After early morning coffee and pastry from Mimolette and a walk to look at the iconic music pub the Windsor Castle which was a block or two from the Windsor Ale House I headed down to met Shane at The Bach , a kiwi themed cafe in St Kilda / Balaclava for brunch. I went full Melbourne with smashed avo on toast and it was very good. Later we checked out a local bottle shop with a huge range , after much searching we found La Mure on the shelf. Then I headed back to the Windsor. I was meant to be heading to Catfish to lunch with the team but instead was lured back to St Kilda to meet up with Dan , Calum , and Ciaran. A few pints at Freddie Wimpoles the England Pint of Origin, and then across the road to The Fifth Provence the Ireland Pint of Origin. Then I was rounded up by team Better Beer and we went off to visit Grape and Grain , the beer buyer there was a chap called Liam originally from Wellington who I recognised as I used to serve him at Regional.
Then we visited a fine wine store called Prince Wine Store before popping into a seafood restaurant at The Markets for a few snacks. I spied Rochefort 10 on the menu. It was a pretty unusual inclusion alongside a range of mainstream lagers and a easy going pale ales. It came out with a big glassphimous frosted mug and tasted amazing. Then it was on to the Market Hotel for some Caribbean food and the tasting. The barrel blending masterclass went really well, we had heaps of good questions, my pick being the negative twist on the more common “which is the favourite of your beers?” with “which of your beers don’t you like?” .
On this occasion my southern accommodation worked out with a very quick trip home after the event.