Some fine drinking to be had at The Rocks, Sydney

Moving on from Canberra, we spent a few eventful days in Gold Coast, Australia's paean to sun, surf and cheezy tourist traps.   Although we caught the city in the midst of a bit of a random cold snap, rather than the 30-plus degree weather that they enjoyed a week prior, we instead were treated to far milder temperatures and rain storms that are more indicative of a tropical climate in autumn.  Nothing too exciting beer-wise in the city, but that’s to be expected.  A road trip to Brisbane – about an hour north – would have yielded a potential visit to the XXXX (Four X) brewery, but XXXX isn’t a great beer whatsoever, and based on its website the brewery looked like it was aiming for the drunken reveller crowd, rather than the discerning beer-geek.   Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I’ve done it before and didn’t feel like renting a car.   The pubs around town carried the usual macro fare, wines and cocktails that one would expect in a tourist zone.  I certainly managed a great deal of drinking to be sure, but nothing really worth posting on the blog.  For the next great beer experience would have to wait for Sydney.

Sydney possesses exactly as much scenic beauty as I had expected; anyone who has been there before can certainly attest.  The harbours, the Opera House, the gardens and parks all contributed to a wonderful experience exploring the downtown core, and I eagerly await my next visit. Nearly every corner turned or park explored elicited a “this is nothing like Toronto and I love it” remark from yours truly.  Our hotel wasn’t too far from Darling Harbour, a trendy district of restaurants and bars encircling a gorgeous harbour front and surrounded by the majestic skyscrapers of downtown Sydney.   We tended to do most of our dining here, which was quite excellent.  Nearly every dinner special came with a free glass of wine or beer, but the beers weren’t anything special so I tended to stick with wine in the evenings.   A few pubs and eateries around Hyde Park featured the usual Australian macro lineup (as well as the ubiquitous Guinness, which I must admit tasted really strange down under).  To truly find the great pubs and beers of Sydney, the best bet is to head to the oldest district of the city, The Rocks.



The Rocks is located just west of the Opera House and sits just underneath the Harbour Bridge, so it’s right in the thick of things.  A quick walk from Circular Quay and you’re surrounded by historic buildings which take the form of restaurants and fun little shops, with an excellent weekend outdoor market taking up the side streets.  Those lucky enough to call Vancouver home might find a similar experience in Granville Island.  And, like Granville Island, the Rocks is also home to a brewpub – and a damned good one at that. 

The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel is one of Sydney’s oldest establishments, and yes, it is a functioning hotel (though it was a bit pricey and the word is that service there isn’t terrific, especially on busy nights).   Like a true Victorian pub, the walls are stone, the atmosphere is slightly dank, and the bar is long and full of inebriated patrons.  The kind of place I like.  The Lord Nelson is naturally dedicated to the memory of England’s near-mythic naval hero, and thus the beers brewed on-site reflect the hero of Trafalgar.  With Aussie rules football on the telly, we sipped schooners of Victory Bitter (the HMS Victory was Nelson’s ship), Trafalgar Pale Ale and Old Admiral Strong Ale, all the while surrounded by images of the great naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars, which would have been fresh in the minds of the early generations of Australia’s settlers.  The bar was quite busy, preventing me from chatting with the bartenders or brewmaster, but we were served very quickly and were pleasantly satisfied with the selection on tap.   Certainly a place I hope to visit again in my next trip to Sydney.

Though not a brew pub, the adjacent Hero of Waterloo – just up the street from the Lord Nelson) – is nevertheless a historically significant and intriguing place to whet one’s whistle.    Officially founded in 1843, the Hero is named after another legend in British History, Lord Arthur Wellington – victor of the battle of Waterloo and (briefly) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.   Since I live in the city of Waterloo, which borders the county of Wellington, the significance of this historical figure is not lost on me.  According to the blurb on the front of the menu, the pub was “popular” with troops from the Sydney garrison, and thus has seen its share of interesting stories, the most intriguing being the secret tunnel which connects the pub to the harbour front, allowing clandestine smuggling of spirits, beer, and occasionally, drunken patrons who “voluntarily” took the Queen’s shilling and were impressed into the Royal Navy.  Or so the legend goes.

