Brewsvegas 2015 - Day 0 - Four Hearts and Brewsvegas Launch Party

 Four Hearts - Pumpyard Bar: First Impressions

It's been open less than 2 weeks but the positive responses coming from patrons have made it an anxious wait for me to get to Ipswich and cut my teeth on some of the tasty brews and food at Brisbane's newest brewery.


The Pumpyard's decor does not disappoint with exposed brick decor, shiny beer kettles with led lights around them and some neat looking furniture made from steel pipes

There is 10 taps with around half being beer brewed in house with a couple of session beers that sit under 3% alcohol, their signature Pale Ale and a current seasonal Red IPA that has a big malty kick and solid bitterness.


The menu is full of tasty treats to compliment the beer all created by beer chef Ali Orchard who has had previous involvement in pairing beer and food at Tomahawk and Tippler's.

I decided to have some finger food so I went with BBQ Wings and Onion Rings, the wings were super tasty with a nice crunchy texture and the sauce had a sticky burnt toffee flavour with a slight chilli kick.

The sauce however, went literally everywhere and I needed 3 napkins to get through it and as a grown man there is only so much brown goo I want coating my face.

If you live out near Ipswich then Pumpyard should be your new local and if you are in the city I recommend taking the drive out, it's well worth it!

Brewsvegas - Launch Party @ Wandering Cooks

It's been 12 months since last years event and it's felt like forever, but last night it arrived with a bang with food trucks and $5 beers taking centre stage inside the Wandering Cooks at 1 Fish Lane.

It was a dreary, wet and drizzly day but that didn't stop anyone from participating in the launch with hundreds of people packing themselves both inside and out of the warehouse like building.

It was a great experience and a good way to kick off Brewsvegas but the shear number of people in attendance made it difficult to move around especially as the night went on.

There was 17 taps of tasty beverages all priced at $5 which made the exchange of money for liquid goodness a simple one and also helped to bring the crowd in.

There was something for everyone with the Brewsvegas beer from Green Beacon being what I went for first but there was a vast array of beer from breweries all around Queensland.

It begins!

Food trucks were setup outside with Char Baby, Vira Lata, Juan More Taco and Pizzantica serving tasty food, I went with a pulled pork roll and apple slaw from Char and it was good!
The lovely folks from Beerkary were setup inside dolling out tasty Beercaroons, dense and rich malt cookies and hop infused marshmallows.

It was a sufficiently epic way to kick off Brewsvegas and I suspect there is a few sore heads around Brisbane today but with the week of events set to kick off this morning this probably won't stop many people from getting out there today and checking participating!

Enjoy your week of beer filled goodness Brisbane, I know I will!

Nest launch @ Jen Hotel on Roma Street

If I said one of the newest and trendiest looking asian restaurants was opening in Brisbane city you would be forgiven for assuming it was on Eagle St which for a couple years now has been home to a large portion of new and hip venues in the CBD.

But trends and times change so it's nice to see a potential shift in locale for new modern venues with one of the  newest in Nest, roosting just above Roma Street on the second floor of Hotel Jen just next to the Transit Centre.

Nest is an interesting mix of restaurant, cafe, nightclub, cocktail bar and casual eatery along with a modern themed interior and some friendly staff it creates an enjoyable atmosphere and venue for almost any occasion.

For the launch party the main dining area was setup to allow for standing,eating, drinking and mingling but normally it is a sit down dining experience.

The bar has a pretty good range of drinks to choose from with some really tasty cocktails along with wine, cider and spirits but for me what was impressive was that they had a fairly decent range of craft beer.

I'll be honest being the beer geek that I am, I  go into a venue like this expecting to not find a beer that I can enjoy but I was really happy to see some great Australian craft beer and breweries being represented with Stone & Wood, Six String and 4 Pines featuring on the taps.

I started out with a Pacific Ale which went down a treat and just as I was nearing the end of my glass a tasty looking jam jar filled with kraken rum and lime and rimmed with sugar caught my eye so I tried that too and it went down way too easy!

Cocktails do take centre stage here with a nice menu with several choices with catchy names for you to try out.

The menu is Asian fusion style but also caters for a range of eating styles from breakfast food to shared plates and even a sit down dining menu which would be great for a romantic dinner looking out onto the lantern lit fig tree.

We enjoyed prawn and chicken laksa, skewers of tasty calamari and deep fried fish as well as a fried rice, mini burgers and even chocolate pudding with everything tasting great!

Overall Nest fits in well to the CBD and provides a clean, new and modern looking venue which would be great for after work drinks, before work breakfast or if you are staying at Jen it could be your go to dining spot!

First Impressions: Brisbane Brewing Co. @ West End

Brisbane's newest beer and food venue also has one of the oldest brewing setups, having moved around a few times in it's life it now rests in what is hopefully it's final home down an inconspicuous lane way in West End.

