Matilda Bay Brewing Company’s new brewery – a sneak peek!

Yesterday, while many of you were hard at work, I went and checked out the new Matilda Bay brewery over at Port Melbourne. Yeah, it’s a tough life – drinking coffee, drinking beer, tweeting about being on trams…

Anyway, the people at Matilda Bay had just relocated from their old Dandenong site and they wanted to give some of their favourite beer writers a look at what they have going on now, and to tell us about what they have planned for the future. I hope I’m not giving too much away by saying the future looks delicious.

Upon arrival, I was given a pint of their brand new cloudy ale, IGP aka Itchy Green Pants. It was launched just yesterday, and may I just say, it’s delicious. You may try some too – kegs are being sent to venues early next week. My favourite part about it is that it’s a full strength beer.

Quite a lot of Matilda Bay’s beer has a 4.7% alcohol content. (I just added that fact in because I like percentages and alcohol…) Another good thing about the beer is that they use Australian malts, and they do all their own milling.

I liked the IGP coasters too. On the back are some quotes from the people who actually make the beer – giving you a bit of a humourous insight into working life at the brewery.

IGP goodness.

As for the actual site (it is where Bertie Beetles used to be made) – construction is underway inside the brewery for a place where people can come along for tastings, tours and good times. The intent is for it to be similar to a winery’s cellar door. Given its proximity to the city, and transport, I reckon this place will be a major hit. I know that I pay huge cab fares just to go to these kinds of places on the weekend – it will be great to have this so close to (my) home.

One of the most exciting things about this cellar door type thing is that they will be selling sample beers there – stuff you can only get from the brewery. Quite a good way to keep people coming back, I reckon, as the samples will constantly be changing. (Clearly, I’m already sold on the place…) For those interested, they are expecting this part of the brewery to be open later next month (March 2012). And yes, a #railwaytweetup will be taking place there soon after it opens.

After sampling their new beer, I went on a walk around all the beer vats, and imagined myself swimming #inandaround all that beer goodness. Seriously, it was a lovely thought. I then got treated to some beer straight from the vat. Oh wow. I was tempted to do a Barney and just open my mouth under  the tap – but I am all for drinking responsibly (really) and I just had tasty, small servings. (You don’t need to know how many I had).

Straight from the beer vats. Aw yeah! #FRESH

They then put on a lunch for us – which I hope is indicative of the kind of food they will be serving when the front bit is open to the public. Good food with good beer – it was like I was in heaven. (I don’t ask for much, just good food and good beer).

The lunch table. Yes, all that beer was really meant for me.

After we’d finished our meal, we chatted and drank some more (again, responsibly… it’s bad to drink so much you spew – all that beer – WASTED!) before we headed off to a bar on the river to continue our beer appreciation and conversation. And yes, despite being quite the introvert, I did manage to engage in some sustained conversation – it’s quite easy when you’re surrounded by people who know, and love their beer.

In short – visit the brewery when it opens to the public, try IGP, and support Australian craft beer brewers like Matilda Bay – because they’re bloody good at what they do. I would recommend liking them on Facebook and following them on Twitter to find out about the opening of their brewery to the general public, and also for more information about their upcoming beers. Or, you could just follow my tweets – I know I’ll be back there as soon as possible!

Bulmers Cider – Blackcurrant launch

Last night, I dragged Ash (@theurbannexus) along to the “open for one night only” Bulmers’ Rooftop Garden on Swanston street for the launch of the new Bulmers Cider product.

Blackcurrant cider. YES. YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM!!!

Seriously, this stuff is delicious. I have to admit to normally being a beer drinker (my cider loving mates LOVE it when I come back from the bar with a jug of beer… seriously…) but yeah, blackcurrant cider. Who’d have thought it, huh? It’s AWESOME.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the lovely Charmaine from @liquidideas who gave Ash and I a glass of the new cider each. We then walked around and chatted and stuff on the rooftop bar. I love it up there; great view of the city, great for photography! Anyway, they had some performers and entertainment, so I went and had a look and took some photos of the crowd, look!

They were watching stuff like this… contortionist April Dawson (photo credit Jim Lee). There was also an illusionist and DJ… All in all, it was fantastic.

Anyway, we had a few more ciders and then had some burgers from that Beatbox Burger place that has a presence up on the rooftop bar. You all know how good their burgers are, right? Anyway, You get the idea, AWESOME drink, AWESOME crowd and AWESOME night!

