Verdict: This is the perfect beer for a cold winters night, if you come across it for sale grab a bottle you will not be disappointed.

Score: 8.8 / 10

Link: http://www.brewboys.com.au/

Where to buy: Platinum Liquor outlets at their North Strathfield or Bellevue Hill locations, or online from the Brew Boys website.

Related: Brew boys Seeing Double

Tasting Notes:
Aroma consists of Vanilla, cocoa, brown sugar, coffee and bruised apple notes. The colour is a dark brown with a ruby tinge very close to black, a medium sized tan coloured creamy head.
On the palate the beer leads with some bitterness, and a mild coffee flavour that seems to build as it progresses toward the back of the tongue. Cocoa, vanilla and burnt sugar notes are plentiful with a solid body and nice creamy mouthfeel.

Food Match:
Chocolate mud cake or a similar rich chocolate desert dish.

The Longshot Vitals:
Alcohol: 6% by volume
Bitterness: 40 IBU
Colour: 80 EBC / 60.9 SRM

Where To Buy:
Matilda Bay Longshot is available from Dan Murphy’s stores with a recommended retail price of $20 per four pack.

Related:
Matilda Bay and Tobys Estate collaborate on winter brew.

From the establishment of Australia’s Penfolds in the mid 1840s to the 1876 founding of Beringer Vineyards, a winemaking legacy has been created. The Treasury Wine Estates portfolio includes iconic brands such as Beringer, Penfolds, Lindemans, Chateau St. Jean, Wolf Blass, Rosemount, Matua Valley, Wynns Coonawarrra Estate and Castello di Gabbiano. These international favourites sit alongside regional champions that include California’s Stags’ Leap, St Clement and Etude and Australia’s Seppelt, Coldstream Hills, and Devil’s Lair.

Announcing the new identity, Foster’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Johnston said:

“Today is a significant day for the brands and people that make up Treasury Wine Estates.

“Since the acquisition of Mildara Blass and Rothbury Wines Limited in 1996, Beringer Wine Estates in 2001 and Southcorp Limited in 2005, we’ve assembled one of the world’s great wine businesses.

“The creation of Treasury Wine Estates marks the next natural step in that journey, accelerating a cultural change and business transformation that began with the completion of the Wine Strategic Review in February 2009.

“With six of the ten most collected wines in Australia, America’s leading premium brand in Beringer Vineyards, and a collection of outstanding international wines, this is a business with impeccable credentials.

“The new name and brand identity reflect the wealth of treasured wine brands that mark the core of this business.

“Treasury Wine Estates will harness the essence of great winemaking, with a focus on building company and shareholder value as creator and purveyor of quality wines in Australia, California and around the world.

“The announcement today does not pre-empt any outcome for our demerger, nor does it represent fundamental change in our business model. It does, however, represent the acceleration of a cultural change for those of us working in the wine business as we return to a dedicated focus on viticulture, wine making and the marketing and sale of one of the world’s most outstanding portfolios.”
You can find more information about Treasury Wines Estates at their website.

On their inaugural visit to Australia, Lord and Lady Hendrick’s undertook an anthropological adventure to spread the word of Hendrick’s Gin and to acquaint themselves with bartenders in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Throughout June, they visited more than 77 bars and met over 90 bartenders along the east coast. Each bar was judged on their presentation and mixology skills of a Hendrick’s and tonic as well as their brand knowledge. The top scoring bar in each state won a sunrise hot air balloon experience for six people. The prizewinning purveyors of the peculiar, otherwise known as Hendrick’s Gin, were Zeta Bar, Gin Palace, X&Y Bar and Libertine.

Neilsen Braid, Brett Clarke, Manuel Prior and Dorron Whaite from Zeta Bar in Sydney received a perfect score for their Hendrick’s and tonic. To impress Lord and Lady Hendrick’s they also created a Hendrick’s sorbet, served cucumber sushi and concocted a 72 Heraduka Lane cocktail topped with wasabi foam.

