Microbreweries Showcase

Firstly, while at the beer tasting, a very passionate person from Buckley's Beer informed us that: on top of all the usual taxes any small business pays, microbrewers have to fork out 25% of their sales income straight to the ATO in the form of excise. Which is crippling the industry.

Please if you haven't already, check out the web page for A Fair Go For Craft Beer, an sign the petition.

The beer tasting itself went quite well. Two things could have made the night slightly more enjoyable:

1) 1.75hrs was not enough time to get through the 17 stands comfortably. We had to power through the last few stands.

2) There was nothing to break up the taste of the beers. Last year they had plates of warm bread going around to cleanse the pallet. Half way through I really could have used something of the sort. Even a cup of coffee beans would have sufficed.

Apart form those two things the night was great. Some of my favourite beers of the night, that I can remember and define from the rest are:

Buckley's Dark Bock Dark Lager, one of my favourites of the night. Most of the Buckley's Beer range was of high quality.

The Grand Ridge range is also of a high quality. If you like your dark beers you have to try the Moonshine. The Brewer's Pilsner is also quite nice.

Mountain Goat has been a personal favourite of mine since I went to the showcase last year. The whole range is of a top quality. They had a limited edition 'Fancy Pants Amber Ale' which really stuck out to me. Their stand was on the back end of my circuit, so a lot of the lesser quality beers had no defining qualities, but the Fancy Pants still left a lasting impression on me.

2 Brothers Brewery also has a nice selection of beers. The Trickster (Belgian witbier), Rusty (Belgian ale) and Taxi (German larger/pilsner) are all quality beers worth trying.

They are the main four breweries that stuck out to me, but all the other companies put out quality beers. Some other companies on show were: Artic Fox, Bridge Road, Temple and The 3 Ravens.

Please if you live in Victoria or plan on traveling there any time in the near or distant future. Give a Victorian beer a shot. Victoria offers over 120 different beers. Give one a go. You might just find your new personal favourite.