Look – a pic of Ash and I smiling and drinking some more of that blackcurrant cider! I know a lot of people were tweeting, asking where they could get some of this new drink: keep an eye out, should start seeing it in bottle shops and stuff in the next week or so. GOTTA GET THEM ALL!

Photo credit: Ian Laidlaw, everguide.com.au

Grolsch Grid – Melbourne – October 2011

On the 4th of October, I attended the opening night of an amazing series of events, known as the Grolsch Grid.

The events are not so much about promoting an amazing beer (the product speaks for itself), but rather promoting local musicians, artists and designers across seven venues in Collingwood and Fitzroy throughout the month of October.

The events are “inspired by the iconic silhouette of the Swingtop bottle, and [also] inspired by the theme of ‘Worlds Collide’” according to the promotional flyers; it seemed that my decision to go to the opening night at Laundry straight from work – in a suit – was aligned with this theme, albeit unintentionally.

The crowd at this event, as one would expect, was very friendly, creative, artistic, and chilled: A couple of the artists participating in the event came up to me for a chat as I mingled and enjoyed the talent that was on display.

First off was a dude by the name of Chris Castro, aka Arbol Studio. His involvement was visual art; he will paint skateboards at one of the events this month, before selling them at auction, also at one of these events.

Being a new Melburnian fresh from Queensland (hey, that’s what I used to be!) we had a lot to talk about, including our mutual admiration of the artwork that was being painted on the walls of the bar by a number of artists (and, it seemed, general punters).

Next up, I had a chat with a musician called Jon, from a band called The Madness Method; you may have caught them at the Espy and other places around town.

He loved the idea behind Grolsch Grid, as he reckons it was a great way of promoting up and coming local talent (I agree with him there; I’d never have heard of his band if it was not for this series of events).

The great thing about Grolsch Grid (well, at the launch anyway) was that there was no “in your face” promotion of the sponsoring product. There is nothing worse than going to an artistic event only to hear constant references to the sponsors – everyone knows who is sponsoring it already, it’s in the name – so it was good that this event was different and focussed on the artists, and not self promotion; definitely a big tick in my book.

If you are keen on checking out details of upcoming Grolsch Grid events, including those on tonight, check out these links for further info:

http://www.facebook.com/grolschbeer?sk=app_181460735264296 << This Facebook page has a bit of info regarding what the entire thing is all about, event details and artist profiles, in addition to photos from the various nights.

https://www.facebook.com/grolschbeer?sk=photos << Photos from all the events; definitely well worth a look!

https://www.facebook.com/grolschbeer?sk=events << Event details

http://www.myspace.com/themadnessmethodmusic/music/albums/better-without-you-16951936 << Yes, Myspace, or 'my ______', as I believe they like to be called now, still exist. Here is the link to the page for The Madness Method; a few of their songs are on here. Jon did tell me that his lead singer sounded like Gwen Stefani; I tend to agree. Check it out!

Yellovator

So hey, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. I decided I’d better get back into it. I like writing about the things I go along to (that I would not have experienced if it weren’t for Twitter) and it seems that you lot like to read about it. So here I am!

Last night, Ash (@theurbannexus) and I went along to the Melbourne launch of Yellovator. I’ve decided to steal their YouTube video to explain what this Yellovator thing is all about. If you look REAL close, you can see Ash at around 1:08 tweeting away, and me losing the dance-off at around 1:30. Yes. #stevefailshard. In short though, Yellovator a new digital outdoor gaming thingo, with billboards at locations in Melbourne and Sydney. The game can also be played on a few websites (details below).

The invite I received from this awesome bloke @SmasherDan  promised phone smashing. From the video, you can see that there was phone smashing, but not the kind I was hoping for haha!

I loved the idea behind the game, and everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy playing. Actually, there was a bit of a queue for most of the night of people waiting to have their turn. Extending on the theme of online interactivity, the DJ took requests via Twitter. Clearly, the crowd had great taste in music. It was good enough for me to take part in a dance-off, which, sadly, I lost. Still, IT WAS AWESOME FUN! Yes. The link will take you to a short video of me dancing. Before you click on it, remember this: what has been seen CANNOT be unseen. I am in the black top. Thank you.

…

Not that I spoke to any of the reps from Sensis about this, but it seems to me that Yellovator is attempting to reach out to people who still think of the Yellow Pages as those big yellow books that they don’t use anymore. Another target market would be those who have only ever known Google as the source of all their business contact needs (I’d be one of those people.) I reckon the game will be successful in building awareness of Yellow Pages’ other offerings, like their websites, apps and call centre services.

