Overview
There's never been a better excuse to indulge in a hair of the dog. 4 Pines Beer, in collaboration with Surry Hills' Single Origin Roasters, have conjured up the equivalent of Up & Go for beer enthusiasts by adding banana bread and espresso butter to the brewing process. It follows in the footsteps of such notable food/beer crossovers as spreadable beer and avocado beer.
They'll be launching the ultimate breakfast beer, along with their new Porky Fig creation (a beer that tastes like East Village Hotel's famous pig and fig pizza), on Thursday October 24, at 7pm, as part of Sydney Craft Beer Week. Two free public 'Beer Mimics Food' events will run simultaneously, catering to beer connoisseurs on either side of the bridge — one at the 4 Pines Brew Pub, Manly, and the other at the East Village Hotel, Balmain.
So how did two such unlikely taste breakthroughs come about? In the first case, 4 Pines head brewer Andrew Tweddell, along with Single Origin's head barista, Sean McManus, and coffee buyer, Wendy de Jong, spent a day dressed in banana suits, figuring out how to blend their specialities into one flavoursome, alcoholic powerhouse. Adopting a wheat-style brewing method, they diverted from the usual grain-driven strategy by adding 16 kilograms of banana bread and a batch of carefully selected Brazilian coffee beans to the mix.
In the second, it was a matter of recognising that one of Balmain's most popular dishes could translate into drinkable goodness. The Porky Fig is reputed to smell as good as it tastes. Both beers are limited edition, and following the launch events, will be stocked at the 4 Pines Brew Pub and the East Village — only until they run out.