The Sydney Craft Beer Week program is enough to make a Melburnian like me jealous with envy. Having just missed out on the launch party on my weekend visit to Sydney, I was tasked with a lunchtime event. Other then the event name, ‘Beer & Bone‘ at Feather and Bone Providore, I was pretty much in the dark. I headed towards the infamous Marrickville suburb without knowing what was in store for me.
My Uber arrived at the industrial area I’m quite familiar with for its warehouse parties. Winding through a business park wondering if I was actually in the right place, my plus one and I finally stumbled upon a bunch of punters getting an intro to the afternoon’s events. We just caught the end of it, so it continued our suspense.
We chatted up one of the other attendees and found out it was a beer-fuelled sausage-making class at one of the premium restaurant suppliers to the likes of Rockpool. First stop was the meat locker — quite confronting for a child of the supermarket pre-packaged generation. The uneasy sight of seeing whole carcasses soon dissipated into a full-circle educational session. The Feather and Bone team opened my mind to the current state of food production and how our buying power can be a vote towards sustainable food practice.
‘Beer & Bone’ consisted of everything from learning about meat grades and sustainable farming, to mincing and filling, to finding out about the entire paddock-to-plate process and how it affects flavour. It was a hands-on learning experience that affected the way I will approach meat. I have a newfound respect for the treatment of livestock.
The afternoon was accompanied by some of the best craft beer tins happening at the moment. Former owners of The Commons have gone bush and are now brewers of the funky-looking Sailors Grave brand, with some of the most delicious craft beer tins on the market.
We got to leave with not just the products of our labour, but a tasting pack of Sailors Grave tinnies, a Feather and Bone apron — plus a newly-wrought appreciation for the consumption process of meat products.
A huge congratulations goes out to the team at Feather and Bone and the Sydney Craft Beer Week organisers for stepping beyond just beer.
– Brenton
Brenton Spink is a social Melburnian who loves a good feed, drink, dance, and other related shenanigans. Find him on Insta at @SoSpinky.
Sydney Craft Beer Week runs from October 21st to October 30th 2016. Read our guide to the Top 10 must-do events this week.
Visit Feather and Bone at 8/10-14 Lilian Fowler Pl, Marrickville NSW.
