Midnight trumps them all.  Somebody offer this on growler now dammit!!!

MONA Saison Du Moo

Style: Saison 5.5%

Saison, what a sexy word for a sexy beer.  I’ve only recently discovered its delights, having cracked the cork on my first bottle of Saison Dupont a few short months ago.  This was a joyous experience, and although my tasting notes become quite incomprehensible about halfway through the bottle, allusions to Sofia Vergara’s chest do appear several times.  Dry and crisp as an autumn’s morning, these are refreshing ales, perfect for the warmer months.  Australian examples of this style are a bit thin on the ground, Bridge Rd’s Chevalier Saison and Temple Brewing’s Saison are two of the most notable examples, as well as the exceptional example recently released by Victorian gypsy brewers, La Sirene.    

Sofia Vergara's Chest

On a recent trip to Tasmania, after experiencing the subterranean horrors of the Museum of Old and New Art, I stumbled blinking into the sunlight with an acute case of post traumatic stress disorder.  Things once seen can never be unseen.  Desperately in need of a drink to restore my frayed sanity, my figurative chopper out of the jungle came in the form of the Moo Brew brewery, located within the museum/winery complex.  I took a seat at the wine bar and promptly downed a pint of Moo Brew’s Imperial Stout, for only the 8% goodness of the Velvet Sledgehammer could possibly erase the memory of the last few hours.  I was about to order another when I noticed the seasonal on offer, the MONA Saison du Moo.

I’ve noticed Saison’s tend to go one of two ways, leaning towards the sweet or edging more towards the sour.  Moo Brew’s falls in the latter category.   This Saison pours with a lovely large head of purest white, gifted of excellent retention, atop a body of pale gold.  The nose is classic Saison, a medley of spicy yeast, with banana, bubblegum and citrus characters, backed by a hint of sour apple and cherries.  True to style this is a light bodied and spritzy beer with a water cracker like dryness, flavours of bread and banana transition to green apple tartness followed by a peppery finish and a lingering sour aftertaste.  

This is likely my favourite Australian Saison, sadly it is only available in limited venues on tap.  As a style, Saison is an exciting proposition, being quite removed from what the average person thinks constitutes a beer and matching exceedingly well to grilled fish or chicken.  With its delicate flavours and crisp mouthfeel, Saison is the sort of thing you could introduce to the palate which would usually prefer a white wine over a beer.   

Black Heart Brewey

Hmmm, been a while.  I ran off to Belgium with dreams of becoming a Trappist Monk, everything was going well until I discovered the whole celibacy thing.  Suck it Melbourne, you’re stuck with me.  Without further ado...

Sometimes you meet people whom make you really question what you’ve done with your life, for example, I have immense difficulty maintaining a more than mediocre level of engagement with my balls-numbingly tedious service industry job while updating this blog more than once every few weeks.  I am wearing socks that have not been washed in a month and my kitchen looks like the aftermath of a suicide bomber's spaghetti eating contest...

 

Then you have the guys whom run Black Heart Brewery, a new operation based in the rather imaginatively named sea-side suburb of Brighton.  How a surgeon and perfusionist (go have cardiac surgery if you wish to find out what this involves, if you come out of it not dead then you know he’s done his job well) have the time to run a microbrewery and craft ales of such quality is beyond my understanding.  I can’t imagine their output is very high so if you see any of these attractively bottled beers on offer then don’t hesitate.

There are five beers on offer, three of which I’ll detail here.  The first is the Belgian blonde ale, which in taste, aroma and appearance is quite similar to an example of a Belgian strong golden ale, although at 6.8% it is not quite as fearsome as some of its forebears such as Duvel.  Cracking the bottle is like wandering into the witch’s house from Hansel and Gretel, your nose is immediately welcomed by sweet aromas of candied banana and marshmallow with just a hint of gingerbread and strawberry.  The head quickly vanishes like sea foam leaving a perfectly clear light golden body.  The taste is spot on, although a little more subdued than a strong golden ale, sweet candied banana is to the fore, followed by some spicy notes of cinnamon and coriander before a dry and peppery finish.

Next up to the plate is the American Pale Ale, which I had from a newly tapped keg at the Local.  Very different from the legion of garden variety APA’s out there, for starters it poured looking a bit like an iced coffee with a dense, almost milky body.  The hops come through as fresh cut grass and crushed, wet vegetation on the nose, accompanied by a yeasty, fresh bread aroma and just a hint of varnished wood.  Far more malt driven than many of its brethren, the flavour begins an almost slatey, chalky mineral character, faint hints of ginger and caramel on the mid palate and finishing with a touch of aniseed.  This is a very thick and creamy beer with very little carbonation which finishes with a slight, although not unpleasant burning sensation.  This may not be to everyone’s tastes but I welcome the change from the norm...

