For our 19th ABC gathering we ventured to unknown waters, The Mint garden bar attached to the Sage restaurant, it’s a tranquil outdoor setting set in the beautiful heritage gardens of one of Canberra’s oldest buildings – Gorman House.
Our host for the night was Dan Kolek. Dan has been in the food and beverage industry for a long time and he certainly knew his stuff when it came to the beers on offer.
Our 1st beer for the evening was Bridge Road Brewery’s Chestnut Pilsner (5%), a unique Australian Pilsner, brewed in Beechworth from Chestnuts grown locally in the Beechworth and Stanley hills. The Chestnut Pilsner also uses Galaxy hops from the Rostrevor Hop Garden in the nearby Ovens Valley. This unique lager is very pale and presents a crisp 'pilsner' like profile combined with a distinct nutty character owing to the use of Chestnuts in the mash.
Our 2nd beer was a beer we’ve tried before, but that didn’t matter as it’s a beauty. “Vale Ale” (4.5%) an Australian Pale Ale with a refreshing balance of malt, hops and yeast characters. Hop additions of amarillo and cascade give a wonderful fresh crisp finish with lingering flavours of citrus, passionfruit and peaches. The hop flavours and aromas are matched beautifully with the sweet honey finish from crystal malt.
By this point all members and guest we’re getting a little hungry, Dan delivered with tasting plates from The Sage restaurant next door which had Strawberry gazpacho, Duck parfait, Tempura prawns and Coconut & lime chicken skewers. The food was beautifully presented and tasted great, the only problem was, there wasn’t enough of it. While some additional food was being sorted our 3rd and 4th beers came out.
Our 3rd was “White Rabbit – Dark Ale” (4.9%) An intriguing dark ale, rich, dark and flavoursome but at the same time ever refreshing. Malt driven but with the aromatic lift of generous doses of hops. Again it was beer we’ve tried before, but as it’s one of the tastiest Dark Ales on the market there certainly wasn’t any wastage.
Our final beer was Bridge Road Brewery’s Galaxy single hop IPA (4.8%). Taking its name from the Australian Galaxy hop variety this is a great single Hop IPA. Single hopped beers are exactly that;– they use one hop for bittering, aromatics and flavour, making the beer a great representation of that particular hop variety. This beer displays fresh, floral and fruity characteristics.
Just as our last beers were being served, Dan brought out a number of serves of Fish & Chips that the chef from the Sage restaurant had whipped up for us, this finished off the night beautifully.
A big thank you to Dan Kolek, his staff and to the chef and staff from the Sage restaurant for another great night of beers and food.
Another great raffle was run with the lucky winners receiving two tickets to the Small Brewers beer festival.
This night rated: 3 ½ beers out of five:-