Rebecca Steenholdt, Nick Harris and Jimmy Whittington from Gin Palace in Melbourne, impressed Lord and Lady Hendrick’s with their attention to detail and received top marks. Their Hendrick’s and tonic was presented in a glass with rose water ice cubes and was covered with curls of cucumber. They also served cucumber sandwiches.

Two Brisbane bars presented faultless Hendrick’s and tonics and were awarded a joint first position. Alex Boon, Gerald Faundez and Kathryn McLay from X&Y Bar, served their Hendrick’s and tonic in an ornate jam jar, topped with elderflower and rose foam. The rose petals frozen into small ice cubes were particularly remarkable.

Lucy George, Czahn Armstrong, Steven Lusher and Joy Redmond from Libertine scored 15 out of 15 for their Hendrick’s and tonic. Lucy impressed Lady Hendrick’s by creating a special cocktail on request which combined Hendrick’s with a white chocolate liqueur.

Many bars also deserve credit for their creativity including Toko who fashioned a ‘thong’ made entirely from cucumber, Blu Bar on 36 for serving a giant ice ball in their Hendrick’s and tonic and Goldfish who separated all the ingredients of a traditional gin and tonic for a “raw” variation that allowed Lord Hendrick’s to recreate his own Hendrick’s and tonic to taste. Noteworthy cocktails created included the “Tazzy Berrie” at Spice Market, “Honey, have you seen my teapot” at Cookie and the “Most Unusual Pear” at 1806.

Roman Vargha, Hendrick’s brand manager at Suntory, commented: “The purpose of the on-premise visits was to engage with Australian bartenders and reinforce the unusual character of Hendrick’s Gin through Lord and Lady Hendrick’s.”

“Everyone’s creativity, passion and pride for Hendrick’s Gin was impressive and we congratulate them for their effort and enthusiasm.”

For more information be sure to checkout the Hendricks Gin Facebook group.

Longshot is a spiced, full-flavoured dark ale with notes of coffee and malt balancing to finish with a subtle hop bitterness. Beer drinkers will also enjoy a number of different roasted malts in Longshot. These give the beer wonderful flavours of toffee and chocolate that perfectly complement the coffee notes. Longshot also uses an ale yeast fermented at moderate temperatures which gives it a lift in the ester profile – the fruity character that’s found in some ales. With a coarse grind of the coffee beans and a cold extraction, the coffee was then added to the fermentation process and was carefully managed to keep the beer balanced.

Longshot is a challenging beer for the discerning beer drinker and is an ideal beer for food matching particularly with chocolate dishes and beef. Try Longshot with chargrilled Scotch fillet on a rosti stack with thyme mushrooms and sautéed spinach or 70% Belgian cocoa chocolate (the bitterness balances wonderfully with the coffee notes in the beer) in a decadent dark chocolate and pear tart.

Longshot will be available only from Dan Murphy’s from 1 July 2010 and will be a limited release while stocks last and with only 5,000 cases of Longshot being produced, beer lovers will need to get in quick to sample Matilda Bay’s newest brew.

Burleigh Brewing Co. My Wife’s Bitter.
Pale amber colour. Light toffee, toasted bread aromas follow through on a soft, supple entry to a dryish light-to-medium body with great balance and subtle hops on the chewy malt accented finish. A great interpretation of an English mild with a touch more sweet malt and spot on hops.
Awarded: Gold Medal
Judges Rating: 91 points (Exceptional)

Burleigh Brewing Co. Duke Pale Ale.
Brilliant amber colour. Nicely balanced toast, praline, and citrusy hop aromas and flavours on a crisp medium palate with a long, refreshing lightly piney hop finish. A spot on American style pale ale with seamless balance and an attractive fresh hop character.
Awarded: Gold Medal
Judges Rating: 92 points (Exceptional)

For more info on the complete Burleigh Brewing Co range be sure to check out their website at http://www.burleighbrewing.com/

About The Competition

Founded in 1994 the World Beer Championships is one of America’s oldest international beer competitions and was started by the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI). Beers are rated by judges using blind tastings on a 100 point scale and accolades awarded to brewers using a medal based system.

