HomebrewandBeer.com forum

my favourite pub would have to be holgates brewery in woodend,they brew some excellent beers there,its very hard for me to decide my favourite beer there, the food is ecellent and reasnable (try the dark beer pie its great) the porter is wounderful so's the big red mt macedon ale is on the top of my list wish I could work out the recipie. if your not driving try double trouble a superb beer.I reckon O'sullivans in Essendon is a great place for a quiet beer during the week fri and sat too many little boys trying to impress the girls ,but if youve never been to the quiet man in flemington I suggest you go there its one of the best irish pubs you can go to.bells hotel in south melb is great too I'm a big fan of quality beer not quantity of beers ,thats one part of the inspiration to brew my own enjoy!

The only reason I used to go to Bell's was to watch footy on the big screen. Didn't go last season though, and I didn't miss it.

Franky, I reckon it's one of Melbourne's most overrated pubs. The beer's bloody pricey, the food's ludicrously expensive and favours quantity over quality, and some of the regular staff are surley and disinterested.

Billy Bell sold it recently for more than $6.5m and it was "last drinks" just before Christmas (you should have seen the stories in the papers and on TV). Apparently the new owners are now trying to lease it on a 25-(or so) year deal for $2.5m up-front plus $250,000 a year!

So you can expect the beer and food prices to rise if anyone's silly enough to pay that sort of price to lease it.

Anyway, just my thoughts

Cheers,

Oliver

Bangers, I used to live in Strathmore and I have to agree O'Sullivans is a nice place to have a quiet one during the week and yes don't bother Fri & Sat nights. What a bunch of morons. Although It's Tolerable it's not as bad as some of the pubs I've been to when i lived in Sydney (where i grew up), you're almost guaranteed to be in a fight like it or not up there, Damn I hate that place. I rember one night some bloke bumped into me (almost knoked me to the ground )& spilt his beer and wanted me to get him another one or he'd "smash" me. I didn't get him he's beer, he took a swing and fell over, he's mates thought i hit him and i needed to make a timely exit. 1 Vs 100 was a good movie but I didn't want to live it.

bangers wrote:my favourite pub would have to be holgates brewery in woodend,they brew some excellent beers there,its very hard for me to decide my favourite beer there, the food is ecellent and reasnable (try the dark beer pie its great) the porter is wounderful so's the big red mt macedon ale is on the top of my list wish I could work out the recipie. if your not driving try double trouble a superb beer.I reckon O'sullivans in Essendon is a great place for a quiet beer during the week fri and sat too many little boys trying to impress the girls ,but if youve never been to the quiet man in flemington I suggest you go there its one of the best irish pubs you can go to.bells hotel in south melb is great too I'm a big fan of quality beer not quantity of beers ,thats one part of the inspiration to brew my own enjoy!

Holgate is my local... some great beer there. BIg Red goes down well in the cooler months, but Mt Macedon and the Witbier are rippers in summer.

Havent been to O'Sullivans in years... and the Quiet Man NEVER lives up to it's moniker.

I'm surprised no Melbournians have mentioned the European bier cafe on Exhibition St.

The atmosphere might not be to everyone's liking, but with Fanziskaner, Weienstephan, Hofbrau (and others) on tap, it's well worth a look in.

Another place I can recommend is Koliba, Czech and Slovak restaurant on Johnston St Collingwood. Krusovice and Budvar on tap along with great eastern european food (if you're into that sorta thing).

As much as I hate to admit it, Biero always has a pretty damned respectable beer list. They're trying a bit too hard to be something they aren't though.

Flipside of that coin is Mrs Parma's. Not trying at all. Beer list is, at worst, dependable. Beer is always ICE COLD regardless of style. Atmosphere is horrendous. End up there a bit though because it is easy going enough and right by the station.

Sadly, Biero has closed, with this message on their website: "We will be closed from the 3rd of March till Winter 2012 ... we are moving not too far away from here to downtown Chinatown. With the reincarnation of a new and improved BeerVaults and the fact that its (sic) going to be on a roof - its (sic) going to be exciting".

Winter is almost over ...

Biero was about a five-minute walk across Flagstaff Gardens from my house, and conveniently on the way home It is sadly missed.

I agree about their beer selection being respectable. I also agree with the comment on Mrs Parma's. I hate to say it, but theirs is the beer list for people who don't really know if they like beer or not. It's for the VB drinkers making their first forays into the world of beer. Don't get me wrong, there's a place for this sort of establishment. I just don't particularly want to drink there.

Cheers,

Oliver

I see Stefano is now creating special parmie meals for Mrs Parma's, most likely so he can flog the Mildura Brewery beers there.

Oliver wrote:Biero was about a five-minute walk across Flagstaff Gardens from my house, and conveniently on the way home It is sadly missed.

Someone else took the venue over almost immediately and is running it exactly the same. Deja Vu is the new name.

As for Mrs Parma's, the rotating taps are usually worth a look-in even if the rest of the taps are Gippsland Gold, Beerchworth Pale, infinite shabby ciders, etc.