Blog Archive

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Brewed Nude 2016 - Calendar - on sale @ Brisbane Bars


As the saying goes, another Year, another Nude Calendar.. well ok that's not a saying however 2015 is drawing to a close and 2016 is just a hop, skip and a bees dick away.

The calendar launched this past Saturday (19th Dec) and cost a measly $20 clams from these 7 venues..

The Scratch Bar
Oxford Tap House
Tipplers Tap
Bloodhound Bar
Fitz + Potts
Saccharomyces Beer Cafe
The Wooly Mammoth

There was also Karma kegs (pay what you want) of beers donated by a few local breweries to help launch the event with the proceeds also going to the charity.

There is probably still some beer floating around from the event but there is definitely still a few calendars so why not give the gift of nakedness to your loved ones, scare your children or grand parents or just plain support our local community with proceeds from the calendar going to Micah Projects.

Micah supports our local community assisting with homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, disability and discrimination which are some pretty important issues that should be supported!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday and you can expect more posts from me in 2016! 


First Impressions: Ze Pickle Brisbane @ Fortitude Valley

Ze Pickle Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Ze Pickle have been making waves on the Gold Coast for awhile now but I just never really had an opportunity to get down there but thankfully they have expanded to Brisbane so now it's way too easy!

Bringing similar stylings to the GC store with custom made metal work, light boxes and plenty dark wood with a deck extended all the way to the road this is a fairly impressive looking venue.

We were there early on a Sunday for lunch, from 12 but didn't order until after 1 and the entire time we had prompt and friendly service for drinks and when we did order food the place was almost full but we got our burgers in about 15 minutes which is pretty good!

The menu is all about the burgers and there is plenty of mouth watering options with some very different burgers like the 4:20am which is fried chicken in between two mac 'n' cheese waffles.

I went with the 3am which has a hand pressed wagyu patty, maple smoked bacon, fried cheese sticks, guacamole and ZP sauce. 

It came out looking impressive, especially after I cracked the cheese sticks open and they gushed all over the burger but there was a few things that weren't great. The patty didn't fill the bun which meant the first bite was bread and cheese stick and the guac for me didn't really make sense, I guess it's there because the crumb on the stick does dry it out a bit so you need some extra sauce but overall it was pretty tasty.
We also ordered a serve of wings and ZP fries for our table, both of which were spot on with the wings having a nice coating with a crunch and plenty of tang from the buffalo sauce.

The ZP fries are loaded with beer cheese sauce, maple bacon bits and ZP sauce and are really something you need to share but are delicious.

ZP also has a solid tap lineup with plenty of good spirits also but I was driving so I stuck to coke and a Reset Robot.

Overall it was a really good first visit and I wish I'd made it to the GC venue earlier to check the place out but as far as first experiences go this was pretty great, good food and good service and real easy to park close to on a Sunday.

I'll be back to try out another burger or two.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Brisbane Craft Beer icon Tippler's Tap to assimilate sister Tomahawk and invades South Bank

It's with some sadness that I write this article because Tippler's Tap has for many beer drinkers in Brisbane been an institution or a second home since it opened in 2012 and whilst it's only moving venues it will never be the same and neither will Newstead.

For me it was my second ever venue post and somewhere that I frequented many times before I began writing my blog so it will always be remembered.

An article recently posted by the good folk at BrewsNews broke the news to most of Tippler's past and present punters with 100's of comments being generated in a short period time, many of which were mourning the loss of this great bar in it's current form.

It's all about progress in Newstead these days and it seems the industrial area that existed even just a couple of years ago is slowly being replaced by massive apartment blocks as a flock of giant cranes  takes over and proceeds to modernise this area of Brisbane.

Progress? Invasion from giant Metal monsters? nah it's just Newstead these days..

Due to this, the great people at Tippler's have had to make what I imagine was a heavy hearted decision to re-locate, opting to take advantage of their existing lease in South Bank at sister venue Tomahawk which will now become Tippler's Tap.

Union, marriage, the coming together of two? It's usually a good thing right? Well time will tell in this case as a dark, dank basement style venue merges into an indoor / outdoor modern bar space in an area not known for dive bars or anything really that old.

It's the right decision given the options with Tippler's lease due to end and the current building to be demolished and Tomahawk having a lease until 2018 but for me I know it won't ever feel the same, atmosphere wise but I am looking forward to seeing what is done with the space!

But the transition won't be too heard for those that love Tippler's as the food it will largely be the same with the entire menu set to come across including the famous wing's and I'm hopeful the taco and rib nights will remain and you can expect a couple of additions from the Tomahawk menu.

I could see chicken wings with caramel sauce becoming a thing? yes? no? maybe.. either way the food will be familiar.

Tomahawk's tasting paddles, spirits range and take away drinking options will also remain. Did you know there are designated drinking areas in South Bank parkland?

Tippler's $2 taco nights, making Tuesday cheap and delicious for the past few years!

The intent is also to recycle as much of the fit out from Tippler's as possible so it will be interesting to see what Tomahawk transforms into.

So when is all this happening? Well Tippler's last day of trade (in Masters St) is this Saturday the 19th of December and it's set to be a big one with more than a hundred people signed up to the facebook event so I'd suggest if you want one last nostalgic trip down Tippler's lane you get in early.

Tomahawk Tippler's will re-open in mid January 2016 in it's revitalized digs in South Bank to begin what is hopefully a new and prosperous era for this iconic piece of Brisbane's craft beer history.

Long live TippleHawk!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Media Release: Good Beer Co. - Drink Beer, Save the Reef!


A week ago on Wednesday night James Grugeon launched his Good Beer Co. initiative in front of a solid crowd at Brisbane's Triffid music hall.

