Esk Beerfest 2015 Exclusive

Esk Beerfest 2015

On Friday the 16^th and Saturday the 17^th of January the front of the James Boag’s Brewery in William Street, Launceston was closed off to traffic as thousands of people came to sample some of the best Australian Craft beers and ciders at the Esk Beerfest. It has been running annually for many years now. Unfortunately I had been absent from visiting for a couple of years so was planning to make up for lost time in 2015.

            People could pre-purchase tickets online at around $30 for a two day pass. This high entry fee got you a plastic 10oz cup, a pamphlet, and a meeting with security for an ID check before they would issue you with a white wrist band that entitled you to drink. My pre-paid ticket had a start time of 5pm on Friday so myself and about a dozen others were patiently waiting to be allowed in. I was already jealous of apparent VIP’s who were already inside the still locked gates, carrying James Boag's Draught ‘show bags’, I was disappointed that I wasn't included. At 5:25, the security finally figured out how to unscrew the bolts on the gate and gingerly let people in, by that time though a few of us were keen to clamber over the fence. The street inside the gates was lined with dozens of different stalls, including different craft breweries and wineries.

A good craft beer company from Hobart

            A stage at the back was being used by a band playing a popular 3 Doors Down song so I was already in a good mood and stopped at the first stall to choose a beer. Wind didn’t slow me down as I wandered around the stalls and spoke to brewers, some kind enough to give me free samples. By the end of Friday night I had had at least a dozen different beers and of course visited the Boag’s bar to have a Premium and buy a special stubby holder.

Yeah!

Roast Pork Roll

            The food at the event was something I was excited for, past fond memories included salt and pepper calamari, tornado potatoes, and burgers. Selections this year though included American dishes: a smoked brisket (sold out before I could get one), an American hot dog, and a bagel. Tornado potatoes which I tried a couple of different flavours, roast rolls (with crackling for the pork ones), and burgers.

            It didn’t take long to navigate around the stalls time and time again but it did take time to sample the many drinks. Some friends were restricted to the smoking area which is also where the toilets were located and seemed a bit untidy.

            Heading home on the Friday night I felt great and was keen to do the Saturday stint as well.

David John Snr and David John Jnr (no relation)

            Saturday though I changed variety a bit more, after drinking only beers on Friday night my body wasn’t 100% keen so I swapped between beers and ciders. Once having a Henry’s Ginger Beer, which even though it isn’t alcoholic is an adult styled Ginger Beer and a Tasmanian exclusive made in Penguin and was really good.

A fine James Squire product

            I was fortunate enough to get a seat to the early comedy show on Saturday afternoon, after watching the first half though I had a few laughs but wasn't overly impressed with the performances and went back outside to continue drinking.

          

The weather was hot and windy, not a good combination but I was rarely in the sun because there was virtually always a seat or an undercover area.

            I found a beer sampling area inside a shed but unfortunately didn’t know how to take part in it, I couldn’t find any information about it at all so watched for a minute and left in dismay.

          

Finally as it was getting time to call it a night on Saturday I was grateful that I could attend the event, I was satisfied, but as always still had a thirst afterwards.

Bucket of Corona's

What did I think of Beerfest 2015?

·         Compared to past years I gave it a bigger effort and was there to learn more about Craft beer and cider. I loved being there, don’t regret the fact that I spent about $250 over the two days and would do it all again next year.

Criticism:

·         My biggest criticism is about the advertising that went into the event.

The opening time according to the ticket and the events Facebook page on Friday was for gates open at 5pm, instead the gates slowly opened at 5:25.

There will be 150+ Woohoo???

According to www.eskbeerfestivals.com.au the event boasted 200 craft beers and ciders. However, the amazing and spectacular local newspaper (The Examiner) claimed 150+ beers and ciders. 150 and 200 are very far apart numbers, not to mention that this number only covers CRAFT BEERS and CIDERS. On location I put the claim to the test. Between 35 stalls, some being food stalls (which some did sell alcohol) I counted under 100 craft beers and ciders (this figure includes tap beer/ cider and bottles and cans). Perhaps they were also talking about non craft beer? If that was the case then the James Boag’s products and the Corona’s on sale at the Prickly Cactus tent bring the number of drinks to around 110. Or does CRAFT BEER  AND CIDER include wine? There were lots of wine stalls (none of which I sampled as I didn’t come to drink wine). But then if you combined all of the actual craft beer and cider, non-craft beer and cider and even wine then you still only get around 135. Maybe the organisers were including soft drinks too? I have no idea if anything other than Coke or water was sold as I came to the event to see 150-200 Craft Beers and Ciders. I hate being lied to and I will go out and say (prove me wrong) that the event organisers lied to their customers.

