The brave new colony

It's been a while coming, but finally the doors of Port Melbourne's very own brewery have been reopened to the public. Just like their Bertie Street predecessors, the Colonial Brewing Company started life over in WA, but unlike Matilda Bay they're still an independent brewer with deep roots back in the Margaret River.

With poor old Matilda suffering the ultimate "craft" indignity of relegation to just one of CUB's messy marketing tools, it's encouraging to see the place in fresh hands. They threw a house-warming party to coincide with the start of Good Beer Week, and are aiming to open their bar every Friday night thereafter. I really hope we start to see some of their exiting new beers in our local bars and restaurants the rest of the week. Under the stewardship of the parent Colonial Leisure Group, you can at the very least expect to see their (not at all) Small Ale nearby at the Albert Park Hotel and Lamaro's in South Melbourne.

Colonising the bay

There's change afoot over at that peculiar pocket of cool centred around Fennel Street. The Salford Lads Club has morphed into the Merchants of Port and, perhaps capitalising on the demise of Matilda Bay, now offers craft beer in addition to the usual cafe fayre.

However movement was today also spotted at the former Cadburys factory, following exciting reports that the brewery is to be revived by a bona fide Western Australian craft brewer in the shape of the Margaret River's Colonial Brewing Co.

Bertie's best

The irony of Matilda Bay's latest billboard, drawing attention to their rather excellent (if you can find it) brew bar, is rich. As thanks to the corporate know-it-alls that have already seen Australia's original craft brewery unceremoniously dragged from Perth to Dandenong to Port Melbourne, come March next year Bunnings will revert to being the best thing about Bertie Street.

It seems that the award winning Alpha Pale Ale, like the rest of their range, is destined to arrive by big red boat having been brewed at Hobart's mega-brewery; thus consigning Matilda Bay to be just another fake craft badge applied to CUB's yawn-worthy portfolio. And of course it means the loss of our very own local brewery, make the most of this little hidden gem whilst you still can.

Art crush mob

The vacant lot opposite Matilda Bay brewery currently provides a rare Port Melbourne street art canvas, with this not too taggy piece appearing since the Google Street View car last drove past in April.

Hidden treasure

Since providing refreshments for the Port Royal street party, there has been a steady increase in numbers of people undeterred by the challenge of actually getting to, what I believe is, one of Port Melbourne's greatest hidden treasures.

Not only does Matilda Bay have the widest (and most frequently) changing set of brews of all Melbourne's craft breweries, it also has the kitchen to warrant making a night of it. And, poms rejoice, they even provide that bastion of Great British pubs ... malt vinegar to drizzle over your hand cut chips!

Mains hover around the $20 on the menu, however there's a teasing nine dollar burger which, while not massive, easily outclasses the phantoms and legends of Bay Street. Moving up the price scale, the dishes become more adventurous, though still unashamedly beer friendly. With its appealing bare wood and brick expanded seating area the brewery/restaurant would be overflowing if it were anywhere near a tram stop. For those of us in the know (and with a bike) its kind of nice that it's not.

Parcel bank

Let's face it, it's a drag having to traipse over to Williamstown Road to collect missed parcels. However the Bertie Street depot has recently undergone a makeover that has seen the creation of one of forty so-called Business Hubs, open until 6pm weekdays, and a space-age bank of keypad-controlled parcel lockers with 24/7 access.

You have to register to make use of the lockers, and you might think that this simply means that your missed parcels will then be placed there for after hours collection, however it's not quite as flexible as that. Instead, having registered, you are allocated an unique locker code that enables you, when ordering on-line say, to have parcels delivered straight to a locker with e-mail notification that it has arrived. You could even collect after a merry night at nearby Matilda Bay :-) Sadly however they can't be used for letters, or large parcels or, most problematically, anything that requires a signature.

Population 8-ish

It's Good Beer Week again, and once again the nearest pub hosting an event is the Wayside Inn. However this year our local brewers were also heavily involved, even offering use for a day of their Bertie Street kettles as prize for avid home-brewers keen to try and recreate their freshly award winning Alpha Pale Ale. Surely now a Port Melbourne pub will see the light and start serving this their fine ale?

Matilda Bay are currently heavily pushing this advert which employs considerable artistic license, given that its been eight years since any of their beers were made anywhere near that particular bay on Perth's Swan River. Also recent arrivals to the settlement, Itchy Green Pants and Minimum Chips are for some reason not counted. In fact, the actual population of our town was 14,521 according to the 2011 census.

Bertie Street

It took a while for the stocks brewed back in Dandenong to be depleted, but buying a bottle of Matilda Bay beer should now reveal its Port Melbourne birthplace. The brewery bar meanwhile is now open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings with a few, good quality, $20 dishes to accompany the fine selection of ale (although sadly nothing for the vegos). It is also hosting a Women of Beer brew day in a few weeks time.

Matilda Bay's Fat Yak is available in most of the town's CUB pubs, but actually arrives (along with kid sister Big Helga) on the Spirit of Tasmania, having been brewed down in Hobart. The smaller-scale locally-brewed beers however, which are split into two ranges, are available from some of the local bottle shops....

Matilda Bay

With twelve different taps (one of which being given over to cider), the new bar within the unassuming Matilda Bay building enters straight at the top of Port Melbourne's best beer sampling venues. Their claim that it's a 400m walk from North Port tram stop is council-like fantasy (Google Maps makes it 900m), but that's still closer than the Cricketers Arms.

Situated within a fenced-off section of the working brewery, this bar is unlikely to feel incredibly cosy, but it does have an undeniably cool feel to it, with its fanatical bar staff and even three unfiltered taps fed straight from the vats. A decent wine list and coffee machine widen the appeal, so the main stumbling block to success at the moment would seem to be the wacky opening hours (it's currently easier to sample a beer for breakfast than for dinner).

Beers on tap: Bohemian Pilsner, Redback, Beez Knees, Fat Yak, Alpha Pale Ale, Dogbolter, IGP, Port Lager, Bertie St Porter and Abbey Collabey!!
Wine range: $8.50 - $11
Parma: No
Gastro: No
Tradie vs Yuppy: No Carlton Draught, but no pretentions either