After a few entries of my tales of Darwin breweries it was time to get back to my local bar - Benchwarmers, which ironically is not a sports bar but rather a fantastic craft beer bar with amazing Japanese food, just across the road from us in North Melbourne, Australia.
It's not a huge selection of tap beers, just 8, but it so well curated, it is very rare for there to be dull beers on, There were three stand out beers that I had over the course of the night.
First up (and on the right in the shot above) is a beer called Tiger King which is a Double Saison Hong Kong brewers - Yardley Bros - the smell is intense, like I have fallen head first into a pile of hay in a barn, strong alcohol vibes in the taste, which isn’t surprising given this is 11% alcohol and Belgium, if Belgium is a taste.
On the left is the Neapolitan Ice Cream sour from Gweilo Brewery (also from Hong Kong but I think now brewed in Australia) and it was okay - a strange mix of sweet and sour at the same time.
The next stand out was Putty from Verdant, which is a very Hazy IPA - basically tastes like I got up from that stable stumbled outside and promptly feel head first into a hop bine, it’s hazy it’s hoppy it’s pretty darn good.
Then it was time for a food break, and what a break it was - there were a couple of specials on for winter and they were amazing this Scallop Sashimi with Yuzu sauce, my God
and then this Crispy Brussels sprout w/sesame whipped tofu & roast garlic miso, just so good
Then a lovely desert beer, Deep breath here....A Milkshake imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with peanut butter and chocolate from Canandian Brewery, Collective Arts's Origins of Darkness range, this one a Collboration with Norwegian Brewers - Lervig. It weighs in at 11.6% - the peanut is there in the smell but not really in the taste, it’s smooth and luscious as this raisiny sweetness to it that is very impressive, I’m sure it’s the barrels that are doing it, it makes me want to start a bar that serve only barrel aged beers and is called roll out the barrels
But then I wouldn't have time to go to Benchies, which is always a good choice.
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