While we were there, Ash and I made a short video blog, just talking about phone smashing and random stuff. You really don’t want to see this, but here is the link…

Here is a hot photo of me in the grouse green and gold tracksuit I got for my efforts in the danceoff. For those interested in game locations, scroll down below this stunning pic. For those interested, yes, I really did wear this through the city afterwards. I reckon it looks HOT! And, I reckon you should all click on the links below and give the game a try. It’s awesome fun.

#winning #LIKEABOSS

Yellovator game locations around Melbourne: Southern Cross Station, Flinders St Station (Yarra River side) and South Yarra Station.

Sydney: Martin Place or Alfred St, Circular Quay

Or, if you don’t have the luxury of leaving your desk, get a game or two in at http://yellovator.com

Yellovator can also be played on web banners! You can see them today on ninemsn.com.au, yahoo.com.au and bigpond.com.au.

Melbourne Storm NRL Grand Final tweetup

Yesterday, just over 50 people, including myself, attended the NRL’s first ever tweet-up (hash-tag #mstweetup.) The event was hosted by local NRL team the Melbourne Storm at The Bench, a venue located within their home ground at AAMI Park.

I was a little late getting there (just too busy enjoying a lazy Sunday at home) so things were well underway by the time I got there. There was food and drink available for sale, so I went and bought a drink and started chatting to fellow NRL fan and tweeter, Myles (@millionsofmyles). After most of us had arrived, the Communications Manager of the Melbourne Storm (Chris Appleford) welcomed us to the event, and kicked off a discussion about what we wanted to see the club doing in the social media space in 2011. I thought this was a great idea, to involve the fans in this discussion, because ultimately they are the ones who are already actively engaged in the club’s social media sites. Some great ideas were put forward by the fans, like having some of the star players tweet, putting some fan messages on the scoreboards during games, seeing some more interaction over Twitter etc when the club plays away and tweeting about some of the action during the game (instead of just tweeting the scores.) Admittedly, the club is already doing some of these things, so I guess it’s good that the fans are saying that this is what they want- clearly the club is already on the right track.

Ed Wyatt (@edwyatt) then spoke to us about his observations regarding social media in sport. He certainly knew his audience too, speaking about State of Origin and how the rights to those were acquired in the USA after a Murdoch discovered he was not able to watch it over there. (If only we all had that level of influence!)

Ed Wyatt speaking about social media in sport, with Chris Appleford

After that, we were entered into a sweep for first try, last try, and Clive Churchill Medalist. I didn’t win any of them. Actually, no Storm fan managed to win any of these… they were won by Dragons and Roosters fans (we’ll have to do something about this next year haha.) The prizes for these were from Rugby Fever, which is in my opinion pretty much the best Rugby store in this city. There were also some Harvey Norman vouchers given away as well – not a bad offering of prizes I reckon!

Anyway, after all this, it was time for the game! I must say, Twitter is massively distracting during any major event. I really must learn to focus on the game that was being shown live on the big screen, instead of focussing on the tweets. But some of them were just awesome. Especially the ones regarding the pre-game entertainment, and the arguing that always seems to go on in the commentary box.

Watching the NRL Grand Final

It was a pretty good game of footy, as all NRL grand finals are. The only disappointment was that channel 9 went straight to the news (in Melbourne) as soon as the game finished. They did it last year too, when Melbourne won. At least they are consistent… After the game, they announced the winners of the sweeps, before they wrapped the event up.

On display was the Gillette World Cup Challenge trophy, which the Melbourne Storm won when it beat the Leeds Rhinos over in the UK earlier this year. People went up to get their photo taken with it (as did I) before we left.

In all, I was pretty happy with the event, not least because I got to get together with other NRL fans to watch the grand final in a city dominated by AFL. And yes, the first news story immediately after the finish of the NRL grand final was something to do with the AFL. The Melbourne Storm say they are planning more events like this in the future, and that other NRL clubs have been in touch to find out more about how to run an event like this for themselves. Looks like there will be a tweet-up happening someplace near you, no matter who your team is! (And this is a very good thing!)