My response about the claim of 200 Beers and Ciders

Awards:

            What review would this be without recognising some amazing brews and fantastic people? I have decided to offer titles for Best Craft beer, Best cider, Best brewer, Best food, and Best stall. There are no prizes but if the breweries mentioned below ever read this then they can have bragging rights.

Best Craft Beer: NOT ANOTHER F#&%!!! PALE ALE by Devils Brewery

For so many reasons. First of all the brewery is themed after the awesome and important Tasmanian icon the Tasmanian Devil (even known to students in Japan). The brewery supports the funding for Devil research into their current plight. When looking for a good beer I go on several things, theme, name of the drink, style, flavour, after taste etc. The people at the Devils Brewery tent gave me a sample of the four unique beers they had available and I settled with a full glass of the Not another f#&%!!! pale ale. The name is funny, but the beer speaks for itself. The new beer is light in colour with a crisp bitterness and includes TASMANIAN hops. It felt like a proper summer drinking ale. I hope I can track down the Hobart based brewery and sample their products again. I would like to pass on my thanks to the staff at the tent on Friday afternoon for the free samples and the explanation of each beer.   

Best Cider #1: TOFFEE APPLE by Red Brick Road

            Of my two cider enthusiast buddies one was blown away by the unique flavour created by Red Brick Road, a new spin off of Dickens Cider which will no longer be a Tasmanian company but will remain a funny name for a cider company. I tried Red Brick Road’s Toffee Apple cider and wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. It definitely is a different kind of cider but when Red Brick Road finally have stock for sale in Launceston I will try it again.

Best Cider #2: STRAWBERRY AND APPLE by Coal Valley Cider

            My other cider enthusiast buddy was excited about this cider, however his first sample was full of sediment and a pretty shit product to give to a customer and still expect money for, however, I tried a glass myself and luckily only got pink liquid. I was very happy with it.

Best Brewer: JAMES SQUIRE

James Squire's Close Shave

This isn’t on quantity even though they had eleven beers and ciders available at the event. James Squire has been a sneaky favourite of mine for a couple of years now. Their brand of beers each has a unique convict back story and intriguing flavours, even the names of the beers: The Constable, Hop Thief, and Sundowner. I give them praise for producing a new beer exclusively for Beerfest: Close Shave. The only problem with the brand is that all of their beers are so good that when I want to buy James Squire at the bottle shop I can never make a quick decision.

Best food: TORNADO POTATOES

            I’ll admit, this was virtually a tie between Tornado Potatoes and the Wild Hog Roast Roll van, I’m still drooling at the thought of a spit roast pork roll with pepper sauce and crackling on the side but once I had to wait while they cooked more crackle. Tornado Potatoes on the other hand were quick to prepare, serve and even though it is just a deep fried potato on a stick you could try it again with another flavour of salt.

<I will not be posting a picture of me eating a Tornado Potato due to reactions I've already received>

Best stall: JAMES BOAG’S

Boag's is best!

Before anyone says this was a biased decision. The James Boag’s van had a variety of their normal beers as well as MERCHANDISE. I love buying alcohol related merchandise and they didn’t disappoint with new James Premium Stubby holders and Classic Blonde hats. The staff were super friendly and happy to be there.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

#1 Prickly Cactus tent, even though I didn’t buy anything directly from this tent I thought it was awesome that they had Mexican themed food and a shitload of Corona on hand. For $30 you could buy a bucket with 5 Corona, ice in the bucket, lemon or lime wedges for each beer and a hat. I already have enough buckets and hats but I acquired a bucket because I wanted something to carry things in.

This is another use for a Corona bucket

Hipster Ale from St John's

#2 St John Craft Beer, the fact they haven’t won any awards in this review should not be taken as a negative thing. A year ago the owners opened a craft beer place in my home town of Launceston. Returning from Japan I was stoked to learn about this place and have been fortunate enough to go in and stagger out on a few occasions already. St John Craft Beer had eight different drinks available at their tent and the staff know what they are talking about, they are passionate and care about beer. I regret that I didn’t try all of their drinks at Beerfest but they are local and I can go anytime, most of the companies at Beerfest are hard to near impossible to source in Launceston so I will have to go hunting for them again one day. I could continue to profess my love for this craft beer place for longer (and no doubt I will in a future edition) but right now I’m focussing on just Esk Beefest 2015.

