Beergustation? Beer-loody Beer-eautiful!

The Gully Public House and Garden - 1349 North East Road, Tea Tree Gully, SA

Beer-ring it on! they said, and once again, Luciana from RD Jones delivered the goods with a fantastic and unique event. Five courses, matched with 10 beers, at a well supported event in the superb ambiance of the Tea Tree Gully Public House and Garden.

The chef was brilliant and during the night explained the thinking behind the innovative dishes. This delightful evening proved that you can match beer with food as successfully as the more traditional degustation settings. 

Menu

We were greeted by our favourite French twins, the Kronenbourg 1664 and the Kronenbourg blanc. Your writer must confess to being a Kronenbourg fan from way back, unfortunately not quite as far back as 1664. He must also confess to recently discovering and having a French dalliance with the blanc version. Who’d have thought it could be improved? Well, there is a way. It’s apparently done by matching it with a fantastic triple cheese appetiser and caramelised onion tartlet. The sweetness of the cheese matched brilliantly with the white beer.

Kronenbourg + Tart

What a start to the night, as all discussion revolved around the bar being set very high straight from the get-go. We knew we were in for a treat!

Hot on the heels of this impressive commencement was the pork belly marinated in beer. And not only beer, but Carlton Draught Tank Beer. And not just marinated, but soaked in the stuff for an entire 24 hours! The ginger in the pork belly came through brilliantly, and even before trying it, you knew the tank beer soaking it had received, was going to add something special to an already favourite dish. It did.

Lazy Yak + Marinated Pork Belly

Having been to a tank beer launch earlier in the year, we learnt of the unique “untouched by air” nature of the beer and how it differed from the standard draught offering. However, now being able to compare it side by side with other beers really did support the more premium nature of the beer. The Lazy Yak was also matched to this course and this proved to be an old favourite that performed well.

Radler + Seafood selection

Next came the seafood session. Sections of our table flagged this as the course that was likely to be hard to beat. The crispiness of the Szechuan squid and wakami salad was delicious and the prawns with the black pepper and lime crusting were incredible. Then topping off the “fish and chips and beer” course was the whiting, which was perfectly cooked and matched exquisitely with the Rogers and Radler.

The background of the Radler, as highlighted by the brewery team, was developed because the brewers had started innovating to liven up some long days at work. Who would have thought, getting bored in a brewery!! The result was the Radler, and you can see this light and refreshing beer having a niche market all of it’s own heading into another hot summer.

Next up was the lamb and beef brisket. The large serving of lamb with the “help yourself” knife on the large share plate showed up some interesting amateur carving techniques at our table, but some would say that this added to the uniqueness of each cut. The fresca was outstanding and paired brilliantly with the lamb.

This course was matched with beers from 4 Pines, a fantastic Manly brewery. The American Pale Ale was one of the items that caught our attention at the start of the night, and it was a hit. A fruit and malt fusion!  The Kolsch also had some fans at our table.

As the night started to head towards a close, out then came the palate cleanser, and POW!, didn't it have some real zing! I'm a bit of a fan of ciders at the best of times, but this Miss Molly Grape Cider was completely unique and perfectly timed.

Dessert selection

However, a wave of anticipation centred over our part of the table when the King Kong stout made it’s presence known in the room. We had been looking at this on the menu for a couple of weeks, and a hush descended upon us. Safe to say….. we were not disappointed! A mix of sweetness with a genuine stout roasted flavour gave the perfect ending to a great night out. This matched perfectly with the exquisite stout infused truffles and tartlets.

Once again, a fantastic event, hosted by the ever friendly Luciana in a great setting. A perfect combination of a great chef and 5 brilliant and gracious brew organisations coming together to form a great night out.