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My Wifes Bitter

Highlights for Australia include:

• Australia came third in the country tally board receiving 12 Trophies
• The International Shiraz Trophy went to Directors’ Cut, 2007 Heartland Wines, which in total received four Trophies (Australian Red Trophy, Australian Shiraz Trophy, South Australian Shiraz Trophy)
• Four Australian wines were awarded a Great Value Wine Award: Moon Bridge Riesling 2009 Alliance Wine Australia; Waitrose Reserve Shiraz 2008 St Hallett Wines; Campbells Rutherglen Muscat NV Campbells and the Tamar Ridge Kayena Vineyard Botrytis Riesling 2007 Tamar Ridge

France had the honour of coming top for the second year running, with 21 wines being awarded a Trophy, followed by Japan’s Sake category (14) in second place and Australia (12) in third, closely followed by Portugal (11).  Meanwhile Germany, Italy and New Zealand were each awarded 8. Camel Valley is England’s champion for 2010, winning the English Trophy for the second year running with its 2008 Pinot Noir Rosé Brut and more importantly the Sparkling Rosé Trophy, beating a high calibre of international competition.

The Trophy stage is the final round for these award-winning wines. Having already achieved a Gold medal through the Challenge’s rigorous judging process, the wines are tasted once more by an elite panel of judges against other wines in the same category, to determine if they are worthy of a Trophy in addition to their Gold medal.

Chris Ashton, IWC Event Director says: “The IWC has once again given support to the international wine market with these respected and influential awards. Winning a Trophy or Great Value Wine Award gives a wine real prestige. It is a well-earned recognition of the dedication and commitment that has gone into producing a top quality wine and puts the producers on the wine map of the world.

“A wine wearing the IWC Trophy logo helps consumers to quickly and easily identify exceptional high quality wines at a price point to suit every budget. In turn this quick recognition from the logo delivers increased sales for the producers.”

This year saw the highest-ever number of countries entering the competition with 46 nations battling it out on the wine field. Global wine expert and TV personality Oz Clarke joined the formidable judging panel of IWC Co-Chairmen – Tim Atkin MW, Sam Harrop MW, Charles Metcalfe and Derek Smedley MW.

Highlights of this year’s Trophy results:

• Former rugby star, Gérard Bertrand, celebrated a Trophy (La Clape Trophy) win with his Château L’Hospitalet ‘La Réserve’ 2008, France
• A wine from the Nederburg estate, the official winery to the World Cup, enjoyed Trophy success (Western Cape Botrytis Trophy) with their Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2009, South Africa
• German, Italy and New Zealand all won 8 trophies each

Co-Chairman Charles Metcalfe says: “The IWC is the world’s most carefully judged wine competition with judges rewarding faithfulness to region, country, variety and vintage. The competition at this final Trophy stage recognises true excellence and helps consumers identify at a glance some of the world’s best wines.”

For more information on the IWC and to see a complete list of all the winning wines please visit www.internationalwinechallenge.com

The all new ‘Beresford Sundays’ will be offering $5 wine, pints and basic spirits between 5–7pm and performances from some of Sydney’s top local acts including Murray Hood, Kitty Glitter, Jimmy Dee and James Tobin.

Already a celebrated Sunday institution amongst locals, the Beresford Hotel is the perfect place to catch up and chill out with friends for the last few free hours of the weekend.

Along with the Beresford’s recent cosmetic facelift, the food menu has been carefully redesigned by Mad Cow’s Head Chef Christopher Whitehead. The revamped menu offers both great food and affordable prices, with entrees from $9 – $18, and mains ranging from $18 – $27, with selected lunches available for $10 between 12-2pm, Monday – Friday.

The delectable food offerings include everything from tagliatelle with chilli, garlic, broccolini and anchovies, to a tantalizing passionfruit semifreddo with raspberry and rockmelon salad.

