Beer & Brewer 47 Summer 2018 Free Edition

ALL THE BEST BITS FROM THE ANHC (see page 72) >>> * Additional costs apply for New Zealand.

INCLUDING

ISSUE 47 SUMMER 2018 PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

FRESH BLOOD

Discover Australia’s newest breweries

SESSION BEERS

Why less is more

BALTER’S

BEST

Scott Hargrave soars in 2019 Beer & Brewer Awards ISSN 1834-5115

0 4

BEERS

TASTED

9

771834 511048

WWW.BEERANDBREWER.COM

PLUS! ARE YOU USING YOUR KIT RIGHT? | HOW CANS KEEP GETTING BETTER | A PINT WITH… LAGUNITAS

ED AL VE RE EN BE AS H

malt • hops • yeast • more

Partner with us. Brew your best. bintani.com.au

PUBLISHER Paul Wootton | pwootton@intermedia.com.au EDITOR Charlie Whitting | cwhitting@intermedia.com.au ASSISTANT EDITOR Tam Allenby | tallenby@intermedia.com.au HOMEBREWER EDITOR Chris Thomas HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR Jake Brandish NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Andrea Diaz | adiaz@intermedia.com.au Tel: 02 8586 6123 GENERAL MANAGER SALES – LIQUOR & HOSPITALITY GROUP Shane T. Williams GROUP ART DIRECTOR – LIQUOR AND HOSPITALITY Kea Thorburn | kthorburn@intermedia.com.au PHOTOGRAPHER Simon Taylor HEAD OF CIRCULATION Chris Blacklock | cblacklock@intermedia.com.au

EDITOR’S LETTER

Summer Issue

PUBLISHED BY Food and Beverage Media 41 Bridge Road GLEBE NSW Australia 2037 Tel: 02 9660 2113 Fax: 02 9660 4419

Welcome to our final issue of 2018, as we look back on what has been a remarkable year for beer and brewing in Australia.

This year saw some big changes for me, not least coming to settle in Australia from the UK, and it has an incredible delight to explore the brewing community here and enjoy the wonderful energy, innovation and dedication that everyone has here. I can’t wait to see more as we roll into 2019.

This issue, we are in an especially celebratory mood, with the return of the Beer & Brewer Awards after such a successful relaunch last year. A panel of judges from across the country have put forward their votes for 13 awards – including a new Best Cider Maker category – and we have diligently totted up the scores to find the champions in all facets of the brewing industry. The People’s Choice also returns, giving you all the chance to have your say in three of the awards. Thanks so much for your contributions – some inspired choices out there. You can read all about the Awards on page 26.

As we move into the new year, we thought we would take a look at some of the new breweries that have recently joined the burgeoning brewing scene here in Australia (page 44). Some of these guys will be celebrating birthdays soon, some had scarcely opened by

PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper | jacqui@intermedia.com.au

the time we went to print, but all are determined to add something special to our industry

SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: 1800 651 422 | Fax: +61 2 8580 6312 subscribe@beerandbrewer.com | www.shop.beerandbrewer.com Mail: PO Box 55 Glebe NSW 2037

almost covered the whole country with the list (and intend to find even more in 2019 too!)

and their communities. You may want to get your travelling boots on because we’ve The brewing community has seen some pretty seismic changes in 2018, not least in the Independent Brewers Association who welcomed not only a new CEO

SUBSCRIPTION RATE Australia $79.95 3 years (12 issues) savings $39.41 (33%) $54.99 2 years (8 issues) saving $24.61 (31%) $29.99 1 year (4 issues) saving $9.81 (25%)

in Alexis Roitman, but who have championed the Seal of Independence, published

New Zealand $88.99 3 years (12 issues) saving $30.41 (25%) $60.99 2 years (8 issues) saving $18.61 (23%) $32.99 1 year (4 issues) saving $6.81 (17%)

low alcohol, full-flavoured glory, or the continued expansion and improvement in

International $132.99 3 years (12 issues) $89.99 2 years (8 issues) $47.99 1 year (4 issues) Rate in AUD and incl. 10% GST for Australia, excluding GST for NZ and International PRINTING Webstar Sydney DISTRIBUTION Network Services (Aus) & NetLink (NZ), D&D Mailing, Dan Murphy’s, imakes, The Beverage Food Group (VIC) ISSN 1834 5115 DISCLAIMER

This publication is published by Food and Beverage Media (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages.

While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.

Copyright © 2018 - Food and Beverage Media

new Labelling Guidelines and teamed up with Good Beer Week. But there have also been other evolutions, whether it’s the return of the Session Beer (page 20) in all its canned beer (page 56).

As always, do please keep your feedback coming through to me (cwhitting@intermedia.com.au). We’ve received some fantastic ideas for new features in 2019 that we can’t wait to get our teeth into, and we have you to thank for that. This is your magazine, after all.

Cheers to 2018 and here’s to 2019!

Charlie

WE ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBLE DRINKING Get the facts DrinkWise.org.au

Find us on...

SUMMER 2018 3

CONTENTS

inside...

Summer 2018

HOMEBREWER 62 Welcome 63 Letters 64 Q&A FEATURES 20 Session Beers Luke Robertson explores the growing trend for beers with more manageable ABVs and the challenges involved in keeping these beers flavourful

26 The Beer & Brewer Awards We present the 13 winners of this year’s Beer & Brewer Awards, as chosen by our select panel of judges and you, our readers

36 Brewing Equipment Part 2 Are you using your equipment correctly? We examine the ways you can get the most out of your kit and look after it properly

44 New and Up & Coming Breweries Australia is undergoing a brewery boom at the moment, so we went and chatted to some of the newest kids on the block

56 Canned Beer With more and more brewers getting into cans, what are the benefits to this packaging and what changes and improvements are now available?

4 www.beerandbrewer.com

John Palmer answers questions from our readers about water

66 Jake’s Brew Log Jake Brandish tackles session ales, with Black Sheep Ale

68 Grifter Homebrewer sits down and talks Coffee Cream Ale with the guys at Grifter

70 Chris Cohen We had a beer with the founder of the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild while he was in town for Sydney Beer Week

72 ANHC Review Chris Thomas looks back at the Australian National Homebrewing Conference and picks out his highlights

77 Recipes Andrew Childs takes us through Behemoth’s Procrastination Pale Ale

78 Coopers We take a look at the recipe for Coopers Vintage Ale ‘18

80 Level Up Tasting beer: what flavours should you be looking for and how do you find them?

26 “Craft brewers continue to lead the way. There is a real sense of community and inclusiveness across brewers and their breweries, which I believe fuels the industry.”

– Brad Rogers, Stone & Wood

82

20

REGULARS 6 The Brew What’s happening this summer?

8 News Round up of the industry’s biggest stories

14 World News 16 Bits and Bobs 18 New Venues 82 Entertaining – Food Take a culinary trip around the world with MasterChef’s Adam Liaw

86 Tasting Notes Our expert panel turn their tastebuds to lagers and pilsners, as well as a range of new releases from craft breweries

95 Directory 98 A Pint With…

“At the moment, I think what people are looking for is that lower alcohol with flavour.”

– Ewan Brereton

54

36

SUMMER 2018 5

THE BREW

WHAT’S ON

Things to Do This Season BALLARAT BEER FESTIVAL Ballarat, VIC: 19 January 2019

The Ballarat Beer Festival will return in 2019, albeit to a totally new location: the lakeside Northern Gardens. Over 200 craft beers and ciders will be pouring, and there’s also the usual line-up of beer education classes, blind tastings, trivia games, the popular brewers sack race and local bands and DJs to keep you busy. And if (for some inexplicable reason) you tire of the beer selection, a number of local wineries will also be presenting their wares.

There’s also an official event app, ensuring you can keep track of what’s going on on the day.

Tickets are on sale now, granting you entry from 11am to 8pm.

Ballaratbeerfestival.com.au

SOUTH WEST CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL Busselton, WA: 16 February 2019

BEERFEST Fremantle: 9-11 November Melbourne (The Valley): 24 November Sydney: 1 December Launceston: 31 December Melbourne (St Kilda): 2 March 2019

The BeerFest national tour will hit more cities than ever in 2018, having kicked off in Fremantle on 9 November, followed by Melbourne in late November, the first Sydney edition on 1 December, and concluding with a New Year’s Eve edition in Launceston. There’s also a St Kilda edition slated for 2 March next year.

BeerFest offers something for everyone, with more than 300 craft beers and over 200 producers exhibiting everything from delicious wines, to ciders, cocktails and unique beer collaborations. There are masterclasses, live demonstrations and tastings, as well as plenty of local food trucks and street food to line the stomach.

Participating breweries include BeerFarm, Feral, Gage Roads, Nail Brewing (WA); Two Birds, KAIJU! and Hop Nation (VIC); and Modus Operandi, Sauce and Young Henrys (NSW). The brewery line-up for Tasmania is still TBA. The Sydney edition of BeerFest – the first time the harbour city has hosted the event – will also feature the festival’s biggest entertainment line-up to date, including Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson, dance group Sneaky Sound System, DJ Kid Kenobi and comedian Matt Okine.

According to the organisers, BeerFest – now in its 10th year – celebrates “all the good things in life that are better with beer: mates, music, comedy, food and family”. It’s hard to argue with that.

Tickets range from $15-$40 depending on the festival location and are on sale now.

Beerfestivals.com.au

Unlike many of the beer festivals on the calendar which spread their net far and wide around Australia in terms of their brewery selection, the South West Craft Beer Festival shines a light specifically on the beautiful south-west region of Western Australia.

Stretching from Mandurah to Denmark, more than 20 local breweries will showcase their core beers and limited edition brews on the day, as well as local wines and craft ciders. The entertainment selection also has a south-west bent, with an eclectic mix of acoustic artists, blue grass groups and DJs headlining the line-up. Tickets are just $20 and come with a bespoke festival beer glass.

SWbeerfest.com.au

BREWERS FEAST Melbourne: 23-24 February 2019

Brewers Feast will return to the grounds of the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne in late February, showcasing the best in Australian craft beer, food and up-and-coming musicians.

Just like GABS, there are also beers brewed exclusively for the festival; the Bintani Festival Beers in 2018 included a NEIPA from Holgate, a hoppy sour from Hop Nation, and a peaches and cream gose from Stomping Ground. While the brewery and music line-ups for the festival are still TBA, rest assured of a cracking day out – and some epic food from the likes of St Kilda Burger Bar, perfectly paired with the brews pouring over the weekend.

Brewersfeast.com.au

6 www.beerandbrewer.com

Nitrogen Generator 99.9% for affordable de-aeration of strike and sparge water.

The reduction of DO in strike and sparge water from approximately 3000 ppb to 300 ppb significantly improves the reduction/oxidation potential of your wort.

This slows all oxidation staling by months.

Sparging 99.9% N2 through liquor is a much more efficient oxygen stripper than boiling for hours, N2 prevents later re-adsorption of O2.

to achieve almost zero dissolved oxygen pick up in bottling and canning.

B ' IInertt GGas Cl i andd bbottling ttli retrofits t fit ddouble bl purge containers ti t i th ti Brewmax's Cloudd canning andd contain the entire filling process in a 99.9% N2 cloud.

Interested to learn more?

Contact us for a Consultation for Low Thermal Stress, Hop Creep and Advanced Dry Hopping

To subscribe to our ‘technical newsletter’ and regularly receive informative and interesting industry related studies, simply go to www.brewmax.net

For more information contact:

Head Office +61 [7] 3420 4943

Eng gii n e e r i ng n g b e t t e r b ee eer!

brewmax.net

Charlie Scandrett 0412 720 060 brewmax@brewmax.net

INDUSTRY ROUND-UP

GABS to come to Brisbane in 2019 The Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, GABS, is

And we feel now there are plenty of great breweries

expanding its calendar in 2019 with the popular craft

in Queensland and also northern NSW that we would

beer festival heading to Brisbane.

really love to showcase and really celebrate what’s

“Brisbane has been on the cards for about three years now after Guy and I went up there and had a look around,” says GABS co-founder Steve Jeffares.

Jeffares cited the high quality of beers coming out of Queensland and northern NSW now as a factor in the decision.

“That was the tipping point,” he says. “This wave of

The inaugural Queensland event will be held over two five-hour sessions at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, at South Bank, on Saturday 27 April 2019.

In addition to launching in Brisbane, the other Australian events will also be expanding in 2019, with the introduction of a new outdoor food truck park in

or four years ago with Green Beacon and Newstead in

Melbourne, and a 25 per cent increase in floor space

particular, but the last year to 18 months has seen a big

at the Sydney festival, which will make that event the

increase and there is more to come.

biggest one-day GABS festival ever staged.

Exhibitor registrations for all GABS Beer, Cider &

while we want to showcase the best of Australia and

Food Fest events will open on Monday 12 November

New Zealand at each event, we absolutely want each

at 12.00pm AEDT / 11.00am AEST, with all available

GABS in each city to showcase the best of that region.

stands expected to book out very quickly.

8 www.beerandbrewer.com

BRISBANE Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank Saturday 27 April 2019

happening locally.”

new breweries starting in Brisbane started about three

“It is really important for us with any GABS, that

EVENT DATES:

MELBOURNE Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Fri 17 – Sun 19 May 2019

SYDNEY Sydney Showground, Olympic Park Sat 1 June 2019

AUCKLAND ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane Sat 29 June 2019

FULL PAGE

INDUSTRY ROUND-UP

IBA introduces Labelling Guidelines The Independent Brewers Association (IBA)

resourced owner-operators wearing the

may have with the product. So, ideally, we

has launched its Beer Labelling Guidelines,

hat of brewer, label designer, sales and

look for the Best Before date as well as the

designed to make it easier to get labelling

marketing and possibly venue manager.

Packed On date. With this information our

right. The IBA is making these Guidelines,

I think understanding what the actual

customers know how fresh their beer is and

which explain legal requirements and discuss

requirements are is probably the biggest

by when they should consume it.

myths and misconceptions, available to all

problem. These Guidelines are designed to

independent brewers in Australia, including

address that.

non-members.

There is a checklist for each beer released which features 12 pieces of Mandatory Information and 12 further requirements

AR: From your conversations with

AR: Ben, how is Bridge Road Brewers planning to use these Guidelines?

BK: We’ll be looking to redesign a section

IBA members, what are some of the

of our label template so it clearly spells out

misconceptions they have about labelling?

to us internally and any external designer

BK: Best Before dates. Many in the craft

exactly where and how each point needs

for optional label information. There are 10

beer community place most weight on the

to be communicated, including clearly

pieces of Mandatory Information for multi

Packed On date. The ABV, Standard Drinks,

identifying Best Before and Packed on Dates.

pack labelling, and 12 optional ones.

Volume of vessel, labelling the product as

IBA director Ben Kraus (founder, Bridge

DO’M: We hope indie brewers will start

beer and address requirements are pretty

using these Guidelines immediately.

Road Brewers) and Diarmaid O’Mordha

well understood, as are communicating

Professional brewers also need a product

(quality and sustainability manager,

Standard Drinks on multi and outer packs.

recall strategy. Both labelling compliance

Endeavour Drinks Group) spoke with

Diarmaid O’Mordha: Our biggest task

and a recall strategy are a critical part

IBA CEO Alexis Roitman about the new

currently is getting brewers clear on the

of ensuring safe food is supplied to a

Guidelines.

requirement to label Best Before dates on

commercial market. It’s the brewer’s

beer with a shelf life of less than two years.

responsibility to ensure their product

Best Before labelling is a legal requirement.

complies with the Food Standards Code and

From a consumer perspective this Best

is therefore fit for market. Correctly labelled

brewers believe they are being compliant.

Before information is critical as it directly

product and having a plan in place to recall

Remember, many of our brewers are under-

impacts the potential experience customers

the product from the market are a must.

Alexis Roitman: How do you think indie brewers approach labelling?

Ben Kraus: Generally I feel most

10 www.beerandbrewer.com

BREWERY INSURANCE SPECIALISTS

The Future is Now!

Rotary Monoblocks from 2000 bph and up

1300 306 571 brewery@midlandinsurance.com.au midlandinsurance.com.au

Beer and Brewer Mag_87x119.indd 8

MIDLAND INSURANCE BROKERS

30/07/2018 3:35:24 PM

Linear Monoblocks up to 1500bph

Unsurpassed Innovation in Beer Bottling

BREWED IN MARGARET RIVER.

info@viniquip.co.nz www.viniquip.com AUS: 1800 209 370 NZ: 0 800 284 647

SUMMER 2018  11

INDUSTRY ROUND-UP

COLLABORATION LAUNCHED TO CREATE NEW HOP A new joint venture has been launched in New Zealand which aims to develop a unique super-premium hop.

Hāpi Research Ltd is a joint venture between Wellington craft brewery Garage Project and Freestyle Farms, a Nelson hop farm. While the program was initiated by Garage Project and Freestyle Farms, it is expected to grow as more like-minded businesses and research partners join the industry-wide efforts.

The craft beer and hop breeding program has seen Hāpi Research Ltd partner with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to deliver Hāpi – Brewing Success, a $13.25 million, 7-year Primary Growth Partnership program.

“Our program will pursue research to enhance and differentiate superpremium hop and craft beer markets and boost the growth of both industries,” says Freestyle Farms director David Dunbar. “By collaborating across industries we’ll accelerate development of unique Kiwi hops, promote uniquely New Zealand craft beer, and open up new areas to hop growing.

“We want to create a sustainable point of difference for New Zealandgrown hops and craft beer,” says Tom Greally, chief executive officer for Garage Project. “Through the program, we want to understand the unique chemical compounds of our hops that produce New Zealand flavours, and how to best accentuate them in finished beer.”

IBA joins forces with Good Beer Week Melbourne’s Good Beer Week (GBW) has merged with the Independent Brewers Association (IBA).

The merger will extend the reach of the IBA into trade and consumer markets, support the growth of GBW into its ninth year and bring complementary teams together.

As part of the merger, GBW chair Kate Paterson will become the IBA’s head of industry relations, and GBW general manager Siobhan Kerin will take on the role of head of events for the IBA, both based at the GBW offices in Melbourne.

The merger gives the IBA a presence in the two largest Australian markets, Victoria and New South Wales, where almost 60 per cent of the IBA’s Members are based, along with 75 per cent of the IBA’s Associate Members.

Over 10 days each May, GBW offers 300 diverse events in venues across Melbourne and Victoria, attracting 75,000 attendees from Australia and internationally.

“As Australia’s premier Beer Week, GBW has an unparalleled reputation with venues and beer lovers, evolving into a global festival in just eight years,” comments IBA chair Ben Kooyman. “Kate Paterson and Siobhan Kerin are accomplished operators who, with the backing and support of the GBW Board, have achieved great success. They are rightly held in high esteem by our sector and we welcome them to the IBA.” “Good Beer Week has grown into a globally recognised celebration of craft beer through the passion and determination of our small team and the amazing people who make up Australia’s craft beer industry,” adds Kate Paterson, GBW chair. “Our philosophy, and that of the IBA, is to support the growth, creativity and passion of those who work so hard to bring great beer to market in Australia. This merger will help Good Beer Week to fully realise its vision, as well as building a new IBA team with the skills and knowhow to deliver on these principles across Australia.”

The new IBA team will collaborate on plans for BrewCon and the Indies, which will be held in Melbourne in August 2019. Further announcements about these events will be made in due course.

12 www.beerandbrewer.com

ADVERTORIAL

The keg question NICK BECKER, BUSINESS MANAGER AT KEGSTAR, EXPLAINS WHAT THE CHANGES IN EXCISE MEAN FOR BREWERS MOVING FORWARD

W

ith the announcement

With the environmental movement of reducing

of changes to the

single use plastic being a hot topic of discussion,

current Tax Excise

there is an expectation there will be a reduction of

system commencing

the amount of one-way kegs in favor of stainless

July 2019, where

steel options into Kegstar established markets.

smaller format kegs

While the one-way kegs are recyclable, it is

will be charged the same rate as the larger 50L format, the beer industry is set for some changes in how bulk beer will be handled.

Kegstar has paved the way for brewers to

debatable how many actually get recycled.

Kegstar are currently looking at either a 20L or a 30L slim keg for when the changes occur. While they have had some feedback from brewers about

experiment with different sized formats by reducing

the size changes, they need to make a decision on

the need to purchase keg fleets of differing sizes.

what kegs they are going to purchase in time for

The ability for brewers to pick and choose their keg

July 1 2019.

size is major benefit of the Kegstar offering. To be

If you are interested in using smaller format

able to split a batch of beer into different formats

kegs once the changes occur, please share your

to accommodate different customers has got to

expressions of interest with Kegstar by calling

increase the reach for a lot of brewers.

1800 KEGSTAR or emailing rent@kegstar.com

We’re ready when you are.

If you’re interested in using smaller format kegs once the excise changes occur, share your expressions of interest with us via phone or email.

AUS: 1800 KEGSTAR rent@kegstar.com kegstar.com

SUMMER 2018 13

WORLD NEWS

World News WHAT’S MAKING HEADLINES IN THE WORLD OF BEER?

14 www.beerandbrewer.com

India

BREWERY RAIDS The offices of three of India’s biggest breweries were raided in mid-October by India’s antitrust watchdog agency, as investigators sought evidence in a nationwide price-fixing investigation. India’s United Breweries (which brews Kingfisher), Denmark’s Carlsberg and Belgium’s AB InBev were all raided by the Competition Commission of India, which was reportedly tipped off by a whistleblower who notified them of alleged price fixing in the Indian market. The investigation continues.

Belgium

INDEPENDENT EUROPEAN BREWERIES JOIN FORCES The independent craft brewing associations of nine European countries have decided to form one body: the Independent Brewers of Europe (IBE). Bodies from France, Italy, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands and Czech Republic – representing more than 2,000 breweries – agreed to the plan in Brussels. The IBE will “work together to promote and advance the mutual interests of their members with the European institutions and media”.

Israel

United Kingdom

USA

WORLD’S OLDEST BREWERY FOUND

CHURCH HOSTS BEER FESTIVAL

WILLIAM K. COORS DIES AT 102

The world’s oldest brewery has been found in a prehistoric cave in Israel, researchers say.

The discovery of the residue of a 13,000-year-old beer was made while studying a burial site near the city of Haifa, and may turn beer history on its head. Until now, the history of beer brewing was thought to go back only 5,000 years.

The discovery may also prove that beer was not necessarily just a side product of making bread, as previously believed.

St Laurence’s Church in the English town of Ludlow recently hosted a beer festival, named the Ale Wife Beer Fest. “We’ve named the festival after one of our unique misericords, which depicts an ale wife being thrown into hell for short changing people of their beer,” the Rector of St Laurence’s, Kelvin Price, told a local paper.

“It’s all part of a new direction for St Laurence’s, giving the church back to the community as it was in medieval times.” That’s our kind of worship.

William K. Coors, head of one of America’s biggest breweries for decades – and father of the recyclable aluminium beer can – died in October. He was 102. Coors was also known for his ultraconservative speeches and anti-union polices, which led to boycotts and drew the ire of or organised labour, civil rights groups and minorities. He served as chairman of the Coors brewery from 1959 to 2000, and built the formerly regional brewery in the USA’s third largest.

United Kingdom

Italy

China

BREWDOG LAUNCHES AIRLINE

FREE BEER FOR GREEN COMMUTERS

HEINEKEN SIGNS CHINA DEAL

BrewDog will launch the world’s first ever craft beer airline, taking off in February 2019. The bespoke, branded Boeing 767 will fly from London to Columbus, Ohio, where BrewDog opened a production brewery in 2017. Passengers on the flight will sip on a beer specifically designed to taste better at altitude, and once on the ground will partake in a four-day BrewDog experience, including a tour of the brewery. There’s one catch: to book a seat, passengers must be part of BrewDog’s ‘Equity Punk’ program.

The Italian city of Bologna is encouraging sustainable transportation by rewarding commuters with ice cream, movie tickets, and best of all, free beer.

The program, called Bella Mossa (“Good Job”) aims to make forms of green travel – namely cycling, walking and public transport – more appealing to the town’s residents. Using a points system, every time someone in the city rides a bike or catches the bus instead of driving a car, they are rewarded with points that they can exchange for goodies.

Heineken has sealed a USD $3 billion deal to merge its operations in China with country’s numberone brewery, expanding its access to the world’s largest beer market.

Heineken will take a 40% stake in the holding company behind China Resources Beer and merge its current Chinese arm into the firm. The Heineken brand will also be fully licensed to CR Beer for use in the country. Time will tell if Heineken can take advantage of growing premium beer consumption in China.

SUMMER 2018 15

BITS XXXXXXX & BOBS

BITS BOBS BEER ADVENT CALENDAR BY BEER CARTEL

BELGIAN BEER: TESTED AND TASTED Two Belgian scientists have published the very first scientific beer atlas that explains how Belgian beers relate to each other, based on a unique dataset.

250 Belgian beers were tested using the latest technologies to measure various aroma compounds, and combined with feedback from a trained tasting panel, yielding a rigorous and unbiased comparison of the Belgian beer landscape.

“We started this research project out of frustration – as scientists and as beer lovers – with the lack of solid data and figures to objectively describe and compare our famous Belgian beers,” said Prof.

Kevin Verstrepen, one of the two scientists. “Most beer books offer a more or less vague description and assessment based on a short tasting session in which one or a few tasters assess a large number of beers in circumstances that are not always ideal.” Science and beer: get around it.

Beer retailing pioneers Beer Cartel have done it again, releasing the 2018 edition of their Beer Advent Calendar – offering craft beer lovers the chance to count down to Christmas with a different beer in hand every day. 23 different beer styles are included in the calendar, and all 25 beers featured have been sourced from independent Australian breweries. To sweeten the deal, the team at Beer Cartel have also partnered with seven breweries to create limited edition beers that are only available in the calendar. The calendars are available on the Beer Cartel website, or at the bricks-and-mortar store in Artarmon, Sydney.

Eat your heart out, Santa.

Beercartel.com.au RRP $119.99

MICROBREW BOARD GAME Marketed as a full-size board game in a tiny tin, Microbrew is a twoplayer board game where you lead a team of craft brewers trying to win customers over with tasty beer. The game’s convenient size makes it perfect to bring to the pub, or even your local craft brewery to bring the entire exercise full circle. Raising over $215,000 on Kickstarter, it can be ordered now with an expected delivery date of March 2019.

Amazon.com

Microbrew-board-game.backerkit.com.

RRP $22.45

RRP $27

16 www.beerandbrewer.com

POD & PARCEL Can’t get through the morning without a caffeine fix? Join the club. But, as you’d know, barista-made coffee is expensive, and coffee pods – the closest alternative to espresso – are terrible for the environment. Each year, in Australia alone, three million pods end up in landfill – with each expected to take up to 500 years to break down. Enter Pod & Parcel. At less than $1 a pod, Pod & Parcel pods are made from a corn starch and sugar cane composite; biodegradable and compostable, the company say that they break down “faster than orange peel”. Bit of a no-brainer, really.

Podandparcel.com.au Sampler pack (60 pods) RRP $57

GINGLE BELLS Sick of regular, alcohol-free Christmas baubles?

This one’s for you. ‘Gingle Bells’ is a set of six floral gin baubles, each filled with Australian Dry Gin and infused with a different natural botanical. Matching cocktail recipes are also included, so the different flavours in each bauble can best be utilised. The gift set includes two 54ml baubles at 37% ABV and four 50ml baubles at 40% ABV. Decorating your Christmas tree will never be the same.

Ginglebellsgin.com RRP $79

Bring this ad in to Holgate Brewhouse, Woodend to receive a FREE pot of Holgate Norton Lager!

HOLGATE BREWHOUSE home of award-winning beers holgatebrewhouse.com Woodend, Victoria

SUMMER 2018 17

NEW VENUES

FIXATION OPENS ‘INCUBATOR’ TASTING ROOM Fixation Brewing Company has opened its ‘Incubator’ tasting room on Smith Street in Collingwood, calling it the street’s “freshest and hoppiest venue”.

Fixation is Australia’s only IPA dedicated brewery and the Incubator allows the brewers to create and hatch their hoppiest ideas and then share them over the bar for all to try. The tasting room, which opened in September, features Fixation’s core range of awardwinning beers, as well as other special and exclusive brews, such as The 86 IPA and Easey Street IPA, served fresh from the tanks.

Speaking about the opening, Fixation said: “For those wanting to know more about craft brewing, this is the place to visit. Tours aren’t necessary with the bar nestled snug against the brewery. Enjoy your beers mere metres from the shiny steel tanks – any closer and you would be a part of the brew team. Any questions can be expertly and happily answered by the Fixation team, who are all self-confessed IPA fanatics.

“From the flagship Fixation IPA, an award winning, modern-day classic, to the beloved zesty Squish IPA through to Obsession, the 4.6% session IPA that doesn’t compromise on flavour, Fixation’s Incubator tasting room is Melbourne’s latest home to a range of fresh beer options.”

Incubator will also cater for foodies, with visitors welcome to take advantage of the wide-range of local food options and bring a meal into the bar, or order in using their preferred app.

In 2018 Fixation was awarded the Excellence in Consistency trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards, and in 2017 the brewery was recognised by the Independent Brewers Awards as the ‘Champion Medium Brewery’ – so rest assured you’re in good hands.

18 www.beerandbrewer.com

Fixation Brewing Co – The Incubator: 414 Smith St, Collingwood VIC 3066

SYDNEY BREWERY OPENS BREWPUB IN SURRY HILLS Craft beer outfit Sydney Brewery has opened a new brewpub and bar in Sydney’s inner city at Surry Hills, its first in the harbour city.

