First Foray

We had some free time after dinner on Tuesday night, so we hopped on the train downtown to look for beers. First stop, Young and Jackson's hotel, right across from the Flinders Street Station. Y&J is an institution in Melbourne, and is home to the famous Chloe. (I'll leave it to the curious to Google her.) There are four bars throughout the pub, and they specialize these days in Aussie craft beer. We had pots of steam beer from Mountain Goat, crisp and fruity, an IPA from Bridge Road, Fat Yak pale ale from Matilda Bay, and an estery (pear) White Rabbit Brown Ale. The "pot" is a small glass of beer, 10 oz., and is peculiar to Melbourne. (Everybody in Detroit knows it's properly called a shell!) Y&J also recognizes how well suited to good food craft beer is. Check it out:

From there, we headed across to Federation Square, and Beer Deluxe. This is a fancy beer bar, with a selection of hard to find Australian and imported beers. And they've got a Randall!



Mrs. Cicerone couldn't resist getting the Temple pale ale that was pouring forth from it. 'Twas very fine, indeed. A pale ale from Mountain Goat made with New Zealand Riwaka hops suited me just fine. We also split a bottle of Epic Armageddon IPA, a malty, juicy hop bomb that reminded Mr. Cicerone of Alpha King.

Then, a taste of Moo Brew oak aged Imperial Stout, very rare, and very oaky. Noice, as they say in these parts. We had a great time chattering on about beer with the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff there, and will be back on Saturday to visit with Barney, who will soon be travelling to the states to sit the Cicerone exam. Stay tuned....

Special note to the people behind Windows Vista and 7: Die. Painfully.