Award winning sommelier, Franck Moreau, has overhauled the wine list and a swizzle of class has been added to the cocktail list by mixologist Mikey Enright, with the addition of the ghettoblaster, lovebox and Beresford iced tea.

For more details on getting to The Beresford Hotel click here.

Bluetongue’s Brewmaster, Dermot O’Donnell says, “Starting up the brewery was such an exciting moment for the brewing team today. The 2 years of intense planning, hard work and around the clock commitment from the team seem to have paid dividends and we have had a successful start to the brewing process.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the new Bluetongue Brewery team, which has enormous potential to brew the highest quality beer brands. Pacific Beverages has created a very flexible brewery, which can brew a variety of beers ranging from traditional European lagers to modern American and Australian beer styles. The Brewery has significant brewing expertise with brewers from the original Bluetongue Brewery combining with the international expertise that the SABMiller team bring.”

O’Donnell explains, “The Bluetongue Brewery is unique in its design because it has twin-stream brew houses – a large and a small one under one roof, which allow for brewing flexibility to suit consumer and customer demand.

“You can be assured that the new Bluetongue Brewery has been engineered for taste, quality and flexibility. As an example, no one in Australia is utilising decoction technology to make traditional European lagers. This is a mashing technique that intensively extracts malt flavours to produce fuller flavoured beer.

“We are also using genuine draught sterile filtration, which is a special technique developed to maintain freshness and brightness in beer; the sort of beer that brewers love to drink. The centrifuge technology, which uses centrifugal force to separate the final yeast from beer post fermentation,enables ultimate beer clarity and polishes the beer to perfection. Sterile filling means the beer is not heat pasteurised and results in that wonderful brewery fresh taste that will make our beers unique.”

Pacific Beverages has successfully managed so far to capture 10% of the Australian market since its inception four years ago and their new brewery has been designed around a modular format allowing expansion as the company grows further in Australia.

The new brewery can also boast about being one of the most environmentally sustainable breweries in the world. The sustainability efforts have focused on six main areas namely water and energy consumption, product packaging usage, waste generation (water and solids), atmospheric emissions and considered land use.

The largest investment has been in the water recovery plant, which utilises the most modern technology including an anaerobic methane reactor, aerobic (membrane biological reactor) and reverse osmosis treatments to produce high quality reusable water. This recycled water will be channelled in to the general maintenance of the brewery including wash down and cleaning, boilers, refrigeration, staff amenities and fire water top-up that results in water usages equalling about half the global average. The Brewery has also invested in storm-water harvesting to capture 900,000 litres for later supply to help sustain the much needed water for the future Porters Creek scheme.

Peter McLoughlin further expands on the sustainability credentials, “From an energy perspective, we are in a position to recover the methane from the anaerobic part of the water plant and feed it into a methane boiler. When the boiler is operating at a full head of steam we will get a 15% reduction in energy. Combining this with all the other sustainability measures we have implemented across the brewery, such as flash pasteurisation and dry bottle conveyors, our carbon footprint has been substantially reduced”.

Some Bluetongue History

Bluetongue Brewery was founded in 2003 by four entrepreneurs who set out to create a premium Australian beer with the iconic stamp of their local region. The original Bluetongue Brewery is located in the Hunter region at Cameron Park, where a team of passionate local brewers oversee the creation of the Bluetongue range of beers. After being purchased by Pacific Beverages in 2007, the brand continues to grow in popularity. Pacific Beverages, the joint venture Company formed by Australia’s largest non-alcoholic beverage company Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) and global brewer SABMiller, has invested $120 million into the construction of the new brewery which will be fully operational by mid 2010. The $120 million Bluetongue Brewery, which will have an initial annual capacity of 50 million litres, expandable to 100 million litres over time, will be the State’s second largest brewery.

Fast Fact: The new Bluetongue Brewery can produce up to 1 million bottles per day at full production. When at full capacity each days production of bottles placed end to end would stretch 109km!