Me holding the World Cup Challenge trophy

You can (and should!) follow these accounts on Twitter

Melbourne Storm (@MelbourneStormRLC)

Ed Wyatt (@edwyatt)

So Ethic

On Sunday evening, we had the pleasure of attending the launch of Melbourne’s (and possibly, Australia’s?) first not-for-profit, high-end ethical fashion store, So Ethic. Before I started following @soethic and Bhakti’s other account @fashion_noble on Twitter, I really did not have much of an understanding of what “ethical” fashion was really about. Well, apart from the fact that clearly no sweat-shops in the suburbs were being used etc. Through reading her tweets, I came to discover there was a whole lot more about ethical fashion that I never knew existed. Rather than plagiarise their website, I am going to post a link to So Ethic’s criteria for… ethics http://soethic.blogspot.com/p/so-ethics-ethic-criteria.html

Anyway, back to the opening of the shop… It is located under the rail overpass near the corner of Spencer and Flinders streets, on a park facing the Yarra. The “street” name is Rebecca Walk. Many Melburnians would wonder where it is, but I am quite familiar with the area, as I walk by it almost every day on my way to and from work, so getting there was not a problem. For those not so familiar… it is on that park next to the river, between the aquarium and Spencer Street. You cannot miss it.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Bhakti, the woman who brought all of this together. Then we went and had a look around the shop. We were immediately impressed by the quality of the items on sale. And not just that, the prices. I could not believe my eyes, such well designed fashion, such high quality stitching and detail, all at an extremely affordable price. Even better for me, they stock mens’ clothing as well. Their mens’ range is small at present, however through discussion with Bhakti and her husband @mohaktalreja, I discovered that they would be expanding their menswear range into the future. I can guarantee you, if their women’s range is anything to go by, I WILL be back, and I WILL be buying things… (wallet, you have been warned…)

After a little more browsing, we chatted to a couple of other people we had met at previous Twitter events, @laramcpherson and @busichic, and also Robert of @sellerofstyle, who we met for the first time that night. In between chats, we nibbled on vegetarian and organic finger-food (surprisingly a lot tastier than the usual NON organic stuff I am used to…) while drinking organic red wine (one of the best I have had the pleasure of drinking…). Of course, all of this was in-keeping with the whole concept of ethical (and green) fashion.

Lucky door prize at the launch of So Ethic

Awesome accessories you won't find anywhere else in Melbourne...

In the spirit of bringing together all of the best of ethical and green fashion into the one easy to find location, So Ethic also sell other items, like cups and tea towels (with a distinctly “Melbourne” feel about them, without being “touristy”) and also a skin care range, courtesy of pure&green organics.

So Ethic sells more than just clothes...

The pure&green display at So Ethic

Of course, this would not be one of my blog posts without a picture of me and some of the other people from the Melbourne Twitter community on here… so here are some of us enjoying the launch of So Ethic, on Rebecca Walk, Melbourne…

@laramcpherson @soethic (Bhakti) and @busichic at the So Ethic launch

Yup, it's me

All in all, I had a great night. As with many of the things I go to, I would never have found myself here with these amazing people had it not been for Twitter. I sincerely wish Bhakti and all involved with So Ethic all the very best.

You can (and should!) follow these people on Twitter…

@soethic

@fashion_noble

@mohaktalreja

@laramcpherson

@busichic

@sellerofstyle

Fabulous Friday Fireworks

Last night, I found myself on a boat, courtesy of Pleasure Boat Cruises, and a contact on Twitter who must have somehow picked up on the fact that I love taking lots (AND LOTS) of photos. The Friday night cruise was timed to coincide with fireworks, which are part of the Docklands Fire, Ice & Lights festival, which is running throughout winter. People can see the fireworks (which are programmed to music) from anywhere in Docklands, however I feel that the BEST vantage point is on the MV Mandalay- which is where we happened to be.

We made it to Central Pier just in time for the mandatory safety briefing, before being welcomed on board by the crew. The welcome by the crew was warm and sincere, which made for a very nice start to the evening. It would seem that not many people know about this Melbourne “secret” yet, as there was a lot of space to move around on the boat, which has capacity for up to 240 people.

Upper deck of the MV Mandalay

Fully stocked bar on lower deck

We went exploring around the two levels of the boat upon boarding, before settling at a table on the lower deck, where we enjoyed a drink and some laughs. The Twitterati may be interested to know that a free glass of bubbly is on offer to them if they follow Pleasure Boat Cruises on Twitter, and retweet one of their “Fabulous Friday Fireworks” tweets and follow up by booking a spot on one of their Friday night cruises in July. (Just sayin…)

Into the cruise, we were served some nice finger-food, which was finished up with a little cup-cake for ‘dessert’. Nice touch. After enjoying a few noms, we went out the back to take in the view of the city and Docklands from the harbour, and waited for the fireworks to light up the night sky. We weren’t disappointed. The fireworks lasted for around 15 minutes, and really were quite fabulous.

