Thursday 15 January 2015

Xmas 2014 in Beer - The quest to find a Furphy

Hey all, so rather than writing my usual set of beer tasting notes, I've decided today to do a recount of my epic quest to track down the elusive 'Furphy' beer that I'd been selling for months but had never seen nor tasted, and I wasn't OK with that at all! 

The quest started on December 28th, the day after Boxing day. After having our big Cowell family Xmas lunch the day before, the ladies of the family had run off to go shopping, leaving the blokes to sit around and watch day 2 of the Boxing Day test:

Pictured: Us clinching the series with a decisive... draw
When we hit lunch, I decided it was time for us to leave Queenscliff, and make the journey over to Geelong to track down the Little Creatures brewery, and the treasure, Furphy. 30 minutes later, we were there

Yes I was too lazy to get out of the car, thanks for asking
From a distance, the brewery is pretty unassuming, having been built in the old Wool factory, but the main chimney stands up high and is visible from miles away!

We headed along the walkway from our car to the brewery, stopping along the way to check out some of the cool decoration, until we found ourselves in a lovely leafy courtyard

I checked inside for Furphy but found only rust. Sadness
I think the pot to the left is watching me...
The rest of the family grabbed a table, but I headed inside to check out the bar. The setup they have is quite cool, a joint dining hall and bar that even has a 50L brewing system installed in one of the walls!

A pretty nice bar setup if I do say so myself
I would kill for a system this good
I finally got to the front of the queue at the bar, when I saw it; Furphy on tap! I grabbed a round and headed outside to sample Furphy for the first time!

Couldn't help having a sip before the photo... oops
In the glass, Furphy is a pale golden orange colour with ample white head and solid lacing. Aroma is a mix of floral and fruity notes with a little bit of sweetness. 
Bodywise, it's very light and only lightly carbonated.
On the palate, it's initially light, floral and a tad grassy before the hops come through, showing some stone-fruit flavours and adding a solid amount of bitterness. 
Overall, a fantastic Kolsch-style beer that's flavoursome but still light and super sessionable.

Overall: 4/5

I soon realised I wouldn't be happy just having one of these awesome beers, so I headed inside to search for pack beer. At first it seemed hopeless, there was literally every other Creatures beer available except for Furphy...

All the beer in the world but no Furphy...
Until I realised I'm completely blind and it was sitting in the entranceway to the bar the whole time.

Victory is mine!

I grabbed a case and headed back to Queenscliff victorious. However it turns out that no matter how hard you try, you can't fit an entire case of beer in a piece of carry-on luggage. 2 6-packs made the trip back to Sydney with me, while the other 2 went to family members who I know were eager to enjoy a fairly unique beer!

I'm hoping I can bring a 6-pack into work and run a small tasting for anyone who's keen in the near future, Lion People, keep an eye on this space!

Thanks for reading guys, I'll try to get back to my normal bi-weekly blogs starting now, so keep an eye out for my next post!

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