I love living where I do. I grew up, as did my wife, in a suburb not far away and together we have raised a family and put down roots in the area. We are close to most of what we need or might want and we are a short drive from both the bustling city of Melbourne and the serenity of the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley, beaches and the Mornington Peninsula. Pretty good, huh?

But one thing has been missing from this Arcadian idyll.

Beer.

Good beer.

Not plenty of it – just any of it!

There are places a-plenty where the thirsty reveller can refresh his soul and there are pubs and clubs and big soulless beer barns pouring mega-gallons of mass produced ‘factory beer’ – but there is very little choice. Does this situation exist because people out this way simply don’t want good beer or is it that they don’t drink good beer because venues don’t offer it? Chicken/egg.

Whatever the reason, when the opportunity arises to begin to redress this imbalance, you have to do what you can. To this end, the management team down at Club Kilsyth, a large community benefit type function/bar/pokies/bistro venue 45 minutes from the CBD, asked for assistance.

They attended the Gold Medal Beer Dinner at The Terminus Hotel in Clifton Hill during Good Beer Week and liked the thought of presenting a wider range of beers to their members and guests in something of a more informal and – dare I say it – less ‘judgemental’ atmosphere. Yours truly was only too willing to answer the call.

And so it shall come to pass that on Thursday October 27th Beer Blokes will proudly host what we all hope will be a regular fixture on the Club’s calendar of events – a Journey through Australian Beer. We have selected five beers that are broadly representative of the many styles available and will introduce the punters to the different characters that beer can present as well as providing food matching ideas and historical background. All in a very fun and un-schoolish way, of course.

Club Kilsyth has showcased both Matilda Bay and Prickly Moses beers previously and this time around we hope to give the punters a broad appreciation of all things beery, hopefully allowing them to find themselves a new favourite amongst the range.

Of course, this whole Beer Revolution works both ways and I would hope that, in the same way that we few enlightened souls from East Of Glenferrie have travelled inner citywards to support the venues doing the right thing to an appreciative audience, that you, too, would help us to share the joys of good beer with our outer eastern suburban fellows. We’d love to see you there.

To that end I have two Premium* tickets to give away to anyone willing to turn the car in the direction of the Dandenongs and come out to support us in our endeavours. There will be five classic representations of Australian Craft Beers in tasting sizes along with finger food, Prof’s legendary trivia quiz and give aways to boot. For those who don’t win the tickets you can book at Club Kilsyth where tickets are just $45 for non-members. Details below.

To have a chance of winning the tickets, just e-mail me at win_stuff@brewsnews.com.au with the words ‘I’ll Help You’ in the subject box and Matt will pick a random winner. If you’re outside Victoria you’ll need to get yourself there. Obviously. This is Brews News afterall.

Club Kilsyth is on the corner of Colchester and Canterbury Roads, Bayswater North. www.clubkilsyth.com.au Phone 9761 4233

*To be fair, the Premium tickets are pretty much exactly the same as all the other tickets except that you will receive them from me personally.

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