Fabulous Friday Fireworks!

After the fireworks, we cruised around a bit around Docklands harbour, under the Bolte Bridge, and up the Yarra to Webb Bridge, before turning around and heading back to Central Pier, Docklands. It was quite fascinating to cruise along this part of the river, as many parts of it are generally not accessible to the general public. It was also fascinating to see the city from places I’d not seen it from before. Anyone would think I had never been to Melbourne before (let alone live in Southbank…) due to my fascination of how different the city looked from that angle… and that angle… and OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT!!! (etc and so on…).

Looking up the entire length of Collins Street, from the river.

Bolte Bridge

By 8pm, we had returned back to Central Pier, not too late at all, though I really could have stayed on that boat for considerably longer, it was, well, fabulous. The Friday night cruise really was a relaxing way to transition from the working week into the weekend. And I feel it is something that not only tourists would enjoy, but people who live in Melbourne too. Actually, people who live here really must give this a go. It will be the best $30 you have ever spent… and THE VIEW! I am of the impression children would especially enjoy this too (and children under 12 sail FREE). There were a couple of kids on this cruise, and they seemed entertained the entire night. And because it is on the Yarra and Docklands harbour, there is no risk at all of getting sea-sick. Fireworks, bright lights…. what isn’t there to love about this whole experience? The only downside is that this Friday night cruise (and the Friday fireworks at Docklands) will only run for two more weeks, so GET IN QUICK before you miss out, forever!

The M.V. Mandalay awaits...

You can register your booking online, or call them, or if you’re rather spontaneous like me, you can just rock up before the 6:15pm departure and pay upon boarding the vessel. I must say, if I was not going interstate for a couple of weeks, I would absolutely go again. I had a great time- THANK YOU Pleasure Boat Cruises for a wonderful evening.

You can follow Pleasure Boat Cruises on Twitter, and view their website here (they do a lot more than just the Friday night cruise)

You can also see a few more photos I took last night here on my Facebook page

Longshot

On Thursday night, we went to Toby’s Estate Cafe in Brunswick for the launch of a new dark ale by Matilda Bay, called Longshot. What got me intrigued about this beer was that it is a spiced, full-flavoured dark ale with notes of coffee and malt, finished with a subtle hop bitterness. Yes, you read correctly- COFFEE BEER. Well, almost…

When we arrived, we were met by the organisers of the event, Liquid Ideas, who took us in to meet some of the others in attendance. Some of the people we had met from previous Twitter events (tweetups) were there, Tim and Maryann. And yes, naturally Marcus was there too

After chatting with Toby (of Toby’s Estate) and Tim, we sat down to begin an evening of beer sampling with matching food. I have heard of (and quite enjoy) going to events where wine is matched with food- especially at Eureka 89. But beer and food? Unless it was fish and chips, or pizza, I had never really considered it before. So this was going to be something new and interesting…

This was the menu for the evening…

Matching beer with gourmet food...

My favourite food/beer combinations of the night were the Bohemian Pilsner with the chermoula lamb cutlet and tahini yoghurt (YUM!!!!!) and the Longshot (what we were there for) with dark chocolate and Longshot tiramasu. I know what you may be thinking. Beer with dessert? YUCK! But no.. it was actually a PERFECT match. The beer alone was quite delicious, but with the tiramasu… *drool*

What a great combination!

...and you think it looks good? just wait till you taste it

We learnt quite a bit about the brewing process, and how the process of making beer is actually quite very similar to the process of making coffee. From this, we discovered a little of how they came to develop this coffee/beer combination into a product available for retail sale. The coffee used in this brew is an Ethiopian blend called Yiracheffe. We got a small sample of the beans to take home with us, along with a four-pack of the beer, and a beer-glass.

Toby Smith (Toby's Estate Cafe) and Scott Vincent (Matilda Bay head brewer) talking about their product

After we had sampled all the beers and food combinations, we got up from our seats and socialised a bit. It’s always good to catch up with the people I “tweet” to all the time, and as always, I had my camera in hand, ready to take some photos…

Myself, Marcus and Maryann chatting after the food/beer tasting

Inside Toby's Estate Cafe in Brunswick

You can follow these people on Twitter…

Liquid Ideas @liquidideas

Matilda Bay Beer @matildabaybeer

Toby’s Estate Cafe @tobysestate

Marcus @MarcusMoments

Maryann @GirlBug

Tim @HieroHero