The 120-seater Albion Street pub has opened with a beer-led food menu intended to pair well with the craft beers on tap, under the direction of executive chef Rick Fowden. They’ll also be serving up local beers such as Albion Ale (brewed on site), Surry Hills Pils and Darlo Dark, complemented by cider.

“Surry Hills is an ever-evolving and thriving community of residents and businesses and we wanted to celebrate this with a local craft brewery offering, a great spot for a casual lunch or after work drink, while also giving locals the opportunity to take home a fresh growler of Sydney’s best beer,” says owner Dr Jerry Schwartz.

Located on the corner of Albion and Mary Streets, the craft brewery and bar features a modern industrial aesthetic, by designer David Forbes. Exposed brick, raw concrete, and naked timber typify the space, with some greenery to soften the urban edges.

Led by GM Andrew McKenna, the team hope to hero the beer offering but hint the menu will offer a refined take on pub dining classics.

Highlight dishes include the pork ribs in IPA BBQ sauce; Paddo Pale bratwurst with Sydney Cider red cabbage and garlic mash; and the Sydney Cider mussel pot with aioli and crusty bread.

Larger sharing plates are also on offer, along with growlers for off-premise consumption.

Live music is also in the works, with a DJ on weekends.

Sydney Brewery: 28 Albion St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

SESSION BEERS

Beer for all

Sessions

CRAFT BREWERS AND DRINKERS ARE COMING AROUND TO THE BENEFITS OF A BEER THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE DRINKING. SESSION BEERS THAT ESCHEW THE HIGH ABVS WITHOUT LOSING THE GREAT FLAVOURS ARE THE LATEST CHALLENGE THAT CRAFT BREWERS ARE GETTING EXCITED ABOUT, LUKE ROBERTSON DISCOVERS

20  www.beerandbrewer.com

SESSION BEERS

A

lot of the

Bonetti says for him the term

excitement around

‘session’ beer is pretty self explanatory.

craft beer is in

“I find it pretty straightforward: I want

the big, the high

to make a session out of it.”

strength, and the unusual. Which is a

He adds that doesn’t mean the beer can’t be flavourful and interesting. “I

lot of fun, admittedly, but when it comes

don’t think session denotes that it’s too

to a long afternoon around a barbeque,

care free, or not challenging.”

or a Sunday lunch with friends, you don’t necessarily want a high ABV,

A BREWING SESSION

flavour-packed experience. That’s

In September, Balter Brewing released

where the idea of a ‘session beer’ comes

its Captain Sensible: A 3.5% ale using

in: beer designed to still give you a big

the American pale ale style as a point of

whack of flavour sans the booze. The

reference. Brewer Scott Hargrave says

first question we have to ask, however,

for him the “challenge is to make a beer

is: what is a session beer?

that just tastes like a great beer and not

Simeon Bonetti, head brewer at

made simply for the fact that it’s just

Newstead Brewing Co in Brisbane, sums

reduced alcohol.” He describes how

it up by saying that for him, session

difficult brewing lower strength beer

beers are quite simply beers that you can

can be:

have a few of.

“Session beers aren’t convoluted

“It’s like when you go to the beach and are exposed. Quite often, if you’re a bit

occasion with gusto,” he says.

clumsy with your hops and a lower alcohol get all the exposed rocks. As the hop

as ‘mid strength’ beers in Australia,

character itself seems to fade you’re left

however some brewers have found that

with lower body and higher bitterness and

the term has connotations of the big

that’s when it gets jarring and harsh.” for a base, rather than Australian malt like

Beechworth, says he is conflicted over

Balter’s other beers. Hargreaves says due

the term ‘session’, and his Little Bling

to the high fermentability in Australian

IPA carries either the ‘mid strength’ or

malts, if he used local malt he would be

‘session’ tag, for better or worse.

left with a thinner beer. It’s also latehopped similarly to Balter’s flagship XPA,

begin with, because I think it really is a

and making it was a process filled with

mid strength beer; it’s not really an IPA

trial and error for Hargrave. He finds the

because of the ABV,” he says. When it

late hop additions add a “structure” to the

came to the beer reps selling it to bars and

overall beer.

restaurants it was soon apparent that mid

“I made a whole bunch of iterations of

strength may not be the best term. “When

Captain Sensible and at one point I was

they mentioned it was labelled as mid

being too sensible in just trying to have

strength, people were less into it because

a mid strength beer that was trying to

‘mid strength’ is a bit of a dirty word.”

cover everything,” he recalls. “It wasn’t

Kraus adds that the term has become a bit

until I went ‘you know what, fuck it, we

convoluted in the marketplace and he’s

make hoppy beers and I’m just going to

still unsure if ‘session’ means “light in

make a nice bright, clean vibrant little

flavour” or “light in alcohol.”

beer that’s just under 4%. The minute I

“It’s hard to have clarity when the

did that, and dry hopped at a similar rate

word ‘session’ is used across multiple

to XPA, I knew that would get it to where

platforms that it becomes a word that

it needed to be.”

doesn’t really mean much in the end,”

“With the Hop Cola, it’s less about, ‘I really like cola’, and it’s more ‘I really like hops, I’ve got to have a soft drink; I’ll have a Hopped Cola’. It’s a cola for beer drinkers rather than a cola for soft drink drinkers,” he says, and adds: “It’s really hoppy.”

Captain Sensible uses English ale malt

founder of Bridge Road Brewery in

“I didn’t want to call it session to

The two offerings it has currently are a Lemon Lime and Hop Bitters, and a Hopped Cola. The former is proving popular at the taproom and online sales.

He says he’s surprised how many people order it online after visiting the brewery.

beer, you don’t get the sandy beach, you

have traditionally been categorised

brewery industrial lagers. Ben Kraus,

Bridge Road has started playing around with hops and soft drinks to give people an alternative to beer when visiting the tap room. “There’s a big market for people who don’t drink alcohol who might want something a bit different,” says cofounder Ben Kraus.

the tides going back out and all the rocks

they are just a way to have your regular Outside of the craft beer world, they

Not Beer

At Ballistic Beer Co, its 3.5% Pilot

he says. “If you get a really good IPA, it

Light is subtitled ‘Table Beer’, as a

might be sessionable because you want

nod to European table beer traditions,

to keep drinking it.”

where low strength beer is historically

SUMMER 2018 21

SESSION BEERS

Also Try Boatrocker – Miss Pinky: Berliner weisse are probably a bit too sour or acidic for some to be considered sessionable, but if you want a fullflavoured beer that is a little different then Boatrocker’s raspberry Berliner is a great start.

Capital Brewing – Session XPA: At this point, terms like XPA and session can just make it more confusing for consumers and if we’re honest, we don’t really know what a Session XPA is… but this 4.5% hop-driven beer is still damned tasty regardless of the name.

Two Birds Brewing – Trail Blazer: A lager designed to be drunk at the footy, specifically the Western Bulldogs Women’s AFL matches. It’s 4.5%, and goes down a treat at Whitten Oval, but just as well at home too.

shared over a meal. Like Balter, it relies on a lot of late hop additions to help build complexity. Head brewer Lachy Crothers says the combination of low alcohol and Amarillo and Cascade hops has proven surprising and says: “It’s throwing more grapefruit and lychee characters that typically I wouldn’t expect from those hops.”

Newstead’s 3 Quarter Time session ale also benefits from the oil content imparted by hops late in the process, along with a bit of wheat to add carbohydrates.

“We used a bunch of wheat in there to give a bit of carbohydrate content to extend the flavour a little bit,” says Bonetti. “All of the hops in there have quite a high oil content to give sort of a rounded flavour and aroma impact.”

BUBBLES NOT FROTH Lower ABV beers tend to not set the world alight in terms of hype and demand from those that seek out the new and interesting. Ewan Brereton, co-founder and head brewer at South Australia’s Mismatch Brewing, calls his version simply Session Ale and says it’s designed to be drunk all summer long. He believes the market right now is looking for the extremes at either end.

“At the moment, I think what people are looking for is that lower alcohol with flavour, but then on the other end of the spectrum, heaps of alcohol – IIPAs and Russian imperial stouts – but they’re not big volume movers,” he opines.

While Mismatch Session Ale has been a big seller, he admits the recent launch of Coopers

22 www.beerandbrewer.com

mad

the world’s

greatest

local & imported malts

about

MALT MOU998 Beer and Brewer North Street IPA Ad_FA.pdf

1

5/11/2018

YIPPEE I.P.A! HOPPY LOVERS! 2018 AIBA gold medal winner.

1800 119622 sales@cryermalt.com.au cryermalt.com.au

12:15 PM

N ORT H

STREET

IPA

OUT NOW. 6.5% ABV

goatbeer.com.au

SUMMER 2018 23

SESSION BEERS

Food Lachy Crother’s at Ballistic says a light seafood starter is the go to for Table Beer, while Scott Hargrave at Balter believes Captain Sensible works a treat with chicken kebabs and a light, crisp, citrusy salad.

Bridge Road’s Ben Kraus says Little Bling’s maltier flavours go great with American BBQ or fried chicken – sweet and a little spicy.

Balter head brewer Scott Hargrave

Session Ale in the marketplace has “dented” them a little. But as the

For dessert, Simeon Bonetti reckons Newstead 3 Quarter Time is a ripper with cheesecake, with great complementary citrus flavours.

You can round out your dinner with a Mismatch Session Ale, which Ewan Brereton says is great with hard cheese.

that gets us a bit more volume.”

Bonetti says the same about

brewery gears up to launch its new

Newstead’s and says at certain times of

taproom over summer time, he says the

the year it’ll be the best seller.

team will “just keep doing what we’re doing and improve our product”.

At Balter, its XPA moves the most

“It swings a little bit seasonally with our pale ale and our golden lager,” he says. He also believes lower strength

volume and the IIPA sells out as soon

beers are crucial for the wider industry.

as it hits shelves. Hargrave says the

“I would argue that it’s important

bigger, bolder styles will always grab

everywhere because our propensity to

the attention of the beer geeks, while

drive a car or make important decisions

session and mid strengths are a “slower

might mean we don’t want to be

burn” in the market.

shitfaced all the time.”

“It’s just the nature of these sorts

For Hargrave, while he agrees that

of beers I think,” he says. “It’s not a

session beers are great for the drivers and

bruiser, it’s not a unicorn beer. Captain

those not wanting to ruin their day, it’s

will be part of our core range and it’s

still all about the quality of the beer itself.

going to take a little while.”

“To me the ultimate success for me

Lower ABV beers do tend to work

will be if people just drink it because

better in the more humid climes of the

they like the taste of it, not because

top half of Australia. Crothers says with

they’re feeling responsible or have to go

its local market it was important for

pick the kids up,” he concludes. “That

Ballistic to include a session style beer in

all works for it, and it’s part of why we

its core range.

need a beer in that range, but at the

“It is a reasonably good mover for

same time if you can just make the beer

us considering it is a mid strength,” he

for pure enjoyment that’s why we make

comments. “I think in other states, it

all our beers. If we get that right, and

doesn’t get a huge amount of traction,

people go to the beer because they like

but for us in our venues and around South

the flavour more than anything else, I’ll

East Queensland it’s definitely something

be proud as punch.”

24 www.beerandbrewer.com

2019 BEER & BREWER AWARDS

THE ESTEEMED PANEL Luke Robertson – Beer Writer, Ale of a Time Jeremy Sambrooks – Beer Writer and Judge Chris Thomas – Editor, Homebrewer Kirrily Waldhorn – Beer Presenter, Educator, Consultant, Writer and Judge, Beer Diva

2019

Pia Poynton – Beer Writer, Girl + Beer Tam Allenby – Editor, BARS&clubs and Assistant Editor, Beer & Brewer

BEER & BREWER

Brad Flowers – Owner, Hops and More Tim Charody – The Beer Pilgrim Neal Cameron – Institute of Beer Ross Lewis – Editor, The Sip, and Executive Officer of the WA Brewers Association John Kruger – Beer Photographer

OUR JUDGING PANEL HAS SPOKEN AND THE BEER & BREWER AWARDS ARE BACK TO ANNOUNCE AND CELEBRATE THE BEST IN AUSSIE BREWING

T

James Wilkinson – Managing Editor, Hotel Management Graham Wright – Odd Whisky Company

2019 he Australian craft beer industry

of our 13

continues to grow apace,

categories.

whether it’s in terms of the

Those placed

number of breweries or beers

highest on

or indeed the variety, quality

each panellist’s list

and consistency of the products

have scored higher than those placed

on offer. People from across the country are

lower down. The scores were then tallied and our

heightening standards, innovating in fresh new

winners were received.

ways and bringing forgotten styles and skills to the forefront of the brewing landscape.

And here at Beer & Brewer, we are proud to support

But that’s not all. Beer isn’t just for the experts, and we wanted you, our readers, to continue to have your say. The People’s Choice returns once again in

and celebrate this fantastic industry with the Beer &

three categories – Best Beer Name, Best New Beer

Brewer Awards, back again after its return last year.

for 2018, and Best Beer Packaging. We have been

Like last year, we want to focus on those people and

inundated with your votes and we cannot thank

places who do so much and work so tirelessly to keep

you enough for them. After, not only have they

our tastebuds dancing.

determined our final three winners, but your choices

We’ve also introduced a new award this year, to highlight the growing stature of the Australian cider making industry and the strides it is making in provenance, experimentation and quality.

We’ve enlisted the help of 25 panellists from

have further opened our eyes to the sheer variety of beers that now exists in Australia.

So without further ado, let’s kick off this year’s Beer & Brewer Awards. And we start, as ever, with our Lifetime Achievement Award,

all over Australia to lend us their thoughts and

which has been won by Stone & Wood’s very own

select their favourites from the industry in each

Brad Rogers. Enjoy.

26 www.beerandbrewer.com

Michael Capaldo – Hop Products Australia Justin Fox – Bintani Charlie Whitting – Editor, Beer & Brewer Deborah Jackson – Editor, National Liquor News Alexis Roitman – CEO, Independent Brewers Association John Elliot – Chief Craft Beer Reviewer, Craft Beer Reviewer Mike Bennie – Drinks Journalist and Presenter Mick Wust – Contributor for The Crafty Pint and Froth Magazine Guy Southern – The Crafty Pint Contributor Will Ziebell – The Crafty Pint Contributor Peter Mitcham – Beer Writer, Brews News Andy Young – Editor, The Shout

THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:

Brad Rogers Brad Rogers, co-founder of 10 year-old Stone & Wood Brewing Company and the winner of the 2019 Beer & Brewer Lifetime Achievement Award, was fascinated by brewing from a young age, but he actually cut his teeth in the wine industry.

He studied Oenology at Roseworth Agricultural College in Adelaide in 1990, but in 1994 he was offered his first job in brewing – at the now extinct Kent Brewery, part of Carlton & United Breweries.

“Once in brewing I knew this was where I belonged,” he recalls.

“I am fascinated by the brewing concept of bringing together simple raw materials – water, malt, hops and yeast, to create the final brew. I also love the immediacy of brewing beer. You only have to wait weeks

2019

to drink the fruits of your labour – not years.”

With Jamie Cook and Ross Jurisich, Rogers reinvigorated the Matilda Bay Brewing Company brand, but the three wanted to get into the growing world of small, independent breweries. So, in 2008, after two and a half years of meticulous planning, they set off for Byron Bay and set up Stone & Wood Brewing Company.

“It was the best thing I’ve ever done,” says Rogers. “In 2005, it became clear that there was a growing number of beer drinkers willing to shift to more flavoursome products and there was an untapped thirst for knowledge about beer and interest in exploring

“THERE IS A REAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND INCLUSIVENESS ACROSS BREWERS AND THEIR BREWERIES”

beer and all its forms and styles.

“I’m most proud about the simple fact that the three of us left great jobs and backed each other that we could get to where we are

Industry Association, and was also chief judge at the AIBAs. He then

today. The other great aspect is our people and our culture. Our

co-founded Fermentum – a collection of breweries and cider makers

people right across the business are so important to me, and it’s

– of which he is currently executive director and head brewer. So from

very satisfying to see our team grow and develop and take on new

this heavily involved vantage point in Australian craft brewing, what

challenges as our small craft beer business continues to grow.”

has Rogers witnessed?

A decade after its founding, Stone & Wood now has over 120

“The world keeps getting smaller, and the ease with which craft

employees and is Australia’s second largest independent brewing

brewers can communicate and help each other is as healthy as

company (behind Coopers). It is a major player in Australia’s vibrant

it’s ever been,” he says. “With this in mind, the quality across

craft brewing scene, despite a relatively small portfolio of beers

small independent craft brewers has continually improved. Craft

compared to the wide array of the modern craft brewery. And yet what

brewers continue to lead the way with true innovative thinking,

Brad is perhaps most famous for is creating a whole new style of beer

both directly with their beers, but also in the way they run their

- Pacific Ale. So how did that come about?

businesses. There is a real sense of community and inclusiveness

“The Stone & Wood philosophy, across all of the business, is to keep things simple. I always wanted to use the Galaxy hop, so I

across brewers and their breweries, which I believe fuels the industry.

“I’m extremely humbled by this award! I need to thank

just had to work out a way to use it cleverly to get the most out of

my co-founding partners, Jamie, Ross and Tom, as it’s very

the tropical fruit, passionfruit character I knew and loved about it.

much a team game. You can’t do what we’ve been able to do as

The Pacific Ale makes me happy every day. It’s such a great beer to

an individual. And a huge thanks goes out to the entire Stone & Wood

brew and enjoy.”

and Fermentum team who help make going to work such a joy each

In 2012, Rogers became the founding chairman of the Craft Beer

and every day.”

SUMMER 2018 27

BEST BREWPUB:

Stomping Ground Stomping Ground in Collingwood, Victoria, has once again taken the title of the Beer & Brewer Best Brewpub.

The brewery itself has already created over 100 brews in two years, while the venue

BEST REGIONAL BEER VENUE:

The Grain Store

was highly rated by our judging panel for its beer, atmosphere and service. Founded

Newcastle’s The Grain Store has claimed the title

by Guy Greenstone, Justin Joiner and Steve Jeffares, the guys behind the Local

of Best Regional Beer Venue for the second year

Taphouse in St Kilda, this place continues to set standards.

running in the Beer & Brewer Awards.

“The result has been a fantastic motivator for all our staff members across the

Owned and operated by husband and wife team

beerl hall and brewery who deserve so much credit for the part they played,” says

Corey and Kristy Crooks, the venue is a beacon for the

Jeffares. “With so many great brewery venues opening up, we certainly didn’t expect

local population and the growing number of tourists

to top the rankings again this year. Every year, we’re trying to improve. We invest

heading to Newcastle for a different experience.

fairly heavily in training and retaining our staff, so when we get accolades like the Beer & Brewer Top 50 Brewpubs it reinforces that we’re on the right track.”

Stomping Ground’s venue manager Matt Marinich also recently became the first Australian to qualify as an Advanced Cicerone.

“We hope to have another beer hall in Melbourne at some point,” adds Jeffares. “Part

“It’s always good to get the recognition for what the staff are doing,” says Corey. “It’s not my award, it’s the staff’s. They’re the people on the floor, they interact with the customers. They strive to be consistent and look after people. The biggest

of the reason is that customers have responded so favourably to what we’ve done. We

thing for us is we try to judge everyone as equals. I

want to be able to build our brand in ways that build on our strength. That’s what we

don’t think there’s a need for pretentiousness.”

enjoy – that direct to consumer relationship.”

The venue focuses on independent, Australian producers across the board. So not only are its 21 rotating taps filled with indie Aussie beers, but the wine list consists solely of Hunter Valley wines and the food, soft drinks and even straws are sourced with independent, family businesses in mind.

BEST BEER VENUE:

Dutch Trading Company

Indeed, the venue is currently serving two beers it’s made in collaboration with a local brewery.

“This business is my wife and I, and our two kids,” says Corey Crooks. “We like to support those who are similar, guys who are working around the clock, likeminded family businesses like ours who need our support.

“We’re still a country town compared to Sydney, it’s a very different heartbeat here. It’s more

The winner of the Best Beer Venue is Dutch Trading Company in Perth, WA. It first opened its doors in 2015 and has been steadily climbing our Top 50 Beer Venues list ever since. Initially, it had 12 beer taps, but it’s now up to 22, with a permanent collaborative Table Beer available, something co-owners Joel Beresford, Andrew Bennett and Daniel Strepini have long wanted to do.

“The award of Best Craft Beer Venue 2018 was a fantastic acknowledgement for all of us at DTC,” says Beresford. “It was a tip of the hat from our peers and contemporaries in the industry for all the effort our team has put into craft beer. It gave us confidence that we were moving in the right direction, and has propelled us to strive even harder to enhance, educate and enjoy the craft beer scene.”

The venue doesn’t only champion draught and packaged products, beer and food matching and the global craft brewing scene. It also focuses on supporting its local communities and looking ever further afield for interesting beers.

“We have leapt into WA Beer Week, hosting a 22 WA Tap Takeover for the Final Party, plus a multitude of others,” adds Beresford. “One close to our heart is the Bridges to Beer Charity Run - proceeds go to Movember and is a different approach to craft beer in our everyday lives. We have even made a one off Gatorade-style beer for the finish line!

28 www.beerandbrewer.com

personal, like a country pub. That’s the advantage we have here.”

2019

BEST BREWER:

Scott Hargrave Balter

Balter Brewing Company has enjoyed a meteoric rise since Scott Hargrave joined it two and a half years ago. It sits at the top the

“Then the founders of Balter came calling.

they’re mysteries. I want to unlock the true

We had a six week courtship and I went there.”

potential in the beer – how do I make it pop

Since then, it’s been a roller coaster ride

and be the best expression it can be? I like to

list of favourite breweries in Beer Cartel’s

of medals and trophies for the brewery,

Craft Beer Survey, its beers have won medals

alongside significant growth in terms of

and competitions on an incredibly consistent

output, but also personnel and skill.

basis, and the smiling cans are fast becoming

“The gongs are a highlight and show we’re

tinker like that.

“Sometimes you take a swing and it ends up on the green, other times it takes endless refinement to knock the bumps off, and

a ubiquitous addition to bars and bottleshops

heading in the right direction, but what we

they’re sometimes more gratifying – when

across the country.

consider great is being considered great by

you crack something that’s been eluding you.

But Hargrave himself didn’t even consider

peer judging and the public as well,” says

“I’ve made good beers, I’d like to think

brewing as a career choice until 2006. Before

Hargrave. “To get both ends of the spectrums

I haven’t made my great ones yet. I’m

then, he had been a passionate consumer of

is great. For me, the four or five guys who run

still searching.”

German and Belgian beers, seeking out new

Balter – to see those guys come from outside

and interesting beers to try as he worked as a

beer and become beer industry pros and

concreter in Canberra.

doing it well, that’s been cool to watch. Now

release program. It’s about expressing the

And what’s next for Balter?

“We’re looking at some stuff – a limited

“I was with one of my relatives and he just

there are 50 families who have food on their

ingredients at their best and techniques at

said ‘if you’re passionate about beer, then do

tables because they make Balter beer. That’s

their best. I have a pilot system that I want

something with beer’,” Hargrave recalls. “So

awesome.”

to expand. There’s always a way to push

I went back and got on an education course at The Wig and Pen. Lockie [Lachlan McOmish, owner of The Wig and Pen] replicated a mini

So what are his favourite beers to drink and brew?

“My favourite style to drink changes with

forward. The potential is just vast, there are horizons and horizons. You could go down a rabbithole just with IPAs.

mash and when I smelled it, it went straight

the direction of the wind! There’s nothing

to my brain. It was so familiar despite the fact

like a supremely well-made classic pilsner.

sort out our capacity issue, we can look wider

I’d never had anything to do with brewing. It

I love it when you have an IPA or a IIPA that

at smaller more limited releases without

altered my brain chemistry.”

just sings because of the hop characters.

disturbing the day to day beer that we have to

There’s nothing as comforting as a milk or

make so we don’t let people down.

He joined Canberra Brewers on McOmish’s assurance that you didn’t need a science degree to become a brewer: “He said ‘as

oatmeal stout when the weather’s not great.

“My favourite style to brew is the next one:

“As we get into the new year and hopefully

“I don’t want to do anything half arsed, it needs to be done properly. I’m not into doing

long as you’re passionate and you’re good,

when I’m working on the pilot, working on

token average beers just because everyone is

go for it’.”

concepts in my mind and I have this idea of

doing it. You’ve got to do something properly

how it should look, smell and taste, how it

or not at all. We do want to get a small barrel

Hargrave became head brewer at Sunshine

should feel. And they’re just concepts in your

program going and do some sour beers down

Coast Brewery, winning medals for every beer

head, but when you can bring that to life into

the track, but we don’t want to compromise

he entered. Then he became the first full time

something staring at you in the glass, and

50 people’s incomes by not being careful.

employee at Stone & Wood, staying there for

someone else can get enjoyment from that…

four years, before heading to be head brewer

that’s pretty gratifying. The most exciting

ways of doing things. I intend to spend a lot

at Byron Bay Brewery for 18 months.

beers for me are the ones I’m working on –

of next year chipping away.”

Two years after his first homebrew,

“There are always boundaries to push, new

SUMMER 2018 29

2019 BEER & BREWER AWARDS

BEST NEW BREWERY:

Burnley Brewing The Australian craft brewing scene has been growing apace, with new breweries starting up or finding homes all the time (see our New and Up & Coming Breweries feature). And the best of the bunch is Burnley Brewing

“THE WHOLE IDEA WAS FRESH FROM THE TANK, KEEP IT SIMPLE AND MAKE THE BEERS FRESHER.”

in Burnley, Melbourne.

“We couldn’t be happier,” says founder Neil Mills.

“We’ve got a really lovely team of staff who believed in the product and got on board wholesale and put a lot into it, and that’s come together really well.”

Mills has been brewing since his university days and then, after installing equipment at other breweries with Spark Brewing, he decided to take the plunge and open his own. The venue opened in November 2017, with a rotating selection of beers made on a Spark K500 stacked brewhouse with four 1,000L fermenters.

“The whole idea was fresh from the tank,” says Mills. “Keep it simple and make the beers fresher.

It took us about six months to get started – that was a council issue. It was certainly more work than I anticipated! But it’s a nice kind of work.

“We don’t care about brand flash points. It’s quality service, quality beer and consistency – presenting the beers in a nice way. It takes time to brew a great lager.

It makes sense to accompany it with a nice meal made by great chefs in nice glassware in a nice venue. The whole thing is about the finish.”

The beers have been selling so well that to keep up with wholesale demand, a second brewery has been constructed in a warehouse. The next few months should see a collection of new lagers in cans coming out.

And the area itself is also seeing more brewing growth.

“I hear another two or three breweries are in planning in our neck of the woods,” says Mills. “It will be a nice little hot spot for brewing. The more the merrier.”

30 www.beerandbrewer.com

(l-r) Burnley Brewing’s Michael, Neil and Phil

2019

BEST CIDER MAKER:

Jimi Anderson Such is the growing quality and variety in the Australian cider making industry that Beer & Brewer felt it couldn’t be ignored. So we have introduced a 13th category to the Beer & Brewer Awards: Best Cider Maker. The judges have spoken and our inaugural winner is Jimi Anderson, cider maker at Wille Smith’s in Tasmania.

“I’m a little bit speechless,” Anderson says. “I didn’t see it coming. We’ve had a great few years, doing some wonderful things. It’s fantastic to have my name there but it wouldn’t be possible without the team behind me. I’m honoured and humbled.”

Anderson started out in hospitality, before working for Iron House Brewery in the north east coast of Tasmania. Here he cut his teeth in the world of sales and marketing, as well as on the production floor. It was then that Willie Smith’s founder Sam Reid got in touch and asked him if he could take over things until he could find a full-time cider maker.

“I must have been doing something right because I’m still holding that role now!” laughs Anderson. “I’ve always been a big fan of the craft beer industry and I saw in the move to Willie Smith’s an opportunity to get into production. I took it as quickly as I could.”

The move to Willie Smith’s transformed Anderson into a cider fan, driving him to understand what cider in the New World could be, and what was available in Tasmania.

“I’m on the traditional style of cider. I have a great passion for making the wild stuff in particular. To work with great guys making traditional English and French cider is just amazing. We try to absorb as much as we can from as many producers, especially French, Spanish and English. We let the apple do what it does best by not filtering out the goodness, by working with suppliers and putting our own spin on it.

“The products where we are, are slightly different to what you’d expect in the UK or France. We’re able to produce throughout the year as we need it. I very much see Willie Smith’s at the cutting edge, the front foot as far as driving the quality of the product, making sure everything we’re using is as locally sourced as we can possibly get it, making sure we can manage the product, orchard to bottle.

“Australian cider is only helping that. The more people you have behind the wheelbarrow the easier it is to push.

The industry as a whole has really got on board with that.”

SUMMER 2018 31

2019 BEER & BREWER AWARDS

BEST ONLINE RETAILER:

Beer Cartel Beer Cartel has retained its title at the top of online beer retailing in the Beer & Brewer Awards.

Online Beer Retailer was introduced into last year’s inaugural Awards to reflect the growing importance of the online world to beer – both in terms of distribution, but also understanding – and Beer Cartel’s Richard Kelsey has highlighted how much

BEST HOMEBREW SHOP:

Grain and Grape

stiffer the competition has become since he took the title last year, but also how much more important online purchase is now.

“Every day we see more competitors pop up,” he says. “It’s not an easy industry, especially online, for people to get started.

It takes quite a few years to get reasonably established. We started back in 2009 and even then we realised we couldn’t survive just online, so we got our store in 2011. Back then the store was the breadwinner, but now it’s online.”