As you walk down boundary street you will no doubt turn your head as a large, intricate metal fence catches your eye. Doubling as the brewery sign, the words Brisbane Brewing Co have been masterfully metal worked and with the longer than normal entrance create intrigue as you make your way in.

I watched as many people stopped and had to double take before continuing past making sure they weren't missing something special. For those that kept going, they are actually missing something pretty special and quite unique as far as brew pubs go!

Heading into the main bar area I made my way past the kitchen, with chefs were preparing food and the cold cuts, and brisket sitting in the window creating a conundrum of "do I order food or beer first?"

I persevered, I had to, the thirst had been building for a few days and after hearing about the opening of this new venue and how well it had been received I just had to check it out!

Starting out with a Brisbane Pale Ale (BPA, catchy huh?) I sniffed, greeted by a hint of galaxy hops, then I drank and enjoyed a smooth but not overly bitter finish making for a very quaff-able pale ale.

As I enjoyed my beer I thought to myself, this beer has been around for awhile now at Brewhouse Brisbane, why haven't had I had it? The truth is I find Wollongabba to be a lackluster area to visit for craft beer but West End whilst not perfect is far more interesting with several decent venues within walking distance of each other.

There is about 10 taps with a range of house beers from a honey infused wheat beer to an IPA, with a cider and a couple of guest taps filling out the spots.

The bottle range contains over 60  different beers with a lot of old favourites and recent releases being featured like beer from the excellent Aussie micro brewery, La Sirene and even Garage Project's recently released Hop Trial #2. They also have some interesting sounding cocktails and wine if beer isn't your thing!                                

The food menu is just huge! two a3 pages of foodaliciousness, (patent pending..) with starters like corn bread as well as share plates of meats and cheese, hoagies and sliders. 

The standout part of the menu (for me) is the ability to to choose a meat option and then simply add sides to it like chips or feta and watermelon salad and create a main or your own share platter and everything is decently priced ranging from under $10 for corn bread to $36 for some of the platters. 

On my visit I shared the brew platter which was pretty impressive, with warm brisket and pulled pork taking centre stage along with potato and bacon salad, house made pickles, cheddar cheese, beer infused seeded mustard and tomato relish as well as corn and rye breads. All of which matched quite well with a pint of the house brewed Walker IPA.

Beers come in pots, pints and jugs and are competitively price with most pints being $10 or under which is good value and if you aren't sure what to drink there is also tasting paddles available if you want to try a few different beers.

I finished the evening with a pint of a guest beer from Cavalier, their  Russian Imperial stout which isn't really a summery beer but went down a treat as it had rained all day so it felt like stout weather anyway!

It's really great to see this type of brew bar setup in West End and hopefully it has a long future because so far it is fitting in brilliantly with the other local bars and should be help ensure the area is buzzing BrewsVegas in March.

Fifty Shades of Cutting Board!

Ok, so maybe not 50 different menu items but the new addition to the George St side of old Brisbane-town known as The Cutting Board has been delivering some extremely delicious menu items since late Jan.

This 'lineup and go' style take-away shop is an interesting mix of fast food meets American style cuisine meets good old Aussie carvery with a dash of your local coffee shop thrown in!

Ham, Apple/Fennel Salad + Veg

This somewhat unique mix results in a mostly positive experience as you not only get some great food like the roast ham with a side of fennel and apple salad, you also get this quality food fairly quickly.

However it can be daunting especially in the busy period (12-1:30 pm) to decide what to order because there is such a huge variety of food to order and a couple of spots from which to order. With one side for sandwiches, salad and various pre-mades and the other side for hot food and ordering burgers, aswell as a side window for quick coffee orders.

Reuben!

Choices range from standard American style fare like pulled pork, brisket, burgers and great sandwiches like the Reuben to healthier or lighter food choices like salads, steamed veggies, lean green curries or pork and beef meatballs.

Meatballs, Greek Salad + Veg

These are just some of the choices for lunch, they also do a rather fantastic breakfast menu with cooked offerings (eg. bacon & eggs) as well as muffins, wraps and toasties to go with your favourite coffee!

I was lucky enough to be the first person to get one of their sandwiches which was made in front of me on opening day, the staff were elated to fill their first order from this menu!

Calamari + Aioli w/ Caesar Salad

There is however a few changes that I think could help improve things but they are minor ones. The pulled pork and brisket can be taken with gravy either on a roll or with 2 sides in a take-away container, now this is fine however if you don't have gravy the meat isn't that flavourful on it's own. I would like to see another option possibly some kind of barbecue sauce or being able to have one of the salads on your roll with the protein would be excellent and would not really need to impact in cost or any extra preparation.

I would also like to see the condiment station that has laid dormant since the opening begin to get used, having a choice of pickles or different sauces is never a bad thing in my mind! That said, I am sure that they will continue to grow and improve their menu as they have already began to do so in their first 2 months of operation.

