This weekend, myself and a few mates went along to the Brewsvegas: How to be a Real Man Masterclass, held at Brewski Bar on Caxton Street. There was only 15 limited seats to this event, which promised a day (6 hours) of beer, beef, hipster haircuts and other manly activities.
The event kicked off bright and early on Sunday at 8:30am, starting off right with a Brekky Beer from Newstead Brewing Co. I was feeling pretty shagged but after this full of flavour (and coffee) drink, I was perked up and ready for what was next. Mark from Newstead started off showing the process for making the beer (White Stout) that we had just drunk. Adam from Edge Brewing Project (Melbourne) also spoke about his gypsy-type brewing he does, using someone else's equipment, make a brew and bottle/sell it.
Next up was the Shank Bros, Mikey and Ralphie, showing off their BBQ pits - a nice ProQ smoker, sideways Keg they'd converted and there was a Weber Go-Anywhere for putting their chimney starter on. This was what I was most interested in. These boys mentioned they're heading to Port Macquarie next week to compete at the Blues and BBQ Festival, taking those smokers and an Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) they have at home. It was also at this point they mentioned their other team mate had been smoking a brisket on that UDS and he'd be bringing that in later (14 hour cook). More on that in a bit.
They cooked up some lamb racks with a special coffee based rub on it. Being someone who doesn't like coffee or the coffee flavour, it was so mild, it didn't bother me and was quite nice. They also cooked up some pork loins in a char siu sauce that was delicious. This has made me want to get some cuts of pork loin and do some funky stuff with it. On the keg pit, they had a lamb roast on a rotisserie with rosemary, that just gave some nice smokey flavours, complimenting the smells coming from the beer brewing.
But it was that brisket that was the highlight for me. They also had burnt ends ! When I heard someone say there's these little chunks of burnt meat, I just finished with my haircut and ran straight outside to try them. Burnt ends were awesome; they had one with a hot chilli sauce that was on the money for me, but I heard a few others say it was too hot for them. Later on, when I was speaking with one of the pitmasters, Alan, we discussed how much we like chilli and how this man loves his hot chilli, so much so his wife says he's broken :)
Anyway, back to that brisket. It had a great smoke ring and the dry rub was simple (salt, pepper and paprika) that it just let the beef flavour of the meat speak for itself.
Max, the chef from Brewski Bar, also made up a chilli sauce using ghost chillies and bird eyes, and at the end of the day, we got to take a small jar of the sauce home. Pity it wasn't the same sauce he made on the day, it wasn't as hot, but was still good.
Thank you to Brewski Bar for putting up with us on the day (and the beers), Shank Bros for answering all my BBQ competition questions, Jimmy Rods for the haircut and the brewmasters, Mark from Newstead Brewing Co and Adam Northdown from Edge Brewing Project.
The event kicked off bright and early on Sunday at 8:30am, starting off right with a Brekky Beer from Newstead Brewing Co. I was feeling pretty shagged but after this full of flavour (and coffee) drink, I was perked up and ready for what was next. Mark from Newstead started off showing the process for making the beer (White Stout) that we had just drunk. Adam from Edge Brewing Project (Melbourne) also spoke about his gypsy-type brewing he does, using someone else's equipment, make a brew and bottle/sell it.
Next up was the Shank Bros, Mikey and Ralphie, showing off their BBQ pits - a nice ProQ smoker, sideways Keg they'd converted and there was a Weber Go-Anywhere for putting their chimney starter on. This was what I was most interested in. These boys mentioned they're heading to Port Macquarie next week to compete at the Blues and BBQ Festival, taking those smokers and an Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) they have at home. It was also at this point they mentioned their other team mate had been smoking a brisket on that UDS and he'd be bringing that in later (14 hour cook). More on that in a bit.
They cooked up some lamb racks with a special coffee based rub on it. Being someone who doesn't like coffee or the coffee flavour, it was so mild, it didn't bother me and was quite nice. They also cooked up some pork loins in a char siu sauce that was delicious. This has made me want to get some cuts of pork loin and do some funky stuff with it. On the keg pit, they had a lamb roast on a rotisserie with rosemary, that just gave some nice smokey flavours, complimenting the smells coming from the beer brewing.
But it was that brisket that was the highlight for me. They also had burnt ends ! When I heard someone say there's these little chunks of burnt meat, I just finished with my haircut and ran straight outside to try them. Burnt ends were awesome; they had one with a hot chilli sauce that was on the money for me, but I heard a few others say it was too hot for them. Later on, when I was speaking with one of the pitmasters, Alan, we discussed how much we like chilli and how this man loves his hot chilli, so much so his wife says he's broken :)
Anyway, back to that brisket. It had a great smoke ring and the dry rub was simple (salt, pepper and paprika) that it just let the beef flavour of the meat speak for itself.
Max, the chef from Brewski Bar, also made up a chilli sauce using ghost chillies and bird eyes, and at the end of the day, we got to take a small jar of the sauce home. Pity it wasn't the same sauce he made on the day, it wasn't as hot, but was still good.
Thank you to Brewski Bar for putting up with us on the day (and the beers), Shank Bros for answering all my BBQ competition questions, Jimmy Rods for the haircut and the brewmasters, Mark from Newstead Brewing Co and Adam Northdown from Edge Brewing Project.