Tipples Beer Review #30 - A little bit of rain doesn't stop me.

So if you live in Australia you’ll know that last weekend Melbourne, where I live was meant to have the mother of all storms, warnings of immense floods were sent out, an alarmist man from the weather bureau suggested we had never seen rain like this before, I definitely saw people gathering animals two by two and taking a boat building course at the local men’s shed.

Unbeknownst to the weatherman I had seen rain before, and a know water flows downhill, I also know that living on the 4th floor of an apartment building that is on the top of a hill means that it wasn’t likely that I was going to be affected. I laughed in the face of mother nature that was until the unthinkable happened – The beer festival to mark the first weekend of Summer that I was going to, got cancelled.

The chance to drink beer in the sun in a field was stolen from me. But Australians are a crafty lot so they took some of the special festival beers, found a pub and started pouring them, so I ventured out, in the overcast but not raining (yet) afternoon to partake.

A paddle of beer, actually my brother's not mine

The bar in question was The Local Taphouse in St Kilda, which I have a difficult relationship with as a) it’s on the wrong side of the river (Us Northerners don’t like going south) b) it is expensive to drink there c) they have the slowest service of any bar, ever d) they open the bar in stages, so it’s always busy...but then again they have really good beer so I can (almost) forgive all of the above.

But enough of my rantings let’s talk beer. Now these were festival beers, and festival beers in Australia normally means gimmicky, and it being a summer beer festival it was always going to be a bit weird, particularly drinking them in a dark pub on a overcast afternoon.

Peaches and Cream Gose in the foreground

As I often do I started with sours - Stomping Ground Peaches and Cream Gose was a solid beginning. Stomping Ground is the brewery started by the owners of The Local Taphouse, funded by all those overpriced beers – they can brew though, this was very nice, very sour in a fizzy sort of way, it was a great way to start the afternoon.

Next up was the Stockade Reef Sun Tan Ale* now I’m not sure if other countries have Reef sun tan oil, but it’s basically the smell of summer from my youth (before we realised the sun was going to kill us) it’s that very pungent coconut smell. This beer promised the replicate that. They did, it tasted just like sun tan oil. They shouldn’t have though this is an example of a gimmick beer gone too far – there is a reason why I don’t want to lick the arm of a 70 year old leathery man sunbaking on the beach – it revolts me.

This threw me off my game, but I got quickly back on with Hop Nation Le Soilel which is not the type of beer I expect from Hop Nation (another good inner west Melbournian brewery) it was a sophisticated sour beer, barrelled, it was very sour in a balasamic vinegar sort of way, many people will hate it, but I loved it.

And the last of the festival brew Kooinda’s Tropic like it’s Hawt which is a brilliant name, it was a great little summer pale ale, very fruity packed with mosaic, simcoe and cascade hops, it was a perfect brew for a summer afternoon in the sun, and even pretty good in the darkened rooms.

So that was it for the festival beers, and finally they opened a room with a window, so we regathered downstairs, and as if on cue the heavens opened and so began the rain, which although it didn’t stop for about 7 hours, was not biblical in proportions, it was more Da vinci code, bible adjacent, but ultimately underwhelming.

The scene from a very dry window seat

I know this is getting long so just a few quick ones to end on. The F-15 from Feral (a West Australian craft brewery, one of the best in the nation, recently bought by Coca-cola) it was a barrel aged brown ale, which was brilliant.
And finally a couple of international beers for my European and American friends. Tiny Rebel (from Wales) Tropiciana NEIPA which had a great fruity aroma, which promised a lot even if the taste didn’t quite live up to it. And probably the beer of the day for me Anderson Valley (USA) Rosy Barl which was a deliciously sour beer, great red colours, just so enjoyable.

Tiny rebel at the front (as is right for small people) and Anderson Valley at the rear

So there you go, the rain may have threatened to end life as we know it, but it couldn’t stop us from drinking.

Where can I get these beers? The festival is supposedly being rescheduled to February so look out for it if you are in Melbourne, Feral’s F-15 should be in all good bars at the moment. Tiny Rebel and Anderson Valley both have pretty good global distribution so you should be able to find them about the place if you are not in Aust.

As always this is entered into #beersaturday organised by @detlev main post is here: https://steemit.com/contest/@detlev/hey-you-do-you-know-an-interesting-funny-cool-story-for-the-26th-steemit-beersaturday-challenge feel free to vote for me either here, or if you want to increase my chances of winning Beer Saturday on my comment on that main post. Thanks everyone, and drink on