Armakeggon 2012

The local boutique beer bar runs a craft beer festival called Armakeggon every year, which features a number of exotic beers served over the day. This year it included 40 different beers which were available in three 2 hour intervals. To fit every beer in this meant the festival opened at 10am, although we got down there at just after 11. Time enough to try a couple of the early brews, although Liz was a little startled sampling an 7.4% IPA at a time when she's normally finishing breakfast.

 It was enough to make my hair stand on end

When we arrived we were given a menu to plan our drinking journey, and it was heavily referred to over the next few hours

This year it turns out that Imperial Stouts, Porters & Black IPAs are in vogue. I thought they were a little over-represented and sometimes everything just got a little too roasty but apart from that it was a fine afternoon. Looking back over the list we sampled -

• Harringtons Hop Tremor IPA (7.4%) - nice, very hoppy, a classic IPA
• Bacchus Gose (4.4%) - this was a 'salt and sour spiced ale' that I was very keen to try, but it tasted more like a pale wheat beer with only a hint of lactic sourness
• Kuichi Hitachino Sake aged Belgian Strong (8%) - had a very rich spirit taste to it which overwhelmed most of the flavour 
• Invercargill Red Hot Chocolate Chilli Stout (5%) - I liked this, smooth and with a mild chilli burn
• Mike's Heavy Petal IPA (6.7%) - an IPA with an infused rose petal flavour. I couldn't pick it though
• Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta IPA (6.5%) - an earl grey infused IPA that Liz enjoyed. I'm more of a coffee man. 
• Hopdog Children of Darkness Indian Black Ale (6.6%) - a bit too hoppy for the roastiness, or should that be too roast for the hoppiness?
• Murray's Wild Thing Imperial Stout (10%) - this was tasty but scarily strong
• Amasia Mash Rumweizen (7%) - didn't expect to like this sweet fruity toffee beer but it was surprisingly tasty
• Raspberry Schwartzbier (4.6%) - a refreshingly tart dark beer, one of the standouts for me as I didn't expect to like it 
• Little Creatures Quiet American Brett infused Belgian Strong (8.8%)  - I liked this, the lactic taste complimented the wheatiness well
• Murray's The Abyss Farmhouse Imperial Stout (11.3%) - not sure what made this 'Farmhouse', it tasted like the other Imperials of the day
• Bacchus War'n'Peat Imperial Stout aged in whiskey barrels (12.4%) - very nice, and more than a little scary

It was fun afternoon, and each glass was only 200ml so we were drinking responsibly :)

Trotting down to the Gold Coast

As I had Friday off we decided we'd treat ourselves to a bargain getaway break down at the Gold Coast. Last time we were down there we'd noticed that there was a YHA hostel right next to the Marina, and with the only neighbouring hotels being the Palazzo Versace and the Sheraton Mirage it looked like a champagne location at a beer price. Well, a fizzy overly-sweet chardonnay at a beer price - this is the Gold Coast after all.

Conveniently located next to the youth hostel is the Fishermans Tavern, aka 'the Fisho'

 This was a fine place for an afternoon drink or two

 As well as a pre-dinner evening drink or two

and a sumptuous breakfast (no drinks this time!)

Because the hostel room wasn't an ensuite we had to walk outside to go to the toilet and bathroom, but given the location of the hostel it was a 'loo with a view'.  

Despite it being a working marina the water was beautifully clear

and as we ate breakfast we were lucky enough to be the only two people on the deck to see two dolphins surface and swim past only a few metres away. We think they were the performing dolphins at the Seaworld resort just up the road, and they were clocking in for the morning shift.

On the other side of the road is a surf beach, which was remarkably empty given the proximity to Surfers Paradise and also very beautiful

The beaches have taken a bit of a battering with recent heavy winter seas eroding a lot of the sand away, leaving ominous looking sand cliffs that needed to be climbed to get out

Unfortunately the sand cliffs proved too much of a hurdle for this pet pig so it had to stay on the path instead. Which is a shame, because I think the whole of the Gold Coast wanted to see this little porker playing in the surf...

Holiday tunes

I've got a long weekend ahead, making use of days in lieu built up when I was in Malaysia. Woot!

Yeah baby I'm free! Until Tuesday at least.

Ipswich Cyclocross 2012

Wintertime is cyclocross time and the Queensland State Champs were on in Ipswich at the weekend. This isn't as grand as it sounds as there are only 2 Cx races in Queensland this year. For some reason this muddy, dirty sport of hard men hasn't taken off in the Sunshine State - maybe we're too busy at the beach  - but a few hardy souls gathered to brave the windswept plains of Jim Finmore Park and risk their gastro-intestinal wellness tackling Hepatitis creek.

 As you can see, it smelt worse than it looked.

So what is Cyclocross (Cx)? It's a sport designed to keep road bikers fit in the off-season in the days before stationary bikes, hypobaric chambers, high altitude training and blood transfusions (or should that 'be dodgy steak'?). It mainly takes place on a grassy field - and for those of you that have never ridden a bike any distance on grass, that's hard work in its own right

Just in case your heart rate starts to drop there are barriers to dismount for and jump over

and the course was not smooth - it wound its way up and down a few hill and lung-busting hummocks

At the far end of the circuit there was even a short flight of stairs to be run up, although unfortunately that was too far from the bar for me to take any pictures of. But I'm assured it was tough!

However the real hero of the course was Hepatitis Creek, a murky muddy watercourse that wound its way along part of the course. There was no way around it so it was just 'pick up your bike and get it done'

Although a couple of people were game enough to ride it

It was a bit obsessive trying to get the grossest, closest picture of the creek crossing

and at times I got a little too close

After a mild splashing I decided it was safer to retreat to the bar and watch (and heckle) the racing in relative safety

Drinking beer and ringing cowbells is an integral part of watching cyclocross. Sure, the guys out there are working hard (last year Aaron's heart rate average was 182bpm for 50 minutes) but spectating can have it's pressures too. Particularly on the bladder during the drive home...

For Pete

Still disappointed?

I love a challenge :)

The Laurels

The Laurels are a 4-piece band from Sydney that produce luscious hard-edged psychedelic shoegaze music

They're a hard working, hard touring band that have an awesome live show and are playing in Brisbane at the Beetle Bar tonight. I was planning on going - I've been planning on going for weeks - but looking at the set list I don't think they will be on stage until late. Will I be able to motivate myself to leave the flat this evening after a long week? And if I do will I be able to stay awake long enough to see them? Sadly, probably not. That's another good reason to go to gigs to watch the up-and-coming support bands instead of the headline act - as well as the coolness factor you get to go to bed earlier :).

Barefoot in the belly of the beast

We had a demo in Sydney this morning, and to make sure we could get there on time we had to fly down last night. I was at another client in Brisbane during the day yesterday so I didn't check into the hotel until 9.30pm, but luckily the demo didn't start until after 9am the next day which gave me time to go for a early morning run through the CBD, through Hyde Park and out onto the bridge that crosses Darling Harbour.

It was a bit nippy out at first but once I got moving it was fine, although the locals I passed on the way seemed to be a bit more dressed than I was. 

 A couple of hours later I was suited and booted and doing my stuff high up in the matrix.

 We finished early which gave me time for some bike ogling

and then some liquid recuperation - IPA from the Redoak microbrewery

Brisbane had a public holiday today, which means that I get a day off in lieu for todays efforts. Maybe I'll have a long weekend in Sydney?