Challenge #4 Update – Beers & Catch-ups

Hey everyone,

Well it has indeed been a while since we posted. A lot has happened in this time, and we hope this post can summarise the majority of it!

Matt has returned to Australia, and spent a week or so drinking his way through Sydney. In that time he added 40 or so beers to the list. Ouch. Taking one for the team so to speak (poor bastard).

Connor has returned to University – avec a lovely set of pins and plates in his left wrist – this is going to be a fun series of challenges to complete by the end of the year.

So not only are we not posting, we are being hampered via injuries, inability to drink, or vice-versa, over-consumption.

However, let’s put a few kicks back into it, and give you a progress report with regards to the beer drinking festivities.

Well, at the moment due to conflicting abilities to drink, obvious necessities to have a designated driver, and bi-weekly poverty, the drinking process has been hampered at times, and glowing at others. At present Matt is on 92 beers for the year, and Connor on about 12 (however, he did sneak one or two sips at a few tastings recently while nominated (almost without choice as Matt doesn’t drive) as designated driver, so his tally probably levels out more at about 30 to be honest.)

While in Sydney, Matt stayed with his cousin Mark – a prolific beer taster himself, having sampled over 2100 different beer-beverages over the years, and compiling his own list of triumphs. Included were a few small Spanish gifts that he had yet to get his hands on, and even a few Basque beers that are virtually impossible to get anywhere else in the world. Believe it or not, they were actually some of the best we’ve had of late.

Also, Matt had the distinct luck of timing his homecoming with one of the the infamous ‘Local Taphouse Spectapular’s’ in Darlinghurst, comprising of 20 never before seen beers – obviously instant additions to the list!

Star Spangled Spec'tap'ular - 20 US Craft Beers on Tap at The Local Taphouse.

The initial tastings were somewhat week, but a series of Red Ales from the Bear republic and Green Flash Breweries started a tide-turning flush of delicious American Pale Ales, Saison style beers, Indian Pale Ales, and culminated in a deliciously scrumptious offering from the Marin Brewing Company – their Marin Chocolate Airporter was the standout of the day. Highly recommended!

After a series of weekends with Mark, Matt then headed down to Melbourne to catch-up with Connor after an 8 month absence in each other’s company – which obviously required a few Brewskie’s to cap off the meeting.

Hence that evening we skipped off to the local 2 Brothers Breweryin Moorabbin, a short drive away from Mannix College here in Clayton. We were met by a range of 4 beers and a Cider – we agreed at this point that cider’s were welcome to join the list – and met a lovely bargirl who was happy to let us try all of the beers in their range so we could settle on their best.

Beer Offerings at 2-Brothers Brewery, Moorabbin.

Believe it or not, despite having a nice range of Brown Ales and an interesting Rice-based Beer, the crew settled on a cider each haha. It was sweet and delicious, and went down with their $8 pizza’s very nicely. The venue itself has a wonderful chilled vibe – a group of regulars it seems fills the bar trying their variety of offerings, while some local music plays in the background near the relaxing lounge areas. It is however located in the middle of nowhere – an Industrial Estate hideaway, that despite it’s weird location which one would think acts like a deterrent, only increases it’s charm in the sense that it is a little hideaway retreat for beer-lovers. Highly recommended.

After some weekend shenanigans in Ballarat, and a quick roadtrip home to visit Connor’s family in Bendigo, we had the privelage of two short stops on the way back to Melbourne to sample some beers. Again, as Connor was driving, Matt was forced (haha – sigh – bullshit) to do the drinking, and knocked back a series of 100mL shots of beer in quick succession. He was breaking the seal in minutes. Weak.

Holgate Brewhouse Tasting Paddle

The first stop was in Woodend at the Holgate Brewhouse. This is a fantastic country pub just 5 minutes of the highway, with an impressive selection of premium beers on offer – the tasting paddles provided (while not free of charge) were to a reasonable quality. 8 beers were sampled here, with a final 9th in bottle for the road.

While the Extra Special Bitter (ESB) was quite warm to taste, it was obvious that this beer would be held in high regard if it was colder. hence, we bought another one for the road. Of the other offerings, the Bruges Bombshell Blond and the 2 varieties of the Road Trip (one with locally produced Randall Hops) were standouts. However, despite all our convictions towards them, again the winning beer of the day was the dark beer – the Temptress Chocolate Porter – having the sweet chocolaty smell as if it had been brewed from Hershey’s Waffle Syrup, and a surprisingly light and refreshing taste, it was further proof that this beer challenge may result in the both of us drinking a lot more black beers than we had previously supposed.

