Winter Warmers Beer Festival

In a moment of hazy stupor from our deliciously brewed doppelbock, my brewing partner came up with the concept of the Winter Warmers Beer Festival. This idea was inspired by our ESB Homebrew Competition for 2011. The concept was simply to invite everyone you know, buy the best in Australian and one American craft beer, match it with some food and off you go.

The only glitch was we organised this special day on the same as our homebrew competition. As the punters arrived they sampled beer battered fish and chips (served with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale), roast pumpkin and fennel soup (served with Holgate's ESB), BBQ veges and cajun chicken with tzatziki on tortillas (served with Jamieson's Brown Ale, spaghetti meatballs (served with Bridge Road Celtic Red), 7 hour roast lamb on a roll (served with Lord Nelson's Old Admiral) and finally chocolate brownies (served with Brew Boys Ace of Spades Stout).

As we feasted, the kids ran amok on a jumping castle and around the spacious back yard (we did feed them as well). In between craft beers we served on tap our own smokey bock, not quite to style but a very nice dark lager. As the kids departed with some wives, it was left to a few to polish off the rest.

In the end, six cases ($500) of craft beer, an 18 litre keg and few other homebrewed longnecks all gone and a dusty Sunday to awake to. What cleared the senses on that Sunday was news that our Foreign Export Stout gained equal second place, while our doppelbock was average and our scotch ale was way too green and still needed plenty of mellowing out.