While a midweek night out in Newcastle is usually reserved for local university students, there was no way I was going to miss enjoying great beers, at a top venue with good people… and a chance to revisit my old stomping ground.

I jumped in the car and travelled the couple of hours north of Sydney solo, as Richard was unable to attend. Arriving just before 6pm at Silo Restaurant & Lounge, it wasn’t long before I was talking to various beer lovers about all things beer related… with the most attention-grabbing discussion that of BrewDog’s recent brew, Sink the Bismarck(the world’s strongest beer at 41% ABV).

While there was no Tactical Nuclear Pengiun (the worlds 3rd strongest beer also brewed by BrewDog with an ABV of 32%) or Sink the Bismark available, the line up of beers was fantastic. A selection of both domestic and international brews had been assembled which included beers from Flying Dog, Redoak, Steel River, Murray’s and Otway Estate to name a few. The special beer of the night was one brewed by Keith Grice of Hunter Brewing Co and Doc from Beer Aholix and Aussie Homebrew. Together they had created what is recognised as a very difficult beer style to brew; Gose, which uses coriander and salt during the brewing process. It is definitely a very different beer with its sour lemon tartly taste and saltiness which I had never experienced in a brew before. They have a few kegs left at the Hunter Brewing Co, if you are in the area I would recommend dropping by to try it as it is not often brewed outside of Northern Germany. The Gose beer style is an exception to the German Purity law (that a beer must contain only water, barley, and hops), this is based on the grounds that it is a regional specialty.

The night was rounded out with over $1,000 worth of beer related prices given away, including tickets to the 2010 Beer and Brewer expo, Warners At the Bay vouchers and of course beer! If you have a chance to get to a Beer and Brewer magazine launch I would highly recommend it. And if you are in Newcastle, drop into Silo as they are one of the best beer venues in Newcastle.

Cheers,
Geoff