The pub with no (gluten free) beer

It's been a hard day/week/year. You need a drink. You head to the closest pub thinking about an icy cold beer. You walk in, look through all the taps and even in the fridges, but they don't have any beer. Sounds a bit bizarre? Not if you have coeliac disease.

Over the last 5 years or so, that's what faced me every time I walked into a bar/pub/restaurant/wedding/football game etc. Luckily for all the coeliacs out there, things are changing, at least in Brisbane.

I was at Kerbside recently, lining up at the bar for a drink. I'd already decided on a good G&T (with Bombay Sapphire) but was just scanning through the drinks fridge, because there was a pretty impressive line up of beers. All of a sudden I noticed they had O'Brien's gluten free beer stubbies in the fridge. I couldn't believe it, because I'd never seen them in a bar, so I had to ask the bar tender:

Me - "Is that actually O'Brien's gluten free beer in the fridge?"

Bar guy - "Yep, we have two types - the premium lager and the pale ale"

Me - Dumbfounded. Can't decide. NEVER had this many beer choices in the last 5 years at a bar. (The guy must think I'm crazy while I try to decide) "I'll have a premium lager." Walk off, still amazed, guzzling down the beer.

Anyway, since that trip to Kerbside (which is brilliant by the way), I've found out there are a couple of other bars in Brisbane serving gluten free beer:

Kerbside - O'Brien's Premium Lager and Pale Ale

Archive - O'Brien's

The German Club - O'Brien's

Bavarian Bier Cafe - Schnitzer Brau (A German gluten free beer brewed from millet)

Hats off to those bars! Each of them is now top of my list next time I really need a beer. If you know of any other Brisbane bars that are serving gluten free beer, let me know, and I'll add them to this post.

BeerMasons Sunday Tasting

If you head along to Oktobertfest this weekend and find yourself suffering beer withdrawal symptoms by Sunday, then grab a ticket to BeerMasons' Sunday beer tasting.

BeerMasons recently received plenty of publicity when Chris Badenoch (one of its staff) made it down to the last few contestants on MasterChef, but was pipped at the post.

Anyway BeerMasons is putting on a tasting this Sunday which features beers from Flying Dog Brewery (USA), Nogne O (Norway), Rogue (USA) and a new release brew from Matilda Bay. Tickets are $35, which includes a sample of at least 5 beers and tapas. Best of all, a $10 donation from each ticket will go to the Royal Children's Hospital music therapy unit. Apparently Chris from MasterChef will be there as well.

You'll need to get tickets from the BeerMasons website.

BeerMasons Sunday Tasting
Sunday 11 October 2009, 12.30pm
Grand Central Hotel
270 Ann Street
Brisbane 4000
W - http://www.beermasons.com/events/event_details.asp?id=80088

Oktoberfest

I've been posting up loads of wine events recently, so it's only fair that I correct the balance with a few beer related ones.  The first festival of beer is Oktoberfest, which takes place over the next two weekends at the RNA Showgrounds.

Oktoberfest will feature Krombacher beer from Germany, together with Jagermeister and Tyrrell's wine (which is Australian, not German).  As you'd expect from a German beer festival, there will also be plenty of hearty, filling food, including preztels (compulsory with beer), wursts, Schweinshaxen (spit-roasted pork hocks with traditional Bavarian crackling and sauerkraut), schnitzels, gingerbread, pastries and strudels.  It all sounds delicious to me, but you might need a month of exercise to work off all that German beer & food.

To keep you entertained while you knock back a few beers, there will be an Oktoberfest Oompah band from Munich, German dancing and Miss Oktoberfest & German Strongman competitions.

Entry is $10 on Friday or Sunday, but it's $15 if you visit on Saturday.  You can pre-buy tickets through Ticketek.

Oktoberfest
Friday 9 October - Sunday 11 October 2009
Friday 16 October - Sunday 18 October 2009
RNA Showgrounds
Gregory Terrace
Bowen Hills  4006
W - http://www.oktoberfestbrisbane.com.au/
   

O'Brien Brewery Gluten Free Beer

One of the biggest things I was concerned about when I found out I had coeliac disease was beer. How was I going to survive without beer? Luckily there have been a few gluten free beers come on the market in Australia over the last couple of years, much to my relief.

The best gluten free beer I've tasted so far has been made by O'Brien Brewery. O'Brien Brewery is in Ballarat, and is apparently the only completely gluten-free brewery in the country. There are three O'Brien beers - a premium lager, brown ale and pale ale. Of the three, I prefer the premium lager as the best all-rounder, however the ales really come into their own during the cooler months. Best of all, they all actually taste like beer, not some watery imitation.

Since it was first released , the price has dropped about $10 a case, but it's still really expensive. The last carton I bought from Dan Murphy's was about $75, so it's not the kind of beer you can just guzzle away. Otherwise you can order it directly from the O'Brien Brewing website, which also has information on where you can buy the beer all over Australia. I've found that most Dan Murphy's in Brisbane seem to stock at least one of the O'Brien beers.

O'Brien Brewery
PO Box 191
Ascot Vale VIC 3032
P - 1300 432 337
W - http://www.obrienbrewing.com.au/

Nectar Beer & Wine Specialists

In these days where run of the mill bottleshops like Liquorland & BWS seem to be making an appearance in almost every suburb of Brisbane, I get a real kick out of finding a wine shop that shows a bit of individuality.

Last night I popped into Nectar in West End. It's a pretty small wine/beer shop, but it has a fantastic range. A whole wall is taken up with beers from pretty much everywhere - apparently they stock more than 250 beers. This is definitely the place to visit next time you're wanting to try out a few new brews.

On the wine front, thought has gone into the range, which means there are wines from small vineyards and organic producers. It's great to walk up to a wine fridge and see it full of interesting wines rather than the usual (unimaginative) suspects. I walked out with a bottle of Belgravia sauvignon blanc from Orange for $20. I visited the Belgravia cellar door in Orange a few years ago, but until last night I can't remember ever seeing one of their white wines in a Brisbane wine fridge.

If you're looking for something other than beer or wine, Nectar also stocks French ciders - I'll definitely be going back to try out a few of them.

If only there were more bottleshops in Brisbane like Nectar. Hopefully it will be well supported by all the thirsty West End restaurant patrons.

Nectar Beer & Wine Specialists
114 Boundary Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3846 4655
E - sales@nectarwines.com.au
W - http://www.nectarwines.com.au/

Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels

Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels is one of my work's usual after hours drinking venues. Its a bit of a wordy name, but luckily there aren't too many Belgian beer establishments in the Brisbane CBD, so you can't really get confused.

Of course the main attraction here is the excellent selection of Belgian beers. Lets face it, Belgian beer is great, and its always nice to knock back a few after a long week. You know a place is serious when they have a beer menu. If you're looking for somewhere to spend $27 on a Chimay Grande Reserve, then this is the spot for you.

But if you wander in here for lunch one day, they also serve a decent selection of food. I had lunch here recently. The menu has a few starters, which didn't really take my fancy. But we were only here on a quick lunch, so there wasn't time for two courses anyway.

For me, Belgian food means frites with mayonnaise, chocolate and mussels. They were the things I couldn't go past in Belgium, so there wasn't really much to decide here. The only decision was which of the mussels to go for. Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels serves mussels Provencale, mariniere, poulette and Creole (all $26.50). It was a tough choice actually, but in the end I went with the Provencale. All of the mussels are served in big pots with frites and mayonnaise.

I didn't have high hopes for the mussels, but they were great. Tasty, plenty of mussels and the frites were excellent - chunky, crunchy and served with addictive mayonnaise. I'd rather eat a pot of these mussels any day over many of the overpriced $30 main courses which are unfortunately now the staples of far too many CBD eateries. Between the mussels and the frites, this was a pretty decent meal.

If you aren't a big fan of seafood, there are of course other options, including pork and fennel sausages with mash ($24.50), eye fillet ($35), chicken breast ($30), oven baked barramundi ($34) or the basil & pumpkin risotto with seared scallops ($24.50). One of my friends had the risotto with scallops, which also looked appetising.

If you are still hungry after your mussels, frites and beer, there are also a few desserts, including of course a Belgian dark chocolate mousse ($13). Unfortunately we had to get back to work, so a long afternoon in the bar was out of the question.

Service was acceptable, but not particularly friendly. Our waiter appeared to have more pressing things on his mind than our table. Still, everything came out without any dramas, so the were no problems there.

As I only had one meal here, I won't be listing out the usual ratings. But if you're looking for a good pot of mussels, or even just some excellent frites to munch away on next time you are having a few beers, then give the Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels a try.

What does all this mean? A good spot for lunch if you stick with the Belgian specialties - mussels, beer and frites.

Belgian Beer Cafe Brussels
Corner of Mary & Edward Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3221 0199
W - http://www.belgianbeercafebrussels.com.au/