Tomahawk Bar @ South Bank

So it's no secret that I absolutely love Tippler's Tap so it should come as no surprise that when I heard that some of the great people behind it were opening Tomahawk Bar in Brisbane's South Bank that I had to check it out.

Although it has taken me longer than it should have to do so, it was absolutely worth the wait with incredibly tasty food to match the ever changing but always amazing tap list.

Tomahawk is by no means a copy of Tippler's, if anything it is more of a chameleon blending effortlessly into the trendy but modern setting that is South Bank. With dark hardwood and steel and benches it almost feels like it's been there for at least a year or two.

Pork Scratching's

With 13 rotating taps and a huge selection of bottled beers you'd be forgiven for not realizing that Tomahawk also has a fantastic range of Ciders and Wine for those less interested in hoppy, malty goodness.

The food is without a doubt some of the most delicious at any craft beer in Brisbane with Ribs, meatballs, Arancini, fish sticks and baked Camembert featured on the menu.

Hopcorn Chicken!

Baked Camembert

The standouts however are the pork scratching's (newly added) with red ale chilli jam and the amazing (and entirely worth going for) Hopcorn chicken with salted caramel sauce.

I can hear you asking how salted caramel can work in savoury but believe me it is one of the best tasting combinations I have ever eaten as a beer snack with the dryness and crispiness of the hopped out chicken balancing brilliantly with the sweet (but not too much!) and salty Caramel.

I'll admit that I don't normally frequent South Bank but with bars like Tomahawk beginning to popup I can see myself spending quite a bit more time there!

Pork Belly Burger

[Edit] August 23 2014

Former Chef of Tomahawk and Tipler's Ali Orchard was cooking Hopcorn Chicken and Sticky Stout Lamb Ribs at the 2014 Ekka and has released the recipes via BrewsNews check them out here.

I've also been back to Tomahawk recently and had the Pork Belly burger (photo above) which is utterly delicious and another reason to go if you haven't yet!

Feral Offcuts @ Brewski

Some pre-event brews!

Having recently shown interest in the launch of Feral's Watermelon Warhead sour beer I had heard that a keg was making the journey from the Swan Valley to Brisbane. I however did not expect an entire event dedicated to Feral and it's special release beers to make it to Brisbane but it did and has delivered a very enjoyable Thursday evening.

Feral Offcut's was hosted by the guys and gals at the excellent Brewski along with BeerMatt's Matt Kirkegaard.

Featuring four unique beers in Barrique Okarma (Black IPA), Barrel Aged Hop Hog (IPA), Hopfen Fahrt (German IPA) and Watermelon Warhead (Sour).

Tasting paddles in hand we made our way to the bar and received our generously sized samples. After making our way back Matt Kirkegaard walked us through the beers providing his unique insight along with some great background on Feral and these unique beers.

Collecting tasting paddles!

I attended for the Warhead but I fell in love with the Hopfen Fahrt IPA which uses all new world hop varieties grown in Germany. The Hopfen can only be described as a flavour bomb as you are instantly hit with a big fruity/hoppy punch with smooth bitter finish. I can only hope that Feral bottle this at some point so I can get my hands on more of it!
 

The Barrel Aged Hop Hog had some great woody flavour which changed what many consider to be Australia's best IPA style beer quite dramatically. Barrique Okarma which I have had bottled, is as you'd imagine even better off-tap. So much so that I enjoyed a large glass of it later in the night with it's unique smokey, fruity flavour.

The Watermelon Warhead is absolutely one of the best sour beers I have tried and really does hark back to childhood days of sour lollies and the inevitable screwed up face that came with eating them. Our table was divided on wether the Warhead was something they enjoyed but we did agree that it is something unique and worth trying.

Brewski's chef created a pulled pork pizza for the event which was dubbed "Will Feral" with a great thin base, tasty sauce and a good amount of pork and cheese. I unfortunately was so distracted by the conversation (and beer) that I failed to take a good photo of the pizza but I can assure you it looked as delicious as it tasted.

There was a good atmosphere with 24 people sitting together on Brewski's recently updated balcony area conversing and enjoying the food and beer. There seemed to be a good mix of beer nerds as well as some people that weren't that familiar with feral or its brews.

A big thank you to Brewski for organizing the event, Matt Kirkegaard for hosting and Daniel from Calibre Craft for supplying the beer! Looking forward to future events as both at Brewski and around Brisbane as our Craft scene continues to grow!

Sunshine Coast Brewery

I've been drinking local and international craft beer for around 10 years now, so it seems fitting that I return to my home town and the first brewery I ever purchased beer from!

I was in my early 20's when I last visited The Sunshine Coast Brewery and back then I purchased a carton of chilli beer which in my youth I thought was a good idea. I can say now that I'm older and wiser that attempting to drink a carton of chilli beer was an unwise decision.

Returning to the brewery with a more mature palette has been a blessing as I got to enjoy a tasting paddle which included their Hef, Dark (middy), Bitter Ale, Pilsner and Summer Ale. After this I was offered an extra taste in the form of a German style smoked beer called Rauch Bier which was quite nice but really is something you have a small amount of.

The tasting platter was excellent and let me know what was on offer and despite having a busy period over Easter which cleaned out a lot of their stock there was still a good selection. The standout beer for me was their Rye ESB (Extra Special Bitter) which is a fantastic hoppy explosion with a nice punch of rye. It reminds me a lot of the IPA style which is so popular right now and worth visiting the brewery for on it's own.

The only beer I didn't get to try that I was hanging out for was their Porter but I am sure I can order some when they have it bottled again or use it as an excuse for another visit!

The staff were very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely interested in listening to of their customers feedback and exchange beer related stories.

They were also nice enough to see if the Rye ESB was anywhere near being bottled again and whilst I couldn't get any during my visit the young man serving me went out of his way to give me a bevy of options to ensure I could order some if I wanted to, this type of service is fantastic and definitely only comes with passionate staff who care about the beer and their customers.

Whilst the main attraction is clearly the beers the food that is on offer is also very good with pub style mains and nothing costing over $17. They even do take-away!

I went with the chicken parm which was delicious and my party had another parm and a couple had beef burgers. We were all satisfied with our meal both in flavour and portion size and all agreed that the chips were the standout as they were crunchy and moreish! 

Overall a good experience and worth dropping in for lunch and a beer or five if you live on the coast or are visiting for any reason!