One of a number of venues that I have heard of for the first time through this endeavour was today’s review of choice; The Cheeky Pint. Located in the old Barkly Hotel, on Barkly Street in the middle of Footscray, owner Mitch Peacock had hoped to have a fully functioning brewpub on-site come opening weekend in September 2018.
Red tape ended up quashing that dream and saw Mitch act like a gypsy brewer of years gone past, brewing his beers literally wherever he could find tank space. He’s now managing to keep a core range of 5, 4 beers & a cider, on tap at the Footscray pub alongside 5 taps & 3 handpumps serving either his own limited release beers or offerings from other small independent producers.
Brewery Type
Gypsy
Brewed At: Anywhere
Region
Western Suburbs
Tasting Room
231 Barkly Street, Footscray
The venue has been massively renovated from it’s former days as the Barkly Hotel. The new look is modern & what you’d expect to find at most new high end pubs. What you don’t see everywhere is the five distinctive copper serving tanks behind the bar. They are particularly eye-catching with the light glinting off them, almost drawing you towards them.
Joining Mitch is chef Massimo Spedalletti, who’s spent time working as head chef in both Italy & Australia. Massimo has previously worked at a hop farm & has reportedly mastered the art of pairing beer with food, utilizing the skills he learned in his homeland whilst combining them with craft beer & Australian pub staples.
I always struggle to pass up a hand pump offering; so when I saw Raspberry & Blueberry Stout on hand pump there was only one way this review was going! It’s a really impressive beer, with a cavalcade of chocolate & raspberry flavour. There’s no hint of blueberry that I could detect, although it may well be hidden under the sweet chocolate.
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