Though in it's infancy Cutting Board is on it's way with great friendly service and very well prepared food, making it great addition to the slightly neglected (food wise) side of Brisbane CBD.

"New Yorker" Burger & Fries

Losing my blogging virginity.. also Statler & Waldorf + Brewski! :D

Statler & Waldorf

1^st of March and first day of autumn for 2014, coincidently this was the perfect time for my first visit to Brisbane’s Caxton St and two of the newest craft beer bars in Statler & Waldorf and Brewski.

After dragging myself up the obnoxious set of stairs at the Barracks I made my way down Caxton St searching for Statler, alternating between Google Maps and the pavement I realised I was on the wrong side of the road. Looking around I saw some brightly coloured umbrellas and subsequent large white lettering spelling out Statler & Waldorf.

Crossing the road, I was greeted by a young man sporting a rather epic looking moustache who asked me if I’d like a drink. Being slightly sweaty from the walk up to the Barracks I quickly ordered a pint of Hassel Hop from the most excellent Burleigh Brewing Co.

When you first enter Statler you see a poster of the evolution of hipster beard appropriately adorned on the wall and there's lots of hardwood bench tops and flooring. In the main dining area hangs an image of the namesake Muppets (Statler & Waldorf) right next to a large sheet of butchers paper containing the daily specials.

Being a very quiet Saturday morning I was advised that I could sit anywhere so I sat by the window looking out on busy Caxton St and the umbrellas that adorn the outside seating, whilst waiting for the rest of my party to arrive. The bartender then kindly delivered me a bottle of cold water and a glass probably in hopes that I might stop sweating all over the hardwood counter I was sitting at.

Once the rest of my group arrived we looked around while the bartender prepared some cocktails. We ordered a “Jartini”, a sort of espresso martini in a cute little jam jar as well as a cocktail made inside a coconut with the Statler & Waldorf logo burnt into it.

Statler coins itself as a gastronomy pub and the menu doesn’t disappoint with an array of incredible sounding burgers, sandwiches, roasts and other rather gluttonous meals and that’s without even talking about the specials that were available!

After ordering food we made our way out to the beer garden and as we passed the kitchen the chef and staff said hello to us. Arriving in the beer garden (which we had to ourselves!) we sat down on one of the large wooden bench seats with a view of the outdoor bar area which has a large screen and projector.

Three Little Pigs Sandwhich!

I ordered the Three Little Pigs sandwich which was well presented on a stained wooden board adorned with the S & W logo and a small basket of fries. The sandwich itself was pork belly, bacon and cantimpalo (chorizo) on a bed of apple & fennel slaw lying comfortably between 2 crispy pieces of baguette style bread. All the flavours worked perfectly together with the chewy toasted bread working as a vehicle to carry all that amazing pork into my belly! I had a pint of Murray’s of Punch & Judy Amber Ale (3.9%) which was quite interesting and full flavoured for a middy.

Calamari Fries

Cheese Souffle

We all very much enjoyed our meals and the service was quite personable and the staff were all extremely friendly. Will definitely be visiting again soon!

Brewski

After lunch we moved across the road for a few more beers at Brewski, a bar that does wood fired pizzas, nibbles and of course a most epic range of craft beers, both off tap and bottled.

No matter which door you take into Brewski your eyes will be drawn straight to the large lighting feature spelling out IPA that hangs above the bar letting you know you have arrived in some rather serious craft beer territory.

They have 8 taps which seems to consist of 4 frequently rotated beers and then 4 more taps with Little Creatures staples as well as Pipsqueak Cider.

At the time of my visit they had Four Hearts – Halfa IPA, Brewtal Brewing’s Jack the RIIPA, Epic – Armageddon IPA and Ekim Brewing’s After Battle Pale Ale.

I started with the most excellent Armageddon IPA (6.66%). I spent a few minutes and had a good chat with the bar tender who was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the beers they had on tap. My group and I sat out the back on the balcony looking out onto the monolithic Suncorp stadium and a hint of the iconic XXXX Brewery sign.

After having a pint of After Battle Pale and another chat with the bartender our group moved inside to an extremely comfortable faded red leather lounge. We then ordered a nutella, white chocolate and marshmallow pizza on a gluten free base which was rather awesome with a gooey squishy marshmallow sitting on top of the pizza!

I moved on to some refreshing and fruity beers from the fantastic bottled range that Brewski has, starting with a can of Mountain Goat’s Summer Ale (which actually complimented the dessert pizza very well!) and finishing off my afternoon with Feral’s White. 

Overall my experiences at Brewski were nothing but positive with some very friendly staff who seem to enjoy what they are doing and are doing it extremely well. Brewski has some of the more unique tap choices available in Brisbane and the frequent rotation makes for an enjoyable experience and a good excuse to keep coming back.

Nutella, Marshmallow & White Choc Pizza (some slices already nommed on)