A creative craft: beer brewing at its best

WORDS JENNIFER ENNION

LOLLIES, COFFEE LIQUEUR AND RUM ARE EXAMPLES OF THE QUIRKY INGREDIENTS GRANT BUCKHAM AND HIS BREW TEAM ADD TO THEIR FUN RANGE OF CRAFT BEER AT BAY ROAD BREWING.

Monsoon Monster, Motor Boat and Passionfruit Pool Party are just some of the beers behind the bar at Bay Road Brewing. The playful names and unusual ingredients — from Red Skins, coffee liqueur and rum — are helping the Central Coast microbrewery make a name for itself, with the team winning gold, silver and bronze at the Australian International Beer Awards 2021.

For Grant Buckham, creating and experimenting with unique flavours is what he loves most about the business.

‘That’s actually where my passion in brewing comes from,’ he says. ‘If I could just do creative ones all the time, I would.’

Just steps from the Central Coast stadium, new waterfront development and Mann Street, Bay Road Brewing is a lightfilled microbrewery with a strong artistic flare. You only need to check out the Sylvester Stallone-inspired label on their hazy IPA First Blood Orange to get their vibe. Put simply, it’s a cool place to hang, which is no surprise given the business is run by three mates who clearly know how to have a good time while working hard.

Grant, Darren Barber and Sam Kennis opened Bay Road Brewing in 2018. They settled on Gosford because it has a »

grungy, industrial edge, is a major commuter hub and the southern gateway to the Central Coast – and has a promising future, with plenty of development underway.

Although he was not a local, Grant has been visiting family on the Coast from Sydney since he was a boy. His uncle is famous photographer Ken Duncan and his cousin is fellow talented photographer Glenn Mckimmin. Now a local himself, Grant recognises how much potential this once-forgotten suburb has and he wants to be at the forefront of its growth.

‘All it takes is a few people to really get behind each other and help support that growth, and create a little niche pocket of cool, trendy things to do,’ he says.

The importance of community seeps into his business model, with a brewery that’s not solely for ‘craft geeks’ but families and women too. Once a month, Bay Road Brewing hosts a Comedy Club, with local restaurants and food truck owners supplying a tasty rotation of meals.

But let’s get back to the beer and those Red Skins lollies.

‘We literally peeled 20 kilos of Red Skins and put them into the beer,’ Grant says with a laugh. ‘The beer was called My Name is Red and it was a huge hit across the whole brewing community.’

Aside from adding lollies, Grant says yeast plays a big role in getting interesting flavours, and he’s moving the brew team towards focussing more on different strains.

‘I would love to create our own yeast strain, so that we have that signature,’ he says, adding that strains help consumers connect beer to brewery, no matter where they are in the world.

Until that time though, you can continue to expect plenty of ‘new, awesome, fun styles’ from Bay Road Brewing.

For the craft beer lover: The Monsoon Monster NEIPA (New England IPA). A hazy-style beer with an intricate taste and profile. It has a higher alcohol percentage that’s hidden among the flavours. For someone new to craft: Wave Runner XPA sits between a pale ale and a lager, heading towards a craftstyle beer. It has a lower alcohol content and is easy drinking. For someone new to beer: The Motor Boat Pale Ale, has a nice bitterness crossed with an ale-style beer.