Part of Beer Cartel’s success can be attributed to the fact that

Grain and Grape has scooped the Beer & Brewer Award for Best

not only does it send beers to all corners of Australia, but that

Homebrew Shop for the second year running, as the Melbourne

it is also focused on teaching its customers more about what

institution continues to provide for the city’s significant homebrewing

they’re drinking.

population after a quarter of a century in business.

“It’s just great to be recognized from a personal point of view and for

“We’ve always had a big focus on education and it’s been about continuing on what we did in the past. We want to take

the staff, who put an awful lot of work in,” says founder John Preston.

people on a journey into craft beer. It’s a fantastic world to

“Winning for a second time, hopefully it’s consistent with the effort

be in. We’ve kept on doing things like the blog to keep that

and time we put into our customers and trying to improve. We know

education standpoint. We continue to do the Craft Beer Survey

we’re not perfect and we’re not the cheapest, but hopefully it’s more

and more and more people take part. It’s been fascinating to see

about service and knowledge and customer relations.”

the industry change.”

Preston opened Grain and Grape way back in 1990. As well as being heavily involved in Good Beer Week, he also started the Australian National Homebrewers’ Conference (page 72). The venue holds

So what has Beer Cartel been doing to keep itself ahead of the curve?

“We try to be innovative. We’ve switched the focus to be

regular free brewing demos and events that challenge and inspire

more focused on Australian craft beer. We’re a big supporter of

homebrewers and commercial brewers alike. This year, during Good

the local industry and the quality coming out has improved a

Beer Week, the shop held its annual System Wars in-house, and

heck of a lot in a short space of time.

Preston believes it was the biggest one yet.

“We had 15 brewers on 15 different homebrewing systems,” he says.

“We celebrated the 10th anniversary of our Beer Club this year. Our aim is to drive that further and we’ll be doing

“Most were commercial brewers who were previously homebrewers,

collaborative one-off beers hopefully quite regularly. We’ll be

but there were some homebrewers too. We’ve just started planning

looking at changes to the website to make it even better. There

next year’s event. We like to do things like free demonstrations, get

are different things that could be improved to make it faster,

involved in Good Beer Week and the Conference.

more searchable and easier for people to use. And make the

“It’s a team effort in terms of training. The guys talk about brewing

buying experience more interesting and easier.”

all the time. It’s an obsession for them. We were one of the first to get onto NEIPAs and Brut IPAs, and the guys are very keen on sours.

There’s always a bit of beer going on in the background. We get interested and interesting employees, because brewing is interesting, and that goes back to the customers. We get a lot of ideas and information about new products and techniques from our customers – it’s an ecosystem really.

“We’ve started to sell a lot more of the small commercial brewkits.

The 200, 500 and 1,000l Braumeisters, they’re coming along at the moment and becoming a bigger part of the business. It’s nice to have that broader balance.”

32 www.beerandbrewer.com

Geoff Huens & Richard Kelsey

2019

BEST BREWERY EXPERIENCE:

Capital Brewing Co This year’s award for the Best Brewery Experience has gone to the nation’s capital and to Capital Brewing Co in Canberra.

The taproom gets 7,000 people coming through every week, with over 100 people taking tours every weekend. But what is it that makes this experience so special?

“The guest experience is really critical for us,” says Laurence Kain, managing director of Capital Brewing Co. “We focus on the acoustics and the ergonomics. The size and scale of the place is pretty cool to look at and we tried to create the space to take you on a bit of a journey as you enter. It’s really fun. We’re really focused on natural light in the day and warmer light with the fire at night.

“We put a lot of work into our staff right from induction. We have fortnightly training days, and everyone has to do a brew day before they get behind the bar so they understand the process. It’s great watching staff explain beer to the customers in their own way; they evolve their own techniques and have their own takes. A lot of our bar staff homebrew as well, and we’re starting to do Cicerone training with some of them.”

The food at Capital is supplied by Brodburger, a local institution whose popularity has resulted in the purchase of a van with three times the capacity. The taphouse holds plenty of festivals and events – the day we spoke to Kain, he was just coming off the back of entertaining 4,500 people at Grill’d and Chill’d Festival with food trucks from all over the world – but the venue is for the community and it’s important that it is always available to local people. A big outdoor area with a cubby house is perfect for children, while non-alcoholic ‘dog beer’ and plenty of shade and water makes it a pooch’s paradise too.

“They need to know it’s reliable,” says Kain. “We make sure that people can bring their kids here – we have kid’s menus, facepainting, an animal petting zoo on festival days. It encourages parents to go on a brewery tour for half an hour. The brewery tour is not just about how we make beer, but why it’s important to choose one of the 400+ independent breweries when they’re next at the bottleshop.”

SUMMER 2018 33

2019 People’s Choice Awards

BEST BEER PACKAGING:

Philter The votes are in for the Beer & Brewer People’s Choice and we can announce that Philter has been named as the winner in Best Beer Packaging.

The range from Philter has divided some beer drinkers, but one thing’s for certain – the cans stand out, which is just what director Stefan Constantoulas set out to achieve.

“We definitely wanted to be slightly different to everyone else,” he says. “We wanted to make sure from a packaging perspective that we stood out on the shelf.

The nostalgic piece was a big thing as well. The chance to influence the consumer

BEST BEER NAME:

Dump the Trump Beer & Brewer doesn’t tend to get too political, but this year’s People’s Choice went to a beer from New Zealand that takes aim at the President of the United States.

Behemoth Brewing’s Andrew Childs created

in store, you don’t have much time at all. It’s that easy recognition on shelf: ‘That’s

an American IPA using American, Australian

Philter’. They don’t have to look hard to find it. That was key to us. Even that

and New Zealand hops with a light malt base,

polarising aspect to the design, we get it and we kind of like that. It was kind of done

and called it Dump the Trump.

on purpose. There are a small percentage of people who bloody hate it, but the fact that they’re talking about it is great for our brand.”

The core range has a consistent branding theme with colour changes, and

“In 2016 Donald Trump got the Republican nomination, we thought it was insane so decided to make a beer going against everything

Constantoulas says there’s probably only room for one or two more in that range.

that he was about,” he recalls. “We stopped

However, they have also been able to tinker with the design for limited releases.

making it after he was elected president (we

“That’s where we’ll play,” he explains. “It gives us that flexibility to do some weird and wacky stuff that’s still distinctly Philter.”

thought it would never actually happen). But we brought it out again this year and it kind of blew up with a lot of international media. It was

BEST NEW BEER FOR 2018:

Balter IIPA The people have spoken and they have chosen a beer from this year’s Best Brewer – it’s the Balter IIPA. At 8.6% ABV and chock full of hops, including Simco, Citra, Centennial, Galaxy and Mosaic, this is nevertheless an eminently quaffable beer.

“The inspiration was all the things that I like about the great double IPAs and veering away from some of the things that I don’t like about some double IPAs,” explains Scott Hargrave. “Double IPAs don’t tend to age; they always eventually collapse under their own weight, and then they can get quite sticky and sweet. Despite being generally quite big, the best double IPAs are still a delight to drink. If we’ve had complaints about our IIPA it’s that it’s too easy to drink and that leaves me scratching my head. I didn’t set out to make it hard!”

The beer is made with almost 100% Australian pale malt, with a tiny amount of rolled wheat to help the mouthfeel and beer foam. Hops were added throughout the brewing process, a ‘continual assault’.

“There’s first wort hops, there’s the beering addition, then additions at 15 and 30 minutes, then the whirlpool addition,” says Hargrave. “Then there’s two separate dry hop stages. In the kettle before we’ve even put it in the fermenter you can smell the bones of the beer, those aromatics, the outlines of what the beer is going to be.”

It took him a couple of attempts on the to get the balance right and take the rough edges off, but he now has a beer that’s high in hops, high in alcohol, but also quite dry and approachable. And will he be making any more?

“Even if we can’t afford to make the beer every day, we’ll get in trouble if we don’t!”

34 www.beerandbrewer.com

pretty nuts really.

“Most people in NZ have responded well but we had a bunch of pro-Trump nutters give our Facebook page 1 star reviews, but thankfully 10 times more Kiwis came back and gave us 5 stars. It has all made this year a very interesting one.”

Thirsty?

Your base for contract brewing.

Get your serve of beer news, brewer interviews, brewery openings and festival information every week.

Medium scale contract & gypsy Guaranteed brewing slots

b r you

ym

an

We are always happy to discuss your needs.

Please call us or visit a t our website for H o your more information.

n

ir

o

Free quoting

ed

d

Recipe development

Preservative free naturally brewed

aft

Hol

Various brew size options

- hand

cr

Supports mobile canning & bottling

r ee

www.hairyman.com.au Unit 10, 12-14 Northumberland Rd,

Caringbah NSW 2229 Tel 02 9525 4050

Subscribe to the Beer & Brewer weekly e-newsletter by going to

www.beerandbrewer.com

Find us on

Want to make it your career?

Are you a home brewer with a passion for beer who wants to extend your technical brewing knowledge – or have you worked in the industry for some time and want your skills and knowledge recognised with a qualification Starting in February 2019, Otago Polytechnic will be offering New Zealand’s first suite of brewing qualifications in one of the most scenic parts of the country. Delivered via hands-on sessions in our custom-built brewery, as well as online learning – providing the flexibility for those in the industry and those who want to work full-time.

PROGRAMMES: > New Zealand Certificate in Brewing (Level 4)* > New Zealand Certificate in Brewing (Level 5)* > New Zealand Diploma in Brewing (Level 6)* *subject to approval

To register for updates and programme information visit: www.central.op.ac.nz/craft-beer

www.central.op.ac.nz | 0800 765 9276 | +64 3 445 9900

SUMMER 2018 35

BREWING EQUIPMENT

36  www.beerandbrewer.com

BREWING EQUIPMENT

Treat it right BREWING EQUIPMENT IS A MAJOR INVESTMENT, BUT THE WAY YOU LOOK AFTER IT HAS A MASSIVE IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF BEER YOU PRODUCE AND THE LIFESPAN OF THAT KIT, WRITES CHARLIE WHITTING

M

y father was a sheep farmer in south Wales for a time and one of the things that drove him mad was the habit some farmers had of leaving their machinery – tractors, spreaders, bailers – outside in all weathers at the mercy of the elements. Farming equipment will set you back a pretty penny, but if it’s left out to rust in the Rhondda rain it will cost you even more in time

and money. The same rules apply to brewing equipment. Any piece of kit will give you better results and for longer if you use and care for it correctly.

In our Brewing Equipment Part 1 feature (issue 45) we explored what to look for when purchasing brewery equipment and setting up your brewery. In this second part, we will examine what it takes to get the most out of that kit in the subsequent years.

GETTING STARTED Looking after your equipment begins before it has even arrived at your brewery. You might be eagerly waiting for that fully laden truck to arrive laden, but you need to have a plan in place right from the get-go, or you will be tinkering even more than usual. Preparation is key, especially before your first brew. Your primary aim should be to get to know your brewery, and that means learning to walk before you start running or making your craziest batch.

“Good results come from continuous improvement – the process of commissioning, test brewing and production brewing can be undertaken with this mindset,” says Julian Sanders, founder of Spark Breweries and Distilleries. “Small adjustments should never finish. Although you should be prepared to dump your first batch, there is no reason that you should need to with an appropriate setup, cleaning and commissioning process. Plan for your first batch to be good, and the worst batch that you’ll ever brew.”

It is more than likely that this won’t be the first brewing equipment that you have used, but it is important to remember that this is the first time you’ve used this particular system, with all its idiosyncrasies and different requirements. It is unlikely that you’ll be able to simply replicate exactly what you’ve been doing on previous systems. You need to take things slowly, test them out, and work out what the equipment is telling you.

“We still don’t know if 67°C on our mash tun is 67°C, but we know the attenuation it will give us at the end, so it doesn’t really matter,” says Rhys Lopez, brewer at Otherside Brewing. “It takes a couple of batches of the same beer to really figure St Andrews Brewery with FB*PROPAK

SUMMER 2018 37

BREWING EQUIPMENT

Reducing waste Energy saving tips from Sydney Brewery 1. Only heat or cool hot or cold liquor tanks when they are needed and not when the brewhouse is at idle.

2. Maximise heat recovered during wort cooling and balance water levels to minimise overflowing (wasted heat) and cold water topping up (energy required to bring temperature up).

3. Keep the hot water only as hot as you need and the cold liquor/glycol tanks only as cool as you need. Avoid any unnecessary heating or cooling.

Keeping things clean at Smiling Samoyed Brewery

it out, but a hand-held thermometer with a long

inside regularly along with the surface cleaning

probe can save you some sleepless nights before the

of the external stainless steel helps its visual

first beers finish fermentation.

appearance and longevity too.”

“Each system is slightly different. You need to

Brewing equipment is in constant use during a

figure out exactly how hard you can drive a pump

brew. You might be having a cup of tea or doing

before it overloads, or how fast you can bring on

some admin, but the machines keep turning,

the strike liquor to keep up with your auger, or

heating, cooling and pumping. You need to know

how much you need to underlet into the lauter tun

what every bit of kit is doing when things are

before the grain hits the false bottom. Experience

running smoothly, and be sensitive enough to pick

in other systems helps, but is important to take a

up any changes in the system, particularly when it

lot of notes, pay attention, and not have the hubris

comes to moving parts, electrical components and

to presume that something is best practice because

measuring devices. Like driving a car you’ve had

that’s how you did it in previous breweries.”

for years, you should almost be able to feel when something’s not quite right. Use all your senses and

LOOKING AFTER EQUIPMENT

if something seems wrong, act on it immediately

Starting slowly with your brewing equipment doesn’t

– you can’t know how long it’s been wrong or how

just allow you to identify potential problems before

much damage it’s done.

you’ve wasted gallons of wort on a beer that’s not

“So much of what we do isn’t visible, but you

turning out the way it would on your old system; it

should know how your brewery sounds when

also gives you the chance to test out your equipment’s

everything is running correctly,” says Dan Shaw,

capabilities. A couple of less challenging runs will

head brewer at Australian Brewery. “If a pump

break the equipment in and teach you how use it

sounds different, check it and find out why. Has

moving forward and alert you to potential problems

something made its way in there which could

before they become significant ones.

potentially damage another piece of equipment? Is

“It is best to start off easy on the equipment

your packaging line leaking CO2 or air, wasting gas

and learn about it before testing its limits

or running a compressor harder than needed? Are

and durability,” says Greg Mace, brewer and

the rakes and paddles scraping or hitting anything

technical sales at FB*Propak. “Taking care of your

in your tanks? Is your cooling pump still running?

brewing equipment and scheduling preventative

Investigate any unusual sound, don’t just dismiss

maintenance during the slow times of the year is

it. It was said to me a long time ago that we aren’t

highly recommended, as fixing something before

brewers, we are problem solvers.”

it has the possibility of failure is paramount to

The art of brewing is full of innovation and can-

understanding the operations of your business.

do attitude, with brewers frequently stepping in

Giving your brewing equipment a thorough CIP

with a wrench or a screwdriver to make immediate

38 www.beerandbrewer.com

4. Where possible maximise batch size – there are typical “set energy uses” per brew so if we can have more out for the same input it is of benefit.

5. Use hot water/liquor only where required – there is often an overuse of hot water in breweries where ambient water would be sufficient.

6. Optimise boil – don’t boil for longer than needed and look at the possibility of switching off some of the heating elements/jackets/ burners once on the boil to maintain a good boil.

7. Avoid leaving pumps running (dead heading) when not in use.

8. Recovery of heat from kettle flue, this is something that we can do at our Sydney Brewery Hunter Valley site.

9. Measure and track your usage – understanding what you use can highlight the need for improvement… you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

10. Don’t settle/assume that things can’t be done better… always look for ways to reduce usage, small savings all add up.

BREWING EQUIPMENT

amends and fix problems before they

line where the working of the machine

become serious. However, while these

is very precise and expert support will

approaches are essential to the day-

save time and money.”

to-day running of a brewery, there will always be problems where the

CLEANLINESS

experts are needed, and this is where

It is hardly the most glamorous part of

the relationship with your suppliers

the brewing process, or one that people

becomes invaluable. When you buy

are queueing up to do, but cleaning

equipment, you are buying more than

your equipment is the bedrock upon

just pieces of metal, you are buying a

which everything in brewing is founded.

relationship and expertise.

Everything else that you do – recipes,

“Having a great relationship with

ingredients, equipment, innovation,

the supplier is important, but you want

consistency – flies out of the window if

to be as self-sufficient as you possibly

you’re using gear that isn’t clean. You

can and have the vital spare parts on

should find the find cleaning products

hand, as well as the option to source

to do things right, but ultimately this is

from alternate providers,” says Kate

a case of motivation and training among

Henning, brewer and owner of Smiling

your team.

Samoyed Brewery in SA. “Missing

“Cleanliness is by far the most

a part in the brewery can halt all

significant critical factor in beer

operations so it is really important to

quality, ahead of hitting the numbers

know whom you can go to. I think after

(including mash pH) hot side and

sales support is more important for

cold side oxygen level, pitch rate

something like a bottling or canning

and fermentation temp control,”

Smiling Samoyed Brewery

BREWERIES & DISTILLERIES THE BREWPUB SPECIALISTS Contact us now for a how to guide!

From 500L brewpub systems to 80hL production breweries and complete spirit distilling systems Easy for your team to make a great and consistent product: precise, repeatable beers and brewer-centric ergonomics We’ve got your back: close project support before, during and after install with local parts and service and Australian standards compliance You could be brewing in as soon as 4 months!

julian@sparkbrew.com www.sparkbrew.com SUMMER 2018 39

BREWING EQUIPMENT

Common teething problems What can go wrong and how can you fix it?

“Under estimating resourses needed. i.e. boilers too small to keep rolling boil and/or heat hot liquor at the same time, hot liquor heats too slow, cold liquor volume isn’t enough to cool product, glycol cooling systems are too small for efficient cooling of product,” says Dan Shaw, head brewer at Australian Brewery. “Luckily we have a great community where help from another brewer with the same equipment or years of experience is a simple phone call away.”

“Mill gap adjustment (for lautering pace and efficiency), pump seals, remote access to digital control system and pH adjustment of mash usually take up our time on day two once the commissioning batch is tucked up fermenting,” says Julian Sanders of Spark Brew.

5 bbl refuge from New Era

says Sanders. “Straight after he identified

can be done via the spool-off valve, which the

microbes as causing contamination and

pressure on the fermenters can be adjusted to

published Etudes sur la Biere, Pasteur went

suit your requirements.”

on tour around Europe, basically telling

Beyond raw ingredients, brewers are looking

breweries to clean everything. What a job.”

for more sustainable ways to generate the

“Make sure you follow best practice with

energy required to power their equipment.

cleaning substances as using too much or

Whether it’s collaborative efforts like the

too little can damage the workings of your

system employed by Urban Alley Brewery

brewery,” adds Gary Staples, director of

in Melbourne, which pipes hot water in and

Newera Brewing. “Even stainless steel is not

cold water out to a neighbouring distillery, or

indestructible.”

utilising the power of the sun like the aptly named Helios Brewing Company, there are

SAVING ENERGY

ways to reduce your carbon footprint and your

Brewing takes a fair bit of energy and

costs at a stroke.

resources, but there are always ways to cut this

“Heat recovery on brewhouse heat

down. Take water, for example. Historically,

exchangers can contribute, but steam or

it took around 10 pints of a water to make

direct fire by renewable sources are even

one pint of beer, but breweries around the

better,” adds Sanders. “Solar pre-heat of

world (like Small Beer Brew Co. in the UK)

strike and sparge liquor is a good practical,

are pushing this ratio down. Techniques like

inexpensive example.”

recapturing steam or limiting evaporation

To brew effectively, efficiently and

rates can have a marked effect on the amount

consistently, there are many factors to take

of water needed to make beer. And by using

into account, but ultimately it is about the

modern cleaning products, you can reduce the

process. Brewing equipment can and does

amount of water required to keep your brewery

go wrong, but these faults can be reduced or

shining. There might even be a way for you to

at least dealt with quickly if you are attuned

put your waste water to good use.

to the machinery and treat it well. To quote

“Using pressurised fermenters you can also

Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly talking

use the CO2 from the fermentation process to

about his spaceship: “You can learn all the

carbonate your beer – hence CO2 recovery and

math in the ‘verse, but you take a boat in the

no need to use more CO2 for carbonation of

air that you don’t love, she’ll shake you off just

the beer at the end process,” says Mace. “This

as sure as the turn of the worlds.”

40 www.beerandbrewer.com

“Pay attention to preassembly instructions especially around first use cleaning and setting up for the first time,” says Gary Staples, director of Newera Brewing. “Make sure you understand how everything fits together and why. Lots of people rush into setting up and then regret it when they should have checked for simple stuff like leaks or not prepared the gear properly to start.”

“The gas supply solution design is an integral part of any craft brewery,” says Stacey Gadd, marketing manager, specialised markets for BOC Limited.

“If there is no gas, there is no beer! If there is an issue with your gas supply, it has the potential to shut down your entire operation. If you get your gas supply solution right from the very beginning, it will assist in ensuring you are set up for success.”

“The most common teething problem is making sure that the services connected to the brewing equipment are correct,” says Greg Mace, brewer and technical sales at FB*Propak.

“When commissioning the brewing equipment, check that the services are correct and can run the equipment efficiently. But if not 100% correct on installation, these can be changed or upgraded if needed during this period before commissioning of the brewing equipment has commenced.”

Have you seen Beer & Brewer online?

For the latest news, upcoming events and happenings in the world of beer check out...

www.beerandbrewer.com

ADVERTORIAL – KITTED OUT

All Inn Brewing

ALL INN BREWING WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2012, BUT RECENTLY INSTALLED A CENTRIFUGE FROM GEA. BEER & BREWER TALKED TO LYNDON PASZTOR, BREWER AND GENERAL MANAGER, TO FIND OUT HOW THEY GOT ON

Q: CAN YOU GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND ON THE BREWERY? All Inn was established in 2012 by Harley Goodacre. He set out to build the brewery with about $80,000, building his own brewhouse, repurposing milk vats as fermenters, building his own equipment and using a lot of manual processes. Since the brewery opened there has been a high emphasis on quality and inclusiveness, and as the brewery grows, this only becomes more evident.

Q: WHAT SIZE BREWHOUSE DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE? We have been brewing on Harley’s hand-built 16hL since the start, but we are currently installing a new 20hL brewhouse.

Q: THIS SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE ON THE SMALL SIZE TO JUSTIFY A CENTRIFUGE? Potentially, however we don’t see the need of a centrifuge dependent on brewhouse size; it has more to do with turnover and beyond that there are a number of benefits to be reaped regardless of capacity.

we want. That is another great thing about the centrifuge is that it gives us control over the clarity, if we want a beer with some haze

Q: WHAT BENEFITS WERE YOU LOOKING FOR?

we can just process it faster, if we want it to be crystal clear we

Two of the biggest for us were faster processing times and yield.

process it slower, a luxury we didn’t previously have.

Q: DID YOU ACHIEVE THE BENEFITS? Yes, we have been able to reduce beer time in the tank, as well as

Q: HOW DID THE CENTRIFUGE FIT INTO YOUR SETUP?

increase our yield by quite an impressive number.

We found a nice place for it at the foot of our tanks, surprisingly even

Chilling: Depending on other factors, we are able to save about 7-14

though it is a big machine, it is not as big as one would think.

days in the tanks.

Yield: On average, we have seen about a 10% yield increase across our beers.

Q: DO YOU HAVE AN EXPECTED PAY BACK FOR THE UNIT? Yes, our payback period was approximately two years from date

Q: WERE YOU HAPPY WITH THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE?

of commissioning.

Yes, we have been able to reduce bottlenecks and increase yield,

Q: WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL EXPERIENCE?

both have resulted in a very short payback period for the machine.

It has been very good, we researched heavily before committing to

Another great thing is Kevin and the guys at GEA are very responsive,

the centrifuge so we got what we expected, we were sceptical

so if there are any concerns, they are quick to respond and sort any

about the yield increase numbers however as we have achieved

issues out.

10% increase we are quite satisfied. As mentioned above, Kevin and the team at GEA are very responsive to any questions or

Q: DID YOU SEE OTHER BENEFITS? HOW WAS THE CLARITY ACHIEVED OFF THE CENTRIFUGE?

concerns and also have a commitment to quality of their machines

Yes, the clarity is good, or it can be mediocre, it depends on what

the highest standard.

42 www.beerandbrewer.com

so they are always around making sure the machine is operating of

Young Henrys BIGGER BREWERY YOUNG HENRYS ALSO BOUGHT A CENTRIFUGE FROM GEA. WE SPOKE TO RHYLEY WELLSMORE FROM YOUNG HENRYS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE Q: WHAT SIZE BREWHOUSE DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE?

Q: DID THE CENTRIFUGE INCREASE YIELD?

At the moment Young Henrys uses a 20hL brewhouse with a mash

have become more consistently bright as well, although it’s worth noting

press. This allows us more turns than a standard lauter tun system

that a centrifuge alone won’t filter out very fine hazes such as protein-

would, meaning we can really produce quite a lot of wort.

polyphenol haze and will still struggle under extreme yeast load as would

Our yield also improved, increasing by roughly 10% and our products

any filter.

Q: WHAT BENEFITS WERE YOU LOOKING FOR AS A DRIVE FOR CENTRIFUGE JUSTIFICATION?

Q: HOW DID THE CENTRIFUGE FIT INTO YOUR SETUP?

After an upgrade where we increased ferment capacity by 300% to

Fitting the centrifuge into our set up was difficult in a site so restricted

1,180hL, we suddenly had a bottleneck in filtration as our old plate

by space but they’re only moderately bigger than an equivalently

and frame filter wasn’t up to the increased load. That’s when we

sized plate filter so once you find the space it’s a no brainer. For us

decided on getting a centrifuge; it allowed us to process an 80hL

the biggest hinderance is power drain and they do take a lot of energy

tank in the same time we had taken to filter 12hL.

starting up but once spinning are quite parsimonious in their energy usage. It’s also a little easier to run a centrifuge on a bright product

Q: DID YOU ACHIEVE THE BENEFITS THAT YOU WERE AFTER?

than a filter meaning our operators have a better time too. That being

In addition to throughput, switching to a centrifuge gave us a

remains difficult and requires a lot of attention and a level head.

said, targeting a specific haze in a product you want a little cloudy

couple of other benefits as well. Hop character was a big one; filtering can really strip hop flavour and aroma and we noticed a big

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR OVERALL EXPERIENCE?

improvement in the hop notes of our beers through the centrifuge

Overall it’s something I’d recommend, especially if you’re thinking

compared to our filter.

about filtration but haven’t yet got a system in place.

Head of Sales - Separation Kevin Dawe stated that the interest in centrifuges within the craft brewing industry has risen considerably and the GEA centrifuges fit well with breweries who are looking to expand, reduce fermentation tank turnover times, increase yields and improve quality. The unique design of the GEA centrifuges really helps breweries achieve these. We have a trial plug and play unit we use to demonstrate the technology, once trialled breweries rarely want to go back.

SUMMER 2018 43

NEW AND UP & COMING BREWERIES

The Up and Comers THE NUMBER OF CRAFT BREWERIES IN AUSTRALIA CONTINUES TO GROW. WITH THAT IN MIND, BEER & BREWER HAS TAKEN A LOOK AT SOME OF THE COUNTRY’S NEWEST ARRIVALS AND SUCCESS STORIES

E

stimates on the number of breweries in Australia haven’t quite yet reached 500, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time.

In the last decade or so, the number of breweries has been growing at an exponential rate and spreading to all corners of the country.

And as we craft beer drinkers are, by and large, an inquisitive bunch, always keen to sniff out the latest style or newest release, it seems only right that Beer & Brewer shed some light on some of Australia’s most recent additions to the brewing scene.

Some of these newer breweries are still in their infancy, looking

VICTORIA

URBAN ALLEY BREWERY Opened: September 2018 Address: Star Circus, Docklands VIC 3008 Website: Urbanalley.com.au Current capacity: 1 million litres per year Distribution: Victoria Core range: Urban Ale New releases: Airborne NEDIPA

for a permanent home while gypsy brewing elsewhere or building a local following before they look further afield for customers. Others are making strides forward, expanding their reach and building bigger breweries to accommodate the added demand.

We’ve spoken to breweries from across Australia, from the far south west to the north eastern coasts, from urban breweries in the heart of major cities to breweries off the beaten track that are bringing beer and beer tourism to their local communities.

So dive right in and see what’s been brewing near you, or indeed what’s new in one of your favourite beer drinking destinations.

Inevitably, of course, there will be breweries that even we’ve not managed to track down and chat to, so if you want to get in touch and shout about a new brewery that’s really captured your attention and imagination, do please let us know by emailing cwhitting@ intermedia.com.au. Because we want to meet them too!

44 www.beerandbrewer.com

Urban Alley Brewery has technically been around since 2016 under the Once Bitter Urban Ale brand and brewed by contract brewers.

But this year, founder Ze’ev Meltzer has a space to call his own in the redeveloped area of Melbourne’s Docklands. Next to the large bar and restaurant, the brewery itself has been squeezed into every available corner of space, with every inch planned to the nth degree by head brewer Shaya Rubenstein.

“We are excited to have a space where we can develop and showcase the craft beer we are so passionate about,” says Meltzer.

The brewery made waves by being the first in Australia to introduce biodegradable six pack holders, with other breweries now following suit, and the environmental innovation doesn’t stop there. An on-site bio-waste plant repurposes spent grain for use as fertilizer, while plans are in place to treat waste water as well.