The pub itself is a delightful throwback to the Victorian Era, with its stone walls, multiple fireplaces, and bar staff that seems to represent every vestige of the former British Empire – the bartenders were Scottish and Irish, respectively; the band were playing the best of classic American jazz, and I’m fairly certain one of the chefs is from India.  I’m sure if there was maple syrup and back bacon available, it would have been served just to complete the set. 

The tap list was among the better varieties I’d encountered in my travels – the usual Cascade, Hahn’s Dry and Carlton Draught lagers were of course present, along with at least three or four James Squires ales, and a couple of house specific ales.   I enjoyed a James Squire Porter and (an underwhelming) Hahn’s White, while Michelle sipped on Squire’s Amber Ale and Pilsner.  Prices were about as good as one would expect them to be; indeed, for the atmosphere and location, I’d have happily paid more.  The stone walls provided an excellent reprieve from the early autumn heat, and the band’s tunes kept the evening rolling.  It was at the Hero of Waterloo that our accents and excessive politeness ‘outed’ us as being Canadian, and a gregarious and friendly family of Aussies asked us about our travels, whether we liked the city, and how we were getting on.  But after the pleasantries were taken care of, it was time to ask the big question: “Can you say a-boot”?   Christ...  Good news, though: apparently they found our accents to be quite charming, and they just loved listening to us talk, which is about the same as Canadians feel about Australian/New Zealand accents.   Nice to know that the shoe fits on the other foot.   They told us how much they loved the Trailer Park Boys; I apologized on behalf of Canada for Justin Bieber.  A grand evening all around. 

The Rocks is truly a magical place, steeped in the history and culture of the city of Sydney.  The architecture remains distinctly Victorian, and the streets lined with shops, pubs and restaurants give the district an open-air, market feel.  These weren't the only two pubs worth visiting in the district, of course; down George Street you will find 'The Fortune of War' across the street from First Fleet Park, while those looking for a change of pace can have a stein at the Lowenbrau on Argyle.  Nestled in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, and never too far away from the Opera House and the gorgeous waterfront, the Rocks is one of the finest places to knock back a few pints in Sydney.  Just be sure not to get too intoxicated, lest you find yourselves swabbing the deck as one of the Royal Navy's newest 'recruits.'

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

The Wig and Pen: Single-handedly Making Canberra Liveable Since 1994!

Okay, okay, I know - that was a cheap shot at Canberra, and I'm not proud of it.  It's just that it's so easy to do! 

Making fun of Canberra seems to be an Australian national past-time - at least, that was the impression I got in the months and weeks leading up to our trip.   Whenever folks (Australian or not) discovered that I would be going on an epic plane ride down under, they politely asked me whereabouts I would be going.  A fair question, and I responded honestly - a week in Canberra, some beach time in Brisbane, then to Sydney for a few days.  Generally speaking, most people were polite, but almost without exception, the listener would noticeably bristle at the mention of the nation's capital.   I sometimes didn't even get to mention the second and third destinations before being interrupted: "Canberra?  For a week?...*confused pause*... Do you have family there? Business?  Or is there some other excuse for visiting what would happen if plain Quaker Oats were to morph into a functioning city?"  Even when I was in Canberra, I still felt like I had to justify my being there.  It's like the town motto was "Canberra: We have to be here, what's your excuse?"  By the end of the trip I decided to skip the inevitable line of questioning.  When folks asked where we'd been so far, I just responded: "Canberra.  Visiting family.  For Easter weekend."  And that usually satisfied them, but even then I wasn't sure.

