Try Young Henrys' Special Art-Inspired Beer at Up Late with The Greats

Overview

How'd you like to drink a beer inspired by Diego Velazquez inside the Art Gallery of NSW? Sydneysiders, this is an actual thing you can do this summer.

When the sun goes down every Wednesday, the AGNSW decks the halls with jam-packed evenings of talks, guided tours, and live music for a super-charged extension of the Gallery's usual Wednesday night Art After Hours program that will run on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, dubbed Up Late with The Greats. And while you're drinking in art history talks with Hannah Gadsby, taking a salon drawing class, or perusing The Greats, you can actually drink a special edition beer each night, inspired by the exhibition itself and created by none other than Young Henrys.

Newtown's favourite brewers were invited to take a tour through the now-showing exhibition to come up with a very unique beer inspired by the Titians, Botticellis, Gauguins and Degas works all the way from the National Galleries of Scotland. "It's not often you get to work with Monet to brew a beer," Sam Fuss, Young Henrys' head brewer, told AGNSW. "We're drawing our inspiration from what's inside the actual painting, inside the art, whether it's the atmosphere, the colour."

Fuss chose two 17th century paintings from the exhibition to draw beermaking inspiration from: Gerrit Dou’s An interior with a young viola player, and Diego Velazquez's Old woman cooking eggs (two of our six artworks you shouldn't miss at The Greats). "Smoked malt was a little reminiscent of being in a tavern," says Fuss. "We just thought that we would keep the hops to a minimum because it was probably a little bit more reminiscent of the beers back in that day."

You'll be able to taste Young Henrys' creation Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights for Up Late with The Greats. After the Gallery's usual closing time of 5pm, you can take an extended jaunt through The Greats exhibition and partake in a ramped up range of activities. On Wednesday nights, celebrated comedian and SERIOUS art nerd Hannah Gadsby will be unveiling her SERIOUS art history chops and treating gallery-goers to a VERY SERIOUS rundown of different eras of Western art history each week. There'll also be salon drawing on Thursday nights, and live music by members of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra on Friday nights.

Up Late With The Greats will run Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays from January 6 – 29.

By Annie Murney and Shannon Connellan.

Image: Young Henrys.