Lanceston with a baby strapped to your front

by Hamish Jenkins (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

It was his first birthday, my wife would be busy working, we had to come to Launceston Tasmaina because the food source, my wife, had a job to do. I was not sitting in a small, uninspired, 80s original décor hotel room, all day, peak of winter. He’s always been happy baby. I’ve never really had too many problems doing whatever needed to be done while he tagged along with me. It was time to test the waters, so I booked a tour at the James Boags Brewery, 11am with tasting afterwards. That leaves plenty of time to walk to the Brewery via the Japanese Snow Moneys in City Park on the way. The good thing about Launceston in winter is the sleep in, early starts just don’t seem to be the ‘done’ thing here, I understand why, its freezing, but in a nice way, especially when we come from tropical Far North Queensland. We often travel to cold places to remind ourselves that we could do it, if we have to. ‘Launy’ is compact and easy to get around especially if you’re staying in town, just important to dodge the drizzle, but nothing a nice big brolly can’t handle. I’d heard about the famous Japanese Macaque Monkeys in City Park, even seen them on TV before, but I wasn’t ready for the full on excitement they engendered in a little guy. Wow, lucky he was strapped in to the babybjörn because he had arms and legs flying everywhere as if I'd over done his morning coffee (I don't really give him coffee). The interesting thing was that all the kids there had a similar reaction, it was great just to sit back and watch as the as they screamed with delight at the little fury play toys on the other side of the glass. The monkeys looked to be getting a kick out of having the youngsters watching, they definitely played up to all the commotion. Confident we'll be returning, just to see that reaction played out again, it was wonderful, really made me feel like I could visit the brewery guilt free. You might think that a visit to a brewery with a baby is sending the wrong message but the fact is, I had heard so much about this place from friends and family that we just had to go. The place is dripping with history, the way they tell their story from start to finish was brilliantly done. The Boag's took over the 'Esk Brewery' in 1883, producing seven 'hogsheads' (about 2100Ltr) of beer a week, now they pump out 76 million Ltr a year. The ownership, as of 2007, is in the hands of one of the two big brewers, Lion Nathan. The tour was very professional and we got to see through the entire process, climbing steel gantry stairs and looking over massive vats of burping liquids. It helped that we were the only ones on the tour, must have been something about being the middle of winter and early on a Wednesday, but just as well because I had plenty of questions. I've been a brewing enthusiast on an off for many years with mixed results, mostly bad. So I received a one on one master class with someone who knew much more about brewing than I did. At the end of the tour I got to taste a few of the beers at the James Boag's Brewery Bar. I'm not sure whether it was the connection to what I'd just seen on the tour that impregnated my palette with an unfair delusional enchantment or the crisp Launceston air that made everything taste amazing. My third taster in and I'd almost forgotten my little mate was fastened to my front, he'd been asleep through the entire tour, those monkeys really wore him out. Launceston didn’t disappoint, the beer was great, history lesson, cool weather, all positive but the real gem was the monkeys and that totally unexpected unfiltered joyful reaction from my 12-month old son and his new found friends at the Japanese Macaques in city Park.