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On entering the rather ample factory, the smell that assailed the senses was something incredible. One thing that is difficult to forget is the experience many years ago of often walking past the Carlton United Brewery in Bouverie Street, Carlton at 3.00 a.m. (Something of an occupational hazard in those early days) The delightful smell of a warm malt and yeast being brewed into the famous product of that brewery filled the street. This is what The Brewers Club smelt like. The place was a hive of industry; beer being brewed in the stainless steel vats, mixtures being prepared, malt pouring from barrels and people everywhere; spectators enjoying a sample beer and watching the brewery staff hard at work. One part of PiandO found a mixing table and was busy scribbling on registration forms. All visitors were entitled to entry into a $500,000.00 prize giveaway and entry into the draw for door prizes. Another part of PiandO was more interested in the products on display and was enjoying them all. Truly, it was a very impressive day and guests were told how to become members, have their beer brewed by experts then bottle it themselves; with everything except the bottles provided. Membership for a year is a mere $30.00 and it will cost around $26.00 to brew a carton of 24 x 345 ml bottles of a beer of your choice; and there are a lot. The beers sampled all tasted good! Of course they did, they were close to 5% alcohol per volume. |
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A Brewers Tale John Gavin © 2009
Now this story could appeal to quite a few. Yes. It is true. On Friday, October 9, 2009, friends told us they were going to a home brew exhibition; spirits? Early on Saturday, October 10, 2009, an advertisement in the local paper attracted the attention of PiandO. "Ah!" was the comment. "This will be the one our friends are going to." John and Gary were having an Open Day at the Brewers Club in Sinclair Street, Labrador. PiandO went along. |
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Eventually, necessity dragged PiandO away. So, that was another day that did not involve such things at travel, whales, horses, stud farms and other pursuits. On the Friday we had completed the paperwork necessary for a new law-officer’s appointment in Queensland; Coen was so pleased that she took PiandO to Yum Cha at the Fortune Kitchen in Mildura Drive, Helensvale and it was excellent. Settling into a peaceful afternoon, it was late when the phone rang. It shattered the peace and quiet and introduced trouble. It was John from The Brewers Club with the news that devastated the day. PiandO had won the major Door Prize. The shattering part of that was that the major door prize was a mere six (6) cases of a beer of choice! That is for all laymen women reading, fifty (50) litres of beer. Peter picked Morton Bay Draught which is the equivalent of Carlton Draught - but dare we say better? Do you, the reader. have any idea of the trauma associated with winning fifty (50) Litres of beer? When it is in bottles, you need a lot of refrigeration space. This could result in all the food being chucked out to store the beer. The thing with The Brewers Club Beer is that preservatives are not used in the manufacture. That means that the beer has to be stored cold otherwise warmth will set of a second fermentation and the bottles become small bombs. So, they must be kept cold. Can you imagine the fun involved in trying to talk friends into disposing of food from their refrigerators and storing beer. Before you come charging around, some "Good" friends are trying to help! It takes two weeks from brewing for the beer to ferment for bottling, then another five days before the first bottle is opened. Some lateral thinking resolved part of the storage issue. A new beer fridge was purchased. Even so, some friends are quietly enjoying what they have stored in their own homes. Not one complaint has been received about the quality of the product. PiandO have been discussing the problem at length and it was decided that John Gavin should write a little about this event. It may be a rather fitting way to end the PiandO Web Pages for 2009. So, now you can see what happens when people go out for an innocent visit to someone having an Open Day? Oh, by the way; our friends went somewhere else altogether. We can't wait for the delivery of a smaller quantity of Who Kill Kenny Lager, the equivalent of Kilkenny. We are assured that it is excellent. And, then there was the Brewers Club Christmas Party…………….
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