The Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular @ The Local Taphouse, Darlinghurst

While I've gotten into beer in a pretty big way in the past 1-2 years, my knowledge of Australian craft beer is pretty limited. I've also never been to The Local Taphouse before, despite it having a good reputation for things.

So when I heard that The Local Taphouse was holding an event where 22 of Australia's craft brewers would be showing off neverbeforeseen beers, it had to be the perfect storm.

So the way this thing works is that The Local invites a selection of craft brewers to brew either a totally unique beer for the event, or to launch a new beer on the night. The result is some pretty crazy stuff (read the super-refreshing 'Cucumber Sandwich' by Mountain Goat Brewery and the extremely spicy chilli chocolate porter from Hunter Beer Co).

My main worry was that I'd have to choose what beers I wanted to try. How wrong I was. They offer small 60ml tastings, so it actually is possible to try every beer on offer without going broke and dying from overconsumption.

It was a fantastic night and a great way to try out a whole heap of new craft breweries. Can't wait for the next one.

My ratings of all of the beers are as follows (and are heavily subjective):
1. Last Drop - Original Fass Bier. 83
2. Mountain Goat - Cucumber Sandwich. 76
3. Otway - Organic Blueberry Hefeweizen. Sold out when we got there.
4. Kooinda - Raspberry Wit. 54 (I can't stand witbiers)
5. Burleigh Brewing - Fanny Gertrude's Anzac Bickie Beer. 75
6. Wig & Pen - kb (Berliner Weisse). 71
7. Stone & Wood - Red Relief. 75
8. True South - Cherry Bomb (cherry and coconut porter). 85
9. Lobethal/Brew Boys - Quince Pale Ale. 88
10. Doctor's Orders - Zephyr (double white ale). 0 (I HATE white ales and can't rate this)
11. Hunter - Chocolate Chilli Porter. 81
12. Hargreaves/Red Hill - 2 Hills Maibock. 85
13. 4 Pines - Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale). 91
14. Feral - Karma Citra (Black IPA). 87
15. Jamieson - Lemon Myrtle IPA. 86
16. Holgate - The Empress (imperial mocha porter). 91
17. Bridge Road - Big Red Rocket (imperial red ale). 92
18. Murray's Imperious (imperial belgian blond). 88