Partnering with a neighbouring distillery is expected to mitigate the need for the rapid heatingcooling-heating processes. The exchange of water at the desired temperature from the brewery to the distillery and vice versa is expected to reduce gas emissions to near residential consumption levels. It has meant doubling the brewery’s capacity, but early signs appear positive.

“In distilling you circulate cold water around the still,” adds Meltzer. “So as the water comes out of the still it’s hot and has to be cooled down and recirculated. But in brewing, we take cool water and heat it up for the mash. But we thought that if we sent them our cold water they could use it to cool down their distillate and send it back to us hot. It’s a good example of good fortune.

“Everything we do and we’ve done in building the brewery, we’re looking at every opportunity that we can to make us more environmentally friendly and responsible,” says Meltzer. “We’ve had to be pretty creative and a lot of it has never been done before.”

After launching with its Urban Ale, the brewery now has its sights set on seven beer launches in quick succession, including a New England Double IPA, an IPA, and APA, a lager and a smoked beer called Polish Samurai.

NEW AND UP & COMING BREWERIES VICTORIA

BILLSONS Opening: December 2018 Address: 29 Last St, Beechworth VIC 3747 Website: billsons.com.au

While Billsons Brewery is so new that its first beers may only be available after this magazine goes to press, it is also over a century old. It’s just it hasn’t been making beer for around 80 years.

Nathan Cowan and Felicity Cottrell escaped to this Beechworth property in September 2017. They then started turning the building, which was still producing non-alcoholic beers, into a venue that brews beer and distills whisky and gin, with its own canning line.

“Things are pretty much on track,” says Cowan. “We’re pushing to get the majority of the products out by Christmas. We worked with a local historian and have discovered some of the brewery’s history. It looks like it’s Australia’s first tower brewery. By all

Current capacity: 2,000l per day Distribution: N/A Core range: Stout, golden ale, pale ale, lager

reports, they made fantastic beer.

“The process has been lot of a fun and there have been lots of happy coincidences. George Billson’s great-great-grandson is an architect based in Hong Kong. He specialises in designing wineries, breweries and distilleries. He’s our lead architect on the project. He visited and put all the plans together for a brewery and a distillery.

“We’re lucky enough to be surrounded by some talented people including our head brewer Tony Paull. We want to do a heritage range where we stick as closely as possible to the original recipes, like the Mild Family Table Ale. There’ll be a porter and an Australian ale. They were famous for that in the early 1900s.”

NEW SOUTH WALES

QUEENSLAND

EDEN BREWERY

WHITE BRICK BREWING CO

Opened: January 2017 Address: 1/19 Cavendish Street, Mittagong NSW 2575 Website: Edenbrewery.com.au Current capacity: 2hL per week Distribution: NSW, ACT Core range: Phoenix D Kottbusser, Birch Wit, Palm Pale, Wattle Weizen, Strawberry Sour, Spruce IPA

Texan Jacob Newman and his wife Deb (from Hornsby) founded Eden Brewery on 13 January 2017 after several years of being a paramedic in Townsville, volunteering in New Guinea, working in a Mexican orphanage, working with indigenous youth in Katherine, NT, and helping to stop human trafficking in California.

“We thought it was time to make some money and have a beer,” Newman recalls. “We watched some YouTube videos, got after it and found our way to the Southern Highlands. I’m 100% YouTube taught.

The only commercial kegs I’ve ever touched have been my own.

We’ve figured it out.”

10% of the brewery’s profits across the board go to Oxfam, while it also regularly launches beers in aid of local charities like Forever Projects. Eden Brewery focuses on ‘showcasing diversity’, and most of the beers are quite malt or wheat-driven.

“Our two claims to fame are our second best-selling beer, which is a Belgian Wit,” says Newman. “We peeled 80 oranges by hand for that. The other one is our number one seller – Phoenix D Kottbusser. The style went extinct in 1516 in the Purity Laws, and is brewed with honey, molasses, oats and wheat. Our next big project was a Mexican Wit. Wits are our thing. We substituted orange for lime and coriander for black pepper. I’m looking at doing a wit series.”

Founded: 30 November 2017 Address: 1/9 Flinders Parade, North Lakes QLD 4509 Website: Whitebrickbrewingco.com.au Current capacity: Just under 130,000 litres per year Distribution: Local area Core range: Plantation Pale Ale, Petrie Pilsener, Rothwell Raedler, Redcliffe Red IPA and Samsonvale Stout

White Brick Brewing Co opened back in November 2017, but if it weren’t for 12 months of construction issues, they might have opened much sooner.

A family-owned brewery north of Brisbane, it has focused heavily on the local community, sponsoring local clubs and businesses, and participating in business and community events. As befits a brewery in such a sunny part of the world, there are 120 solar panels to assist with reducing the environmental impact, while other recycling initiatives are also in place.

“With some clever design, we have made as much use of a small space as possible and created a brewhouse that can be run by one person,” says Adam Gibb, owner and brewer of White Brick Brewing Co, who had previously homebrewed on and off for many years. “There is a tap room on-site with indoor and outdoor areas.

“Our regulars love to eat tasty food, brew and enjoy beer, and talk and share with other similar people. Some friendships have been formed, some jobs have been found and many milestones celebrated within the taproom. We also do some limited one keg wonders including a choc/orange stout, Belgian Tripel, and Australian native spice flavoured lager. Five of our beers won seven medals (three from AIBA, and four from IBA).”

SUMMER 2018 45

VICTORIA

JETTY ROAD BREWERY

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Opened: December 2017 Address: 12-14 Brasser Avenue, Dromana VIC 3936 Website: Jettyroad.com.au Capacity: 25hL kit Distribution: Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne, c. 140 venues.

Core range: IPA, Pale ale

FORKTREE BREWING

Opened: 9 November 2018 Address: 935 Forktree Rd, Carrickalinga SA 5204 Website: Facebook.com/forktreebrewing Capacity: 50L pilot system Distribution: South Australia Core range: Sunrise Pale Ale, Sunset Red Ale

Forktree Brewing opened after a two year process by founder Benjamin Hatcher, who transformed a shearing shed on his family’s farm into a brewpub. He learned about beer while at university, getting more education in Portland, Oregon, and back in SA. “I spent a few grand getting my own kit, and that got me into it,” he recalls. “I had this property in the family and the shearing shed was doing nothing. I thought it would be an ideal location for a brewpub. The uniqueness of the location was a massive selling point. And the creative side of brewing really appeals to me.”

A commercial chef, Hatcher has been contracting brewing since May last year with Smiling Samoyed Brewing, releasing a pale ale and a red ale.

“Over the course of the last four years I’ve been talking to Kate and Simon about having a facility down there,” he says. “Those guys have been incredibly supportive and given me so much information about what things work and what doesn’t work.”

The brewpub currently has a 50L pilot set-up which will do one-off speciality releases while they continue to brew at Smiling Samoyed.

He intends to set up a 10hL brewery in the next 12 months.

“Showing people the brewing process was important,” says Hatcher. “It gives the staff an idea of what goes into the finished product, the grain, the flavour we get out.”

The Mornington Peninsula has a thriving brewing scene, and the newest arrival is Jetty Road Brewery. Head brewer Blake Bowden moved out of the cabinet making business and founded the brewery with his oldest friend and his old boss. Originally a homebrewer, he learned his trade helping out at Mornington Peninsula Brewing.

“They let us brew our first few beers and we started brewing beer for the market,” he recalls. “It’s been a steep learning curve.”

Jetty Road started out contract brewing and then opened up its own pilot system in December 2017. The brewery bar opened on 21 September 2018, with the pilot system providing a rotating selection for the 22 taps. The core range – an IPA and a pale ale – are still contracted out and available in cans, but the brewery is installing a 25hL kit that will bring all brewing in-house. A lager is then expected to join the core range in cans.

“Contracting has been a really great opportunity,” says Bowden.

“Over the last two years, I’ve been able to see nine breweries – how they do things – and pick and choose and process the information.

“As a brewpub we want to keep things interesting. We focus on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s fairly local. We get along with St Andrews Beach and Mornington Peninsula Brewery. We’ve done collaborations with the breweries as well.”

QUEENSLAND

RANGE BREWING

Founded: 11 May 2018 Address: 4 Byres Street, Newstead. QLD 4006 Website: Rangebrewing.com

Current capacity: 12hL, three vessel brewhouse, 2 x 24hL fermenters, 3 x 12hL fermenters Distribution: Local

Range Brewing was founded by two friends, Matt IcIver and Gerard Martin, who were inspired by British breweries while living out there and working for beer festivals. They sought out Catchment Brewing’s Mitch Pickford to help them get started. Eventually, he came on board and committed to Range.

“It’s interesting and it’s challenging,” says McIver. “We’ve all got different skillsets that come together. It’s been nice to build relationships with people in our community and local bars who’ve supported us from the start. The beer community here is pretty spectacular. We don’t have plans for a core range. We don’t want to get locked into making the same beer week in, week out. As

drinkers, we like to try new beers all the time, so we thought it would be a lost opportunity for us to not start a brewery that didn’t do that. We like the idea of exploring and evolving our beers and improving our practices to meet the seasons and what the market is doing. We think the best way to do that is to keep changing it up. We’re focusing on fresh and easy drinking beers, nothing too abrasive and crazy, all different.

“We should have a canning line and new fermenters tanks arriving in the next couple of weeks and we want our beers to be available online by the end of the year. People will buy it from us and we’ll ship it direct.”

46 www.beerandbrewer.com

WHERE PAS SIO

N

MALT M

EE

TS

PRECISION

Signature Malt is a no-compromise malt designed from start to finish specifically for Australian craft breweries. It starts by selecting the best barley in the country from the best performing region.

Brewers will enjoy benefits like: · TRACEABILITY · CONSISTENCY · PERFORMANCE · AVAILABILITY

Now available across Australia via Bintani Warehouses.

With 160 years of experience and malthouses in five states, Joe White is perfectly placed to bring the Signature Malt concept to life. They have the right facilities and personnel in position to turn Australia’s best barley into Australia’s best malt.

www.bintani.com.au/v/

FEATURE

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

NOWHEREMAN BREWERY

Opened: July 2017 Address: 25 Harrogate Street, West Leederville, WA 6007 Website: Nowhereman.com.au Current capacity: 250,000lt per year Distribution: WA Core range: Leederville Lager, Oxford St Common, Six Seasons, Rhapsody, Crate Digger, On the D.L, Satan’s Rainbow

Nowhereman Brewery was a project four years in the planning by Reece Wheadon, who also found time to coordinate WA Beer Week for six years and set up Fremantle Beer Fest. Having been involved in brewing since 2009, he was inspired to open a brewery after the closure of the Swan Brewery.

“It seems weird but it made me want to open a craft brewery. A lot of good brewers lost their jobs and it was a major loss of identity within WA. I saw that as a sign that craft needed to fill that void. It was a hard process. It’s a tough thing to build a brewery, it’s a tougher one to build a brewery without compromising too much. Ask for help when you need it. No matter how hard you’re pushing yourself you can always do more.

“It’s the first brewery that’s all mine and the first hospitality venue that’s all mine. We’ve committed to following our ethos to the letter. We are a small indie business, so we support small indie brands.

“We try to do different things, push ourselves. The Bartender Series [a series of recipes made with cocktail mixologists] is not a token collaboration where they throw hops in. They twist their recipe to make it work as a beer and see what you can bring to the table in terms of skills and knowledge and flavours. It’s a lot more fun that way.”

VICTORIA

COCONSPIRATORS

Opened: 10 December 2016 Address: N/A Website: Coconspirators.com.au Current capacity: 70hL a month Distribution: Nationwide except NT through Redwood Distribution Core range: The Matriarch NEIPA, The Butcher Red IPA, The Booker Pale Ale New releases: The Undertaker Rye IPA, The Henchman West Coast IPA

CoConspirators started life when four ‘conspirators’ got together to start making beers.

The foursome have brewed at Dainton, Bodriggy Brewing Company, Wolf of the Willows and Holgate, while they search for a brewery of their own. Their first beer The Henchman West Coast IPA was launched at Brunswick’s The Alehouse Project and this summer it will be returning to the portfolio.

“Like all brewers, we come from a homebrewing background,” says Jacqui Sacco, who founded the brewery with Tim Martin and Maggie and Deon Smit. “The last couple of years have been an incredible ride. We all still work full time and the beer business is between work and sleep. Eventually we’ll be doing it full time.

“We didn’t plan on making many styles. Initially, we were only doing five or six, but I think we’re at almost 20 styles now over two years. It’s moving faster than we thought and that’s down to the success of our NEIPA Matriach IPA. I think we released that at the right time.

“The brewing world is very supportive. It was great to have people in the industry who could help. We couldn’t do what we’re doing now without Dan from Dainton and Scotty from Wolf of the Willows. And we strongly appreciate the women in the industry from our perspective.

“We’re all IPA junkies, but we have other beers, dark beers in winter and then we mix it up and do sours in the summer.”

48 www.beerandbrewer.com

QUEENSLAND

REVEL BREWING Founded: 13 December 2017 Address: 41 Oxford Street, Bulimba QLD 4171 Website: Revelbrewingco.com.au Current capacity: 15hL, two vessel system, three 30hL and two 15hL fermenters Distribution: QLD Core range: Lager, IPA, Summer Ale, Pale Ale

We asked founder Jay Neven how the past 10 months have been at Revel.

“Bloody amazing mate! We set out to put Bulimba on the map for the best independent craft beer, and we’re making good headway doing that! The community response has been amazing and we’re so proud to be part of this amazing collaborative and friendly industry.

What a time to be alive!”

The brewery has already picked up plenty of awards for its beers and was also part of the formation of the Queensland Government’s Queensland Craft Beer Strategy, which aims to help grow and promote independent craft beer in Queensland. Revel has a strong collaborative streak and has brewed over 10 collaboration beers since it started. Six beers made with other breweries were on draught at the time we spoke to them, while they also make a cider from fresh seasonal apples.

“We generally have two collaborations going on at any one time to fill the other taps and rotating seasonal beers,” adds Neven.

NEW AND UP & COMING BREWERIES WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BRIGHT TANK BREWING Opened: 6 July 2018 Address: 100 Brown St, East Perth WA 6122 Website: Brighttankbrewing.com.au Current capacity: 50,000-100,000 litres per year Distribution: Local Core range: Urban Farmer Saison, Smalley Session IPA, Brown Street Brown Ale, New World Order Pale Ale, #Nofilter APA, Strange Stange Kolsch

Bright Tank’s co-founder Matt Moore has always loved beer and food, delighting in his English father’s tastes in ales. Having been involved in large scale construction for most of his career, he and his wife Gemma Sampson decided over a few pints to get into brewing.

Moore went and got a post graduate degree in brewing from Federation University and then built up his experience gypsy brewing wherever he could, before they opened the brewpub and restaurant.

“We place a high emphasis on our food here,” Moore says. “We want to push the boundaries that there can be a higher class of food with craft beer. We want to do something different in that regard.”

Bright Tank’s beers are currently solely in kegs, but there are hopes to develop their own canning line soon. The brewery makes American, hop-forward beers, but it is its saisons that are getting all the attention.

“We brewed one with High Spirits Distillery and we used all their botanicals from their gin in the beer, and then we gave them 700l of that saison back and they’re making that into a gin as we speak,” Moore says. “We’re brewing a Cicerone collaboration. I’m a Cicerone and a couple of others in the WA area, we got together and made another saison.”

IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU MEET THE FAMILY.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

OTHERSIDE Opened: June 2018 Address: Unit 1/84 McCoy St, Myaree WA 6154 Website: Othersidebrewing.com.au Current capacity: 750,000 litres Distribution: WA Core range: Festive Session Ale, Social Classic Lager, Anthem IPA, Harvest Red Ale

QUEENSLAND

HELIOS BREWING CO Founded: December 2017 Address: 15 Palomar Rd, Yeerongpilly QLD 4105 Website: Heliosbrewing.com.au Current capacity: 15bbl (18 hectolitre) system Distribution: Local area Core range: Poseidon Pale Ale, The Goddess Red Rye, Zeus’ Thunderbolt IIPA, Hades’ Bitter Chocolate Stout, Midas’ Golden Ale, Athena’s Courage Scotch Ale

Founded by environmental engineer Scott Shomer, who spent three decades cleaning up contaminated sites and groundwater, Helios is built with sustainability in mind. Tony and Jayne Rutter came in as business partners with the same aim, while Charlie Hodgson came in as head brewer from Mash Brewing. Shomer spent five years working out how to get every ecological improvement for his brewery.

It uses solar photovoltaic to such an extent that it is now a net exporter of power to the grid. 90 evacuated tube solar collectors on the roof heat the water for brewing with no power, with cool water circulated to the roof to be reheated to 90°C in a few minutes.

“We worked with Premier Stainless to add a vapour condenser that allows us to not require any vent stacks to the roof,” Shomer adds. “Any volatile aromatics are captured inside. Beneath our parking lot is a water treatment tank that ensures we are removing as much of the solids, and not sending spikes of temperature or pH to the wastewater treatment plant. Our yeast and hop tub is used by a company in a bio digestor to create bio-diesel.

“Our brewer and the Helios team are on a mission to build ‘three-dimensional’ beers that don’t just have an initial response and a lingering flavour afterwards,” says Shomer. “All our beers drink bigger than they are. We are encouraging his creativity by having him throw down singlebarrel ‘test batches’ that can be anything he wants and can be totally conventional, traditional or a complete experiment.”

50 www.beerandbrewer.com

Otherside Brewing Co started three years ago selling beer at music festivals. After a while they realised that they could offer a style of better style of beer and started making their own – Festive Ale. “We employed a brewer for the recipe and to oversee the process,” says founder Dave Chitty. “It went really well, so we put it into a bunch of other festivals. We decided to put the beer into the market and focus on that as a gypsy brewer. It worked so we kept making it.”

From there, they created a red ale and then other beers, which became so popular that they could afford their own brewery.

“There was already demand for the brand in the market,” says Chitty. “We put in a brewhouse, so people can come and try the products we make and it’s gone really well. We’re starting to get some more interest over east.”

Otherside is renovating a new venue in Fremantle which is expected to open in 2019, while the existing brewery has more tanks arriving and space to expand.

“We love people having a good time and creating great experiences and so we’re taking that ethos into hospitality,” says Chitty. “We make pilots that enable the brewer to experiment a bit more. We have just started another range – the Experimentals – where the brewer is able to push the boat out further. The first one sold out in an hour.”

QUEENSLAND

HEMINGWAY’S BREWERY, CAIRNS Founded: June 2018 Address: Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina, 44 Wharf St, Port Douglas QLD 4877 and 4 Wharf St, Cairns QLD 4870 Website: Hemingwaysbrewery.com Current capacity: Port Douglas: 100,000L per year; Cairns Wharf: 1.3m litres per year Distribution: Local area Core range: Tunnel 10 Lager, The Prospector Pilsner, Pitchfork Betty’s Pale Ale, Doug’s Courage XPA

Hemingway’s Brewery was founded by Tony Fyfe and Craig Parsell, two friends with a passion for Port Douglas, fishing and having a good beer afterwards.

There wasn’t much craft beer on offer in Port Douglas, so they founded Hemingway’s back in 2016.

Since then, demand has outstripped the capacity of the 12hL, two vessel brewery and so they have opened a far larger model in Cairns. Running along the same theme – a restored heritage building set on the waterfront – this new 35hL brewpub is where Hemingway’s most popular beers are made. And at 1,400 sq m, this must surely be one of Australia’s biggest brewpubs as well.

“A lot of our new beers and a lot of the innovation originate in Port Douglas in the smaller brewhouse, and if it gets to a point where Port Douglas can’t cope with the volume then we upscale it to the Cairns brewery,” says head brewer Anthony Clem.

A canning, bottling and kegging line are in place for Cairns, as the brewery looks to provide Far North Queensland’s locals and tourists with quality craft beer.

“They’re real destination venues,” adds Clem. “It’s a lager-driven market, but we’re trying to open the door and get people interested in different beers and take a risk.”

NEW AND UP & COMING BREWERIES

NEW SOUTH WALES

ALL HANDS BREWERY Opened: 21 November 2017 Address: 22 The Promenade, King St Wharf, Sydney 2000 Website: Allhandsbrewinghouse.com.au Current capacity: 150,000 175,000L per year Distribution: All Hands Brewing House Core range: Wood Duck Cream Ale, Bunny Hop Lager, Irish Sport Stout, Longneck Best Bitter, Hump Day IPA Latest release: Friend in Hand Strawberry Berliner Weisse

Head brewer Sam Clayman grew up in the US, but has only brewed in Australia, starting as a hobbyist in 2007 before turning pro in 2011 and working in large and small breweries around Sydney. Last year, hospitality company Red Rock opened All Hands Brewing House and Clayman became head brewer, overseeing a 1,200L system and five 1,200L fermenters. “[It’s been] intense, stressful and fun!” he says. “But really well worth it. Bringing a brand new line-up of beers to the public from a brand new brewing kit is a harrowing experience!”

The brewery has a strong cask ale offer and focuses on creating a craft haven in an area of Sydney full of tourists and businesspeople, which means that the beers must be consistent and challenge people in the right way.

“We just want to be known as a relaxing place to get a very enjoyable beer, no matter what your preference,” adds Clayman. “We make a broad range of styles, often even going off-trend to offer something to keep everyone interested.

People coming back for the first time since our opening almost always comment that they’re surprised at the beer quality.

“The wharf is very seasonal for both locals and tourists, and the city can be a tough place for local beer enthusiasts to come to on a regular basis.”

NEW AND UP & COMING BREWERIES

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BLASTA BREWING Opened: March 2018 Address: 84/88 Goodwood Parade, Burswood WA 6100 Website: Blastabrewing.com.au Current capacity: 380,000 litres per year Distribution: WA Core range: Steady Head Session, Unleash the Beast NEIPA, Myway Grapefruit IPA, Chainbreaker IPA, Grimster Rocks Mosaic, Blastaweizen Latest release: Limited edition Strawberry and Cream APA

Blasta Brewing opened its doors on 1 March 2018 after many months of planning, negotiation, building and installation, but the passion for brewing started two and a half years previously for founder Steven Russell.

“I started home brewing in December 2015 after the wife bought me a Grainfather home brewing machine,” he recalls. “This ignited a passion where it snowballed quickly.

All the while I was entering some competitions, gaining decent feedback and doing well in them. I continued experimenting with brewing until I started really getting my recipes the way I wanted them.

“I made a decision to take the next step after a long holiday in Europe and USA in August 2016. I then started the process of designing and planning my own brewery.”

Premises in Burswood were secured in July 2017, planning approval was granted four months later and brewery equipment – a 20hL three-vessel system – arrived on 18 January 2018. During that time, Russell gypsy brewed, winning an award for the first ‘commercial’ beer – Myway IPA – he’d made since he started as a homebrewer.

QUEENSLAND

BALLISTIC BREWERY

And that’s not all!

These are just some of the breweries that have opened in Australia over the last 18 months or so as the craft beer movement continues to gather pace. If you’ve recently opened a brewery or one has opened near you that’s absolutely amazing, do please let us know for next year’s feature!

52 www.beerandbrewer.com

Opened: January 2017 Location: 53-55 McCarthy Road, Salisbury QLD 4107 1/208 Montague Road, West End QLD 4101 Website: Ballisticbeer.com.au Capacity: 50hL and two 25hL fermenters Distribution: Local area Core range: Pilot Light Table Beer, Dirty Word Lager, Ballistic Pale Ale, Australian Psycho Oaked XPA, Grandfather Oaked Ale

Ballistic Brewery was founded by David Kitchen, who discovered brilliant beer while running a homebrew store business. The craft beer scene in Brisbane was still in its infancy, but by the time Ballistic opened, it had improved remarkably.

“It would have been good to start two years earlier,” he laughs. “I had an opportunity to work with some people to set up a brewery, and I took it. We’ve been flat out ever since.”

The brewery has thrived, winning awards and employing more people. Now a new hospitality venue is being opened to give them more tap points and control over how the beer is presented, while more fermenters are set to increase capacity further.

“We want to give people great beer experiences,” says Kitchen. “We’re trying to generate another venue in Salisbury. The thing we try to champion is freshness. We try to limit our beers being anywhere for more than 12 weeks. It’s smaller brewing, smaller batches. We want to be able to say our beers are always fresh.

The Sleep When You’re Dead range is putting our money where our mouth is – that’s eight weeks. We really try to push that concept. They tend to be hoppy beers, so freshness is paramount.”

ADVERTORIAL

The Business of Venue Brewing SPARK DESIGNS AND BUILDS A RANGE OF BREWING SYSTEMS THAT ALLOW FRESH, HIGH QUALITY BEER TO BE PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED AND SERVED ON SITE. WE SPOKE TO DIRECTOR JULIAN SANDERS ABOUT BUILDING A BREWPUB Q: WHAT DOES SPARK OFFER A FLEDGLING BREWPUB? We supply compact and simple 10 and 20-keg batch brewhouses.

The K5 and K10 have been designed and developed in Melbourne specifically for professional brewpub operations. They are compliant with all mandatory Australian industrial standards and produce consistent high quality beer. They qualify for the small brewer excise rebate and increase profitability, with $75 per keg cost of production.

You can serve your beer direct from the tank – no kegging or cool room required.

We also offer leasing-to-own options, with a K500 system capable of producing 15-40 kegs a week for around $1,000 per week with a 20% deposit.

Q: WHAT IS INVOLVED IN BREWERY INSTALLATION? Spark systems are quick and inexpensive to install and can fit any venue. It takes two weeks of plumbing, electrical and flooring work. The fermenter tanks and serving tanks can be stacked

Q: HOW CAN WE SKILL UP TO BE ABLE TO BREW?

vertically to look good, work well and save space. We support venue

Spark offers training, recipe development and brewing services. We

design and installation, and pride ourselves on strong after-sales

work very closely with our clients throughout for the long term to

service, with warranty and fast parts backup to ensure that your

ensure success. As part of the right team, we can work with you to

project runs smoothly, inexpensively and results in a long term

achieve a unique and highly compelling range of products to suit your

profitable asset.

location and patrons.

Q: HOW MUCH SPACE DOES IT TAKE UP?

love to hear your plans and discuss what is possible. Check us out

A line of tanks behind the bar allows the full brewing, fermenting and

on social media to find our why 30 breweries around Australia have

serving process. Rectangular brewing zones also work well, allowing a

chosen to work with us over the past 5 years.

Get in contact via our website for our free “How To” guide, we’d

view of brewing from a bar around the edge. A typical floor area for the size range of venue brewing systems is 15 to 50 sqm.

www.sparkbrew.com

SUMMER 2018 53

e b o l G 1. New Belgium Fat Tire Belgian White Ale

2. Weltenburger Barock Dunkel

3. Tuatara Coastin Session IPA

Taking inspiration from decades of experience brewing Belgian beers, Fat Tire Belgian White Ale is a refreshing unfiltered wheat ale brewed with Seville oranges and Indian coriander, both freshly ground less than a mile from the Fort Collins brewery. A fresh, perfectly sweet natural tasting Belgian white.

With state-of-the-art technology and traditional monastic brewing art, the beer is brewed using the best ingredients in the oldest monastic brewery in the world.

For up to six weeks, it matures in the rock cellar. It is full-bodied, malt aromatic, fine dry with a light sweetness, fine-creamy in the colour like warm brown amber; fragrant and intense taste.

FOOD MATCH:

FOOD MATCH:

Steamed mussels, light seafood or fresh citrus sorbet

Classics of Bavarian cuisine, for example pork, veal

FOOD MATCH:

ABV: 5.2% RRP: 4 pack $18.99, Case of 24 $89.99 Squarekeg.com.au

ABV: 4.7% RRP: $6.50 each Alpenliquor.com.au

ABV: 4.6% RRP: $25.99 6 pack Tuatarabrewing.co.nz

54  www.beerandbrewer.com

A sessionable and refreshing ale, it’s loaded with passionfruit, melon and mango from a generous helping of trans-Tasman hops. From the New Zealand coast to your coaster. Beautifully pale, its aroma features subtle passionfruit, mango, melon and pine. Refreshing and juicy tropical fruits initially, finishing with a gentle herbal spice and malt sweetness.

4. Chimay Blue This member of the Chimay range is principally distinguished by its strong beer character. Its fragrance of fresh yeast with a light, flowery rosy touch is especially pleasant. Its relatively dry flavour uncovers a pleasant caramelized note making it an ideal thirst quencher. Chimay Blue is a vintage beer that will continue to improve over the years if stored in a dry and dark place.

FOOD MATCH: Crispy skinned snapper

Beef/veal stews ABV: 9% RRP: $10 330ml bottle, $24 750ml bottle Bidbeer.com

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION

5. Sapporo Sapporo Premium Beer is brewed with the Japanese attention to detail. The slow cool fermentation balances delicate hops and esters with a full malt character. The authentic brewing techniques and quality ingredients used have produced a crisp and refreshing lager beer.

6. Guinness Hop House 13 Lager Hop House 13 is a distinctive golden lager that has a sweet fruity aroma, with hints of apricot and peach, and subtle malt notes breaking through.

On taste, it is full flavoured while still being crisp and hoppy (but not bitter), with a refreshing clean finish.

FOOD MATCH: FOOD MATCH: Seafood, spice, rich meats, curry ABV: 5.0% RRP: $50 case / $18 6 pack Sapporobeer.com.au

Oysters, grapefruit, mussels, tempura, cajun spice ABV: 5% RRP: $59.99 case, 6 pack $19.99 Lionco.com

7. Carlsberg Strong and tasty Danish pilsner, with dominant malty characters balanced by hoppy and fruity notes.

Smooth, soft and perfectly balanced thanks to a malty aroma.

FOOD MATCH: Fish and chips ABV: 4.8% RRP: $45 case / $19 6 pack Carlsberg.com.au

8. Maisel’s Original Hefeweizen The fresh bouquet of choice yeast and pleasant fruit tones combine at the first taste with the mild flavours of malt, fruit and fragrance of cloves with a hint of nutmeg. The slightly fruity, full-flavored wheat beer fragrance typical for Maisel’s Weisse, is then revealed in the aftertaste. A mark of exceptional quality.

FOOD MATCH: Caprese, mild cheese, pizza Napoli ABV: 5.2% RRP: $6.50 each Alpenliquor.com.au

SHOT AT WAYWARD BREWING CO.

SUMMER 2018 55

CANNED BEER

Crack a Tinnie:

THE SHIFT TO CANS CONTINUES WITH MORE AND MORE AUSTRALIAN BREWERIES RELEASING THEIR BEERS IN CAN, IT SEEMS THERE’S NO SLOWING THE TINNIE REVOLUTION – ESPECIALLY AS THE WEATHER HEATS UP FOR SUMMER, WRITES TAM ALLENBY

56 www.beerandbrewer.com

CANNED BEER

I

n 2018, it’s become far less common

design team who can help with decoration and

to hear a beer drinker grumble

concept ideas, offer specialty inks to make

about the rise of the can in the

the colours pop, and other enhancements like

craft world. Anecdotally, attitudes

tactile decorations and embossing.

towards the can are shifting, and the numbers seem to back this up.

“Orora have closely worked with many independent brewers and supported them

“With the continued increase of craft beer

with upwards of 150 new brands and product

in cans it is no surprise that preference for

launches over the last 12 months,” says John

cans is almost at parity with bottles,” reads

Lorenzini, strategic manager for key account

the results of Beer Cartel’s 2018 Australian

at Orora Beverage. “Many of our clients are

Craft Beer Survey – which found that 33% of

well known names and best-selling brands in

drinkers prefer bottles, 30% prefer cans, and

the craft beer industry.”

35% don’t really mind either way.

Splatt Engineering, which has supplied the

MAKING THE SHIFT

food and beverage industry with packaging

Given the advantages of cans, it’s no

machinery for over 50 years, is perfectly

surprise that more and more Australian craft

placed to have noticed the shifting trend

breweries are making the shift from glass

towards cans, as the company stocks both

to aluminium – whether it be some or all of

bottle and can filling machines.

their range, or even just as a limited release

Rob Splatt, managing director, lists a now familiar series of advantages of cans versus

for the summer season.

One of the latest to do so is Wayward,

bottles. “Cans compared with bottles are a

which recently revealed a refreshed and

decidedly safer packaging option for public

colourful core range of four cans – two of

events, camping, boating, fishing, and can be

them beers that already existed (now with

quickly chilled,” he told Beer & Brewer. “Cans

simplified names), and two brand new.

totally block UV light too – preventing beer

Inspired by vintage travel posters, the four

spoilage – and are generally less expensive

cans visually capture Wayward’s adventure-

than glass bottles.”

focused brand story, but as founder Peter

This reduced cost comes in many forms: “Over the past decade, aluminium cans have been light-weighted, and the lid diameters

Philip explains, the canvas that cans offer was only part of the reason for the shift.

“Cans used to be looked down upon by the

have decreased from 206 down to a 202 size –

general beer drinking consumer until a few

reducing packaging costs,” Splatt adds. While

great brands started bringing beer out and this

the CanPro system that Splatt offers is used

has really changed perceptions out there,” he

by breweries around the world, Melbourne’s

says. “I personally love cans as they have so

Hawkers brewery is one of the most recent

many convenience benefits and are slightly

to install it – with several new installations

better than bottles for the beer - particularly

commencing later this year.

when it comes to blocking sunlight.”

A growing number of companies are also

Picking colours with Orora

Labelling the can with Orora

Another Sydney brewery, Endeavour

offering greater customisation for the cans

Brewing Co, recently announced that the

themselves. Beyond the packaging benefits,

newest addition to its range would be released

there’s also the fact that cans offer more real

in cans. As founder Ben Kooyman explains,

estate than bottles for branding and marketing

the brewery’s new Citrus Pale Ale will be the

– something that companies like Orora

first canned beer for Endeavour, but that’s

Beverage are keenly aware of, with an in-house

only the beginning: “We fully intend to roll

AT THE COALFACE Cameron Flett, manager of Warners at the Bay Bottle Shop – a craft beer oasis in the Hunter region in NSW, boasting a range of over 1,000 beers as well as a five-tap growler station – agrees with the assertion that the craft beer market is shifting towards cans.

“It’s definitely skewed towards cans, and that’s increasing every week,” he told Beer & Brewer.

“There’s new brands coming up that have cans, and old brands that are switching over – and that will continue.”

Final stages of canning with Orora

SUMMER 2018 57

CANNED BEER

out new beers in can format over the next year, as well

THE STATS

as adding some of our most popular beers into our can line-up,” he says.

complement the range and offer a new exciting format

Canned craft beer experienced triple-digit growth in the off-premise liquor retail market in 2017

2017

that allows more flexibility and variety,” Kooyman adds.

“The versatility of the can means that we can extend our offer to new drinking occasions that we haven’t really been part of before… It made perfect sense to launch a zesty new beer that’s made for sipping in the sunshine, in a pack format that’s a summer esky staple.”

+134%*

Stone & Wood also recently announced that its flagship beer – the iconic Pacific Ale – would see a release in cans, in addition to the regular bottles.

2016

“Bottles are a really key part of our total brand strategy alongside kegs, however we believe that cans

+112%*

“From when we first released the original Pacific Ale, our customers and our drinkers have begged us to put it in a can,” says head brewer Caolan Vaughan. “Up until

NEUTRAL

now our focus has been on making enough of the stuff, so we’re pumped to be able to release a commemorative ‘10 Years of Summer’ Pacific Ale can now.” At the time of writing, the cans remain a limited release – but the brewery plans to release them permanently in the New Year of 2019.

Another leading brewery making a summer splash into canning is Gage Roads. Miles Hull, head of marketing at Good Drinks (Gage Roads’ newly-branded marketing arm), revealed to Beer & Brewer that its Single Fin Summer Ale will be available in a “festivalstyle” share pack, as well as its Western Australianfocused Alby brand.

2018

33%**

30%**

35%**

2017

29%**

24%**

46%**

2016

37%**

23%**

40%**

* 2018 ALSA-IRI State of the Industry Report (Off-premise liquor retail market) ** Beer Cartel’s Australian Craft Beer Survey (2018/17/16)

“We have a long-term strategy to introduce cans, but we’re just looking at opportunities this summer to test the market and provide a limited amount of product to see how it goes – looking towards summer 2020 when we might introduce more brands or make them a more permanent release,” he explains. “We absolutely still see a demand for bottle products, but we think that cans supplement that quite nicely – and certainly around occasion-based purchasing and the summer period, we see a great opportunity for our product in cans.”

So, with more and more breweries recognising the benefits of cans – especially for outdoor, warmweather occasions – don’t be surprised if you see some of your favourite session ales, summer ales and pale ales in can this summer.

INSTALL YOUR OWN VS MOBILE While mobile canning options do exist, the agility of a brewery having its own line is hard to argue with. Rob Splatt also points out that a canning line is normally easier to run than a bottling line. “A can is perfectly symmetrical, unlike a glass bottle, and won’t explode during the filling process,” he explains. “Compared with a bottling line at the same speed, a canning line footprint can be smaller and normally less expensive

58 www.beerandbrewer.com

Splatt Engineering’s CanPro 6000

reliable, affordable & efficient.

T he G o ld S er ies from C IME is s p e cif i cal l y d e sig ned fo r t h e Craft B rew er. B ee r can b e qu it e u n s t ab le du ring t he f illing p r o ce ss wh ich is wh y t h is mach ine w as desi g n e d ..

F ea t u r e s : -

D o u bl e pr e- eva cuat io n Spe ed s fro m 6 00 b p h up to 10, 00 0b p h Lo c al s u p p o rt Re l i able

splattengineering.com.au

CANNED BEER

360-DEGREES OF FUN Though hardly widespread, two of Australia’s more prominent craft breweries – Colonial and BentSpoke – make use of a 360-degree can end. If you haven’t seen one, the nifty design allows the drinker to remove the entire lid of the can – effectively turning it into a cup – in search of fuller flavour and aroma, without the need for glassware. We got in touch with Colonial Leisure Group’s national general manager Lawrence Dowd for the inside word.

Q: WHY DID COLONIAL DECIDE TO USE THE 360-DEGREE PULLTOPS?

than a bottling line too”. There’s also

range into can, saying he’ll “listen to the

the fact that pre-printed cans mean less

market over the next few months to see

ongoing spend on labelling.

what people want”.

Still, many breweries which may have

in cans then we’ll do that for our higher

of the can – or are just starting to get

volume seasonals while moving to a

into packaging – find it easier to call

different bottle format for our bottle

in the professionals for the day rather

conditioned beers, in order to handle

than buy. For now, Wayward employs

the additional pressure that can come

the services of a mobile canning outfit,

from bottle conditioning,” he says.

East Coast Canning, but Philip says that

Wayward’s Camperdown One Pale Ale

they’re looking at installing their own

will also stay in bottle for the foreseeable

canning line next year. He’s also not

future; as Philip explains, the beer is

ruling out a further shift of the Wayward

popular with a number of key restaurant

I think we were the first in Australia to have them and it’s been a great point of difference. The objective was to open up the beers a little bit more when you open the lid, especially for some of our more aromatic, hop-driven beers. For something that we thought wasn’t necessarily going to be permanent, to now being a permanent thing for us, it separates us a lot of from other breweries which is a good thing and I think people really love it. The longer we’ve had it, the more we’re owning that space.

Q: WHAT WAS THE FEEDBACK LIKE WHEN THEY FIRST DEBUTED? People grabbed it and thought something would get in their beer, or it would go all over them – which is absolute crap, because it’s really no different to an open glass of wine or beer. But people got on with life, and those who might’ve been a bit worried about it have got over it! It’s all pretty accepted now. It’s been a good thing and I think anything that gives your brand a point of difference these days is good, and it fits with the style of beers that we make.

PACKAGING IS OUR CRAFT Let us bring your brand to life with our vast range of can sizes, styles, decoration and print capabilities. ororagroup.com

60 www.beerandbrewer.com

“If most people want our whole range

installed a bottling line before the rise

Wayward Brewing: new cans for new beers

CANNED BEER

“THE VERSATILITY OF THE CAN MEANS THAT WE CAN EXTEND OUR OFFER TO NEW DRINKING OCCASIONS THAT WE HAVEN’T REALLY BEEN PART OF BEFORE” BEN KOOYMAN, ENDEAVOUR accounts, and he believes “we’re still some way off from universal acceptance of cans, particularly in a restaurant environment.”

Endeavour are also working on installing their own canning line – “Watch this space!” says Kooyman – but for now are continuing to work with their existing contract brewing partner, “who are also heavily investing in new canning lines to facilitate future growth plans”. What’s clear is that many breweries big and small are at least entertaining the idea of canned beer.

There’s also the prospect of new technology in this space, which will allow breweries to effectively hedge their bets – and fill both bottles and cans – on the same piece of kit. Malt Shovel will be installing a new, multi-format filler manufactured by Vipoll in February 2019, the first of its kind in Australia. The main innovation of the ‘All In One’ is the capper, which can fit bottle caps and can lids on the same turret – a technology that other Australian craft breweries will surely be keeping an eye on.

Endeavour cans on the line

CAN FILLER/SEAMER For beer, Soft drink, Juice, Water and more!

Filling speeds from 100cpm up to 1,200CPM on 330ml Faster and more reliable than any inline filler at a comparable cost Local support from an experienced engineering company

- Based on European design - Cam down filling valves - C02 purging - Siemens PLC & HMI - Undercover gassing

- Bubble breaker - German made chucks and rollers - Stainless steel base frame - Auto lube system - Very Low O2 pickup (< 30 PPB)

SUMMER 2018 61

HOMEBREWER

62 63 64 66 68 70 72 77 78 80

“THE BITTERNESS OF THESE BEERS WAS GETTING EXTREME, WHICH LEFT THE DOOR AJAR FOR SOMETHING ELSE – WHICH WAS NEW ENGLAND IPA” DUNCAN GIBSON

Ed’s Letter Letters to Editor Q&A Jake’s Brew Log Grifter’s Coffee Cream Ale Chris Cohen ANHC Review Recipe Recipe Level Up

Check out page 70 where we talk to Chris Cohen, founder of the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild

Editor’s letter

Chris Thomas Homebrewer Editor chris@beerandbrewer.com

62 www.beerandbrewer.com

For enthusiastic homebrewers out there, the Australian National Homebrew Conference (ANHC) is an event you really should try to get to at least once. It’s not on for another two years so now is a good time to mark it on the calendar and start saving your dollars!

For those who were able to get to Melbourne for ANHC 6 in

October, you’ll know what I’m talking about. For those who missed it, read on for some of the highlights.

Beyond that, we’ve got plenty of recipes for you to get brewing this summer, including clone recipes for Behemoth Procrastination Pale Ale, The Grifter Coffee Cream Ale, Black

Sheep Ale, Coopers Sparkling Ale and Coopers Vintage Ale. For the more technical brewers, we also have a feature on water from John Palmer and flavour analysis tips from Jake Brandish.

Happy summer brewing!

Chris chris@beerandbrewer.com

Letters

WRITE IN FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! TELL US WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND BY EMAILING CHRIS@BEERANDBREWER.COM OR THROUGH OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS FACEBOOK.COM/ BEERANDBREWER OR WWW.TWITTER.COM/BEERANDBREWER

HI HOMEBREWER, When making yeast starters for my beers, I generally like to overbuild by at least a hundred billion cells and decant a portion for storage before pitching the remainder into my wort. I then store this yeast under the starter beer in my keg fridge until it is time to reuse and repeat the process.

What I am wondering is - is there a better medium for storage of the yeast rather than under the starter beer, such as possibly plain sterile water?

Also what sort of effects do you think long term storage could have on the yeast apart from a loss in viability - I am talking more of laggy fermentation or possible off flavours that could carry through into the final beer?

Both letters printed have won a copy of the Beer Buyer’s

Guide Australia & New Zealand, valued at $24.99.

The Editor’s Choice Letter has won an Ss Brewing Technologies 26.3 litre stainless fermenter.

What sets the Brew

Bucket

apart are features such as stacking during ferment, the rotatable racking arm and ball valve spigot assembly. The BrewBucket’s conical bottom allows trub to settle nicely in a more concentrated space and has the effect of minimising the surface area of your beer that is

Thanks Joel Gaskin Adelaide, South Australia

in contact with the trub during ferment, which then minimises off flavours in your beer!

RRP $269

Thanks for your awesome question, respect to you for taking the time to make sure you look after your little yeasties properly! When using beer to store yeast make sure it is un-hopped and low alc, and not from a high alcohol beer so you are providing a low stress environment but still providing the essential nutrients. Without knowing what condition your cells are like prior to storage, it can be easily blamed on storage method if you don’t get the desired results.

I would actually stick with your method, and if you want to do any next level stuff get yourself access to a microscope and check for vitality and viability.

Washing the cells prior to storage is also a good idea to eliminate any dead cells and other matter such as trub and hop matter which may affect the yeast.

Excellent yeast info is available from the Wyeast website, and the Yeast book by Brewers Publications written by Jamil Zainasheff and Chris White (from White Labs).

HI CHRIS, I’ve been getting your magazine for last few years and really enjoy the home brewing section and all its recipes. In the last issue, Andrew Childs’ recipe for C’s Get Degrees, it says for us to use 4.6kg Pale Malt plus 200g Bairds Crystal and 200g Weyermann Munich 2. The final result hopefully being ABV 7.3%.

I was wondering if that was meant to say 6.4kg pale malt to get that efficiency or I’m doing something wrong here at home?!?!

Anyway keep up the good work and happy brewing, I personally have loved the Behemoth/Chur recipes and look forward to making more but just wanted to clarify the above.

Cheers

Cheers and happy brewing!

Mathew Carswell Jake Brandish Technical Editor

Thanks for picking up on this error Mathew. It should in fact be 7.5kg to get the desired alcohol. Be sure to modify for your system’s efficiency and hopefully you create a cracking clone of C’s Get Degrees! Also check out Andrew Childs’ Procrastination Pale Ale for summer!

SUMMER 2018 63

Q&A

Water

HOMEBREWING LEGEND, JOHN PALMER, RESPONDS TO YOUR QUESTIONS EACH ISSUE. PALMER TAKES A TECHNICAL TWO-PART LOOK AT THE COMPOSITION, COMPLEXITY AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WATER AND BREWING ACROSS THIS ISSUE AND NEXT

64â&#x20AC;&#x192; Home Brewer

Q: MY WATER IS REALLY HARD, WITH A PH OF 9, WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO BREW WITH MY WATER, SHOULD I ACIDIFY IT? A: This is the most common question I get, and it points out two common misconceptions about hardness and pH. Water hardness is the sum of the calcium and magnesium ions in water, often expressed as Total Hardness as Calcium Carbonate. Hard water

weight of 100, and therefore its equivalent

the alkalinity to give you net effect of the water

would have high concentrations of calcium

weight is 50. The equivalent weight of

on your mash and wort pH. High residual

and magnesium, and soft water does not.

magnesium is 12.1 grams.

alkalinity means that the mash and wort

Generally, mineral concentrations in water can be described by the following ranges:

To convert between calcium hardness

pH will be higher than they would be if the

as calcium carbonate and calcium ion

wort were made with distilled water, and low

concentration, you simply divide by the

residual alkalinity (near zero) would have no

Low

0-50 ppm

equivalent weight of the first and multiply

difference on mash or wort pH compared to

Medium

50-100 ppm

by the equivalent weight of the second. For

distilled water. Negative residual alkalinity

example, 60 ppm of calcium ion would equal

will lower mash and wort pH, although not as

150 ppm of calcium hardness as calcium

effectively as high RA will raise it. The practical

carbonate. (60/20x50=150) The total hardness

application of RA to your brewing water helps

of a water sample would be the calcium

you understand what styles of beer your water

Most people don’t have hard water; most

hardness as calcium carbonate plus the

is best suited for, with high RA best suited to

hard water sources would have calcium in the

magnesium hardness as calcium carbonate.

dark beers, near zero RA best for amber beers,

High

100-150 ppm

Problem

>150 ppm

medium range, or higher, and magnesium

So, the point is that most people don’t

in the low range. It is rare for magnesium

actually have hard water. What they usually

to be higher than 25 ppm in most places.

have is high alkalinity, which is the other

Total Alkalinity – Calcium/3.5 – Magnesium/7

Calcium levels are typically in range of 20-

side of the coin, the carbonate species, the

where all concentrations are expressed as

40 ppm, and magnesium is typically 5-15

bicarbonate and carbonate. This brings us to

calcium carbonate or milliequivalents per litre.

ppm. Now, there is another layer to these

the second part of the question, the pH of 9.

concentrations, and that is the unit, “as

As you may remember from school, a pH of

reasons: the first is that mash pH indicates

Calcium Carbonate”. This unit is a conversion

7 is neutral, a pH of less than 7 is acidic, and

how well the starch conversion process is

of individual ion concentration to equivalent

a pH of greater than 7 is basic. In addition,

proceeding, and the second is because the pH

concentrations of the compound, calcium

the pH scale is logarithmic, so that a pH of

of the mash drives the pH of the wort, which

carbonate, which is common water scale.

9 is 10 times more basic than a pH of 8. The

drives the pH of the beer, and the beer pH

Total hardness as calcium carbonate and total

pH scale is defined as the negative logarithm

affects how the beer flavours are expressed to

alkalinity as calcium carbonate are a way for

of the concentration of hydrogen ions in

your palate. It is common knowledge that pH

water suppliers and chemists to quantify

solution. However, it is essentially a measure

affects the expression of flavours of foods; for

similar ions as one unit for comparison.

of chemical equilibrium, and in water it

example, the acidity of tomato sauce. Generally

describes the balance of hardness to alkalinity.

speaking, lower pH focuses flavours, making

concentrations and concentrations as

The important thing to realize about water

them more singular and brighter, while higher

calcium carbonate, you need to divide the ion

pH is that you can have two entirely different

pH makes them broader and rounder. Final

concentration by its equivalent weight to get

waters with the same balance. In other words,

beer pH typically ranges from about 4.0-4.6.

the number of equivalents per litre, and then

the pH of both waters may be 9, indicating

A lower, more acidic pH (ex. 4.0-4.2) tends

multiply by the equivalent weight of calcium

that the alkalinity of the water is higher than

to brighten the malt flavour, which benefits

carbonate, which is 50. The equivalent

the hardness, but the concentrations of the

the singular malt character of very pale beers.

weight of a substance is the atomic weight

alkalinity and hardness comprising that

A higher beer pH (4.4-4.6) helps round out

of an ion divided by its valence, or the

balance can be much higher in one that the

the malt character of dark beers, helping the

molecular weight of a substance divided by

other. My point is that just because the water

drinker to perceive the complexity of the

the charge of its constituents. For example,

pH is high, doesn’t necessarily mean that the

specialty malts used in the grain bill.

chlorine has an atomic weight of 35.45 grams

alkalinity is high. The actual concentration of

and a valence or charge of -1. Therefore, its

alkalinity may be low, 40 ppm for example,

exploration into water and consider the need to

equivalent weight is the same as its atomic

but the hardness is even lower, and therefore

alter water profiles to brew specific styles.

weight. Calcium has an atomic weight of

it can still have a high pH.

To convert between regular ion

40.078 grams and a valence of +2, therefore

The solution to this conundrum is the

and negative RA best suited for pale beers.

The equation for RA is Residual Alkalinity =

Why is mash and wort pH important? Two

Next issue we will continue John Palmer’s

For more explanation about water adjustment, check out the water chapters

its equivalent weight is 20, half of its atomic

concept of residual alkalinity (RA), which

in the new edition of How To Brew

weight. Calcium carbonate has a molecular

subtracts the effects of water hardness from

(4th ed., 2017).

SUMMER 2018 65

JAKE’S BREW LOG

Session ale HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH LOOKS AT SESSION ALES, AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM

S

ession ales have gained popularity in recent times and most of us would have had one, or six as the name suggests.

It seems as though session ales are everywhere and could

almost be thought of as the opposite to Imperial or double ales, or so it would seem! You can get a red ale, a session red ale, and an imperial red ale!

All of course are completely delicious but once again they vary in their interpretation… but that is why we love craft beer!

66 Home Brewer

WHAT IS A SESSION ALE? The term session ale refers to a beer that you could ‘have a session’ on, which would be more than a few! This style of beer is open to interpretation and there many variations from low ABV mid strength hoppy beers to session IPAs. The one thing they share is a relatively low ABV, from low

The recipe This recipe is another of my regulars, and the more hoppy beers I have, the more I appreciate a good malt driven ale. Session ales take me back to my home in the UK pubs, serving (and consuming) many a pint of bitter. There is nothing like a pint of bitter. It can be refreshingly malty, low on ABV but not lacking the mouthfeel or body. A good solid pint of UK bitter – it’s where session ales started!

3.0%’s up to 5.0’s and in some cases up in the 6.0’s. They would have originated with the low ABV milds or bitters of the UK, where they are mostly around 3.5 to 3.8% ABV and these beers were easily consumed by the 2 or 3 pints, with the drinker still able to function. They were also very well crafted and did not present as a watery or thin beer. It is only in the current brewing environment and consumer demand that ABV of common day beers have increased with the popularity of US pale ales and IPAs – which are usually higher ABV. After all, in some parts of the world very low

Black Sheep ale clone – All grain Expected brew figures OG: 1.039 FG: 1.010 ABV: 3.9% IBU: 25 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 3.75kg Maris Otter malt

strength table beers were brewed for the

220g Medium Crystal malt

whole family to consume as the water was

150g Roasted barley

unfit for drinking and the brewing process

150g Torrified wheat

introduced some control to bacteria and micro-organisms.

20g Challenger hop pellets 18g Northdown hop pellets

MODERN SESSIONS

Wyeast 1469 – West Yorkshire Ale yeast

These days, breweries are always looking

Method

to brew new and interesting beers, and more so ones that catch the consumer’s eye (and tastebuds). As craft beers get stronger and more robust, the term ‘Session Ale’ brings the connotation that you can have a few and still be able to walk and talk. This is used quite effectively when marketing these beers. Personally I welcome this and the potential lowering of ABV on every day consumed beer as this can only be good for

1. Mash all grains at 67°C for 60 minutes 2. Sparge and transfer to kettle and bring to boil. Adjust sparge liquor to pH 5.4 if possible 3. Once boiling add 18g Northdown for a 60 minute boil 4. With 10 minutes left in the boil, add 20g Challenger hops

everyone (not the taxman - another plus!).

5. Chill to 18-20°C and transfer to the fermenter

Unfortunately, many of these session ales

6. Pitch yeast at 18°C

are watery, thin or lacking balance. For me, the mark of a great beer is to have the elements in balance – not too hoppy, not too sweet and malty, etc. but all of the elements coming together. We are definitely in the age of hops, and too many session ales are just over-hopped. A good pale ale or IPA will have an appropriate malt backbone to carry the hops through, but when a light bodied beer is overhopped it just becomes out of balance.

7. If possible, slowly increase fermentation temp 1°C per day after fermentation starts to slow down.

Stop at 20°C 8. Once FG stabilises, keg or bottle and enjoy with friends

Black Sheep ale clone – Extract with specialty grains Expected brew figures OG: 1.039 FG: 1.010 ABV: 3.9% IBU: 25 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 2.9kg Pale liquid extract 220g Medium Crystal malt 150g Roasted Barley 150g Torrified wheat 20g Challenger hop pellets 18g Northdown hop pellets Wyeast 1469 – West Yorkshire Ale yeast

Method 1. Steep grains in 2 litres of 67°C water for 60 minutes, then drain 2. Slowly dissolve half of the extract in 8 litres of water along with the 2 litres of wort from the mini mash and bring to the boil 3. Once boiling add 18g Northdown hops for a 60 minute boil 4. With 10 minutes left in the boil, add 20g Challenger hops 5. Stir in rest of extract at flame out 6. Transfer to the fermenter and top up with fresh water to 23 litres 7. When wort is stable at 18°C, pitch yeast and maintain temperature 8. If possible, slowly increase fermentation temp 1°C per day after fermentation has slowed down, stopping at 20°C 9. Once FG stabilises, keg or bottle and enjoy with friends

Having said that, many breweries are doing the session ale thing very well.

SUMMER 2018 67

FEATURE

Coffee Cream Ale

LAST ISSUE WE HAD A QUERY FROM ONE OF OUR READERS ABOUT THE GRIFTER COFFEE CREAM ALE. HE DESCRIBED IT AS A LIGHTER BEER THAN EXPECTED WITH COFFEE AND VANILLA NOTES. HERE WE EXPLORE THE CREAM ALE STYLE AND CHAT TO THE BOYS AT GRIFTER ABOUT THEIR TAKE ON IT

A

coffee cream ale. It has the mouth watering.

There are also some examples of the style which have been taken

But what is it? And what is a cream ale at its core?

to the next level like Granville Island’s Maple Cream Ale, which has

Without unique additions (like coffee), there

been around for more than a decade now. While it is a very accessible

are some relatively uninspiring descriptors of

beer, there is a subtle hint of Canadian maple syrup in both flavour

cream ales. The Wyesast website describes it as

and aroma.

an ‘American lawnmower beer’, ‘easy drinking’

“One of the cream ales I have tried with extra ingredients added to

and ‘refreshing’. Similarly White Labs, who have a specific Cream

it was a beer with lactose and fresh peaches which created a peaches

Ale Yeast Blend (WLP080) describe the beer as a ‘clean, crisp, light

and cream feel to the beer. I thought it worked quite well,” says Wolfe.

American lager-style ale’.

Adam Wolfe, brewer at The Grifter, says Cream Ale is a, “beer style

This sounds more like it and there are plenty of recipe clones for this one on line.

native to the US, it is straw-like to golden in colour. Originally brewed with some form of corn as a percentage of the fermentables.”

“It was intended to be very drinkable and clean like a lager with minimal hop or malt assertiveness.”

Bear with us though! Because the lads at The Grifter have a great take on the style.

These days the interest to push the boundaries of beer recipes has increased dramatically. Where it used to be important to follow beer guidelines to the letter, now a great beer is recognised as being a great beer, whether it fits within a specific style guideline or not.

WHAT INSPIRED THE LADS AT GRIFTER TO DESIGN SUCH A UNIQUE TAKE ON THE STYLE? “The inspiration came from two beers actually. I always wanted to brew a cream ale because of a beer native to Ireland, Killkenny cream ale. I lived in Dublin for about 6 months and aside from Guinness that was the only beer I drank. I loved how smooth and easy drinking it was, and it’s a beer that is very dear to me.”

“The other, and main inspiration for this recipe was a beer brewed by Ballast Point in San Diego. They made a cream ale with coffee and vanilla

“You want to try and stay true to the style in some form, such as,

and I remember trying it and being blown away. I have always been into

colour and lager-like fermentation , but there are plenty of ways to

beers that appear a certain way and taste completely different, and this

make a cream ale a little more interesting,” says Wolfe

beer embodied that perfectly. After that experience I had a desire to brew

Finding a cream ale on a beer menu here in Australia is not uncommon, but more examples of the style are imported from the US, with Genesee from New York the best known of these.

68 Home Brewer

something similar, and I hope we have done it justice.”

According to those we have spoken to who have tried The Grifter Cream Ale, it is mission accomplished. Whereas coffee in darker beers

is a relatively common occurrence, the lighter

much coffee, creating a beer with an overly

style takes many by surprise.

intense coffee presence.

“The reactions towards the beer have been quite positive. I’ve had multiple people come up and display the same reaction I had a few

Wolfe was aware of the need to get the coffee flavour and ratio right.

“We tested three different types of

years back. Everyone can’t believe how there

coffee beans from our local roaster, Coffee

is so much coffee aroma and flavour packed

Alchemy. The bean origins were Panama,

into such a light coloured beer,” says Wolfe.

Ethiopia, and Costa Rica. We came up with a ratio of beans to wort that we thought was

HOW DID YOU COME ABOUT THE RECIPE?

appropriate, and had the beans sit in the wort overnight.”

“I knew I wanted to use Gladfield ale malt

“The next day we tasted each sample. They

as my base. I love how much biscuit aroma you

all were incredibly unique but we all agreed the

get off that malt. I also am an avid user of oats

Panamanian bean had the best flavour profile

in my beers. I love the extra creamy texture it

for the beer we were trying to make.”

adds to the mouth-feel of the beer.”

From there it was about pairing the biscuit and toffee malt base with the coffee.

And as those who have brewed with coffee before, it is easy to get too excited and add too

For those keen to taste the real thing from

The Recipe – All Grain The coffee in this cream ale is unmistakable in both aroma and flavour. It pours lighter than expected into the glass, though the coffee will take it towards a clear light brown. The vanilla adds some cream to the biscuit and toffee malt character, making this one amazing brew!

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.058 FG: 1.014 ABV: 5.7% IBU: 12.5 Volume: 23 litres

The Grifter, the good news is that it will be

Ingredients

brewed again. Two batches have already been

4kgs Gladfield Ale Malt

made and the plan is to brew it intermittently

500g Rolled Oats

as a seasonal offering.

500g Weyerman Munich Malt Type 1 500g Gladfield Toffee Malt 140g Weyerman Carapils 32g Bramling Cross hops 200g Ground Panamanian Coffee beans 3 Vanilla Beans White Labs Cream Ale Yeast Blend (WLP080)

Method 1. Mash at 67°C 2. Sparge and bring to the boil for 60 minutes, adding 7g Bramling Cross hops at the start of the boil 3. Add 25g Bramling Cross hops with 10 mins remaining in the boil 4. At the end of the boil, start a whirlpool and add the ground Panamanian coffee beans in a tied up stocking to keep the ground coffee out of your wort - be sure to sanitise the stocking and make sure it has no dyes that will affect your brew first!

5. Cool to 20°C and pitch vial of yeast 6. Ferment at 18°C until gravity is 1.014 or thereabouts 7. Chop vanilla beans and cover with vodka for 2 days – this can be done in an old water bottle or similar.

This will form your vanilla syrup-like extract. When ready, add this to your fermenter but don’t stir it through

Adam Wolfe, brewer at The Grifter

8. Allow vanilla extract to spread evenly through your fermented wort for 2-3 days then bottle or keg as normal

SUMMER 2018 69

FEATURE

Chris Cohen at AABM tasting 5

San Francisco to Sydney, via Norway CHRIS COHEN, FOUNDER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO HOMEBREWERS GUILD, ALSO WROTE THE STUDY GUIDES FOR THE FIRST TWO LEVELS OF THE CICERONE EXAMS AND RUNS CRAFT BEER BAR THE OLD DEVIL MOON IN SAN FRANCISCO. HE WAS IN AUSTRALIA FOR SYDNEY BEER WEEK AND WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM FOR A CHAT Q: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE AUSSIE CRAFT BEER SCENE?

Bay, Oakland, Berkeley and further out, the

things in and repeat recipes forever focusing

scene is much stronger. Certain breweries are

on something really simple.

The Aussie beer scene seems to focus a lot

happy to host homebrewers to come and do

more on sessionable beers. Our stuff is

stuff on their pilot systems.

normally 7%. It’s challenging to do a very

In the past it was homebrewers who

One of the biggest issues I find still after so many years is people going overboard with flavours. I think subtlety is key for a beer to

flavourful beer with that low ABV. I’ve

were experimenting and influenced the pro

be great. Feature a flavour in a subtle way

been impressed with Philter XPA; Wayward

brewers to try new weird things. Things that

that brings something to the table without

Pilsner and Everyday; Bucket Boys’ Popsicle

were working at homebrew level – the pros

dominating it, so that there are layers.

Gose; Wildflower Foudre #1. I wish I was

got down to it and ran with it. Now that a lot

also up at the conference [ANHC], so I could

of homebrewers have become pro brewers

check that out.

and they’re doing weekly releases and the

Q: WHAT IS THE HOMEBREWING LANDSCAPE LIKE IN SAN FRANCISCO AND THE US?

are maybe the ones who are pushing the

Q: THERE HAVE BEEN A FAIR FEW INNOVATIONS IN HOMEBREWING. HOW ARE THEY PERCEIVED IN THE STATES?

envelope a bit more.

Stuff like brew in a bag, a lot of apartment-

Homebrewing in San Francisco is a real

homebrewers: there are the people who are

think it’s quite popular in Australia. I think

challenge, because most people live in

experimenting constantly and not repeating

Australian homebrewers really developed the

apartments and we don’t have garages and

recipes. And then there are the people who

techniques for that.

backyards to brew in and store things. East

are more engineer minded, trying to dial

industry is so trend driven, the pros now

70 Home Brewer

To me there are different types of

dwelling homebrewers have embraced it. I

But I’ve not heard of many people

embracing all in one brewing systems. I don’t know if I’m biased but my impression is it removes a big part of the DIY aspect of homebrewing that is a really big part of why people do it. If you don’t want to do the DIY part, you just buy good beer, right?

Homebrewers will take certain aspects of the DIY out of the process if they think it will increase the quality of the beer, but if you’re not actually having a brew day, then you’re just putting stuff in a blender, I guess. It doesn’t strike me as fun.

Q: WHAT ABOUT NO SPARGING? If you’re staying scientific and taking your measurements you’ll come to conclusions: I don’t need to sparge this for an hour. I can run it off for 15 minutes and I’m still going to get the gravity I’m looking for.

So why wouldn’t I go for it? In homebrewing there are all these levers you can move, you can change these measurements here and there and as long as you have it all dialled in and you know how your system works you can play with them.

I think homebrewers are super innovative and

The Old Devil Moon in San Francisco

creative, reassessing techniques that are considered so much part of the process that people don’t question

scene in Norway has been getting a lot of attention.

them. You start to wonder ‘does it really need to

They have these domesticated yeast strains that

be done that way? Can I save myself an hour by not

they’ve been passing down for generations that most

chilling? Or can I make a lot more?’ Worse case scenario

pro brewers have never had available. One thing

I wasted half a day of my life and like $50 on supplies.

the regions do is use a lot of juniper, and with the

As a pro, you can’t necessarily take those risks.

popularity of kviek yeast, I think we’ll see people play with juniper more.

Q: WHAT NEW INGREDIENTS ARE YOU SEEING?

this yeast type could change the industry a little bit

Homebrewers are always pulling anything out of the

because it ferments fast and furiously at 40°C, which

ground they can find and trying to make beer with

is completely insane. You can ferment at 100°F and

it. One thing I’ve been seeing in Bay Area is pluots –

get your ferment done really quickly, and you’ll get

plum apricots.

plenty of esters. You’ll get orangey, citrusy, fruity

Pete Slosberg, he’s kind of a guru on the scene,

I have this gut feeling that the water doctrine of

characteristics which would go perfectly with hazy

he’s been going to Brazil and working with the craft

IPAs. So if IPAs are your main thing, if you started using

beer scene down there. He gets in the mail all these

this maybe your capacity goes up.

“HOMEBREWERS ARE ALWAYS PULLING ANYTHING OUT OF THE GROUND THEY CAN FIND AND TRYING TO MAKE BEER WITH IT”

interesting fruits and barks and woods and plants for don’t know if it will be a trend but there are a whole

Q: FINALLY, TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE CICERONE PROGRAM?

bunch of fruit and vegetables and trees that create

Cicerone covers a whole different group of areas of

flavour profiles that we don’t have in the US or Aus.

knowledge like styles, service, draught systems and

So going after foreign ingredients like that might be

cleaning, glassware, food and beer pairing, identifying

a thing as craft brewing blows up in places like Brazil.

of flavours.

the express purpose of experimenting with beers. I

We’re going to hear about it and we’re going to want it.

What it really helps a person do is learn the language that will help them talk about beer in a way that will

Q: WHAT HAS INTERESTED YOU THE MOST IN RECENT MONTHS?

sell it. When you learn that language and you have that

Kveik yeast. It’s a whole bunch of yeast strains from

it is a lot more convincing.

Norway that are a blend. They come from Norwegian

confidence and you understand what these flavours are, I think education around beer is critical. Because

farmhouse ales. When you hear the term farmhouse

it has that everyday, blue collar [association] it’s

you think saisons, but as a descriptor it really means

considered some kind of lesser beverage, but there’s so

people out in the countryside making beer with

much going on with it. Learning about it doesn’t make

whatever they have. This whole farmhouse brewing

you appreciate it less, it makes you appreciate it more.

SUMMER 2018 71

FEATURE

72â&#x20AC;&#x192; Home Brewer

ANHC 6 – A WRAP

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL HOMEBREW CONFERENCE HAS COME AND GONE FOR ANOTHER TWO YEARS. HOMEBREWER EDITOR CHRIS THOMAS GOT ALONG TO SAMPLE, LEARN, MEET SOME GREAT PEOPLE AND THEN SAMPLE SOME MORE

T

(ANHC) has celebrated

DREW BEECHUM – EXPERIMENTAL BREWS PODCAST AND AUTHOR

its tenth anniversary

Drew Beechum’s approach to brewing

with a return home

is infectious. As it should be. Brewing is

to Melbourne. Held at

his hobby and he enjoys it as such. He

he Australian National Homebrew Conference

the William Angliss Institute in the city,

differentiates it from his work because

the conference was a celebration of beer

work is work and brewing should be fun.

and food.

Held over three days, the conference

Before Beechum became mega-busy with his podcast and writing books

mixed education with humour,

about beer (all the while holding

conversation and festivity.

down a day job managing 60 workers

Sour was a major focus of the

at an engineering firm!), he was a

conference with presentations and

regular contributor to Beer & Brewer’s

discussion from The Rare Barrel’s

Homebrewer.

Jay Goodwin (US), 8 Wired’s Soren

He is best known for his creative and

Eriksen, Boatrocker’s Ruth Barry and

adventurous approach to homebrewing.

Wildflower’s Topher Boehm.

Beechum’s Lychee Saison and Jasmine

Together they covered kettle souring,

Dragon Saison are recipes we still have

mixed culture fermentation, collecting

readers brewing and writing in about. He

and using wild cultures and preventing

continued this brewing adventure with

sour off beer flavours.

a guacamole saison and clam chowder

For homebrewers who have not yet soured, it’s quite achieveable. A Berliner weiss for summer is a great

NEIPA! While both sound off the charts, they are actually quite simple recipes.

Simplicity is a key to Beechum’s

beer to start with. It’s tart, quenching

recipes and was the crux of both of

and low in alcohol. It’s also a great beer

his presentations. “It’s more about

to experiment with fruit and spices to

craftsmanship than showmanship,”

achieve outstanding results.

he said. This back to basics approach is

Beyond the sour, there were

something that is being seen more in the

presentations on beer design,

US and undoubtedly we will follow suit

session beers, lager, yeast, mashing,

in the coming years.

fermentation management, New England IPA and cooking with beer.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from ANHC 6!

Beechum is a fan of session beers for both health reasons and social reasons.

He also professes that you can make great beer at low alcohol that doesn’t have to be

SUMMER 2018 73

FEATURE

The Recipe CDJK Mild – All Grain This is a full-bodied mild beer. It is a malt driven beer, which pours a copper colour in the glass, with hints of cocoa and toffee flavours.

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.037 FG: 1.008 ABV: 3.5% IBU: 13 Volume: 20 litres

Ingredients Drew Beechum and co-host Denny Conn.

NEIPA fans get around Hop Nation’s Duncan Gibson.

3.6kg Maris Otter 230g Flaked oats 115g Crystal malt (150L)

thin and over-hopped (sorry session IPA fans!).

The audience were introduced to several of

• Low IBU or low perceived bitterness • Hop juiciness, loads of hop character

57g Carafa II dehusked chocolate malt

Beechum’s favourite ‘session beer’ recipes.

• Silky mouthfeel

57g Roasted barley

The audience were treated to two of his beers:

• ABV between 6%-8.4%

7g Target hops (10.6% AA)

CDJK Mild and Table Saison. Both are beers that

He has found that the best hops for a NEIPA are

Beechum has on tap at home most of the time as

Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic and Galaxy.

they are sessional and social in equal measures.

To achieve the desired haze, many brewers add various adjuncts but really oats and wheat should

DUNCAN GIBSON – NEIPA HAZE CRAZE!

be enough.

First things first. Duncan Gibson is an absolute

hops during the boil – all additions come during the

dude. Secondly, as head brewer of Hop Nation he

whirlpool and then one or two dry hop additions.

has nailed New England IPA with Jedi Juice quickly becoming the go-to for NEIPA lovers.

NEIPA has been a divisive and much sought after

Hop juiciness is achieved by adding little, to no,

As with all hoppy beers, fresh is best. Gibson says this is very true for the NEIPA style and where possible punters should hit up their local tap room.

style since it became a ‘thing’ a few years ago. For

Cans are also the preferred storage container as the

those who still question the style, it has arrived and

style is vulnerable to oxidation and can be easily

it’s not going anywhere.

light-struck.

3.5g Challenger hops (6.5% AA) Wyeast 1275 Thames Valey, White Labs Esses Ale or Safale S-04 yeast

Method 1. If using Wyeast, pop the pack and activate the nutrient 2. Mash at 67°C for 60 minutes 3. Sparge and bring to the boil

months to get a NEIPA homebrew recipe!

4. Add Target hops at the start of the 60 minute boil

general public were not open to the style until the

PETER SYMONS – SPARKLING ALE THROUGH THE YEARS

5. Add Challenger hops with 30 minutes remaining in the boil

early 2000’s when the bitterness levels in West Coast

The first time I met Peter Symons was at the

IPAs were going higher and higher.

fourth Australian National Homebrew Conference

Gibson looks to the The Alchemist Brewery in Vermont as trailblazers of the style, as far back as the

NOTE: I will be working on Duncan over the coming

‘90s when they were playing with mildly bittered, hazy IPAs before it even was a style. However the

“Breweries were actively promoting that the IBU of their IPA was 100 plus,” said Gibson. “The

in Canberra.

There he had researched into recipes for stouts

bitterness of these beers was getting extreme,

from yesteryear and (with some help) re-brewed

which left the door ajar for something else – which

these beers. The results were excellent. Naively, I

was New England IPA.”

was surprised at just how good these beers were. It

Gibson identifies the key characteristics of a good NEIPA:

was an eye-opener to learn that despite all of the new ingredients available, very good beer could

• Hazy

still be brewed with traditional ingredients and

• De-emphasizes hop bitterness

recipes. Many of these recipes appeared in his book

74 Home Brewer

6. Chill to 18°C and transfer to the fermenter then pitch the yeast 7. Ferment at 18-20°C until gravity is at, or near 1.008 and consistent over consecutive days.

8. Bottle and enjoy liberally in any season!

The Recipe Cooper Sparkling Ale (1927) – All Grain recipe This recipe has been reprinted with the permission of Peter Symons.

Permission was granted on the proviso I bought his book, which I can say is a fascinating read. Symons notes that, “this 1927 version should be close to a modern Sparkling Ale in terms of alcohol but with a very different flavour and mouthfeel.”

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.054 FG: 1.012 ABV: 5.5-5.7% IBU: 42 Volume: 23 litres Wildflower Gold & Amber

Ingredients 3.47kg Maris Otter pale ale malt 890g White cane sugar

Bronzed Brews, so that we could revive these

420g JMW Traditional ale malt

beers at home.

10g Bairds Black Patent malt

Well Peter Symons has just released his

85g East Kent Goldings (EKG) hops

second brewing book, 6 O’Clock Brews, which

Whirlfloc tablet

looks into recipes from 1879-1975.

Isinglass or gelatine

Of most interest is the research he did at Coopers, where he traced the evolution of one

White Labs WLP009 Australian ale yeast or WLP023 Burton Ale yeast or cultivate the yeast from a couple of bottles of today’s Sparkling Ale.

of Australia’s marquee beers, Sparkling Ale. Symons was allowed generous access to Coopers brewing records and production logs

Method

by Dr Tim Cooper himself.

1. Mash at 69°C for 60 minutes

Throughout his research he was challenged by poor handwriting and mould

2. Sparge at 79°C then bring to the boil

ridden books, but in the end he was able to reconstruct recipes. Fortunately at Coopers,

3. Add 45g EKG hops for the duration of the 70 minute boil

Symons had no such problems as the record keeping was excellent.

During his presentation, Symons presented

Peter Symons with his new book, which includes several homebrew recipes over the years for Coopers Sparkling Ale.

three different beers: the 1891 Coopers Ale and Coopers Sparkling Ale from 1927 and 1975.

was the most complex flavour. The yeast for

The 1891 brew, which was a precursor to

this beer was cultured from Coopers bottles.

Coopers Sparkling Ale, came in at 7% abv

While quite different from today’s Coopers

and was made with Maris Otter pale ale malt,

Red, it is a quenching and rewarding beer.

nearly 30% white sugar and East Kent Golding

The closest in flavour to today’s Coopers

(EKG) hops. It also used an English yeast. The

Sparkling Ale was the 1975 brew. The alcohol

alcohol flavour was immediately apparent,

was about the same, but the sugar had been

as was a cider character from the sugar level,

reduced to less than 13% (in fact, sugar wasn’t

which despite the quality of the brewing could

completely removed from Coopers Sparkling

not be hidden.

Ale until about 2010). Pride of Ringwood hops

The 1927 version was the favoured version

replaced the traditional East Kent Goldings and

for Peter Symons and myself. The alcohol came

the IBU came in at just 27. Again the yeast was

in at 5.9% and the malt bill included ale male,

cultured from a bottle of Coopers Sparkling. A

a fraction of black malt (for colour) and less

straw-poll of the audience had the 1975 brew

sugar, though still 18%. It had a fuller body and

just nudging out the 1927 brew.

4. Add 28g EKG hops with 35 minutes remaining in the boil 5. Add sugar and whirlfloc with 15 minutes remaining in the boil 6. Add 12 EKG hops with 10 minutes remaining in the boil 7. Chill to 17°C and transfer to the fermenter 8. Primary fermentation at 17°C for 3 days, then let rise to 21°C 9. Cleanse around Day 8 at 20°C when the gravity should be about 1.012 by adding isinglass or gelatine 10. Rack on Day 14, then prime and bottle 11. Condition at about 20°C for 6 weeks before enjoying!

SUMMER 2018 75

FEATURE

The Recipe Beer Marinated Prawns with Crisp Asparagus Spears Ingredients 1kg Prawns (shelled) 5 Cloves of garlic 1/4 cup Olive Oil 2/3 cup American Pale Ale of choice ¼ cup Lime juice 3 Shallots (finely chopped) 2 tsp Coriander seeds 2 tsp Cumin seeds ½ cup Fresh corander (coarsely chopped) 1 Red chili (thinly sliced) 1-2 tbs Soy sauce

Method

Mercurio magic

Tough Day at the office!

Paul Mercurio at home in the kitchen... with a beer of course!.

PAUL MERCURIO – COOKING WITH BEER Paul Mercurio has still got it. Long before his Strictly Ballroom days, Mercurio was a food and beer lover, with a penchant for dark beers. He also has a tidy homebrew setup and some dependable recipes (which we will hopefully see in print in the near future).

More recently, Mercurio is known for his cooking and more specifically, cooking with beer. He put on a masterclass in engaging cooking for an intimate audience of fifty beer lovers, many of whom were much more familiar with their home brewery than the kitchen.

The first dish prepared was one of his trademarks, ‘beeramisu’. Sponge fingers were soaked in Mornington Imperial Stout which then formed the base of the tiramisu adapted dessert.

Mercurio whipped up the dessert, then went to work on preparing beer marinated prawns with crisp asparagus spears and served both within an hour.

The marinade for the prawns was made from toasted coriander and cumin seeds, which were pan heated, then ground and mixed with olive oil, Mornington Pale Ale, lime juice, spring onions, chilli, soy sauce and coriander. And they were superb.

Have a go at the recipe and experiment in the kitchen as well as the brewery!

76 Home Brewer

1. Roughly chop the garlic on a chopping board then sprinkle salt on top. Using the flat edge of your knife, mash the salt and garlic together to create a paste then rub over prawns and stand for one hour 2. In a small fry pan toast the cumin and coriander seeds over heat until they start to smoke (not burn!), then ground them with a pestle and mortar.

3. Combine the ground seeds with the olive oil, lime juice, beer, spring onions, chili, soy sauce and coriander in a large boil 4. Add the prawns, coat thoroughly and marinade for an hour 5. Break off the woody end of the asparagus then cut the end at an angle to create a spear 6. Using a small knife, pierce each end of the prawn. Skewer the prawn through both holes with the asparagus spear 7. Return the prawns to the marinade until they are ready to cook 8. Barbecue char grill until the prawns are cooked, baste with the marinade towards the end to caramelize them a little

RECIPES

Procrastination Pale Ale

All Grain Recipe Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.055 FG: 1.014 ABV: 5.2% IBU: 35 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients

N O I T A N I T S A PROCR LE ALE PA

5.2%

ALC/VOL

N

ever put off ‘til tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well. Time you enjoy wasting is

Method

Method

2. Sparge and bring to a boil for 90 minutes 3. Add 0.3g of Copperfloc with 10 minutes to go

New Year’s resolution.

Making decisions? Well, I guess you need to choose a beer to drink.

Drinking a hoppy pale ale? You can procrastinate, procrastinating that one.

So, procrastinate the things that can come later, but don’t procrastinate drinking this hoppy pale ale full of El

2. Add all malt extracts and stir to dissolve 3. Add all grain (cracked) to a muslin sack in 70°C water for 30 minutes, then take out of the wort

5. Cool to 20°C and pitch 2 packets of Fermentis Saf Ale US-05

6. At the end of the boil start a whirlpool then add: 25g Citra, 25g Galaxy, 25g Hallertau Blanc, 25g El Dorado

7. Do a diacetyl rest at 22 degrees towards end of fermentation

Start learning a foreign language? That will be my next

1. Boil 6-8 litres of water in a large pot

4. Boil for 90 minutes

don’t put it off!

Cleaning the house? Maybe next week.

4.25kg Pale Ale Malt Extract 500g Weyermann Vienna Malt 500g Rolled Oats 250g Carapils 75g Citra 75g El Dorado 75g Galaxy 25g Hallertau Blanc 0.3g Copperfloc 2 Packets of Safale US-05

4. At the end of the boil start a whirlpool then add: 25g Citra, 25g Galaxy, 25g Hallertau Blanc, 25g El Dorado

6. Ferment at 18°C

Paper work? Later.

OG: 1.055 FG: 1.014 ABV: 5.2% IBU: 35 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients

not wasted at all. Procrastinate now,

The gym? Some other time.

Expected Brew Figures

5.0kg Pale Ale Malt 500g Weyermann Vienna Malt 500g Rolled Oats 250g Carapils 75g Citra 75g El Dorado 75g Galaxy 25g Hallertau Blanc 0.3g Copperfloc 2 Packets Safale US-05 1. Mash all malts at 69°C for 60 minutes

THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE PERFECT BEER FOR SUMMER – PROCRASTINATION PALE ALE. HEAD BREWER OF BEHEMOTH (NZ) AND CHUR (AUS), ANDREW CHILDS, SHARES ANOTHER RECIPE FROM HIS PORTFOLIO OF SMASHING BEERS!

Extract with specialty grains recipe

8. After fermentation add use a hop bag to dry hop with: 50g El Dorado, 50g Citra, 50g Galaxy

5. Add 0.3g of Copperfloc with 10 minutes to go Mash all malts at 69°C for 60 minutes

7. Transfer to fermenter and top up with chilled water to reach 20°C then pitch both packs of yeast 8. Ferment at 18°C 9. Do a diacetyl rest at 22°C towards end of fermentation

9. Dry hop for 5 days then crash cool for a week

10. After fermentation add use a hop bag to dry hop with: 50g El Dorado, 50g Citra, 50g Galaxy

10. Bottle or keg as usual then enjoy with mates

11. Dry hop for 5 days then crash cool for a week 12. Bottle or keg as usual then enjoy with mates!

Dorado, Galaxy and Citra Hops.

SUMMER 2018 77

RECIPE

Coopers Vintage Ale ’18 – Concentrate Recipe Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.065 FG: 1.008-1.013 ABV: 7.5% IBU: 55 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale 1.5kg Amber malt extract 1kg Dextrose 300g Crystal malt grains (cracked) 50g Aramis hops 25g Vic Secret hops Coopers commercial yeast culture (see note) Coopers yeast (provided with can of concentrate)

Method 1. If reactivating a Coopers commercial yeast culture, prepare 4-5 days before brew day.

2. The day before brew day, soak the cracked crystal malt grain in a small mesh bag in a pot with about 3 litres of cold water. Fit the lid and sit it in the fridge overnight. If the grains have not already been cracked, place them in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and crack them using a rolling pin

20th Anniversary Vintage Ale THIS YEAR CELEBRATES TWENTY YEARS SINCE COOPERS FIRST RELEASED THEIR ANNUAL VINTAGE ALE. TRADITIONALLY MADE WITH SEASONAL INGREDIENTS AND DIFFERENT HOPS, THIS YEAR’S EDITION IS ONE TO SAVOUR. Aramis hops are a key factor of this year’s Vintage Ale. Grown in the Alsace region of France, Aramis hops are known for their spice, citrus and herbal aromas. The commercially brewed version of this beer uses Westminster barley, sourced solely from Kangaroo Island, which was then malted at Coopers own malting plant in South Australia. The blend of malts in the DIY version result in a moreish, sweet malt character with a tight white head that will pour a rich, red copper colour into the glass. At 7.5% it is surprisingly smooth, followed by an inevitable warming aftertaste.

Please note: Reactivating a Coopers commercial yeast is recommended for this brew so be sure to go to Brewing Support at diybeer.com to view the Reactivating Coopers Yeast video a week or so before brew day so that you can be prepared.

78 Home Brewer

3. On brew day lift the mesh bag with grains out of the pot and allow the liquid to drain out before discarding the grains 4. Place the strained liquid onto the stovetop, bring to the boil and half of the Vic Secret hops and boil for 10 minutes 5. Remove from the heat and the remaining Vic Secret hops and about 12g of the Aramis hops and let steep for 15minutes 6. Cool the liquid by placing the pot in a bath of icy cold water for about 15 minutes 7. Add all the fermentable ingredients and the cooled liquid to your fermenter then stir to dissolve 8. Top up with cold tap water to 20 litres and stir thoroughly 9. Check the temperature and top up to 23 litres with warm or cool water (refrigerated if necessary) to start the brew at 18°C 10. Stir in the Coopers commercial yeast culture and then sprinkle the brew can dry yeast on top of the brew, fit the lid and then place the fermenter in a location out of direct sunlight. Ferment at 18-20°C 11. Around day 7, add the remaining Aramis hops (preferably in a hop bag) and leave for the remainder of fermentation 12. On day 12 check the specific gravity (SG). The brew is ready once the specific gravity has stabilised over a couple of days and is between 1.008-1.013 13. Bottle or keg as normal. If bottling, allow your beer to bottle condition for at least two weeks, but it will benefit from at least 8 weeks of bottle conditioning

We believe that craft beers deserve crafted glasses.

These are our CRAFT BEER glasses.

The Spiegelau Craft Beer Glasses have been approved by an expert tasting panel of master brewers and industry professionals. Focusing on beer enjoyment, members of the tasting workshop tested multiple glass shapes to find the best glass for India Pale Ale, Stout, and American Wheat Beer.

In the expertsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opinion, the custom-shaped glasses successfully deliver the complexity of aromas on the nose, while demonstrating the optimum beer texture, balance, and flavour intensity on the palate.

Staying faithful to the spirit of Bavarian artisan craftsmanship, we have created these unique, functional glasses to bring out the best in complex craft beers.