Overall, Esk Beerfest 2015 was an amazing event. It was expensive which drove away many of my beer loving friends but it only comes once a year. I wished that I could have drank a lot more beer and am already having pleasant dreams about 2016.

My mindset while at Beerfest

Sapporo Beer

For my second beer related post I will cross the ocean and arrive on a grouping of small islands. Four islands (plus Okinawa and other smaller islands) where Samurai once roamed and now beer and sushi are plentiful. Keeping to my last post of supporting your local I will talk about Sapporo Beer, from a place where I have until recently spent a great deal of time.

Drink Sapporo Beer

Even Geisha drink Sapporo Beer

I want this tap

My love for Sapporo Beer and Japan started a long time ago. Since my first year of High School I was drawn in by the language subjects we had to learn. Japanese was a strange subject which I ended up spending the next ten years learning about. At first Japan meant little to be but by University I was eating sushi, watching cult Japanese films, and buying Samurai Swords. I was fortunate enough to visit Japan for the first time in 2006 and my love for the country continued to grow. My love for all things Japanese brought me to alcohol, sake (Japanese rice wine) was difficult to adjust to but Japanese beer on the other hand was something I was familiar with.

          

Fortunately in Australia we have access to alcohol from all over the world. Popular Japanese Beer brands such as Asahi, Kirin, and even Sapporo can be found at most liquor stores around Australia, in particular BWS (Beer Wine and Spirits) outlets.  I was sampling Sapporo beer in stubbies (355ml size) and bigger cans (500ml) and it was added to my frequent flyer list.

International versions of Sapporo 

A little explanation on Japanese beer: “In the West beer made with rice is generally looked down upon as it’s mainly used in cheap lagers like Budweiser as an inexpensive way of increasing alcohol without adding flavor. Despite this reputation, there are some interesting beers with rice out there. The most well-known type of beer that uses rice as a main ingredient, the rice lager, also comes from Japan. The rice lagers produced by Kirin, Sapporo and Asahi are extremely popular throughout Japan, and at sushi restaurants here in the USA. Because rice lacks certain enzymes that traditional beer grains like barley have, most rice lagers contain a certain amount of barley as well, but it’s the rice that define this style’s flavor and alcohol. As I mentioned before, rice is not a very flavorful grain when used in beer so rice lagers tend to be very light, clean and dry, similar to American lagers like Budweiser and Coors. Hop flavor is also light, with soft, round notes to it.” http://blog.beeriety.com/2010/04/14/japanese-rice-beer/

In 2012 when I was chosen to go on the JET Programme and teach English in Japan I realised how ironic it was that I was placed in a city that was only half an hour away (by train) from Sapporo, the birthplace of the beer I had been drinking for a while.

Sapporo Classic is a special Hokkaido only beer

Sapporo, a city of about two million people is the capital of Hokkaido, a Tasmania sized island with ten times more people has been brewing this amazing beer since 1876 and is Japan’s oldest brewery. Created by Seibei Nakagawa, “Japan's first German trained Brewmaster, Nakagawa blended age-old European brewing techniques with refined Japanese sensibilities, creating a fine golden lager as unique as it is appealing.” http://www.sapporobeer.com.au/#/theHistory

Sapporo Beer, best drunk cold

If you visit the Sapporo Beer Australia website http://www.sapporobeer.com.au/ you will see a lot of snow in the background. Seasons in Japan are the opposite of Australia and from late November to sometime around August it snows on the northern Japanese island, a lot. The annual Sapporo Snow Festival in early February attracts two million people. The golden star on every can and stubby of Sapporo Beer is the North Star which has been a symbol of the pioneering spirit when it was first settled by the Japanese. I would like to acknowledge that when the Japanese settled on Hokkaido they weren’t the first settlers. The indigenous people called the Ainu were already there and sadly are no longer around today, their culture and language has almost completely disappeared.




Most weekends I would visit Sapporo to watch the AFL and see the sights and festivals. Every drinking establishment in Hokkaido had Sapporo Beer as its first pour drink and there wasn’t a restaurant visit or karaoke stint that didn’t involve Sapporo Beer in some form. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy Sapporo beer is at a Hokkaido style BBQ restaurant, doing an all you can eat + drink plan, drinking Sapporo Beer and eating jingiskhan (a Hokkaido style lamb BBQ).