Finally, I’ve just polished off a bottle of the Dunkelweizen, a style not many micros in this country seem to want to tackle, which is a shame as a well made Dunkelweizen is a thing of joy and yes, Black Heart’s version is very well made and is my favourite amongst their line up.  An attractive ruddy caramel body with a smallish, off white head the aroma is typical wheat beer estery and phenolic notes of banana, clove and vanilla, as the beer warms the dark malts shine through with a distinct caramel and toffee character.  The flavour holds a single note for nearly the duration of the swallow, banana and toffee with a short bready flavour on the finish.  The mouth-feel is excellent, I don’t wish to sound like a twat but this beer’s light body dances across the tongue.  

The common theme throughout all these beers is just how well they are put together, nothing seems to be out of place, drinking one of these is akin to driving a German built car, created with a cold, calculating efficiency with not a thing out of place, truly they are crafted with a surgical skill.  Beers of this calibre should not be thoughtlessly chugged down, but need to be reserved for the dinner table, slowly enjoyed with a well matched dish.  The classy bottles would not look out of place on even the most anally retentive of table settings and are of a good size to heft if things turn ugly with the wine fascists...  

Prickly Moses Tailpipe Big Ass Brown Ale

American Brown Ale 7.1%

Ok, so the label is emblazoned with a large American car of 1950’s vintage.  In my books that’s a good start, say what you will about America, they’ve given us some fine looking cars.  Another good thing that America has is given us is the American brown ale, currently one of my favourite styles.  Much hoppier than their English counterparts, the American Brown is more of an after-dinner sipper.  The Brooklyn Brown is a good example of the style and, thanks to Palais imports, should hopefully be available here soon.

The beer describes itself as a “big ass” brown ale and marketing bullshit aside, that descriptor isn’t far off the mark.  The Tailpipe is big in every way, we’re talking big ass like Matt Preston.  You’ll want to savour the pour, it slides from the bottle like a velvet snake, creating a thick, rich looking chocolaty head.  The body is very dark brown, indeed almost porterish in appearance, and lace is abundant, a solid frothy cap lasting all the way to the bottom of the glass.  This is one seriously good looking beer, although the streaks of white sediment that collect near the bottom of the glass are a bit odd.

Things only improve on the nose, which is really sweet with candy and sherbet characters mixed with plum and a dry, roasty coffee aroma.

The promises made by the appearance and aroma are affirmed once you take the first sip.  An initial, solid hit of roasted malt is backed by a wet, organic earthy character spiced with tobacco leaves.  The espresso bitterness of the mid palate is balanced by a dry, port-like sweetness which carries onto the finish.

I hope no one takes this out of context but the Tailpipe feels pretty damn good in the mouth, very dense and tongue-coating with little in the way of carbonation.

To say I’m impressed would be an understatement; this beer delivers on all fronts.  Perfect on its own, it matched really well to a plate of barbeque spare ribs.  There are lots of good American brown ales crafted in this country at the moment, the Cavalier Brown and 2 Brothers Growler being notable examples but the Tailpipe really takes the cake, it is glorious in every way.  We’ll have to see how it stacks up next to the Feral King Brown...

Beer of the Week - Cavalier Weizen

Hefeweizen - 5%

I was first acquainted with this beer at Victorian Microbrewery Awards at Fed Square in Melbourne earlier this year and I enjoyed it so much I used three of my twenty sample tokens just on refills of this pleasing Hefeweizen.  It looks like I wasn’t the only one to enjoy it as the beer was voted both the People’s Choice and Best Wheat Beer at the event.  I left Fed Square with this fair Fraulein at top of my hit list.

Sadly this beer turned out to be harder to find than Osama, the search culminating in an ill advised invasion (Blackhearts & Sparrows in St Kilda) under false pretexts (“I’ll only be a second baby, just buying bottle of wine for my uncle’s birthday...”).  Having just polished the bottle off I can happily say it lives up to the memory, the guys at Cavalier have crafted a Hefeweizen of which Georg Schneider himself would approve.

The ample head is such a pure white, it would give the irritating twat from the Napisan ads an inferiority complex, this glorious, nay angelic, head crowns a almost startlingly clear golden body and leaves iceberg-like chunks of lace which never truly dissipate.  A nice dusting of yeast rests like silt upon the bottom of the glass.

 

The nose is really sweet with candied banana to the fore with a little vanilla and a freshly cut grass character.

The flavour is a decent balance between sweetness and tartness with nice bubblegum notes backed by bready characteristics and finishing with a bit of a zesty, lemony zing.  The tartness comes off a little abrasive but I don’t mind, it gives this hefe some balls, which is a good thing as many attempts at this style come off a bit weak, tending to be watery and lacking in assertive flavour.

The beer has a creamy mouthfeel, with medium body and carbonation, it goes down really easily.  Hefeweizens are at their best over a summer’s lunch and just the taste of this beer after so many months of Stouts and Porters has me anticipating the warm days to come.  

Cavalier itself is a very new brewery having only begun operations earlier this year in Melbourne, they are really small-scale at the present, batch numbers are handwritten on the bottles, so I’m not sure if any of their wares are available outside the state yet.  They also offer a Pale Ale which is brewed with Nelson Sauvin Hops and an American Brown Ale.  This is brewery I’m going to be watching with great interest...

