Long Necks and Rib Eyes

As we coninued our Summer Ambassadorial duties for Hahn White, they sent us a second case of beer to try with our friends - which this time, arrived well in time for our BBQ. We invited our Belgian friend to try the Belgian Low Carb White beer to give her verdict on authenticity, as well as a group of international beer connoisseurs who have sampled beer from their home countries: Australia, England, South Africa, China, Germany & Colombia (not to mention the places they may have travelled). The beer "long neck" bottles are more like wine bottles, having been designed for the ice bucket rather than the esky, and we also had some beautiful tall glasses to fill.

Our Belgian native had never heard of the Carousel Ritual of putting orange slices in the beer, but it tasted refreshing so we went with it anyway and guzzled the Hahn White (giving Oz Clarke style commentary on the coriander and citrus notes), whilst munching on our complementary canapés - crispy prawn and pork wontons and scallops on zesty avocado salsa bites - and enjoying being outside on the balcony for this warm summer evening.

We moved inside for the main course, keeping with the summer BBQ theme we had large juicy rib eyes barbecued to perfection by our chef friends served with chimichurri salsa, cous cous with Mediterranean vegetables, and a warm  potato and baby spinach salad. We had a few toasts to Hahn White as the beer matched all of these so nicely, but there wasn't enough to keep us going all night, so we had to crack open a couple of bottles of Shiraz too!

After a palate cleansing ginger granita prepared by one of our guests (when was the last time you had a granita palate cleanser at a BBQ!) we stuck to the citrus theme, this time showcasing our Italian purchased limoncello, with Gino D'Acampo's delicious crowd pleaser -  Limoncello Trifle. The whole meal was a fabulous combination of fresh flavours! Thanks to Hahn White for sponsoring, Soup Marketing for inviting us to participate and to our good friend's for giving up their entire Saturday evening all in the name of market research!

Hahn White Lie

There is a new beer released onto the market this summer called Hahn White and through some market research we became Hahn White Summer Ambassadors. The idea was that we would be given a carton of beer to share with friends at an Australia Day BBQ. We invited a few of our beer loving mates, including 2 soon to be citizens, over for an Australia Day Eve BBQ to show them some real Aussie hospitality! The beer, which is to be served with a slice of orange, was supposed to arrive last week, but despite being a no show, we planned a great menu with an orange theme to compliment the flavour. We prepared a dijon mustard, honey and orange juice marinated and BBQ'd butterflied lamb and pumpkin, feta sausages served with a beetroot, orange and feta salad. All we needed was the beer! Monday - nothing. Tuesday evening came around with a guarantee that the beer would arrive. We stocked up on ice so that when the courier delivered, it could go straight on ice in the esky to chill. By 8 o'clock we carried on without the star of the show, disappointed we didn't have the "matching beer" for our meal, but content nonetheless digging into the amply filled wine rack for an alternative tipple and enjoying a fabulous Australia Day lamb barbie with our mates, who had just about forgiven us for inviting them round on false pretences! No beer for Australia Day - "Un Australian!"