Part of the problem with Canberra is that its a planned capital, designed and build specifically to be the nation's capital.  In fact, Canberra owes its very existence to the fact that Sydney and Melbourne don't really like each other.  If you think of Australia like a mob boss (and I encourage you to do so!), Sydney and Melbourne would be like the feuding, spoiled bratty sons who spend all their free time squabbling over who gets to be in charge when daddy shuffles off.  Realizing that giving the responsibility to one son would lead to years of feuding and casual name-calling from the other, the wise old Don decided to skip the whole process and raise an orphan from scratch, eventually putting him in charge.   Now imagine this new orphan is kind of lame, very business-like, wears a suit all the time - if it were Mad Men, he would be far less like Don Draper and far more like that married guy with the bow tie and lollipop - and there you have Canberra in a nutshell.  So the city is new, clean, a bit boring and lacks an interesting history - couple that with the fact that it's the home of the nation's government, and thus the target of the nation's ire - and you'll pretty much understand why most Australians seem to be less than proud of their capital city.

But I'll say it without shame - I actually liked Canberra.  Now, I'll admit that if I were to actually live there, the city would probably get a bit boring after a while, and Canberra does have that worky-work-work feel that downtown Toronto does, but then again, most cities are pretty lame - it's only a select few that have anything interesting going on.   Canberra was clean, well-organized, quiet, had some lovely parks and gardens, and the people were generally quite friendly.  Because of the parliament buildings, national museums and galleries, Canberra nicely satisfied my need to see "official" things when I travel, freeing my conscience to visit the more kitschy, touristy attractions elsewhere.   And because I'm a history nerd, I quite enjoyed visiting Parliament and the other major governmental places, especially the War Museum and ANZAC memorial.  I could figure things out without too much problems, there seemed to be a lot of restaurants, bars, and a pretty damned big mall.  

And above all, Canberra has the Wig and Pen, and that's sufficient awesomeness to shore up any city's flagging reputation.  This place was awesome.

When I put forward the question to some Aussie beer-lovers online as to where I should partake in the finer ales in Canberra, the answer was loud and clear - the Wig and Pen, no question about it.   And dammit, they were right.   Founded in 1994 by a microbiologist by name of  Lachie McOmish, the Wig and Pen is a beer-lover's wet dream.   All the brews available on tap are made on site, and without exception, they were fantastic.  Four cask taps, three seasonals, about eight regular offerings, and three one-offs - all for about the same price you'd pay for a drab Australian lager down the street.

Brewing tuns visible in the back window.



The place is a real anomaly in the neighborhood, tucked away in a generic shopping building near nowhere in particular and surrounded by office buildings of an officious and governmental nature.  Not where you'd expect to find a brewpub, at any rate, but fortunately, it was only two blocks from my apartment so it was a real treat.

It has a lovely green English pub exterior with patio seating for about 20, and a small, cozy interior for about 80-100.  It also had the kind of atmosphere I like: simple seating arrangement, wood-paneled bar area, friendly beer-loving patrons.  And no TV that I could see - this was a social spot to be sure.  I went both times in the afternoon and it only really felt crowded around 5ish, which is understandable.  Brewing equipment is visible from your table if you sit near the back, as we did.

The bartending staff were quite friendly (a bit of an anomaly in Australia as well), and were quite willing to let you think your selection over without feeling slowed down.  They also handled an uncooperative cask tap with equal patience.  The day bartender was quite affable, and enjoyed talking brews and footy with me. I met the brewmaster, Richard, for a quick moment, and found him to be the pinnacle of Australian modesty and self-deprecation, as he only hoped that I was able to find "something in the lineup I could drink." I assured him I certainly had.

A snifter of Bob's Armpit.



The lineup is quite diverse, ranging from English real ale, Koelsch, wild ale and oatmeal stout.  Not a pedestrian brew in the bunch, and generally speaking all of which are very well-brewed.   I personally recommend their Lazy Days cask ale, Velvet Cream Stout (which tasted a great deal like McAuslan Oatmeal Stout), Bob's Armpit (a lambic-wild ale one-off concoction) and the Kamberra Koelsch. Tucked away I could see a fine little Australian and Belgian bottled collection as well.

Certainly the place to hit up in Canberra, the Wig and Pen was one of the real highlights of my trip.  Great home-brewed selection, friendly atmosphere, the Wig and Pen is a real exception from the general city-wide trend of crowded pubs full of Australian macros and Guinness. A real refuge for those who love craft brews.  A bit pricey, but only slightly more so than the other places around town; consider what you're getting quality-wise on tap, and I think an extra dollar a pint is more than acceptable.  My only suggestion for the pub is that there be some sort of sampler option for folks like yours truly who just want to dive right in and try everything on the menu. 

