What do Lebanese street
peddlers and brewers have in common? Quite a lot apparently, as 20 or
so guests found out at the second of five Lazy Brewer Lunch Sessions at
Carwyn Cellars, as part of Good Beer Week 2016. This time, Hawkers
Brewing's Mazen Hajjar was the esteemed guest of honour.
Truly
there are fewer more colourful characters among Melbourne's craft beer
circles. Inspired by alcohol's role (or not) in religion and a hatred
for Heineken, Mazen started 961 brewing in Lebanon with limited
knowledge before setting sail for Australia.
Says Mazen: "The first beer I brewed, a batch of imperial, was as green and smelled of dogshit but I drank it anyway!"
After
much trial, mostly error, Hawkers found its feet. Its facility is now
among the most advanced in the Southern Hemisphere. A
barrel-ageing program is in the works. Hawkers has ordered in 60
Bourbon barrels from the US. Acquavite - Scandinavian vodka-like
Schnapps - barrels are on order too. Expamsion plans are afoot
too - Mazen fired off a slew off numbers in terms of capacity, but the
crux of the message being Hawkers is sold out to year's end. More
specialty beers are in the offing, and a single tap bar too once
licensed.
For
the time being though Mazen and business partner Joseph Abhoud (of Rumi
fame) are concentrating on the brewery's pilsner, pale ale, saison and
IPA - the latter of three of which were presented as part of the day's
lunch.
First
up, the saison. Hawkers sources its saison yeast from Wallonia, and it
is the most inconsistent in their range. Just how Marzen likes it,
though this is quite converse to Mazen's overall philosophy. "I don't
believe in crafted," he said. "Ideally I want hands away from my beer.
"It's all about consistency at Hawkers - drinkers should know what they're getting every time."
Even
the saison remains true to form to a degree, a form that is as close to
the saison style as possible. Mazen joked that saisons were a "bogan"
drink for farmhouse workers, but today because of the style's French
sounding name it has become a boutique style overloaded with excessive
herbs and spices. Sampling Hawkers interpretation, simplicity yet full
flavour went hand i hand. Peppery, clove spiciness and a citrus
undertone. Why would anyone want for more?
Next
up was Hawkers' pale ale. Amarillo, citra and centennial dry hopping
is the man event here, and is responsible this fantastic brew's balanced
bright
and crisp character.
What may surprise some is Hawkers' pale weighs in at 50 IBU, however
because of the perfectly well weighted malt bill the overall effect is
not in the least bit offensive.
Much
the same hop billing, though ramped up a notch, is thrown into Hawkers'
IPA. Equally well tuned, balanced; though with a touch more swagger
and bite, this is the sort of IPA that is as equally well suited to the
hop heads as the newbies.
Finally,
a limited one-off keg release - brewed especially for Carwyn Cellars
and Good Beer Week by Hawkers and collaborators Wheaty Brewing Corps: a
Belgian-style tripel brewed with rosewater and chamomile. Such
ingredients can be quite temperamental, though with a little tweaking
Hawkers managed to pull it off. The end result: A lusciously delicate,
decadent and beguiling ale worthy of being called "fine." Small wonder
Mazen has a great deal of admiration for the folks at Wheaty.
Throughout
the lunch, punters were treated to the following pearls of wisdom (and a
whole lot besides!) from the larger than life man at the Hawkers helm.
"The
instrument used to measure dissolved oxygen in beer costs $30,000,"
said Mazen on the subject of viability. Indeed, breweries must be front
of house operations middle or capable of outputting 1,000 cases a month
due to the cost of excises, taxes and (most of all) packaging.
On the subject of "session IPAs:" "Midstremgth beers are like porn actors who won't fuck."
As
for the inspiration for the Hawkers name, Mazen Hajjar explained that
the term "hawker" alludes to Lebanese street peddlers. Indeed, Hawkers
(in a virtual sense) sold its beers door to door, and the name somehow
reflects the brewery's philosophy.
I
put the question to Mazen the nature of food pairing and whether it's
all codswobble (on behalf of a friend), to which he replied: "That's
codswobble! There are 30 more flavour descriptives on the beer flavour
wheel than wine. And not having great food to go with great beer is
like removing the string section from an orchestra.
"What
wine pairs with Roquefort [blue cheese]? None. And if you're talking
restaurants, having Heineken is like putting McDonald's fries alongside a
well prepared meal."
There
would be no such Top of the Pops, car commercial, processed plasticine
plainness here - both on the beer and the food front. Once again Them
Bones delivered with a sumptuous lunch, comprising this time of a
lobster roll, crisps and a crème brûlée for dessert. The roll was
packed with excellent grade lobster - minimally seasoned as is
appropriate - and paired alongside Hawkers pale ale piquant notes were
brought to the fore with sweetness, saltiness accentuated. The perfect
compliment.
Even
more complementary was the interplay between the crème brûlée and
Hawkers Tripel. The flavours of each segued into the one rolling
experience with neither overriding the other. The experience was akin
to rolling through a distant woodland paradise full of fragrance and
texture.
A
huge shoutout and cheers must go to Hawkers' Mazen Hajjar, Carwyn
Cellars and Them Bones for staging what was a most thoroughly enjoyable
and engaging lunch session. Tomorrow it's all about New Zealand's
masters of brewing madness. Not to be missed if you are keen on seeing
how these guys go about brewing the sour stuff! Tickets can be had
right here:
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