Fresh from launching a new book celebrating Australian craft brewers and beer, Luke Robertson finds plenty to love about life in Footscray. He speaks with Benjamin Millar.
What is your connection with the inner-west?
I first moved to Yarraville from New Zealand in 2005 and fell in love with the west. I found a place in Kensington for a few years, then moved to Footscray about four or five years ago. What brought me here? The people!
What do you love most about the area?
There is a real sense of community in Footscray. People are proud that they live and work in the area. Even with such rapid change happening around the suburb in the last couple of years, the community is so strong and so proud.
What are your favourite local places?
I miss Little Saigon! For lunch I love Tan Thanh Loi for pork chop; Nhu Ngoc for tiger roll banh mi; or Roti Road for Nasi Lemak. Hey Zeus and Rudimentary for coffee; and Hop Nation, Littlefoot, the Reverence, Bar Josephine and Mr West for drinks. You’ll probably find me sneaking into 8 Bit for a burger every now and then too. Plus so many others.
What can you tell us about your new book, Keg Bottle Beer?
It’s a book celebrating beer in Australia, and for me that means celebrating small business. It’s designed to highlight all the wonderful beers you can buy around the country and the breweries who are making them. Every chapter is about a different occasion, be it a dinner party, a barbecue, or enjoying by the fire; and the 15 Australian beers I think suit those times best. There’s also advice on food matching, beer ageing, glassware and more.
How did you end up with a career writing about beer?
I fell into it while doing part-time study. I had to start a blog and I figured beer was a fun subject. That was in 2010 and beer was about to take off, so I ended up in the right place at the right time. I had studied journalism back in New Zealand, so when the blog got more traction I began looking for more paid writing work, and as a result beer is pretty much full time. The best thing? It’s a lovely industry full of lovely people, and I don’t have to sit in an office wearing a suit everyday.
What is your all-time favourite beer?
Stille Nacht Reserva (2010) from De Dolle in Belgium. Not exactly a beer you’ll find on shelves, but it’s such a memorable beer and I was lucky enough to visit the brewery a few years back to meet the husband and wife team behind it. A lovely little brewery in a small town in Belgium, making some of the best beers. Locally, it’s hard to beat Hop Nation’s The Chop or Two Birds’ Trail Blazer Lager.
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
While I do a beer podcast (Ale of a Time), I also do one about another topic I absolutely love: conspiracy theories. It’s called the Hypothetical Institute and it’s a lighthearted look at some out-there theories and the people behind them. It’s also recorded here in Footscray.
Keg Bottle Beer is out now via Hardie Grant Books.