The Good Beer movements aim is to partner with Breweries around Australia and also partner with a Charity with a percentage of the profits going to this Charity.

Essentially, Good Beer that Does Good.

The first initiative sees James partnering with Bagara Brewing  and the Australian Marine Conservation Society to produce a crowd funded beer that will either be a White IPA or a Pale Ale based on votes that were made at the launch event.

To support this you can head over to the IndieGoGo crowd funding page and pledge a donation for 6 packs or cases as well as other things like shirts and if you are a business you can request larger amounts.

The aim for now is to have this beer out sometime in February 2016 which in reality isn't that far away so if you want to help out a good cause and Save the Reef head on over and pledge a few dollary-do's!

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

First Impressions: Defiant Duck @ Gasworks

The Defiant Duck Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
After hearing that the minds behind the excellent Gerard's bar and Bistro had created a new venue with 24 beer taps and casual American style cuisine in Newstead's Gasworks I knew I had to check out The Defiant Duck!

I however think that maybe my expectations were too high and apologise in advance if this post comes across as too negative, it's not meant to be anything other than my opinion, experiences and hopefully some valid suggestions for improvement.

Lets start with the beer, you'd be forgiven for assuming that a venue with 24 taps would have some local beer but unfortunately it looks like all of taps are contracted which in some ways is understandable (cost saving, maintenance etc). However I would like to have seen some good Australian Craft on tap or at the very least some local craft with two excellent Brisbane breweries within 1km of the venue.. 

What get's weirder is they seem to do a 'happy hour' that's suggests that you can get local beer at local prices but I'm not really sure what's considered local, Australian beer maybe?

That said you can get some bottled beer from local and Australian breweries which is in essence a good starting point and at least with 24 taps I was able to find a couple of decent beers from Creatures in the form of Dog Day's and Creature's IPA which both went down well on a warm as fuck day.



Let's move on to the food, the menu consists of American style food with corn dogs, crab cakes and wings filling up the snacks portion and burgers, beef ribs and fried chicken taking up the mains.

It's a balanced menu with arguably something for everyone which is great and with a pretty solid amount of gluten free options as well which was excellent for one of my lunch crew.

The main difference to other venues in this medium-ish price range that's doing this type of food is something called The Josper Oven which seems to essentially be like a charcoal oven/gril that's used to cook a lot of the protein on the menu and can be pointed out by the big JO symbol next to the item.

I started out with a serve of wings which came with a slightly vinegary, almost buffalo style sauce and a dressing and plenty of great tasting char but for $10 is verging a bit on the expensive side for five small wings but they were pretty good!

We also shared some gluten free mini corn dogs which were really delicious with what seemed like a maize flour and turmeric batter which was nice and crunchy encasing a small kranksy style sausage.
Then came the  'Classic Cheeseburger' which is what I was honestly really excited to try because Gerard's bar does a freaking incredible double patty cheese burger that puts many to shame and comes out juicy and medium.

Defiant Duck's version however was neither juicy, medium or really all that enjoyable with an incredibly spongie bun that tasted like it had too much bi-carb in it and a patty that definitely had that charcoal flavour but that was all it had as it was super dry and without enough sauce to carry it through.

The Duck is a fairly new venue and may still be finding it's feet, webbed as they may be..

There is a couple of things still left on the menu I would like to try mainly the mac n cheese croquettes and the toasted reuben sandwhich so I will likely go back a couple more times but as far as first impressions go I've had better.

First Impressions: Barcadia @ Bulimba

Barcadia Kitchen & Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Well this is a bit of a funny one, it's not really a first Impression because I've actually been to Barcadia a handful of times but I'm calling it a first impression because the only thing I ever eat there is the Buffalo Wings so I don't feel I've had enough of the menu to do a full post.

Barcadia is a rather new edition to the beautiful riverside suburb that is Bulimba. Sitting about half way down the Oxford Street Strip with a largely open air venue but does have ample indoor seating and a slightly more formal sit down restaurant section.

It's clean, fresh looking and has plenty of dark wood, metal and tiles which is almost everything you'd expect from a modern suburban bar these days.

There is 8 taps with mostly local and Australian beers and cider with local brewery Newstead brewing Co. featuring on at least 1 tap most of the time and usually a mid strength or two for the designated driver or light drinker.

The bottled and can range is where it's at for me with some great beers and breweries in the fridge although staff do occasionally require some direction as to which beer is which when ordering from the fridge but I've had several enjoyably fresh tasting cans of Pirate Life here.

It would be nice to see an IPA or two on tap but I realise this is still a novelty to most people.

The food is a mix of bar snacks likes wings, ribs and tacos with the sit down dining area offering up full meals of house made gnocchi and steaks etc.

For me it's all about the Buffalo Wings. Coming in serves of 6 ($9) or 12 ($15) they may seem to be a little on the pricey side but they are usually huge wings and it seems that if the chef thinks they aren't big enough you often get a couple extra per serve.

They are the perfect blend of franks red hot and vinegar with a great little bit of heat coming through after a few wings, certainly enough to give me a bit of a sweat after 12 of them.


The only other thing I've eaten at Barcadia is the pork rinds because pigs are the bestest most delicious of animals and I can't go past some scratchings. Coated in fennel and flour and fried these are pretty great and marry well with any beer but eating too many does seem to make a sort of gummy paste in your mouth after awhile but nothing more beer doesn't solve.

Overall I'm happy so far to have Barcadia as one of my local go to venues if for nothing else then crazy delicious wings!

[Edit] December 2015 - Since I wrote this the menu has become one single menu at Barcadia and they've kept most of the bar food the same but added a Burger and some other things so I'll endeavour to get back and get some shots of something other than wings! Maybe..