BeerMatt’s Matt Kirkegaard Launches Beer Book Club

Imagine a book club where you just bypass the reading and go straight to the drinks. That’s Matt Kirkegaard’s shorthand for the Beer Book Club, his new initiative to help the average punter get to grips with the endless array of craft beers appearing at bars throughout Brisbane.

It kicks off at The Alliance Hotel on February 28. Tickets are $39 and include a light meal and six samples of beer. Kirkegaard’s first session, “Ales and Lagers”, will examine the two main styles of beer, what makes them different and the misconceptions about both.

If there’s anyone you want in your corner when deciphering the modern craft beer scene, it’s Kirkegaard. He runs respected industry news website Brews News and works as a writer, educator and consultant under his BeerMatt moniker (full disclosure: Kirkegaard is also a regular contributor to Broadsheet).

Go along to a typical Kirkegaard event and it’s usually full of craft beer aficionados. The Beer Book Club, he says, is aimed at a different kind of drinker.

“It’s similar to what I started doing 15 years ago, but then we had the [craft beer] revolution,” Kirkegaard says. “I think people who want to get into craft beer now are feeling a little left behind. So it’s going back to something I did in the early days.

“The craft beer consumer is quite sophisticated these days, but there are a whole lot of people getting into it now who don’t have that basic knowledge and don’t understand the differences between styles. So we really want to get them involved.”

Kirkegaard says he’ll run the nights for as long as there’s interest. Moving beyond ales and lagers, he has plans to run explainers on pilsners and pale ales. For those who can’t make the nights, Craft Wine Store has come onboard to make “book packs” available for purchase that will include all the beers covered on a given night along with tasting notes.

The first Beer Book Club kicks off tomorrow night Thursday February 28. For more information, see here.