5. Jim Murphy's Airport Cellars - Wed 19 May 2010

Well how time flies, we’ve just had our 5^th ABC gathering and it will be a very hard one to top.  Our

First Bus trip, The Hall to Majura Park express (approx travelling time 2hrs).  A very big thankyou goes out to Brian O’Connor for driving the bus and getting us all to and from this beautiful gathering.

Adrian Murphy (AJ) & Rob from Jim Murphy’s Airport Cellars were our hosts for the evening and we were accommodated in their board room, which is upstairs overlooking the shop floor.  It was a perfect setup with a huge 20+ seater boardroom table.  It was the first time the guys had hosted such an evening and it won’t be their last as they did a fantastic job.

As we entered the boardroom we were handed an ice cold “Knappstein Reserve Lager” from the Knapstein Enterprise Brewery (5.6%).  This is a Bavarian style lager which was released in 2006 by one of Australia's most highly regarded grape juice makers - Tim Knappstein.  Made with Australian malt and unique sauvin hops, it delivers a beer with fruity malt and hop aromas, a gentle warming palate, with a dramatic bitter finish. Crafted to reflect grape juice characteristics in style, structure and complexity, the ‘reserve lager’ is crisp, aromatic and pale in colour.  This was accompanied by some toasted sourdough bread with melted swiss cheese and olive tapenade and salted cashews.

The 2nd beer was a “Weihenstephaner Vitus” from the Freilsing Brewery in Germany (7.7%). A classic, unfiltered wheat beer from the world's oldest operating brewery, operating since 1040.  A light-coloured, spicy single-bock wheat beer, bold and sweet on the palate with hints of spicy cloves and orange with banana overtones.  This beer was perfectly matched with a serve of warmed up butterflyed cabanossi with a spicy plum dipping sauce.

The 3rd beer was a “ Westmalle Trappist Tripel” from the Abbey of Westmalle Brewery in Belgium (9.5%). A Belgian Abbey Style Tripel brewed by one of only seven breweries in the world officially entitled to call themselves an “Authentic Trappiste Breweries”. This Trappiste beer has undergone secondary fermentation in the bottle, in the cellars of the Abbaye of Westmalle under the direction of the monks who utilize only natural ingredients of water, barley, malt, yeast, and crystallized sugar. Glowing orange-gold in colour, with herbal aromas, with complex flavours that meld rich malt sweetness, warmth, hops, and powerful drinkability. This was accompanied by a serving of lovely beef stew and a serve of french fries which on such an autumnal evening was a another perfect match.

The 4th beer of the evening was a “Dark Island” from the Orkney Brewery in Scotland (4.6%).  It is more of a dark ale (porter style) than a stout with a bitter-sweet roasted malt taste, with bits of chocolate, coffee, herbs, and spices. The aftertaste is a bit herbal and has a slightly bitter taste.  This was a really nice beer accompanied by some strong flavoured Danish Blue cheese, Dutch Gouda cheese and water crackers.

AJ & Rob were very clever with the table settings and set 3 grape juice glasses and one water glass per guest, knowing very well that it would spark some conversations that included the word to describe grape juice that we are forbidden from saying.  The fine bucket received some nice little donations.

Our special thanks go out to all the guys at Jim Murphy’s Airport Cellars, AJ & Rob for providing the venue and the great beers and food and to our bus driver Brian O’Connor for getting us all home safely (except for Oners, who was made to take a cab home because he lives on the darkside (Rivett) of town).