I love discovering a new place to drink, I love new bars, and I especially love new craft beer bars which offer something and interesting.
This is how I came to find myself at Near and Far bar in Brunswick Street in Melbourne, Australia for a few beers. This part of Melbourne used to be my haunt, but I can't say I get there a lot anymore. Near and Fear and located in a two story old fashioned shop - it would have originally (like 120 odd years ago) beer a shop on the ground floor and a residence upstairs, and so it is now, main bar with it's 18 taps downstairs and little room that seat maybe 15 people upstairs.
It was in one of these upstairs rooms we sat looking out over Brunswick street, drinking rare beers and reminiscing about the nights we spent in the hotel across the road (with the giant baby in the background of the shot below) which used to be called The Punters Club and was one the best live music venues in Melbourne, but was closed in 2002 to become a pizza joint - I'm still angry about it.
but enough about the bar and my youth - let's talk beers:
First up was Collective Arts (who are from Canada I believe) Radio the Mothership, which is a double IPA but with it's fruit overtones is a actually a a gentle fruity little beer - very easy to drink.
Mondo are a brewery from London, and this beer called Episode 4 is an 8% DIPA, which is more malty than hoppy in fact the hops are basically not there, maybe it's a time to ship type thing given we are on the other side of the world - I'm disappointed
Vibrant forest are another English brewer so we are living up to the Far part of the bar's name. This beer is the Metropolis - I love black IPAs they send me back to the early days of craft in Australia when these were all the rage, back when everything was better, they are probably all being turned into pizza joints. this is a very drinkable nice gentle one - happy again
And finally a song from a band I saw at the Punter's club maybe 15 times - it's The Lucksmith with their song - Requiem for the Punter's club:
