Double Island Point, Dolphins and Otway Stout

This BotF correspondent was lucky enough to be the recipient of a Prickly Moses Mixed Gift Pack in the recent inaugural Back of the Ferry Kris Kringle. That’ll mean a spike in Prickly Moses beer reviews, which isn’t a bad thing, because I haven’t had a dud yet. Prickly Moses beer is part of the Otway Estate “empire”. Kicked off as a grape grower in 1981, Otway Estate produces wine, beer, cider and cordial in what looks like an sublime setting. I’m pretty keen to do some day trips in Victoria this year, and at a little more than two hours from the Melbourne CBD – Otway Estate looks like an ideal place to visit.

I’d packed a stubby of Otway Stout with me to Rainbow Beach and it accompanied me on a kayaking trip to view the Double Island Point lighthouse and the 90% chance of seeing dolphins. Despite the 90% promise, I wasn’t confident. My tribe had been to Tin Can Bay a couple of days before to feed dolphins that turn up almost every day. For the preceding 363 days of 2011, dolphins had failed to turn up on only 3 days. We made it the 4th in 364 days. We’d blown 99 in 100 odds – 9 in 10 seemed too long. The kayaking itself was great fun, even if my 12 year co-paddler stroked to her own unique syncopated rhythm. Double Island Point is famous for its 500m wave if conditions are right and we paddled over some healthy swell. The guide was panicking and there was more than a little relief in his voice when a dolphin and her calf(?) bobbed up close to our fleet. Their visit was very short and I was unable to get a shot of the Otway Stout next to the dolphin, so you are stuck with the lighthouse instead.

I ended up losing that stubbie, so I had to wait until Sydney before I could get my hands on one. It was worth the wait. It actually would have gone down pretty well after the kayaking expedition, which is surprising for a stout. The label doesn’t lie when it says that the Otway Stout is a sessionable stout. It’s not too heavy, but it has all those lovely stout flavours I crave – roasted malts, cocoa and coffee. I’m two down in my six pack and the Otway Stout is the stand out so far (I’m also a sucker for a stout). I’ll be returning to this one for sure.