After the main course had been enjoyed, some door prizes were drawn, and presented. At first, choosing which door to use for a prize presented a problem, but we decided to stick to some bottles of wine, embroidered towels, and tyre pressure gauges as more practical offerings. Each person also received a Toyota coffee mug as a present on the night.

Dessert then appeared, along with tea and coffee, and we sold tickets for the major raffle of the night…..a Collectors die-cast scale model Prius. Micheala was the lucky winner of this desirable display model, and was suitably impressed with her win (unfortunately, others were disappointed that they had missed out).

We couldn’t let the night end without some pictures of the happy group, and all thanked John and Sue for organising the event and Bruno and Barbara of Bruno’s Bistro for their hospitality and great food/service on the night.

A great night, enjoyed by everyone who attended. Thank you all for making it so.

First was a brief video explaining how the Castlemaine Brewery came into existence, then we moved on to the tour proper. We were ushered into a round presentation room where the seating was on a revolving turntable. From this vantage point, an audio-visual 3D history tour took us through all the stages in the life of the Castlemaine-Perkins Brewery, rotating around as each stage was revealed. Most interesting. Our guide then led us outside into the cold (bugger!) and across to another of the maze of buildings on site. Here we were shown a number of huge storage containers holding enough beer to supply the whole of Queensland for a day…..well, maybe 2 days in winter time! It was quite smelly there, too, thanks to the hops etc. From there, we moved on to the area where the hops, in processed pellet form, were stored. Although advised not to, two very inquisitive souls just had to taste the stuff, then had to race to the strategically-placed water cooler to try to purge the foul taste! Some people just won’t listen!

Next stop was the control room, where one person was overseeing the entire operation of the brewing process from raw materials to the packaged product rolling out the door. From this vantage point, we could see the various ingredients and steps in the brewing process coming together, with the waste generated being loaded into trucks for use as stock food. Interesting to note that it takes just over 3 litres of water to produce 1 litre of beer.

The bottling/canning procedure was a real eye-opener! The size of the operation was HUGE! It covered nearly the equivalent size of a football field! Called by staff “the river of gold”, it could well mean more than just the volume of yellow liquid being produced….the dollar value would also be golden. Bottles and cans were whizzing about, being cleaned, dried, filled, sealed and packed ready for dispatch at a furious rate….that’s one HUGE hangover coming up.

Having worked up an appetite with all that walking about, it was on to the Ale House restaurant, where our previously ordered meals were served with minimal delay. The food was very good, both in quality and quantity, and most drinkers were impressed with their choice of four different brews, including an exclusive original drop only available at the Ale House. Those who were not drinking beer, though, paid top price for an alternative.

Overall, an interesting, enjoyable night with good company. Thanks to Lindy for suggesting and organizing it.

3 teams contested an easy navigation run and treasure hunt which Nixon, however, deserves a special award for getting to the BBQ shelter early and reserving it for us against some very demanding locals.

With the BBQ hot, we started cooking….for a while. Unfortunately, the electric barbie decided it was outgunned by the technical wizardry of 5 Prius in the carpark, and turned itself off. No amount of coaxing could get it heated again, so plan B swung into action with a portable gas BBQ unpacked. The steaks and snags were soon sizzling, and all was well with the world again.

Everyone enjoyed a great meal, and interesting company rounded off a good day out.

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all who attended. Let’s do it again soon!