Beer - July Events - Women of Beer brew day & Festival of the Stone

A quick shout-out here for two upcoming beer events that will hit Melbourne this month. Both will showcase the wonderful craft of beer, wrapped up in a bunch of good fun, good people and more (like food & music!).

First up, on Saturday 23rd July is the Woman of Beer brew day:

Following the success of the Beer Diva's Women of Beer show and the launch of the Barley's Angels Australia earlier this year, the good women behind these events have decided to brew a beer together. Awesome!

Initiated by Sam Füss, Head Brewer at True South Brewery, this will be the first known all-female collaboration beer brewed in the Southern Hemisphere. Under the Barley's Angels banner, they have chosen to brew a 9% spicy Belgian style tripel, inspired by the likes of La Fin du Monde, Chimay White and Westmalle Tripel. Eventually this Women of Beer brew will be bottled and sold with all profits going to charity.

The gang of female brewers and brewery owners from Victoria will be joined by the Beer Diva and Barley's Angels for a day of fun and feasting whilst brewing this big beer. Members of Barley's Angels are invited to participate in the brewing process, such as helping with hop additions.

There will be a special long lunch as well, an Argentinian BBQ held upstairs on True Souths function space, Mawson's Landing (booking required).

All are welcome to attend the brew day and lunch (male & female)...but don't expect to see any males touching the brewing ingredients or equipment.

The Women of Beer line up will be:

• Sam Füss - Head Brewer at True South Brewery
• Jayne Lewis - Co-founder and Head Brewer of Two Birds Brewing
• Aine O'Hora – Brewer with Matilda Bay Brewing Company
• Karen Golding – Co-founder of Red Hill Brewery
• Beth Williams – Co-founder Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company
• Kirrily Waldhorn – The Beer Diva

Closing the month is the Stone & Wood Festival of the Stone event on Sunday 31st July.

Stone Beer is a rich amber ale with a big caramel malt profile. It was my first experience of a beer from Stone & Wood Brewing and remains my favourite brew from the company, despite the intense love discovered for their Pacific Ale over last summer's bbqs. Stone is brewed once a year, during winter, in small batch and with flaming hot rocks added to the boil. The Festival of the Stone has previously just been held at the brewery in Byron Bay and helps showcase the Stone Beer release each year.

This year, the Stone & Wood crew and bringing a bit of the Byron Bay vibe to cold old Melbourne by holding a mini-festival party at The Workers Club in Fitzroy. The Sunday afternoon event will feature music from Jumpin' Jack, The Galaxy Folk and Tehachapi. It will also include a preview of the surf film El Mar Mi Alma (My Sea My Soul), which premiered at the Byron Bay Film Festival earlier this year. Of course, Stone Beer will be pouring a'plenty!

Both events should be a bundle of fun and another fantastic opportunity to mix and mingle with the local craft beer industry and supporters. I hope to see you there...

Event: Barley's Angels presents the Women of Beer Brew Day
Time & Date: 11am - 4pm. Saturday 23rd July, 2011
Where: True South, 298 Beach Road Black Rock VIC
Cost: Free to visit True South and watching the brewing action.
Lunch: $55 per person for an Argentinian BBQ with a True South beer
Lunch Bookings: Call True South on 1300 878 360 or email bookings@truesouth.com.au
More info:

• Visit: http://www.truesouth.com.au/ and http://www.barleysangels.com.au/
• Read The Crafty Pint article at: http://craftypint.com/news/post/the-beer-of-women/
• Check out the Barley's Angels Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=18649853807054

Event: Stone & Wood Festival of the Stone
Time & Date: 4pm - 7pm, Sunday 31st July, 2011
Where: The Workers Club, 51 Brunswick Street Fitzroy VIC
Cost: $12
Tickets: Available at the door or order online via Stone & Wood Facebook Shop
More info:

• Visit: www.stoneandwood.com.au/ and http://theworkersclub.com.au/festival-of-the-stone/
• Read The Crafty Pint article at: http://craftypint.com/news/post/the-beer-of-women/
• Check out the Stone & Wood Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113508615408960

Beer - A fun night of Victorian beer, brought to you by women.

In honour of the 100th International Women's Day today, it is my pleasure to applaud the local women who are enriching and influencing this thing I call my "beer journey".

Personally, in my own Gen-Y-small-corner of the world, I do not see the desperate need for any gender-based qualification or separation. It is only a distinction that I make today, because there is a global call for it.

I look around me and see females doing everything I do, in the same way that I do it or in a different way...but usually, just in their own way. Women who choose to be stay-at-home mothers tirelessly raising a loving family are inspiring, just as are the women who choose to embrace another path in life, such as a workforce career or pursing their own business/creative venture. Women who are duly respected in their endeavours to take hold of life in whichever way they desire is all it needs to be about...and that is no different to the male existence. It is the beauty of Australian freedom and hence my deterrence from the need to specify a gender qualification. However, I do understand that it is not a worldwide practice and the statistics authenticate ongoing inequality for women, so International Women's Day is a noteworthy cause that I support. Connecting the issue to my blog topic, the majority of Australians still seem to regrettably and wrongly associate consuming beer with males, primarily due to stereotypes.

