It’s impossible to work your way through all the different beers on offer at Tippler’s Tap but you’ll have a whale of a time trying. From the USA there’s Schmaltz Lager, Heretic Brewing Evil Cousin Imperial India Pale Ale and Uncommon Brewers’ Bacon Brown Ale – to name but a few. If wheat beer’s your thing, there’s Hitachino Nest White from Japan, 4 Pines Hefeweizen from New South Wales or a very fancy $45-a-pop Tallie from Italy.
The range is staggering. One wall of the bar is dedicated to bottled craft beer; on another there are ten very low-tech taps with an ever-changing array of beer – many of which will be new and exciting, even to beer enthusiasts. Most endearing of all is a very old-fashioned hand pump serving chocolate oatmeal stout from Bacchus Brewing in Capalaba – yes, Capalaba! It doesn’t get any fresher than that. Don’t be overwhelmed by the choices; the staff are up for a chat about beer, and even offer tastes.
Claim a stripy deck chair out the front, or cosy up in one of the booths in the cool, dark interior. The interior décor is decidedly masculine and den-like – in a good way – with low lighting, hand-crafted timber furniture and a mountain-scene mural adorning one wall. On paper, the food menu might seem a little crass, including ‘Chicago-style’ hot dogs, sliders, chilli and a 1kg serve of buffalo wings. Get past those initial reservations and get amongst the fragrantly spiced, golden, crunchy-fried wings with blue cheese and black sesame sauce for bar-snack Nirvana. Sliders are never very pretty, but flavours in the pork, caramel star anise, pickled cucumber and coriander version are beautifully vibrant. The tiny cheeseburger with its perfectly pink patty and tangy burst of pickle and mustard is second to none.
When he settled in Brisbane a few years back, Chicago-born owner Brian Kennedy might have been sad to find that the craft-beer bar scene had not yet caught on, but we are very happy he decided to hang around and do something about it.