Temple Brewhouse Tasting Platter

Not to be outdone, after a quick turnoff down Brunswick Road, we found one of 2 of our target Breweries open at 8pm on a Sunday. Hence, we stopped in for a few more at the Temple Brewery & Brasserie.

A selection of 5 beers (and the offering of a free glass of the 6th – another dark beer – I can feel a pattern coming on here) were presented with a lovely bowl of roasted Almonds. A nice touch to reset the palette between beers. These beers were actually standouts. Again, for a small brewery in the middle of what appeared to be an industrial sub-district, the selection had numerous standouts. The Extra Special Bitter was richly malty, the American Pale Ale crisp and lathered in flavour, and the Soba and Saison beers did not fail to impress. A balanced collection – props to the brewers we must say! But again, the standout was the Jet-Black Indian Pale Ale, the Midnight IPA. It’s deep caramel bitterness and hoppy head were matched well with the caramel tones of the almonds. It was a shame they didn’t have bottles – we would have easily taken a couple home. But alas, after knocking off 15 beers in a day, and over 20 to the list in the space of a weekend, we probably needed a few days rest from the brown devil haha.

Hence, with the beer total sitting on just over the century mark, and with another week or so of shenanigans in Melbourne, we should see the total quickly reach the on-par number of 124 by the end of March.

Oh, and did we mention, it’s Connor’s Birthday this week. This Thursday in fact. Send him some love – god knows he needs it – through a few Birthday messages via the comments below. As sloppy and lovey-dovey and ridiculous as possible. He is of course turning 20, and moving beyond his maturity level and out of the teens. Also keep a mind out for him this Thursday/Friday/Saturday when he is hitting those drunken highs, and then those hungover lows. But with the locations prepped for a big couple of nights of beer drinking, I am sure that we will be knocking off the 20 or so required to get on par. Don’t you worry (if in the advent chance you were actually worried).

Delicious.

~ Connor & Matt

Experience #1 – La Tamborrada

The Pais Basco knows how to party. It feels to have more public holidays, in addition to National Holidays, and excuses to party than anywhere else. So when the locals of the region’s largest party city, Donostia-San Sebastian, nominate the 20th of January as the year’s biggest fiesta, you can believe that it will undoubtedly be crazy.

La Tamborrada is a 24hr Drum, Food, and Wine Festival that smothers the town in a cacophony of tympanic beats, mastication, chinking glasses  and raucous laughter. Locals designate that it typically marks the start of Cider season, whereby the regional Sidreria’s commence serving the new season’s freshly brewed apple cider – a much drier, acidic cider than those of the English. For more in depth historical background, consult the Wikipedia page.

The party starts at exactly midnight on the morning of January 20th, where thousands of people cram into Konstituzio Plaza to watch the Mayor raise the flag of San Sebastian. This is met with the initial drumming performance, and the Basque chant of the March of San Sebastian – solely in Euskera. The performers are dressed either in chef’s uniforms, or in military dress.

Constitution Plaza on Midnight - Photo courtesy of Mary-Claire Simmonds

After the initial chant, the crowds disperse (somewhat), and a chorus of drums, barrels, and marching bands proudly strut along the cities main boulevards, each representing a local restaurant or community group. The bands only stop at routine locations in-between songs, to share drinks with locals watching from the sides of the street, or to run into a local bar to devour a few cheeky Pintxos – much needed energy to sustain the 24 hours of marching (and drinking).

Meanwhile, the locals not taking part in a contingency of the parade, intermittently watch from the sidelines, or disappear into small, often reclusive sociedades gastronómicas (Gastronomic Societies). Here the guests feast on gluttonous amounts of seafood, including the traditional Elver (eel) eaten during the feast (despite it’s overwhelming cost). Originally admitting only males, these clubs are now open to anyone and everyone, but are usually family/friend events where people cook for each other, and drink copious quantities of alcohol over the entire day.

Drumming Participants and Crowd

If this wasn’t enough, the next day features mini-Tamborrada. All the schools of the region dress up, and repeat the drumming procession for a few hours, dressed in military costumes representing a variety of countries.

If there is anything to learn from this day, it is that the Basque population (in particular the Donostiarras) do anything and everything to enjoy life. The concept of a life lived too richly (or too poorly for that matter) is simply not in their vocabulary. These festivals revel in excess, in the enjoyment of the finer points of life, and in the fact that they reserve the right to have as many of them as physically possible in a calendar year, regularly dispersed between the siesta’s and gorging of everyday life. And few of them seem to regret this enjoyment of life, and feel it as a positive glean on their health, not a blip that must be countered for in the days that follow.

If anything, I hope to revel in life in the same way they do from now on.

~ Matt