Beer of the Week - Red Duck Belgian Vanilla Porter

Belgian Porter - 6.5%

 

My fondness for Red Duck beers began with their lovely IPA, The Bengal so when I saw the impending release of three dark beers some weeks ago it didn’t take much convincing to go and seek them out.  This is the second of the seasonals I’ve tried the first being the Queen Bee which bills itself as a honey Porter.  Nice enough but I felt that the honey flavours just weren’t as apparent as they should be in something which sounds as appealing as the words honey and porter would suggest.

 

The Belgian Vanilla Porter though, this is on another level.  Luxuriant is the only word that can be used to describe it, like the Murray’s Best Extra from a few weeks back this is a dessert style porter, a good weapon to deploy when someone asks for a port or fortified wine.

 

Pours very dark with little in the way of any highlights, the head vanishes quickly, replaced by a spider web of latte coloured lace.  From appearances there seems to be a fairly high amount of carbonation for the style, with tiny bubbles breaking the surface in rapid succession, almost like a Belgian Strong Golden Ale, although this may be more due to the glass I’m using (Chimay Goblet).

The aroma is enticing; the most dominant characters are candied banana from the Belgian yeasts and sweet banana.  Don’t be fooled though, this isn’t some sickly sweet novelty, there is a solid chocolaty malt hiding beneath and a slight hint of cherry.  There is a definite boozy character wafting from the glass too.

The flavour is rich and malty, starting sweet with vanilla twinned to cocoa, the tartness of cherries and presence of alcohol reminds me of a cherry-ripe chocolate bar and prevent the beer from becoming unbalanced.  The finish is drawn out and smooth with a warming, malty flavour reminiscent of a hot chocolate.       

The carbonation I observed earlier doesn’t really make itself too apparent in the mouthfeel which is smooth and mouth coating with a medium body, it seductively dominates the palate like some fast talking, fur coat wearing, ivory cane wielding pimp.  This is highly recommended, I feel it would be a good gateway beer to introduce, over dessert, to a female friend whom wouldn't normally drink beer, especially one as dark as this.

Places of Note 3 - The Prince Alfred

355 Bay St, Port Melbourne VIC 3207, Australia

Sunday - Thursday: 4pm to late
Friday: 12noon to 1am
Saturday: 4pm to 1am

http://www.princealfred.com.au/

There was once a time when, rather than being full of overpriced boutiques, German cars and odd- looking dogs, Port Melbourne was a den of vice and filth, the sort of place where even the venereal diseases packed heat.

Before air travel the area was one of the main gateways for many of the people and goods entering the country from overseas.  Full of hard men who worked the docks or within the many factories that rose above the small cottages and terraces of the working class like great soot stained mountains of brick and sandstone, the place was also home to some of the more unsavoury elements of society such as the notoriously corrupt Painters and Dockers Union.

 

I often wonder what someone from back then would think while, on their way to a day of labour doing God only knows what, if they knew that the same cramped terrace their family shivered in, would one day be bought at auction for over a million dollars by some Vespa-driving yuppie.  The world is an odd place...

Now, the thing about hard men is they tend to enjoy a drink and therefore need somewhere to attain the aforementioned, so really old, stately looking pubs are pretty thick on the ground in Port Melbourne.  Be warned though, this is deep in wine country now, where beer is being served it is most likely going to be Stella.  Enter the Prince Alfred.

Next to the Library in Bay Street, the Prince Alfred is my vision of what a pub should look like.  It isn’t a craft beer bar, more just a smart looking pub which just happens to offer really good beer, like the owners have actually put some thought into what they are offering.  There is something there catering to every strata of beer drinker, Carlton Draught and Pure Blonde for the great unwashed, a few white-belt craft beers like LC Bright and White Rabbit Dark followed by the big guns, Mt Goat Steam Ale and Prickly Moses Otway Ale along with Napoleon & Co Cider for those whom are that way inclined.  The bottle list, although not extensive, holds a few surprises and has something to suit most moods. 

The food is excellent and, given the area, in no way pretentious or overpriced.  The steak on Tuesday  steak night ($15) is a decent size and hasn’t had the shit pounded out of it with a rolling pin while the chips are hand cut too, which is all class.  I’ve also noticed is that the specials often incorporate beer as an ingredient in some way, beef and stout pie, lamb shank braised in dark ale, pilsener battered trevalley and chips, to name but a few dishes I’ve seen on offer.

 

Being an avid disciple of the chalk and felt, it distresses me there are so few places I can drink good beer while enjoying a game of pool (Royston excepted).  The Alfred boasts two pool tables behind the rectangular central bar, both are in good shape for pub tables, the felt has no damage, chalk is easy to find and the cue’s don’t look like they’ve been cracked around someone’s head.  The tables are both positioned well with no close walls to interfere with your shots no matter what the angle.  

I like to think of the Prince Albert as a glimpse into the future, a pub to cater for all tastes.  On a final note, I’ll say just this.  Between 5pm – 6pm each night there are $3.50 pots of everything.  That is all.