But enough of the sociopolitical discussion here, this blog is written for anyone and everyone, beyond gender, race or creed. I would much prefer to engage in that debate over the table at a pub whilst enjoying a flavoursome Australian craft beer. So, on with the show...

As preempted in my previous post, last Friday night my wife and I excitedly attended the Beer Diva's Victorian Women of Beer show at The Thornbury Theatre, which was part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

We knew little of what to expect from the show, other than it revolved around six of the most fun, friendly, interesting and switched-on people in the Australian small and craft beer industry...and they just happen to all be women.

Due to our dinner & show ticket purchase, we found ourselves at a table front and center of the stage. The make-up of our table provided a great insight to the general appeal of the show, with the table of 8 consisting of a balanced 4 males and 4 females...who were all there for different reasons.

There was a fair bit of Twitter action in the lead-up to the show, revealing the nerves of the Women of Beer as they prepared backstage. My own tweeting, about a steel bucket curiously sitting on stage, also beckoned a response from the host, Kirrily Waldhorn, as she first graced the stage to commence the show.

Kirrily's Beer Diva show provides an educational and humerous journey through the history of beer, as well as addressing common myths about drinking beer whilst seeking to break down those stereotypes that lead Aussies to associate beer with men. Whilst formally structured and stylish, the event was very much a relaxed and casual affair.

The aspect of this particular show that separated it from previous Beer Diva events was the inclusion of the Victorian Women of Beer (in the place of musical support from a singer and pianist). These women provided the highlight of the night as Kirrily quizzed them on their brewing history and then allowed them to share their beers with the audience.

To briefly return to my opening remarks, the theme for International Women's Day 2011 is - Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women - which is indeed a theme for political leaders to address. However, the Women of Beer are an excellent example of Australian women taking hold of their own career paths to excel in any field they choose...

Sam Fuss and Jayne Lewis decided brewing was the life for hem when they fell in love with the Little Creatures Brewery in Western Australia. Their skill and commitment to the brewing craft has now installed them as Head Brewers at impressive microbreweries.

Nardia McGrath surprised her parents when she chose to fly away to Scotland to study brewing. Further, last year her boss at Bridge Road Brewers gave Nardia an open licence to craft and brew her own beer, which resulted in the amazing Megachile Pluto Braggot.

Finally, I dare say that Victoria would be without two of our best microbreweries without the passion and business sense of Karen Golding and Beth Williams, who have provided the pathways and vital support required for their brewer husbands to build and operated successful breweries.

The beers shared with the audience, via these women, were tasted and discussed through 5 Acts that looked at different beer styles and histories. They were:

• Saison - Bridge Road Brewers Chevalier Saison (Nardia)
• Wheat Beers - Hargreaves Hill Hefeweizen (Beth)
• Pilsners - Red Hill Brewery Bohemian Pilsner (Karen)
• India Pale Ales - Mountain Goat Rare Breed IPA (Jayne)
• Porters - True South Cherry Bomb (Sam)

Beer Diva, Kirrily Waldhorn is a fantastic communicator. I was most impressed by her skill in presenting a script that could be understood and appreciated by both newbies to the world of beer but also to beer nerds. I learned a great deal from the show and aspire to one day be capable of communicating beer knowledge and evaluation with the expertise and finesse that Kirrily possess.

Ultimately, the theme of the night demonstrated this message: Beer can be sophisticated, beer can be brash. Beer can be serious, beer can be fun. Beer can be girly, beer can be blokey. Beer is a sensory experience for all. Enjoy!

Overall it was a fun night, full of substance and sustenance in a great venue for such an occasion. Thank you Women of Beer!

And now to further showcase the skill of my favourite woman, my wife, who captured these photos during the Beer Diva's Women of Beer show...

• For a more detailed show review, please visit my Australian Brews News article at: http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2011/03/review-the-victorian-women-of-beer/
• And for another perspective, check out Prof Pilsner's blog post at: http://beerblokes.blogspot.com/2011/03/diva-darlings-of-victorian-beer.html

In further support of International Women's Day (March 8), here are some local media articles for your consideration:

• Australian's Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, had advocated the introduction of quotas to ensure more women are appointed as directors on the boards of Australian companies: "G-G calls for female quotas" from The AGE
• 100 years of accomplishments, equality and respect for women still has a long way to go according to Australia's Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis: "Still a long way to go: Kate Ellis on International Women's Day" from ABC News Online

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:

• Karen Golding - Red Hill Brewery
• Beth Williams - Hargreaves Hill Brewering Company
• Jayne Lewis - Mountain Goat Brewery
• Sam Füss - True South Beer
• Nardia McGrath - (ex)Bridge Road Brewery

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.