The Beer Classics are available at David Jones, Myer and selected homewares stores or online at www.spiegelau.com.au

EDUCATION – LEVEL UP TECHNICAL SECTION

80 Home Brewer

THE USUAL SUSPECTS:

Flavour Faults HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH LOOKS AT THE DIFFERENT FLAVOUR COMPOUNDS IN BEER AND HOW TO DETECT THEM

F

lavour analysis is a critical

yeast. Unhealthy yeast can also be a cause so

and commercial beers. The introduction of

part of brewing a great beer.

make sure your yeast is happy!

oxygen at any part of the brewing process

Knowing what is acceptable

Diacetyl: Dacetyl presents as a

is only acceptable during fermentation

and what is not is a skill that

butterscotch, or buttery flavour. Once again,

as an essential part of yeast metabolism.

unfortunately you will have

this compound is produced during healthy

Once oxygen reacts with beer it forms a wet

to keep practising! There are

fermentation but is normally reduced by

paper or cardboard aroma and is always

a few groups of flavour compounds which are

the continued and healthy action of the

undesirable. Some old beers which are aged

faults in your finished beer, so let’s learn how

yeast. You may have heard of the ‘diacetyl

(sometimes in wooden barrels) will present

to identify them and how to avoid them.

rest’? This is carried out when primary

with this aroma and may be to a small extent

fermentation slows right down, and the

complementary to the beer. Trans-2-nonenal

FLAYVA FLAYVA

brewer raises the temperature by a few

is the compound which is mainly associated

So, you have brewed the beer and you are

degrees to encourage the yeast to continue

with beer staling, and can also be induced by

cracking into the first one….. ‘why does it

its action and ‘clean up’ the beer. This

heating beer during maturation. Get a stubbie

taste like butterscotch or green apples?’

procedure is mostly carried out by brewers

of beer and put it out in the sun for a few

These are common ‘faults’ in beer, but

making lagers and pilseners as these beers do

days and taste it! Another reason why craft

also are compounds that are found in

not have bold hop or ester profiles to hide any

brewers insist on refrigerated transport.

all beers – just above flavour threshold.

issues behind. It is still done by the majority

Critical analysis (that’s what we called it at

of brewers and especially home brewers.

your brewing then you need to take analysing

uni anyway!) is the continual testing and

Diacetyl in ales is acceptable and can be part

your beer seriously too. Take some time to sit

learning to detect these compounds. It takes

of the flavour profile of the beer as it forms

down with a pen and paper and write down

a while to pick up certain flavour compounds,

and compliments the fruity ester profile,

what you taste in your beer. I often tell people

and even then you may be more sensitive

which make ales ales. Make sure you keep an

to use non-beery words like malty, hoppy,

to some than others. Yes, that’s right, us

eye on your ferment temperature and once

yeasty, etc. Use descriptive words that pop

brewers are sensitive folk!

again make sure you are pitching happy yeast

in to your head the moment the beer reaches

and feed the with oxygen!

your palate: peppery, bready, spicy. Get on

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide): This mostly

More reading: If you are serious about

to some books or reading on the topic, which

Let’s look at the usual suspects, what their

undesired character in beer presents as a

should be easy to get a hold of and study up

characteristics are and how to control them.

cooked corn, or pop corn taste and aroma.

on the different flavours and aromas that may

You will see that most of these problems are

Its precursor SMM (S Methyl Methionine) is

indicate you have an issue with your beer. A

due to fermentation and brewing process

present in malt, and the type of malt and its

great place to start is a book by Randy Mosher

issues. There are other faults, such as

malting process determines the amount of

Tasting Beer. This book will walk you through

infections, but that’s a whole other article.

this compound produced and retained in the

the art of critically assessing your beer in way

brewing process. Pilsener malt has higher

more detail than I have only just touched on

has a green apple characteristic, and

levels of SMM than Pale malt. Some beers will

here. Get your mates to tell you EXACTLY what

is a compound that is produced during

benefit from a higher amount of DMS such

they think of your beer too, not just ‘it tastes

fermentation. In a healthy ferment (good

as German lagers and pilseners, but in most

like beer’… one of my pet hates!

oxygen levels, good pitching rate, etc)

beers it is undesirable. This volatile compound

Happy brewing folks and educate yourself

most of it is reduced to undetectable levels.

is reduced during the kettle boil, so make sure

on what is in your beer. It is your responsibility

Therefore, if you pick up Acetaldehyde in your

your condensate does not drip back down the

as a brewer to present a product to your mates

beer, you could look at your fermentation

kettle wall and back into the wort!

that is premium quality (or at least you know

Acetaldehyde: This flavour compound

profile. Common causes as mentioned before are low oxygen levels or under-pitching

Oxidisation: This is one of the most common causes of faults in home brewed

what is wrong with it!!)

Cheers!

SUMMER 2018 81

ENTERTAINING – FOOD

Destination Flavour

MASTERCHEF WINNER ADAM LIAW HAS BEEN ON THE ROAD, EXPLORING HOW THE FOOD EATEN ON HIS TRAVELS PROVIDES AN INSIGHT INTO LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

I

n the opinion of Adam Liaw, eating while travelling is about more than just the ‘hunt for your next feed’. He believes that travel gives people an insight into another way of life, another way

of living.

During the course of his travels, the

MasterChef winner and host of SBS’s Destination Flavour has found some of his favourite recipes from around the world.

Touching on Australia, China, Scandinavia, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, this recipe book touches on the cuisines of these cultures, and how their geography, personality and climate affect the kinds of foods that will be placed on your plate.

In his own words, “All food is the story of people, the food we eat reflects where we live, where we came from, the crops we choose to grow, the fish we choose to catch, who we share our meals with, and how we spend our days.”

So while Destination Flavour is technically a book of recipes, it is also a book that aims to use food as a way to express the personality and culture of the people who eat them, something that brewers can also consider as they explore the brewing styles of Europe and the rest of the world.

This is an edited extract from Destination Flavour by Adam Liaw, published by Hardie Grant Publishers.

It has been available in hardcover from all good bookstores or online from 1 September 2018 (RRP $50).

82 www.beerandbrewer.com

CHINA

ENTERTAINING – FOOD

STIR-FRIED BAMBOO SHOOTS & CURED HAM Serves 2–4 as part of a shared meal Ingredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and shredded 85g cured pork belly, or 50g pancetta, thinly sliced 2 fresh bamboo shoots, peeled and sliced, or 1½ cups (375 g) bamboo shoot pieces ¼ cup (60 ml) Anhui yellow wine, or 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine Pinch of sugar 2 green garlic shoots (or 2 garlic cloves and 2 thick spring onions) 1 large fresh chilli 1 teaspoon cornflour, mixed to a slurry with 2 tablespoons water or stock (if needed)

Recipe Heat a wok over medium–high heat and add the oil. Add the ginger and fry for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the pork and fry for a minute or so, until the pork is browned. Remove the pork and ginger from the wok and return the wok to the heat.

Add the bamboo shoots, and a little more oil if necessary, and stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add the wine, sugar, and a little water or stock if necessary to keep the bamboo shoots moist. Add the garlic shoots and chilli and toss to combine, then return the pork and ginger to the wok and toss well.

If necessary, thicken any liquid by adding a little cornflour slurry and tossing the wok over the heat for a minute, then remove to a serving plate and serve.

NOTE: All through Anhui the local people cure their own pork in winter, which is often as simple as hanging a piece of pork in the cold, dry air and salting it every week or so. The result is a favourite ingredient in Anhui’s simple stir-fried dishes. Combined with Anhui’s famous bamboo shoots and a touch of wild garlic and chilli for colour, this kind of simple stir-fry is a staple dish around the region.

SUMMER 2018 83

ENTERTAINING – FOOD

JAPAN

TRIPLE-FRIED KARA-AGE Serves 4 as part of a shared meal Ingredients 3–4 boneless chicken thighs (about 600 g), skin on ¼ cup (60 ml) light soy sauce 2 tablespoons sake 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, juice only ½ teaspoon sugar ¾ cup (90 g) potato flour or cornflour 8 cups (2 litres) rice bran, canola, sunflower or other vegetable oil, for deep-frying

To serve Lemon slices Japanese mayonnaise Shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice, optional)

Recipe Cut the chicken into 5 cm pieces. Combine in a bowl with the soy sauce, sake, ginger juice and sugar and stand for 10 minutes.

Place the flour on a tray or in a large bowl.

Using chopsticks, pull the chicken out of the marinade and drop it into the flour, one piece at a time. (Adding the pieces one at a time helps avoid pouring in too much marinade, and stops the chicken sticking together.) Shake any excess flour from the chicken and place on a tray in a single layer.

Frying the chicken in three short blasts at high heat with rests in between produces a crispy outer coating, while residual heat gently cooks the interior, for tender and succulent meat.

Allow the floured chicken to stand, uncovered, for at least 5 minutes before frying.

In a wide saucepan, heat the oil to 180°C. Working in batches, deep-fry the chicken three times. For each batch, deep-fry the chicken for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack and rest for 30 seconds. Return the chicken to the oil and fry for 30 seconds, then rest on a rack again for another 30 seconds. Add the chicken back into the oil for one last blast of 30 seconds to 1 minute, then rest for 2 minutes on a rack.

Serve the chicken with lemon slices and Japanese mayonnaise; add a sprinkling of shichimi togarashi if desired.

NOTE: Allowing the coated chicken to stand for 5 minutes before frying allows the flour to absorb the flavour of the marinade, and then dry slightly. This little resting time is the secret to producing crispy and flavourful kara-age.

www.beerandbrewer.com 84 www.beerandbrewer.com

ENTERTAINING – FOOD

SCANDINAVIA

BROWN CRABS IN BEER WITH BROWN BUTTER MAYONNAISE Serves 4 Ingredients 4 brown crabs or 2 mud crabs 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons sugar 330ml bottle of dark lager or dark ale 2 lemons, halved ½ bunch dill, roughly torn lemon wedges, to serve crusty bread, to serve

Brown Butter Mayonnaise 200g butter 100ml grapeseed oil or other neutralflavoured oil 2 egg yolks 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Recipe Cooking seafood in the water it was caught in is one of the simplest and

most satisfying experiences. It’s a perfect representation of connecting yourself to your food, and your food to its surroundings. Sea water doesn’t need anything added to it for cooking crustaceans, but a few aromatics can be a great addition if you feel so inclined.

Chill the crabs for around 30 minutes in the freezer, or on ice, until they are asleep.

Fill a very large pot with clean sea water, or water with salt added. Add the additional salt, sugar, beer, halved lemons and dill and place the pot over high heat.

When the liquid starts to steam, add the crabs and continue to heat. The liquid will start to simmer after 10–15 minutes, at which point it is time to remove the cooked crabs.

For the brown butter mayonnaise, melt the butter in a small saucepan over

medium heat and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, until it browns and has a nutty aroma. Add the oil, remove from the heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolks and lemon juice using a hand-held stick blender, then add the brown butter mixture in a stream until a thick mayonnaise forms.

Serve the crabs immediately, with the mayonnaise, lemon wedges and crusty bread.

NOTE: For Dag Lindebjerg’s perfect crab sandwich, spread a piece of bread with plenty of the mayonnaise, top with a generous amount of brown crabmeat or tomalley (preferably from a female crab), then add a pile of claw meat (preferably from a male crab) on top. Of course, don’t follow this method for crab varieties where catching female crabs is restricted.

SUMMER 2018 85

THIS EDITION, OUR TASTING PANEL TACKLED LAGERS AND THE LATEST NEW RELEASES. HERE ARE THE RESULTS

TASTING the panel

Tina Panoutsos Tina started working for CUB in 1989 as a Quality Assurance Chemist. She currently holds the position of CUB’s sensory manager. Her focus is to improve all aspects of beer and cider education as well as support CUB brewing sites through improved sensory data.

Bill Taylor

Neal Cameron

Justin Fox

Head brewer for Lion Nathan, Bill Taylor has more than 30 years’ experience in brewing and the beer industry.

An international beer judge, Bill is a past president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and a founding member of the NSW Brewers Guild.

Coming from starting William Bull Brewery for De Bortoli Wines, Neal Cameron is currently head brewer at The Australian Brewery. He is a beer and cider judge, a committee member for NSW Brewers Guild and a regular contributor to Beer & Brewer Magazine.

With more than a decade of brewing across Australia on kits ranging from 600 to 140,000 litres, Justin has recently joined the Bintani family to head their service, sales, and product development. He is passionate about helping brewers innovate and develop technically as the industry continues to grow.

86 www.beerandbrewer.com

Michael Capaldo

Graham Wright

Alexis Roitman

With over a decade in the brewing industry, including eight years at Sydney/Lovedale Brewery, Michael has completed a Post Grad in Brewing from ECU and judged at many of the top beer awards. He also sits on the IBA awards technical panel and is the NSW, QLD & ACT sales rep for Hop Products Australia.

Graham has had a full and varied life that has generally revolved around alcohol. With a background in retailing, he’s currently an auctioneer at Oddbins Wine Auctions and is a director of The Odd Whisky Coy, Australia’s only specialist importer of fine, rare and hard-tofind whiskies.

Alexis is the CEO of the IBA, with more than 15 years’ experience in industry advocacy.

She began home brewing in 2012 and obtained her BJCP judging accreditation in 2015. She’s a huge admirer of saisons and sours, and is excited to see Brut IPAs catching on with beer drinkers.

TASTING

Sydney Brewery Surry Hills Pils 5% ABV, 330ml bottle It’s a common refrain amongst otherwise perfectly sensible beer drinkers: “I don’t like pilsners”.

That might be due to such aberrant anachronisms as Resch’s Pilsner, as close to a true pilsner as Trump is to a presidential persona.

Some time in the beer gardens of the continent would show them for the king of beers that they are: crisp, gloriously clean, gently aromatic and thrillingly bitter. Even without the evocative surrounds, this interpretation is, well, incredibly competent. A bit malty, gently hoppy, elegantly balanced and happily faultless.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Baked snapper Sydneybrewery.com

Hope Pilsner 4.8% ABV, 375ml can Pokolbin’s Hope Estate in NSW are fast becoming the masters of the clean crisp category and this pilsner only strengthens that reputation. A white pepper aroma is a nice surprise up front, while the clean finish, balanced body and mouthfeel is exactly what you dared hope for. Have this as a palate cleanser before you try their Brut IPA. Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Salt and pepper squid Hopeestate.com.au

Frenchies LaPerouse 7.2% ABV, 440ml can The name of the brewery is a clear pointer to the nationality of the brewing chops behind Frenchies and it has impressively thrown off the shackles of the mediocre beer heritage of la Republique with its eponymous naming. Surprisingly then, this largely native style with its sweet, aromatic and complex character is un peu mediocre. It’s certainly sweet, but this tends to a candy-sugar solventy note and the flavour expression and vibrancy normal with Frenchies is lacking somewhat. It is however an interesting beer and a style that is under-brewed in Australia.

Style: Biere de Garde Glass: Tulip Food Match: Steak and frites Frenchiesbistroandbrewery. com.au

Goose Island Lolita 2016 7.9% ABV, 765ml Pours a hazy, rich orange colour, reminiscent of burnished toffee.

The aroma jumps out of the glass: tart berries, raspberry, orange, strawberry jam, and a nice balancing brett funk. The taste is quite sharp and dry, rather than overly sour, with a really lovely dry finish that reminded us of rosé.

The raspberries provide a nice berry note – an excellent, complex beer with great structure.

Style: Wild ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Strong cheddar or seafood ceviche Gooseisland.com

Bright Brewery Bam-Ba-Lam 7% ABV, 330ml If it’s weird and wonderful beers you are after, then look no further!

While certainly sitting left of centre in many ways, this black saison seems to find a unique place in the beer flavour world.

Its clove character battles with the roast malt aroma, yet they create a wonderfully herbaceous aroma and flavour that is hard to find, and somehow manages to mesh with the 7% ABV to create an incredibly complex, and undoubtedly polarising beer. Try it, I dare you!

Style: Saison Glass: Thistle Food pairing: Beef rendang Brightbrewery.com.au

Prancing Pony XPA 4.1% ABV, 330ml Pours well with great foam and cling – inviting the drinker with every sip. Beautiful tropical hop notes are picked up almost immediately and followed through to the palate. A light malty, slightly biscuity sweetness rounds out a light resinous pine hop flavour and finish. The bitterness is moderate, rounded and well balanced to provide a lingering refreshment and a morish end. Very drinkable and yes, it’s ‘refreshing’.

Style: Session pale ale Glass: Large tulip Food Match: Mixed grill plate Prancingponybrewery.com.au

Eden Brewery Birch Wit

Frenchies Astrolabe

5.5% ABV, 330ml This is a vibrant example of the style, lots of orange and coriander on the nose with a lovely dry elegant finish. Exactly what the doctor ordered. When the genesis of Eden Brewery was but a twinkle in its founder’s eye, this beer came into being after a trip. It’s heavier on the coriander, light on the citrus peel but full of happy little yeast esters from a well-cared for wit strain. Another beer from this successful little brewery that shows that you can leave the hops in the fridge much of time and still sell plenty of beer.

Style: Witbier Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Ceviche Edenbrewery.beer

7.4% ABV, 440ml can Yet another shining example of traditional European brewing from Frenchies – this Biere de Garde is bursting with raisins and toffee, and has a wonderful consistency of organoleptics from the first sniff all the way to the retro palate. The 7.4% alcohol is completely hidden by the velvet malt palate and the beer leaves the drinker utterly satisfied and content!

Style: Biere de Garde Glass: Goblet Food Match: Pork rillettes Frenchiesbistroandbrewery. com.au

SUMMER 2018 87

TASTING

Balmain Brewing Co Original Bock

Otherside Brewing Social Classic Lager

Pikes Limited Release Double IPA

Two Birds Passion Victim Summer Ale

5.5% ABV, 330ml This is one very black beer. Sadly the head didn’t stick around but the nose certainly did, with a big waft of crystal malt with a hint of pleasing sourness. This was a good balance to the very rich, sweet and oh so lush malt. And then the taste: that sweet lush starts at the front and then the dark, black roasted flavours kick in with a big dose of bitterness. Falls a bit short, but those dark crystal malt flavours do linger. For me, it just looks like a stout, so is it true to style?

Style: Bock Glass: Tulip Food Match: Smoked mussels Balmainbrewingcompany.com.au

4.7% ABV, 375ml can This helles lager has the low sulphidic nose that is desired for aroma complexity, yet remains pleasant. It presents a mid cloudiness that is not to style, but there is so much flavour retained in this beer from its humble European hop and malt base that nothing else really matters. The soft bread note that floats across the palate and develops into a lovely citrusy after taste is divine, as is the beer on the whole.

Style: Lager Glass: Schooner Food Match: Twice fried hand-cut fries with homemade mayo Othersidebrewing.com.au

8.1% ABV, 500ml Very, very classy. A big, piney, deep-malted double IPA right up there with the best of its US West Coast colleagues. Resinous on the nose, with a complex, rich, full flavoured malt bill to balance the whack of Citra, Chinook and Mosaic in the kettle and the liberal dry hopping. No IBUs given but the bitterness is balanced and lingering. This is an adult IPA that feels the full 8.1% ABV that it is.

Run, don’t walk to pick up this limited release.

Style: Double IPA Glass: Rastal IPA Food Match: Grilled Portuguese chicken Pikesbeercompany.com.au

5% ABV, 330ml can A Passionfruit Summer Ale so light-bodied and slammable you might end up with pash rash (see bottom of can) and whiplash as you head back to the bar for another. This intense drinkability is where Melbourne’s Two Birds excel. Pale (but not as hazy as it thinks it is), the aromas and flavours of that boy band hop trio (Amarillo, Mosaic and Galaxy), supported by passionfruit puree on backup vocals, steal the show before dropping off to a surprising dry finish that demands the encore.

Style: Summer ale Glass: From the can at a festival Food Match: Your festival crush Twobirdsbrewing.com.au

4 Pines Keller Door New England IPA

BentSpoke Cluster 8

3 Ravens Thornbury Pilsner

Balter Captain Sensible

7.5% ABV, 500ml Everything about this beer was a delight, from the fresh and intensely juicy aromatic, through to a clean toasty malt body that gave balance without stickiness.

The haze is very subtle for the style and will leave the converted wanting more, yet the hallmark juicy note is delivered in spades.

The beer manages to stay more beer than juice, which arguably improves drinkability, yielding a well-executed interpretation of this in-vogue style, that should stand up to the supply chain age issues better than its counterparts.

Style: NEIPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Crispy Duck 4pinesbeer.com.au

88 www.beerandbrewer.com

8.8% ABV, 375ml can The Cluster series has long been an excellent expression of harmony between hops, malt and high ABV. Its selection as the latest Drifter can series release gives those outside Canberra a chance to experience the beer that started it all. An onslaught of fresh and intensely tropical hops pop from the can, giving lychee, passionfruit and a balanced citrus zing. A resinous hop flavour is supported with a rich and balanced malt sweetness that brings the perceived alcohol into a blissful serenity. It’s a ripping dipper, that will have you heading to Canberra for Cluster 18.

Style: Double IPA Glass: Snifter Food Match: Charred rib eye Bentspokebrewing.com.au

4.5% ABV, 375ml can Beautiful pale straw in colour and a firm foam that lingers and adds to the texture and fullness on the palate. Slightly too malt forward for this interpretation of a classic style. Some delicate fruity hop notes evolve with time and the bitterness is assertive yet well integrated and balanced on the palate. Overall a very approachable beer.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: BBQ snapper with herb salsa 3ravens.com.au

3.5% ABV, 375ml can While the name implies a utilitarian experience, this tongue in cheek branded beer delivers on sessionable hop flavours and crisp malt character. With a slight dank note on the nose blending with tropical aromas reminiscent of pineapple and mango fields, this is the ultimate beer not only for the punter who cherishes flavour and driving home after, but as a high quality quaffer that can be relished during the long, hot Aussie summer!

Style: Session ale Glass: Stange Food Match: Chicken tacos Balter.com.au

Six String Brewing Five 9.4% ABV, 750ml Thick and inky black like the night sky, with a dark brown head.

Once you’ve cracked the top off the wine-sized bottle, aromas of bourbon, gingerbread and coffee bean jump out at you, and you know it’s going to be a big beer.

Flavours of rich fruitcake, robusta coffee, stewed apple crumble, and poached pears – with a hint of marzipan. There’s some complex barrel influence and oaked notes to back it up as well.

Style: Barrel aged imperial stout Glass: Snifter Food Match: None; drink as a digestif to finish a meal Sixstringbrewing.com.au/ex2/

Shambles Brewery Afternoon Delight Summer Ale 4.3% ABV, 500ml can Clear, golden amber in colour, good head, clean nose of citrusy hops, crisp malt with good lift. Nice big entry of malt and hops, but sadly tails off quite suddenly. And then bang! The bitterness appears right on the back palate, and it just hangs arounds. Not entirely exciting, but a good “Afternoon Delight” ale.

Style: Pale ale Glass: Straight-sided pint Food Match: Plate of hot salty chips Shamblesbrewery.com.au

New Belgium Fat Tire Belgian White

Guinness Hop House 13 Lager

5.2% ABV, 355ml can Importing beer always seems like such a good idea, especially with good breweries like New Belgium.

But with the tyranny of distance, only the very best survive and even then, like 24 hours on an economy flight, they always arrive diminished and somewhat haggard. This white ale was also tried right after a local example, Eden Brewery Wit, that left the judges well pleased. All that said, the gentle coriander & citrus aromas had survived, the beer has a soft, rounded palate that suits the style. Can looks cool too.

Style: Witbier Glass: Flute Food Match: Green curry Newbelgium.com

4.1% ABV, 330ml It’s quite a surprise to pick up a beer from the Guinness stable that lists Galaxy, Topaz and Mosaic as its hopping profile. The brew is a double hopped lager, that brings the classic Guinness yeast and barley combination into the new world with some big hitting hop selections. The result is still a reserved lager, so don’t expect a booming aromatic, but it’s well balanced and worth a try in a hotel lobby bar full of the commercials.

Watch the age on this one, will be best when fresh!

Style: Hoppy lager Glass: Guinness Pint Food Match: Bangers and mash Guinness.com

Bright Brewery Dunkelweizen

Coopers Dry

5.6% ABV, 330ml bottle A beautiful deep ruby colour meets the eye and allures the drinker’s intrigue. The nose has a wonderfully subtle clove aroma, and though low in hop aroma it is true to style. The flavour is balanced and crisp, with a lovely blood orange and rye bready pallet. Though a little more assertiveness on the palate would be nice, this beer is very affable and true to style.

Style: Dunkelweizen Glass: German wheat beer glass Food Match: Käsekrainer Brightbrewery.com.au

4.2% ABV, 355ml Quite a fruity, malty aroma that follows through to the palate. Full flavoured for a low carb beer and very subtle bitterness to provide a slight dry end. A quick, clean finish, it delivers on expectation.

Style: Low carb lager Glass: Lager Food Match: BBQ seafood with a splash of lemon and herbs Coopers.com.au

Blackman’s Lager 4.6% ABV, 330ml can Blackman’s have long been a leader in the resurgence of craft lagers, and this brew sits as a perfectly executed example of the delicacy of the style. A grassy hop note presides over light and toasty malt that will appease the thirst of many a beer lover. The kicker is the balance of bitterness and hop flavour on the back palate, giving a familiar flavour profile whilst lacking that unfortunate caramel oxidation that plagues the commercials. A difficult feat for any a craft brewer to brew this style with such delicacy.

Style: Lager Glass: Pilsen Food Match: Weekend BBQ Blackmansbrewery.com.au

Mountain Goat The Legend of Goat Double IPA 7.6% ABV, 640ml The use of Italian blood oranges in the brew is very evident on the nose, with lemon rind, orange peel and mandarin notes bursting out of the glass. Flavour is quite light and subtle for a double IPA, balancing sweetness with a gentle bitterness. One of those dangerous beers that goes down too easily, with the lightness of the body somewhat reminiscent of the rising Brut IPA style, though more bitter.

Style: Double IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food: Cheeseburger Goatbeer.com.au

SUMMER 2018 89

TASTING

Bright Brewery Black Diamond 6% ABV, 330ml When you’ve had the happy travail of tasting your way through a swathe of the latest beer releases, how pleasing when, amongst the good, the exceptional comes along.

Bang on the current beer zeitgeist, this is a black ale with dry cocoa and roast coffee astringency, elegantly balanced with American hop flavours in spades, both late and dry. All these flavours are beautifully laid out, seemingly in a perfectly orchestrated sequence and there for the taking.

Style: Hoppy black ale Glass: Pint Food Match: Szechuan beef Brightbrewery.com.au

Balmain Brewing Co Original Pilsner 4.5% ABV, 330ml This was a cracker: rich golden amber colour, good head with spicy Saaz hops to the fore. Clean, fragrant and lifted, rich maltiness and in very good balance. And the taste: Soft, creamy texture, great length and balance. Really good creamy malt as well. And to finish?

Lingering bitterness with biscuity malt. In a word? Impressive.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Litre stein Food Match: Fresh bread, biting cheddar and salty butter Balmainbrewingcompany.com. au

90 www.beerandbrewer.com

Stomping Ground Watermelon Smash Gose 4.2% ABV, 355ml can An appealing brilliant foam and soft yellow haze makes way for a certainly tart and well balanced salty gose. Couldn’t say the watermelon is obvious, or even faint but a hint of watermelon rind comes through slightly. The aroma was unfortunately less funky but more dirty.

Style: Gose Glass: Weizen Food Match: Watermelon and feta summer salad Stompingground.beer

Pikes Pilsener Lager 4.5% ABV, 330ml A clean, crisp pilsener with a lasting, bitter bite. Clear as day with mild green apple aroma up front, and the clean lager mouthfeel and lager yeast backbone that you’ve been looking for. Incredibly quenching. A classic green bottle experience that transports you to the cool, fresh air of the Adelaide Hills.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Chunks of parmesan and pepper water crackers Pikesbeercompany.com.au

Goose Island Madame Rose 2016

Mismatch Brewing Company Lager

6.8% ABV, 765ml This rich, dark red beer brings a musty, oaky and wild farmhouse aroma with a sweeter cherry element too. On first sip, a lovely lip puckering sourness is evident, with lots of complex malty notes shining through alongside the cherry. The tart flavour hangs around on the palate for a long time – show this one to a wine drinker, they’ll be impressed.

Style: Wild ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Beef carpaccio with capers Gooseisland.com

4.5% ABV, 375ml can Despite showing some significant age on this sample, a recent champion trophy at Sydney Royal Beer Show indicates this is a quality beer. With lagers very much coming into their own as the beer cognoscenti throw off the shackles of prejudice, this clean, slight estery, well-balanced helles is what the big boys should have been doing years ago – they would have less competition now and wouldn’t have to resort to beers like Iron Jack. Which is a far, far cry on the quality scale from this example.

Style: Helles Glass: Schooner Food Match: Grilled herbed chicken Mismatchbrewing.com.au

Blackman’s Brewery Lager Collective Juicy Banger IPL

Wayward Brewing Ripasso

5.8% ABV, 330ml can You’ll never notice the 5.8% ABV in this well-named and wellcalibrated banger of a lager from Victoria’s Torquay. Identifiably on Team Lager, it also plays successfully to the Pacific Ale crowd with a riot of juicy hops.

The beauty of this beer is its cold climate restraint; it’s clean and never cloying. Give it to someone who says they ‘don’t like beer’.

Style: India pale lager Glass: Stemless white wine glass Food Match: Rockmelon and prosciutto Blackmansbrewery.com.au

5% ABV, 640ml Reminiscent of creaming soda or fizzy Ribena in the glass. The aroma is fresh and flowery, and you notice the shiraz skins coming through too, offering a red wineesque note as well. It’s spritzy and refreshing but the palate falls away a little bit, once the candied watermelon element fades. It’s a beer you’d almost describe as summery, with nice dry tannins – but it seems to offer more than that on the label, and perhaps underdelivers on the palate versus the nose.

Style: Beer/wine hybrid Glass: Wine glass Food Match: Gazpacho Waywardbrewing.com.au

Sydney Brewery Potts Point Porter

New Belgium Honey Orange Tripel

Two Birds Jucius Caesar NEIPA

Black Brewing Co Pale Ale

5.5% ABV, 375ml can Whoever came up with this beer had a clear picture of what a classic porter should be, and then effortlessly brought it into reality.

Porters were originally thirst quenchers with malt benefits; roasty, smoky malts being the norm. They were downed by the pint and were just a few small steps of intensity up from their cousin, the mild ale. So, there we go, a genuinely chocolatey malt complexity, surprisingly easy on the palate and all made with a nonchalant competency that makes you wonder how anybody would find this brewing lark tricky.