Jingiskhan cooked on a dome hotplate

Jingiskhan ready to go

Even though I’m back living in Australia now I have still been drinking Sapporo Beer and will continue to do so. Unfortunately the closest place to me that sells it on tap is Little Ramen Bar in Melbourne http://www.littleramenbar.com.au/ which sells Hokkaido style butter corn ramen (Chinese soup noodles).

Cheers/ Kanpai!

No caption needed

James Boag's Premium

My father once told me when I came of drinking age to “Support your local”, and with that gave me my first beer (later to his dismay as his carton was soon gone). I can gladly say I was introduced to drinking beer through James Boag’s.

            The locals that read this have likely heard this many times before but I am hoping that others will read this too.

Since 1881, the James Boag’s Brewery located on the banks of the Esk River in Launceston has been using the finest of Tasmania’s water, hops and barley to create magical brews. Found in every alcohol selling establishment on this island (hopefully) and some places across Bass Strait, Boag’s beer is one you should definitely drink. Owned by Lion since November 2007 (formerly Lion Nathan Ltd, until 2011). This topic could have me going on for a lot longer than a blog can handle, from Boag’s being the beer of the North of Tasmania while Cascade in the South continues to compete, or about the beers that Boag’s have made that are sadly no longer with us to Boag’s being an Australian beer and compete with the likes of VB and XXXX.  

What I will talk about today is the first beer I ever had.

James Boag's Premium

Boag’s Premium is the pride of the James Boag’s brewery, a European style pilsner. The Boag’s website describes the Premium as: “Honoured with the 2007 Crystal Prestige Award for 10 consecutive gold medals at le Monde Selection in Brussels, James Boag’s Premium Lager combines the finest natural ingredients with peerless brewing expertise, to create a beer that is classic, subtle, perfectly balanced and universally admired.” http://www.boags.com.au/beers/premium The award winning beer has many more accomplishments to add to its pool room as listed on the website.

My opinion: This was the first beer I ever drank and I must have liked it since I still drink beer to this day. I continue to buy it in addition to my other favourites and was proud to see it as the beer for the 2014 Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington. Price wise it costs more than regular draught beer but it is worth it every time if you are looking for quality and flavour.

Tasmania and its beer

I owe a lot to this beer and company. In particular when I was in Japan (yes, you will hear this come up a lot during my posts), I was introduced to an Australian bar called TK6 in a neighbouring city called Sapporo. To my surprise they stocked Boag’s Premium but since nobody drank it the stock was passed its use by date. That didn’t stop me though and it still tasted fine. Whenever I felt homesick I simply needed to go to TK6 and they knew right away what I wanted to drink. Future orders never got close to their expiry again while I was there.

Drinking Boag’s Premium has connotations of class and sophistication. These traits aren’t required to drink it of course. It is good for special occasions, parties, race days, or even on the deck, taking in the spasmodic and often frustrating Tasmanian weather. According to the Boag’s website it goes well with seafood and Tasmanian cheeses. I agree that it goes well with food but if you know me then you wouldn’t ever see me eat a fish but rather have a Boag’s Premium open next to a giant steak.

Recently it has been sold in another way, Lion (new owners of the James Boag’s Brewery) have developed a keg system which anyone can buy and store in their fridge. Called Tap King, it is a revolutionary design in beer dispensing technology where you can buy from a selection of different beers and have them tapped and stored in your fridge, ready for whenever the urge to have a beer strikes. Two refills cost the same as a carton of Boag’s Premium would (2 x 3.2 Litres as opposed to 24 x 375ml) but it is a novelty I would love to buy if I can ever make enough room in the fridge. 

Tap King

Have you tried Boag’s Premium? Share your experience by commenting on this post. Or if there is another beer that you want me to talk about please let me know as well.

"Who is James Boag?"

GREATNESS RARELY COMES EASY

Dave's BotW Introduction

Hello,

My name is David Claridge. 

Cheers!

I'm an Australian with a passion for writing. I also have a passion for drinking beer. I have decided to combine my two interests the best way I know how. I want to share my experiences while sampling beer from across the world. Starting from my island state of Tasmania to sharing my Japanese drinking experiences from living there for two years, and my journeys around Australia. 

Two-Litre German Beer Glass

Hopefully you can find the blog posts to be informative and encouraging to want to try the various ales, lagers, stouts etc. and the best places I have found to sample them. In return, please comment and share your experiences, did I get something right, wrong, or is there something you want me to sample (strongly encouraged). 

I would like to make it clear to always drink responsibly and have a good time. I may seem like a pisshead, but I make time for other things that don’t involve alcohol. Happy Drinking!

Tokyo, Japan