So if you find yourself stuck in the city of Canberra, don't lose heart - a fantastic brewpub is right around the corner that will certainly make your trip worthwhile.

Cheers to the Wig and Pen!

C'est What!

With the unfortunate demise of the wonderful beer house that was the Castle on King (*shedding a single tear*...), there has been left a terrible void in the KW area for craft beer and cask tap options.  With the exception of Kickoff in the University plaza (and of course the Grad House, my place of employment!), there really isn't a whole lot around town for diverse craft brew selections, particularly cask-pumped brews.   Having read many a brew-review on Beer Advocate, I noticed that many of the rarer Ontario craft offerings - the kind unavailable in the LCBO or at any of my local hangouts - were being sampled almost exclusively at two downtown Toronto pubs - C'est What and BarVolo.  Apparently, these two are among the finest locations in Toronto to sample new and exciting beers: both of these pubs have been repeatedly nominated by BarTowel (and have received laudatory reviews in both the National Post and Globe and Mail) as having the best beer draught selection in the city.  With a mutual day off, Michelle and I decided a visit to such greener pastures was most definitely in order.  

We decided to go with C'est What this time around - it was closer to where we wanted to be in the city, and I find the name to be so very amusing.  (We also went this route because on a previous excursion to Toronto, our GPS utterly failed us, and we missed the bar entirely, leading to a great deal of yelling and cursing).  C'est What is located right in the heart of the city on Front and Church, just a few blocks from Union Station and the Rogers Centre.  The area has a thriving pub culture, with many a watering hole to be found in the vicinity.   Our destination was a basement joint tucked away in a brown building home to a variety of other shops and restaurants.  We descended to the bowels of 67 Front with no idea what to expect.

Our first impression was a good one - right at the entrance was an aquarium where fish darted about a sunken bottle of Steam Whistle (hopefully well-cleaned).  Cute.  C'est What is a long, narrow pub, with a plethora of beer posters and modern art gracing the stone walls.  Good mood lighting, lots of places to sit, dartboards and pool tables scattered here and there.  Eclectic music played at a reasonable volume.  Looked like a great place to spend an afternoon.  The place was only sparsely populated, so we had our run of the seating area. 

I knew we were in for a treat when Michelle found the beer menu.  That's right, menu.  Online you can find the whole three-page listing of regular brew offerings, which are indeed quite impressive.  C'est What boasts an almost-exclusively Ontario craft beer selection, featuring some of the most difficult to find brews from the GTA and across the province.  It also has a regular rotation of cask taps, a truly wonderful way to experience beer - naturally carbonated and pumped by hand.  Aside from a slate of 'house' options (brewed by County Durham Brewing), C'est What has a great lineup of fare from Mill Street, Neustadt, Camerons, Church Key, Granite, Scotch Irish and Flying Monkeys, to name a few (unfortunately, their only Wellington brew was Silver Wheat, by far their weakest release).   Their food menu also looked good - a fine mish-mash of pub, ethnic and vegetarian meals.   After being overwhelmed by the sheer variety of beer to be had, we settled down for our flight of new brews!

Beer: Granite Hopping Mad (cask)

Brewery: Granite Brewing Co. (Toronto)

Type: English pale ale/IPA fusion

ABV: 6.0%

First up was a regular mainstay on C'est What's cask tap, an IPA from Granite brewing in Toronto.  Although the brewery and BA both refer to this brew as being an American IPA, it really didn't taste like one; rather, it possessed more of the characteristics of a well-hopped English pale ale, so that's what I'm calling it. (C'est What's menu also describes the brew as being a pale ale, so clearly the staff are in agreement!)

From the cask, Hopping Mad poured much like a Boddington's or Kilkenny - a orange jelly-coloured brew that took a few moments to settle.  The settling process left behind a remarkably creamy head that lasted throughout the pint, producing some impressive sheeted lacing.   Looked fantastic.