Style: Porter Glass: Straight-sided pint Food Match: Pork chops Sydneybrewery.com

10% ABV, 330ml Fabulous yeast phenolics pop out of the glass and burst into the little part of your brain that detects aroma and says wow! The complexity of the Seville orange peel and wild African honey truly dance with the Belgian roots of this beer, making it an unmissable experience for anyone who loves beers with an experimental edge, without giving up the soul of the original style.

Style: Belgian strong ale Glass: Goblet Food Match: Belgian waffles Newbelgium.com

6.4% ABV, 500ml Grab your toga because this fruity, hazy number from Melbourne’s Two Birds is a party in your glass.

Perfectly pitched at 6.4% ABV, it’s all balance, without dipping into the long, lingering bitterness of others of this style. Fruity nose, full flavoured, it finishes on a frothy, dry NEIPA note. The restraint shown in the use of Mosaic and Citra hops means this never crosses the Rubicon into cloying tropical banana and mango realms.

Style: NEIPA Glass: Cocktail glass with a slice of pineapple Food Match: BBQ seafood Twobirdsbrewing.com.au

5.5% ABV, 375ml can Great, inviting colour of coppery amber, slight haze, good head.

Smells of lifted pine needles and fruit; clean but you have to dig for the malt. It tastes soft and gentle, has moderate length but the initial rush of creamy malt was pleasing.

Lingering bitterness. In a simple kind of way, this ale was quite enjoyable.

Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Italian pork and fennel sausages Blackbrewingco.com.au

Abita Brewing HopOn Juicy Pale

Prancing Pony Indie Kid Pilsener

Six String Coastie Lager

Stomping Ground Kompromat

6% ABV, 355ml can A nice American pale/IPA, this beer would have had all the traits you could ever want in a hoppy beer, if it was fresher. It’s no easy task bringing beer over from the other side of the world, and in this case the hops were evidently subdued and an overall papery, oxidised flavour was dominant.

Style: Pale ale Glass: Schooner Food pairing: Burger with the works Abita.com

4.8% ABV, 330ml A good balance of traditional European and new world hops provided a round hop aroma that isn’t going to jump out with any specific character but a nice herbal, resinous character overall.

Anticipated citrus notes weren’t as apparent, but delicate overall.

The palate is slightly astringent and lacks a little rounded malt sweetness to harmonise a harsh bitterness in the finish. Quite drinkable and refreshing but the resinous nature builds.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Pulled pork burger Prancingponybrewery.com.au

4.8% ABV, 375ml can Like it says on the can, this is an incredibly laid-back lager, the very definition of a session beer, and not as clean or structured as its cooler climate cousins. One suspects that Erina’s Six String, on the NSW Central Coast, are at home with more ‘amplified’ styles of beer, where they undeniably shine.

Style: Lager Glass: From the can at the camping ground after a surf Food Match: BBQ Sixstringbrewing.com.au/ex2/

10% ABV, 700ml An appropriately thick, black beer that pours with a dark creamy head. Taking a whiff, it’s actually quite light on the nose – floral, with a cherry blossom sweetness backed up by hints of roasted cocoa. There’s a nice carbonation that you notice on first sip, and it’s not the syrupy, dense beer you might expect based on appearance. The alcohol is there, but it’s balanced very well by malt character. Sip and savour.

Style: Russian imperial stout Glass: Snifter Food Match: Salted popcorn Stompingground.beer

SUMMER 2018 91

TASTING

Frenchies Comet Pale Ale 5.4% ABV, 375ml can When a beer is made to showcase a particular hop, one should expect to come away from drinking it with a clear idea of what the hop is all about. Not always the case, due to either a light hand on the hop bag or poor brewing practice. We can report therefore that Comet hops are exquisitely aromatic with redolent tangerine and mandarin aromas and much the same on the palate. Frenchies has tipped in a bit of specialty malt to keep things in balance. The ultimate compliment: we rang their hop suppliers the next morning.

Style: IPA Glass: Straight-sided pint Food Match: Prosciutto Frenchiesbistroandbrewery. com.au

New Belgium Oscar (Aged in Blackberry Whiskey Barrels) 8.8% ABV, 375ml For a new world brewer, New Belgium give the impression that they have learned much from their continental cousins in the realm of wild ferments. This is a truly excellent beer with a sparkling bright acidity; citrus and acetic notes are wonderfully blended and augmented by sweet blackberry and hedgerow berries. Its time in the barrel has done exactly as it should, bringing everything together into deeply complex and inspiring beer. We’d put it down as Rodenbach light, but that may be unfair even with that comparison.

Style: Wild ale Glass: Goblet Food Match: Pan-fried duck Newbelgium.com

Frenchies Kolsch

Black Brewing Co Lager

4.8% ABV, 330ml can This northern German style of beer is having a re-emergence of sorts with craft beer lovers at the moment, and with examples like Frenchies Kolsch it is no surprise. This kolsch delivers such a soft white bread flavour on the palate you can almost bounce on its pillowy crumb. The hops are subdued, the appearance crystal clear and the beer fantastic!

Style: Kolsch Glass: Kolsch glass Food pairing: Kaese Spätzle Frenchiesbistroandbrewery. com.au

4.8% ABV, 330ml From the start this lager looked appealing, from its pale lemon colour, to its moderate head retention and after a first smell, no faults. There was however a nice whiff of mild malt with a touch of fresh hops. On the palate, it was a little lean in style, but had good length with small bubbles. The malt was a little thin on the ground while there was a flinty edge mid palate. Reminds of a commercial Euro style lager. There was a hint of bitterness on the end along with tad of sweet malt.

Style: Lager Glass: Tulip Food Match: Salt and pepper squid Blackbrewingco.com.au

92 www.beerandbrewer.com

Red Dot Summer Ale 5% ABV, 330ml Red Dot’s Summer Ale presents first with a grassy hop profile that befits the style, lending some later light floral notes over a light waft of pale malt. Bitterness is perceived a notch higher than the proclaimed 28 IBU, yet complements a rather bold malt body that yields caramel and a hint of roast. It’s a clean and reasonably well-balanced brew, heavier than a summer ale should be yet likely to still prove quenching on a hot summer’s day.

Style: Summer Ale Glass: Pint Food Match: Burgers Reddotbrewhouse.co

Bright Brewery Schwartzbier 4.9% ABV, 330ml Typically a darker version of a classic helles lager, this beer has all the characteristics of its cold fermented, crisp tasting cousin, but has the added complexity of dark malts that give a smooth backbone and lovely light chocolate and prune flavour. The light hop note balances the malt well, representing the style very well and presents a perfectly balanced dark lager that is brilliantly quaffable.

Style: Schwartzbier Glass: Snifter Food pairing: Smoked beef short ribs Brightbrewery.com.au

4 Pines Keller Door Oaked Baltic Porter

Bright Brewery Stubborn Russian 2018

7.5% ABV, 500ml Flashes of dark chocolate, vanilla and even a hint of coconut on the nose, moving to treacle as it warms in the glass. The whiskey barrel ageing is noticeable in the smooth sweetness that comes through and lingers on the palate for a decent while. There’s a subtle dryness, but overall, this is a rich, sweet number. A very enjoyable beer, best enjoyed late at night with good company.

Style: Baltic porter Glass: Tulip Food Match: Game pie to counterbalance the sweetness 4pinesbeer.com.au

12.1% ABV, 330ml bottle Making beer of this ABV is a challenge as while the alcohol is made by the yeast, it’s a ‘waste’ product that soon becomes toxic to its creator. Unfortunately, there are clear signs of that happening here with some solvent notes and a few other unhappy happenings.

But it’s a bold beer that gives as well as takes. Lots of sweet chocolate notes, a full chewy palate, toasty malt and of course a pretty quick spreading of warmth around the extremities. With this being a vintage product, perhaps the brewer knows that time will certainly be this beer’s friend.

Style: Imperial stout Glass: Snifter Food Match: Poached pears Brightbrewery.com.au

Shambles Brewery Dances with Hops

Batch Kiwi Kolsch

Holgate Brewhouse Hop Tart – Blush

Sauce Brewing Saucy Pils

4.6% ABV, 375ml can An extension of their base Hop Tart, the Blush takes the kettle soured pale a step further with addition of wild berries to the ferment. The impact is subtle, working well with a fruity and slightly tropical hop profile yielding an almost rose-like aromatic across both the nose and palate.

The semi sour claim is apt, with an acidity barely a notch below a run of the mill brew. It’s a perfect level of tang to introduce the sour world to new friends, or spend an afternoon enjoying more than a few in the hot summer’s sun.

Style: Sour pale ale Glass: Red wine Food Match: Beef kofta with tzatziki Holgatebrewhouse.com

5% ABV, 375ml can The New World Pilsner is quickly proving a favourite way for breweries to marry a love of southern hemisphere hops and European malt structure, and the Saucy Pils does it well. A German pilsner dry hopped with New Zealand Moteuka, it jumps off the glass with plenty of grassy hop notes and a good dose of Pilsner malt sweetness. This is quite a bold interpretation; with a lemon, earthy and diesel hop flavour combination preceding a latelingering bitterness that will match perfectly to any fried food.

Style: New world pilsner Glass: Pilsen Food Match: Fish and chips Sauce.beer

Bridge Road Enigma New World Lager

6.4% ABV, 500ml can The beer instantly delivers on its promise of an intense hop impact, bombarding your nostrils with orange, mango, pineapple and tangerine. The aromatic translates well to the flavour, with the aforementioned fruits joined by a candied sweetness and a sticky resinous bite. With a lot going on, it does well to balance things late, a medium bitterness hanging around to give you no choice but to have another sip and let the hops tickle across your tongue once more.

Style: American IPA Glass: Snifter Food Match: Penne all’Arrabiata Shamblesbrewery.com.au

4.6% ABV, 640ml Batch have gone big here on the all-Kiwi ingredients and because the Sydney lads are talented brewers, it’s a solid number. The Gladfield Vienna malts provide a soft, bready base, a hint of malty sweetness and a golden hue. Combined with zesty NZ Motueka hops, you get a soft, clean bitterness and it all comes together in a well structured old world beer. But is it Kolsch? Not for style sticklers. For everyone else, it’s a welcome malt forward, easy drinking ale.

Style: Kolsch?

Glass: Schooner Food Match: Steak & kidney pie Batchbrewingco.com.au

Prost Beer

Wayward Pilsner

Black Brewing Saison

4.8% ABV, 330ml A clear, classically lager-coloured beer that pours with limited head.

Smells like a beer you’d have sitting by the pool – or better yet, on the beach somewhere in Southeast Asia; straw, sweet malt, and a very slight grassy hop character. Pleasant enough mouthfeel, with mild sweetness and a bit of bitterness to balance.

Style: Lager Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Nasi goreng Prost.id

4.2% ABV, 375ml can One of two new beers (along with the Everyday Ale) in Wayward’s new core range of cans, this is a lovely pilsner. Lemon, lime and grassy hop aromas are matched by a nice, light texture and mouthfeel, backed up by pleasant fizz that serves to coat the tastebuds, demanding a second gulp. New world in style, the crisp and clean pilsner characteristics are backed by a subtle hop character that lends a slight fruitiness. Bravo.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Schooner Food Match: Thai red curry Waywardbrewing.com.au

4.8% ABV, 330ml Clove abounds off this French-style Saison from the Black Brewing Co team. There are delicate floral tones underneath, leading into a malt body with plenty of adjunct driven fullness and sweetness that pushes the style boundaries more towards a full bodied Witbier.

Vanilla and bubblegum make an appearance with a slightly sour lemon note lingering late. The bottle inevitably lacked a little effervescence which would no doubt carry the sweetness better when poured off draught.

Style: Saison Glass: Goblet Food Match: Seafood marinara Blackbrewingco.com.au

5% ABV, 355ml can Brewed with a new hop strain called ‘Enigma’, this light bodied but heavily hopped lager pours very light in colour, with a delicate head. Aroma is floral and leafy with a slight passionfruit note – wearing its ‘New World’ label proudly on its sleeve. Taking a sip, the mouthfeel is delicate, the flavour ‘enigmatic’ (if you will), with reasonably sweet malts backed up by a mild bitterness and a very slight tropical tinge.

Refreshing.

Style: Lager Glass: Schooner Food Match: Calamari rings and chips Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

SUMMER 2018 93

TASTING

Wayward Everyday Ale

Black Brewing IPA

4.2% ABV, 375ml can The second of two new beers in Wayward’s refreshed cans, the Everyday Ale packs a lot of character within its very reasonable ABV. Orange, passionfruit, tropical and grassy notes jump from the glass, and it drinks far too easily. Crisp and light, with a citrus taste, the aroma is stronger than the lighter flavours on the palate – making it very drinkable from the can, but overall more rewarding if poured into a glass. A nice bitter finish rounds the whole package out.

Nice one.

Style: Pale ale Glass: Schooner Food Match: Teriyaki chicken Waywardbrewing.com.au

6.4% ABV, 375ml can Plenty of pine and tropical notes are delivered with a little aggression, landing this as a more assertive execution of American hop flavour. Mango leads the hop charge, with papaya and passionfruit underlying for a rather enticing resultant combination.

The malt structure is just enough to hold things together, letting a bit of alcohol warmth poke out.

While it feels that everything is a little more intense than planned, it comes together and will leave you wanting another.

Style: American IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Pepperoni pizza Blackbrewingco.com.au

Sauce Brewing You Bruty! IPA

Wayward IPA

7% ABV, 500ml can One of the first breweries to get the latest buzz style into pack, Sauce have set the bar on this one with a 500ml can, easily allowing this to be used to celebrate between friends. Beyond a heap of tropical fruit notes, the hops lend a combination of grass and grape, and for a moment, one could easily link the aromatic back to a glass of champagne on a summer’s day. The brew finishes quite dry, with a hint of toasty caramel malt that works well for the beer’s drinkability, despite it being a little sweeter than the style may officially demand.

Style: Brut IPA Glass: Flute Food Match: Oysters Sauce.beer

94 www.beerandbrewer.com

6% ABV, 375ml can Formerly branded as Oatis, the Wayward IPA has undergone a name change since making the shift to cans, and also a reduction in the amount of oats in the recipe.

There’s some big, west coast hop aromas jumping out of the glass: tropical fruit balancing the dank. A lovely, warming alcohol embraces the palate on first sip, and there’s still that rounded mouthfeel thanks to the oats, adding body to the juicy, pineapple flavours. A firm bitterness balances the whole shebang beautifully.

Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Chicken wings Waywardbrewing.com.au

Bridge Road Chestnut Pilsner

Akasha Tradewind Lager

5% ABV, 330ml The ever-experimental Bridge Road Brewers continue with this interesting little number. As soon as you pour this pale, hazy yellow beer into a glass, the aroma proves that they aren’t lying about the chestnut. A very powerful and nostalgic chestnut smell is backed by hints of hazelnut and peanut butter too. The taste is initially light and floral, with some malt and grassy hop notes – then a gentle wave of nuttiness follows on the swallow.

Style: Pilsner Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Scallops Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

4.4% ABV, 375ml can Hops are always at the core of Akasha beers and this lager exudes their signature love of lupulin. A punchy hop profile delivers fresh grass and passionfruit in abundance, whilst keeping the bitterness and dry hop character at low and highly sessionable levels. Minimalistic in the back palate, it is a quenching brew, fresh and faultless from start to finish, a testament to some great brewing skill in a style that is highly difficult to execute. One to seek out and enjoy with friends this summer.

Style: Hoppy lager Glass: Pilsen Food Match: Snapper Akashabrewing.com.au

Holgate Sour Brett Ale 2018

Two Birds Pale Ale

5.8% ABV, 750ml The second vintage of Holgate’s Sour Brett Ale is a cracker, with inviting brett aromas, as well as orange zest, lemon and red grapes.

A very balanced sour, with a nice richness and farmhouse-y tinge backed by the zippy, puckering bitterness, which leaves you salivating for more. A fine example of the style: fruity, funky and eminently sippable.

Style: Sour ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Hard cheese Holgatebrewhouse.com

5% ABV, 330ml can Now an embedded part of their core range, the Two Birds Pale continues to be a stand out beer in a crowded segment, now available in both can and bottle to suit your mood. Oodles of fresh pine fruit, tangerine and papaya waft forth, leading a spotless lightly toasted malt body. Hop flavour is a zippy mix of fruit and grass, finishing quickly with a mild bitterness and minimal sweetness. This is a ripper, clean and fresh, fruity and smooth, all in beautiful balance one sip after the next.

Style: New world pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Salsa verde chicken Twobirdsbrewing.com.au

Australia & NZ Directory Breweries

VIC

NZ

NSW CRAFTY CONTRACTORS

AUSTRALIAN BREWERY 350 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155 (02) 9679 4555 brewer@australianbrewery.com.au www.australianbrewery.com.au Cellar door open 10am-10pm daily

TEMPLE BREWING CO.

@TEMPLEBREWING

Tanunda SA, 5352 08 8563 0696 (option 2) Email: office@bvbeer.com.au www.facebook.com/ craftycontractors/ You bring passion. We provide expertise. The perfect partner to make your beer dreams a reality. Specialising in small batch craft brewing.

WWW.TEMPLEBREWING.COM.AU

MOA BREWING COMPANY Jacksons Road, RD3 Blenheim Marlborough Tel: +64 3 572 5146 www.moabeer.com Visitors welcome Open 11am – 5pm or late, 7 days

Contract Brewing

QLD

GYPSY HUB

THE CRAFT & CO Brewery. Distillery. Eatery. Micro Dairy.

Incorporating a craft brewery, distillery, eatery & micro-dairy onsite, there’s always things to drink, eat or shop for at The Craft & Co! 390 Smith St Collingwood (03) 9417-4755 info@thecraftandco.com.au www.thecraftandco.com.au

WA

SA

COWARAMUP BREWING CO.

COOPERS

North Treeton Road, Cowaramup WA 6284 (08) 9755 5822 www.cowaramupbrewing.com.au Tours available by appointment Open 7 days a week 11am – 6pm

461 South Road, Regency Park SA 5010 (08) 8440 1800 www.coopers.com.au Tours available 1pm Tuesday to Friday

THE MONK BREWERY & KITCHEN 33 South Terrace, Fremantle WA 6160 (08) 9336 7666 beer@themonk.com.au Open every day 11:30am until late

Gypsy Hub a brand incubator working with brewers & distillers to bring their recipes to life on a commercial scale: -Planning & Logistics -Recipe Development -R&D -Onsite Packaging -Full Contract Brewing or Distilling -Gypsy Brewing or Distilling (03) 9924-4070 info@gypsyhub.com.au

Distributors BEER IMPORTERS & DISTRIBUTORS Unit 5/20-28 Ricketty Street, Mascot NSW 2020 (02) 9667 3755 info@bidbeer.com www.bidbeer.com www.facebook.com/ BeerImportersDistributors Beers: Abita, Warsteiner, Greene King, Chimay, Duvel

SUMMER 2018 95

AUSTRALIA & NZ DIRECTORY

Equipment

Ingredients

Insurance

BINTANI HOME MAKE IT WHOLESALE Home Make It’s new wholesale and trade division has been launched to help supply home and craft brewing businesses nationwide with quality, unique brewing supplies and equipment.

Contact: Steve Lamberto Mobile 0412 865 783 Ph (03) 9924 4038 stevenl@homemakeit.com.au www.homemakeit.com.au/pages/ wholesale-trade

Education

Love Brewing Beer?

Find out more about our brewing qualifications. www.central.op.ac.nz

BREWMAX Engineering better beer with the latest brewing equipment technologies Ph: (07) 3420 4943 Mob: 0412 720 606 brewmax@brewmax.net brewmax.net

INSURANCE HOUSE Tailored solutions for microbrewers 1300 305 834 www.insurancehouse.com.au

Testing

DME BREWING SERVICES Canada dejongm@dme.pe.ca Aus/NZ Agent: Brian Watson www.contractbrewing.com www.facebook.com/dmebrewing

FB*PROPAK 96 Chifley Drive, Preston.

VIC 3072 (03) 9924 4050 info@fbpropak.com www.fbpropak.com Specialised team has more than 50 years of experience in providing various brewing equipment solutions, including turnkey breweries, bottling/ canning lines, filtration, tanks, labellers, pilot/custom breweries, refrigeration and much more

VINIQUIP INTERNATIONAL Processing, Bottling and Packaging equipment Unit 4 Wineworks Complex 5 James Rochfort Place, Twyford (RD5) Hastings, New Zealand Tel: +64 6 8797799 Fax: +64 6 8794624 Mob: +64 21 588008 NZ Freephone: 0800 284647 AUSTRALIA Freephone: 1800 209370 www.viniquip.co.nz

96 www.beerandbrewer.com

+61 3 8587 9888 sales@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au Connecting brewers and distillers to the world’s best ingredients Malt: Joe White, Best Malz, Simpsons Malt, Briess Yeast: Fermentis Hops: YCHHOPS US hops, Charles Faram European hops Finings and brewing aids.

CRYER MALT Aus: 1800-119-622 sales@cryermalt.com.au www.cryermalt.co.nz Malt: Weyermann, Barrett Burston, Bairds, Thomas Fawcett, and Dingemans. Belgian Dark Candi Syrup Also suppliers of kegs, cleaners, sanitisers and brewing enzymes

HOP PRODUCT AUSTRALIA +61 3 6282 2000 info@hops.com.au www.hops.com.au Hops: Ella, Enigma, Helga, Galaxy, Topaz, Vic Secret, International Hops, Advanced Products

NZ HOPS +64 3 544 8989 nzhops@nzhops.co.nz www.nzhops.co.nz

Keg Leasing and Sales KEG SERVICES – READY KEG +61 3 7066513 +61 9706 6513 lincoln@kegservices.com.au sales@kegservices.com.au

VINTESSENTIAL Australia-wide beer testing Ph: 1300 30 2242 for your free sample bottles and free transport to your nearest Vintessential laboratory. www.vintessential. com.au

Homebrew Directory VIC

HOME MAKE IT 4/158 Wellington Road, Clayton VIC 3168 265 Spring Street, Reservoir VIC 3073 (03) 9924-4030 info@homemakeit.com.au www.homemakeit.com.au Twitter: @HomeMakeIt Specialists in home brew, beverage and food making equipment and supplies. Shop in-store or online

BREWING EQUIPMENT

BREWING EQUIPMENT

Treat it right BUYING BREWING EQUIPMENT IS A MAJOR INVESTMENT, BUT THE WAY YOU LOOK AFTER IT AND USE IT WILL HAVE A MASSIVE IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF BEER YOU PRODUCE AND THE LIFESPAN OF THAT KIT

M

y father was a sheep farmer in south Wales for a time and one of the things that drove him mad was the habit some farmers had of leaving their machinery – tractors, spreaders, bailers – outside in all weathers at the mercy of the elements. Farming equipment will set you back a pretty penny, but if it’s left out to rust in the Rhondda rain it will cost you even more in time

and money. The same rules apply to brewing equipment. Any piece of kit will give you better results and for longer if you use and care for it correctly.

In our Brewing Equipment Part 1 feature (issue 45) we explored what to look for when purchasing brewery equipment and setting up your brewery. In this second part, we will examine what it takes to get the most out of that kit in the subsequent years.

GETTING STARTED

ALL THE BEST BITS FROM THE ANHC (see page 74) >>> * Additional costs apply for New Zealand.

INCLUDING

Looking after your equipment begins before it has even arrived at your brewery. You might be eagerly waiting for that fully laden truck to arrive laden, but you need to

have a plan in place right from the get-go, or you will be tinkering even more than usual. Preparation is key, especially before your first brew. Your primary aim should be to get to know your brewery, and that means learning to walk before you start running or making your craziest batch.

“Good results come from continuous improvement – the process of commissioning, test brewing and production brewing can be undertaken with this mindset,” says Julian Sanders, founder of Spark Breweries and Distilleries. “Small adjustments should never finish. Although you should be prepared to dump your first batch, there is no reason that you should need to with an appropriate setup, cleaning and commissioning process. Plan for your first batch to be good, and the worst batch that you’ll ever brew.”

It is more than likely that this won’t be the first brewing equipment that you

ISSUE 47 SUMMER 2018

have used, but it is important to remember that this is the first$9.95 time (NZ you’ve PRICE $11.95) used this particular system, with all its idiosyncrasies and different requirements. It is

ALL THE BEST BITS FROM THE ANHC (see page 74) >>>

unlikely that you’ll be able to simply replicate exactly what you’ve been doing on

* Additional costs apply for New Zealand.

FRESH BLOOD

previous systems. You need to take things slowly, test them out, and work out what

INCLUDING

the equipment is telling you.

“We still don’t know if 67°C on our mash tun is 67°C, but we know the attenuation

Australia’s it will give us at the end, so it doesn’t really matter,” saysDiscover Rhys Lopez, brewer at newest breweries Otherside Brewing. “It takes a couple of batches of the same beer to really figure 36

www.beerandbrewer.com

ISSUE 47 SUMMER 2018 PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

St Andrews Brewery with FBPROPAK

SESSION BEERS

SUMMER 2018

37

Why less is more

FRESH BLOOD

BALTER’S

Discover Australia’s newest breweries

SESSION BEERS

BEST

Why less is more

BALTER’S

BEST

Scott Hargrave soars in 2019 Beer & Brewer Awards

Scott Hargrave soars in 2019 Beer & Brewer Awards ISSN 1834-5115

0 4

BEERS

TASTED

ISSN 1834-5115 9

0 4

771834 511048

WWW.BEERANDBREWER.COM

PLUS! ARE YOU USING YOUR KIT RIGHT? | HOW CANS KEEP GETTING BETTER | A PINT WITH… LAGUNITAS

BEERS

TASTED

9

771834 511048

WWW.BEERANDBREWER.COM

PLUS! ARE YOU USING YOUR KIT RIGHT? | HOW CANS KEEP GETTING BETTER | A PINT WITH… LAGUNITAS

BEER & BREWER PRINT + DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION BUNDLE Subscribe now from only $34.99 (inc GST)* Receive hard copies of our magazine delivered to your door PLUS digital editions of our magazine delivered to your inbox so you can read Beer & Brewer any time anywhere!

1 Years (4 Issues) - $34.99 2 Years (8 Issues) - $62.99 3 Years (12 Issues) - $89.99

TO SUBSCRIBE VISIT shop.beerandbrewer.com

*Rates quoted for Australian subscribers, additional costs apply for New Zealand and Rest of World.

A PINT WITH…

Pat Mace DR PAT MACE FROM LAGUNITAS BREWING COMPANY WAS IN SYDNEY EARLIER THIS YEAR, PROMOTING THE NEW ARRIVAL OF ITS FLAGSHIP IPA DOWN UNDER. THE FOLLOWING IS AN ABBREVIATED TRANSCRIPT FROM AN INFORMAL Q&A WITH MACE – LAGUNITAS’ OFFICIAL ‘ALEONTEROLOGIST’ – AND MEMBERS OF THE BEER MEDIA AND TRADE, HELD AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HOTEL IN SYDNEY… ALL CONDUCTED WITH AN IPA IN HAND, OF COURSE. HOW DO YOU RATE THE AUSSIE BEER SCENE?

Heineken had bought the brewery – and

barrel brewhouse there that we don’t need

everyone in the meeting, their eyes opened

yet – but as we grow into South America and

It’s cool. Melbourne is really cranking along,

up, and me personally I thought: ‘oh shit,

Mexico we’ll need to flip it on. We also built a

and I think Sydney is right behind it. By my

now I have to wear a polo shirt!’ But he told

barrel room there, with barrel aged beers and

guessing, I would say that it’s a year or two

us that the only thing changing would be that

a taproom above the brewery overlooking the

behind – there’s not as many multi-tap

we’d have global distribution. It’s going really

San Gabriel Mountains. We’re also opening

houses, but the beers are as good.

well, and what’s cool is that Heineken are

another brewery in the Netherlands to start

quite hands off actually.

distributing beer to the UK.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON NEIPAS?

It’s been really, really cool. A little over a

ARE YOU LOOKING AT OPENING MORE BREWERIES WITH THE HELP OF HEINEKEN?

year ago we had a meeting where our founder

We started building a third brewery in East

beer to me, more like juice. But they’re very

Tony Magee stood in front of the company

LA three years ago, but all of a sudden at

popular, and we do some beers called ‘One

and announced we were partnering with

around the same time, the craft beer market

Hitters’ and we made some NEIPAs and

Heineken, 50/50. Within seven months we

in the US just flattened out. So we’ve been

people loved them. But me personally: no.

had another meeting, where he announced

building this brewery – and we have a 250

But that’s just me.

HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKING WITH HEINEKEN SINCE THE BUYOUT LAST YEAR?

98 www.beerandbrewer.com

I’ll answer this one as a personal question – I don’t like them. They don’t taste like

Anti-fog lenses for up close inspections.

Handy handkerchief for all sorts of spills or stains.

Fresh local donut for a mid-morning snack.

Mat ready for the next ‘ Beer and Yoga’ class.

Mash paddle at the ready for stirring grains or Karaoke fun.

Sturdy brewers boots to protect against wayward beer kegs.

Suzie’s proud to brew on her new DME CraftBrew 5 BBL system. Just like the other important necessities in Suzie’s life, she knows she can count on this robust, reliable, no frills system for consistent, efficient brewing every time. dmebrewing.com

craftbrew@dmebrewing.com

902 628 6900

Supplying, installing and engineering breweries and packaging lines since 1968.

- Ask us about your brewery or packaging equipment needs...big or small -

fbpropak.com | info@fbpropak.com | 03 9924-4050 @fb_propak