With an Amber in hand at 3 Brewers is where you’re bound to find me on a Friday night. With their ever-rotating feature beers, consistent house-made traditional craft beers and crisp maxi fries, there’s no other place I would rather be. Their beers are approachable and surprises are always to come with the featured neighbourhood beers available only at your local. 3 Brewers currently boasts 7 locations in Ontario, and 2 downtown, with one more soon to come at Liberty Village!
For this special visit to 3 Brewers Adelaide, I joined in on a Media Casking Party where we got to learn from the two resident Brewmasters, Wanis and Gavin. We delved into the brewing process of 3 Brewer’s craft beers and the key to create a right balance for a custom cask of our own!
Yes – you heard that right. You can now create your own casks at 3 Brewers! Craft your selected flavours with your an intimate group of people (up to 10!), let two weeks to ferment, and then it’s time to come back with a group to taste and celebrate! That one cask serves 36 pints, it’s best to bring a group!
This cask program is available at all 3 Brewers locations, but currently the custom casking program is only available at the Adelaide location.
To begin our journey, of course, we tried out each of the five beers brewed at 3 brewers which would be the base of our cask brew. Walked through each sampler, the scent, flavour and possible pairings, at the end we all came to a verdict that White was the ‘summery’ winner.
We came up with ideas of what could be matched with the White beer, which is an ale that is delicate in citrus, beaming summer-time-friendly. We were thinking fruits, definitely fruits, then some mystery… The end result: Amber Belgian Syrup, Fresh Coconut, Dried Grapefruit Peel and Pink Peppercorns.
The rest of the evening was left to taste a paired menu with each of the five traditional beers.
White Beer
4.7% Belgian style wheat beer. Golden, cloudy colour. Full of aroma, refreshing and citrusy.
Lobster Ceviche Crostini, lobster marinated in lemon juice, tomatoes, red onions and spices, topped with cilantro and served on a crostini
Bruschetta Crostini, diced fresh tomatoes, red onions, basil and garlic on a toasted crostini
Blonde Beer
5.2% Classic light pale pilsen malt that’s fruity and slightly bitter.
Asiago Chicken Sticks, buttermilk chicken coated in shaved asiago and grilled. Served with a spicy cream sauce.
IPA Beer
6% IPA, golden beer with a strong aroma of hops, citrus and bitter taste.
Grape tomato goat cheese bites, mini goat cheese with a nutty melody and a grape tomato confit, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Amber Beer
My favourite of them all, a 6.2% smooth medley of light bitterness and caramel.
Tataki Bacon Wrapped Steak Skewers, bacon wrapped steak marinated in tataki and served with crispy onions
Amber Grilled Mushroom, marinated button mushrooms in an amber glaze grilled to perfection
after the fermentation: two weeks later
Two weeks later, we returned to 3 Brewers for the cask tasting. “Don’t Steal My Sunshine” was finally ready to crack open, literally. Our beer was much lighter in flavour than I anticipated, it a rounded out beer that was very easy to drink. The elements of pink peppercorn and dried grapefruits which I thought would have stood out, surprisingly didn’t. All up, it was a fantastic journey to be apart of, it was like watching your baby coming to life.
I’m a happy momma.
I still find it hard to believe that that single cask can serve up to 36 pints!
We enjoyed 3 Brewer’s food alongside our pride and joy. Some menu items which were custom-made by the chef for this very day. My favourite is their calamari, it’s always finely breaded and lightly fried. But, this time for nibbles, I went for their exclusively offered scotch eggs. For the main I had their impressively sized shank, it could easily feed two, the meat was perfectly cooked and I happily devouring it along with it’s slaw and mash.
The Custom Cask program was a pleasure to be apart of and it’s definitely a top of the mind to-do with a group of friends for a celebration or with co-workers! Great learning notes taken from the brewmasters along the way as they make recommendations according to the group’s favour .
Choose-your-own-Adventure with a cask and make it your way, see your nearest 3 Brewers location, here!Twitter | Instagram