The nose was, as I mentioned before, decidedly not that of an IPA: instead of a rich hop aroma, I picked up more bread and malt notes, with only a hint of caramel and floral hops.  Still very impressive, but not what I had anticipated.  

Hopping Mad is certainly a fine brew, with the hops providing more of a presence in the taste than in the nose.   Like an English pale ale with American hopping. Creamy and malty, but finishing with a tasty, floral hop kick. I went into this expecting a Canadian stab at the American IPA style, and while this wasn't it, it certainly was enjoyable.  Boddingtons with a stronger hop character, is how I'd describe it.   Highly quaffable - I could certainly see myself drinking several of these in a night.  (Grade: B+)

Beer: Church-Key Northhumberland Ale
Brewery: Church-Key Brewing Co. (Campbellford, ON)
Type: claims to be a brown ale, I say blonde or pale ale
ABV: 5%
 
Again, problems with categorization - it claims to be a brown ale, but it is certainly not:  far too light in colour and not nearly malty enough.  The pub listed this as being among their cream ale selection, which is a bit closer to the mark. Unfortunately, this was our dud of the afternoon - neither Michelle nor I enjoyed it very much.
 
Poured a rich golden hue, very light for the style, with some visible carbonation and a thin head with some retention.


Nose was citrus, honey, light hoppage. Floral and fruit notes as well.  Not too bad.

A very fruity, grainy ale with something vegetable-like going on in the back.  Yeasty.  Had a very strange taste to it that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and certainly didn't care for.  As crazy as it sounds, I swear I could detect chicken in the beer.  (Seriously!)  Whatever it was, that shouldn't happen!   Northhumberland is a brew that is desperately out of balance; it needed either a bigger hop presence or better use of malts to bring it more in line with the style. Tasted more like a blonde ale than a brown.  Funny enough, I ordered a spicy dish for lunch that actually paired well with this, but for exactly the wrong reason: by numbing my tastebuds a little, I could actually finish the pint.  Otherwise I doubt I could have.   A strange-tasting ale (if one could ever call it an ale) not something I would pick up again. Something about the whole construction just felt off.  A big pass on this one.  (Grade: D+)

Beer: Duggan's #99 IPA (cask)*
Brewery: Mike Duggan Brewing (Toronto)
Type: IPA or Double IPA
ABV: 7.2%

Our gem of the day, but I'm still not confident on what it was.  The waitress said that this was the last of the cask of Duggan's #99 Double IPA (stronger than a regular IPA, usually even hoppier), but what we got didn't match with how the other BA reviews described it, so my writeup will have to be given an asterisk.   Because it was the end of the keg, this might have affected the taste, but whatever the beer was, I can say this - it was awesome.

A dark ruby-tawny brew, sporting a big, frothy head.  Loads of lacing, great retention.

The nose was simply spectacular.  In addition to a strong floral hop presence, this brew boasted a fantastic blending of delicious flavor notes, including chocolate, caramel, cherry, dark fruit and vanilla.   More in line with a barleywine or a Belgian dubbel than an IPA, but again, the fact that this was the bottom of the keg probably affected this. 

The taste was similarly impressive.  Drank more like a sherry than an ale, but that was just fine with me.  Rich and hearty, with a complex meshing of flavors, similar to what was detected in the nose.   Thick and slightly creamy, this brew was most definitely a sipper; the bold flavors and hearty consistency probably negates the possibility of having more than one of these in an evening. 

Whatever this mystery beer was, both Michelle and I really loved it.  A great little brew to sip over the course of our lunch.  Even though it didn't taste like an IPA, whatever Mike Duggan has done here, it was terrific.  (Grade: A-)

----

We would have loved to have stayed longer, but full stomachs and a hefty parking ticket (don't ask...) required us to move on.  If you happen to be in the downtown core and are looking for some great craft brews, be check out this little gem.  C'est What definitely lived up to its reputation as having among the best draught lineups in southern Ontario.  Good set up, fine location, decent food - a great place to bring friends who enjoy trying new beer.  Check it out!