It Grand Final time in the AFL (Australian Football League) - think Superbowl or FA cup final for our local version of football - Australian rules. About 4km down the road from where I like in Melbourne about 100,000 people will be at the MCG to watch Geelong and Sydney battle it out for the Premiership Cup. I will be at home watching it and drinking appropriate beers.
First some context. Firstly my team, North Melbourne didn't make it, in fact we finished last so I don't hugely care, hence the beers. but let's discuss the teams
**Geelong Cats **is a regional town about 120km from Melbourne, they are one of the oldest Football teams in Australia founded in 1859 and a foundation member of the VFL (now AFL) in 1897 - they have one the premiership 9 times last time was 2011. They are currently on a 15 game winning streak and finished the regular season on top of the ladder. They are generally unlikable, there is no real story here, we don't like them. They beat North Melbourne (my team) twice by a combined margin of 172 points earlier this year.
Sydney Swans are as you may have guessed from Sydney, but that wasn't always the case, they moved there in 1982, before that they were the South Melbourne Swans (and before that the South Melbourne Bloods) They have won the premiership twice as Sydney (most recently 2012) and 3 times as South Melbourne. They are a younger, more interesting team, they are coming back from being pretty ordinary the last few years, coached by a former North Melbourne player, with some might say one of the greatest goalkickers in modern History in Buddy Franklin and importantly less people I know who will annoy me if they win - this is who we are barracking for. And finally they beat North twice this year by a combined total of 49 points this year.
So the format - An AFL game is four quarters of about 30 mins each with breaks the whole thing takes about 2.5-3 hours. So logically this means five beers, essentially one a quarter all shared of course - I'm not a drunk and all themed to the game they are in order:
Kick starter Coffee Milk Stout from Ocean Reach Brewing - which is nowhere near Geelong or Sydney but seems like a logical way to Kick Start proceedings - of course AFL starts with a bounce down not a kick-off or kick start
Here is probably the most famous opening bounce in a Grand Final - it's 1989 Hawthorn versus Geelong (in the white and blue hoops)
As for the beer, well it's a nice gentle coffee stout, the lactose gives it a little sweetness which makes it really drinkable.
Well as we enter the second quarter Geelong have absolutely dominated the game so far, the score is Geelong 41, Sydney 6. As such it seems appropriate to go with...
Valhalla Brewing Razz! Smoothie Sour - Valhalla are the closest Brewery to Kardinia Park which is the home ground of Geelong so that's good enough for me. The beer is little bit of nothing really, it's a raspberry and lime sour, but its a little bit to Lolly like and gimmicky, it's okay but not great, and that could describe Geelong's quarter, at half time they have added just 1 point to their lead, it's now Geelong 62, Sydney 26
We are a little late choosing a beer for the 3rd quarter as it was time to eat some scones, so now we are 2 minutes into the 3rd term and Geelong have kicked the first 2 goals and now lead by 49, If Sydney are going to get back into this they are going to need some Bloods courage....
*Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose * we are a long way from home with this American brewery. But it is for Sydney who used to be known as 'The Bloods' largely because theit uniform of a white jumper with a red V looks like blood (they then put a Sydney Harbour in it when they moved to Sydney)
It looks like this by the way:
As I drink this beer the story for Sydney is just getting worse and worse. The problem with Grand Finals is once a team gets on top they tend to run away with it - this is on the way to being a 100 point win. As for the beer, again it's okay but not spectacular, it's a gentle sourness, perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon.
As we enter the final term with Geelong up 101 to Sydney 27 it's really all over, so it's time for another Geelong themed beer...
Rescue All Stars Juicy Pale Ale from Moondog - This one isn't geographical, but rather than this is a range of beers which traditionally had rescue dogs on the cans, but this one has a Cat - Specifically Lulu so that works - incidentally here is why Geelong are the Cats - Geelong was nicknamed the 'Cats' in 1923 after a run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck. Soon after, during a match a black cat ventured on to the ground. Geelong won that match, breaking the losing streak.
And there isn't much danger of a losing streak here - Geelong end up winning 133 to Sydney 52 - And the beer, well that was a pretty standard pale ale, very drinkable, not too hoppy.
This of course means I have one beer left, I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the ceremony, maybe it's time to go watch something else and have what I suspect is the best beer of the lot
One Drop Double Take Imperial Strawberry Sour. One Drop are from Sydney, likely not the closest to Sydney's home ground as they are about 10km away, but they make great beer and that's enough. The beer of the day, or as it is now night, the smell of strawberries smacks you in the face on the pour, the mouthfeel is silky and the taste s is wonderfully sour with a very distinct strawberry taste. This Sydney beer is way better than Sydney’s performance today.