Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Beer - The Beer Diva presents... The Victorian Women of Beer

Where did the first two months of 2011 go?? Oh, that's right...these past months have dissolved into delicious bubbly memories of gold, amber and black across this craft beer city!

Yes, excellent beer events are occurring left-right-and-centre around Melbourne at the moment, which is awesome...but it is also hard to keep up with! To join in, I commend you to The Crafty Pint and Australian Brews News event & calendar pages.

Breaking into March, the wife and I will be attending two more very exciting good beer events this coming weekend. On Sunday (6th March) we will be at the Atticus Finch (East Brunswick) Beer School #2 on Sunday, featuring Willie Simpson (Australia's leading beer writer and Seven Sheds brewer) and Simon Wakenhurst (Hargreaves Hill brewer). Limited tickets are available from Blackhearts & Sparrows outlets.

But first, we will kick off the weekend on Friday night with what promises to be a unique and inspiring experience...in the The Victorian Women of Beer show at The Thornbury Theatre, which is part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Here is the event's promotional description: In a stage show that is described as 'part theatre, part sensory indulgence', the women of beer promise to take their audience on a journey of discovery in five acts that will stimulate all of their senses through projected animation, original music, live performance and sampling five distinctive styles of beer. The show is "a joyous experience - punctuated by myth-busting facts, light-hearted history, global culture and beery philosophy — all which will leave you stimulated, entertained, and enriched by an unexpected education."

But who are these "Women of Beer", you ask? They are the brewers, beer educators and communicators and good beer advocates who are helping fuel my passion for craft beer by filling our local beer loving shops and bars with diverse and quality ales.

Kirrily Waldhorn, The Beer Diva, will host the fun and interactive night of beer education and exploration. Formerly an employee of a big commercial brewer, Kirrily is a now beer writer and educator, spreading the good beer word through her Beer Diva events and business.

Joining Kirrily are 5 women responsible some of Victoria's best microbreweries, including:


It's a stellar line up, matched only by the five craft beers they will be showcasing.

To convey my excitement, you only need to look at the beers that these woman have produced over the last year... Jayne oak barrel aged Mountain Goat's Rapunzel; Nardia relived an ancient style and made it distinctly Australian with her Bridge Road Brewers Megachile Pluto Braggot; Sam nailed Aussie Summer drinking with her Mint Ninja, the first commercial beer in a Australia to use the Sorachi Ace hop; and Karen and Beth combined their breweries to release Victoria's first collaboration craft beer with the Two Hills Maibock!

More importantly...I believe this event, driven by these intelligent, attractive and fun women, will further the cause of craft beer and the social acceptance of drinking beer more than any other event seen in Melbourne recently. A communication experience such as this will demonstrate that beer is now an accepted purveyor of complex flavour, rich character and a thoughtfulness that provokes communal discussion...proving that the "beer is a man's drink" perception is now a thing of bygone times.

Hope to see you there!

Event: The Beer Diva presents... The Victorian Women of Beer
Date and Time: Friday 4th March 2011, 9:00pm
Venue: The Thornbury Theatre
Location: 859 High St, Thornbury, Victoria
Tickets: $40.00 + bf advance tickets show only; $80.00 dinner and show + bf; $45.00 at the door if available
More info: http://www.thethornburytheatre.com/html_gigs/event_details/2011_03_04/2011_03_04.htm

Recommended reading: "The women of substance" by James Smith (aka The Crafty Pint) from The AGE Epicure, 1 March 2011.

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