Photos & Review: Beer Festival Degustation Dinner

Hawkers stout ice cream, chocolate & Nutella parfait, honeycomb and berries matched with Bright Brewery Staircase Porter & Hawkers Stout.

Beer, cider and fine dining combined in a treat for the senses at a beer degustation dinner at the Goods Shed Wodonga to launch the Great Australian Beer Festival.

A delicious menu of gazpacho, kingfish ceviche, pork belly parcels and lamb rack matched with different varieties of craft beer and cider proved a hit.

But perhaps the biggest taste sensation was a beer flavoured dessert, prepared by Monumental Ice Cream using Hawkers Stout which got tongues wagging.

Any hesitation about sampling ice-cream using the unusual ‘secret ingredient’ was quickly put aside judging by the lack of ‘left overs’ on the plates.

The event was hosted by craft beer blogger and ambassador Pete Mitcham (aka Professor Pilsner) and included chats with the brewers featured in the degustation.

“The first thing about tonight is we’ve got a real mix of hard core beer people, but also I’m meeting people just starting out on their beer journey,” Pete said.

“What tonight has shown is you don’t need a level of expertise of knowledge that perhaps people might feel they need to have to enjoy a wine dinner.

Local and visiting brewers gather for the Great Australian Beer Degustation Dinner at Goods Shed Wodonga.

“We’ve also broken down those barriers of red wine with red meat and white wine with fish – we’ve learnt for example how a crisp, clean, thirst quenching pilsner with a sourdough bread or gazpacho just jumps in the mouth.”

“The beer dinner has also been about bringing a community together, with a brewer or two at every table, sharing their love and passion about their craft beer or cider, their ideals and why they got into it in the first place.”

For updates on the Great Australian Beer Festival visit: https://www.facebook.com/GABFAlbury