BUSINESS
Cooroy gets in the spirit Since Uncle Bill gave him his first gin and tonic, back in 1995, Brian Bedding was hooked on spirit By Sacha Hamilton-MacLaren
But it wasn’t until 2017 when Brian and wife Nadia decided to turn their love of drinking spirits into a business and open their own distillery. “My wife and I did a trip to Tassie for our anniversary in 2017 and we tacked on a cheeky beer and whisky tour at the end of the holiday – from that day forth it was going to be brewing or distilling,” Brian shared. The couple started experimenting with distilling at home. “In Australia, anything over a five litre still you need to be licenced for, so we got ourselves a five litre still and started making gin on a Sunday - one at 11 and one at 12 – you can do a couple of litres in less than an hour - so we’d make two new gins, mix up some G&T’s and go and have a swim in the pool,” he said. “I think we’d done 160 distillations on the little one – which is quite expensive when you’re putting 40% vodka into it,” he shared. After years of saving, researching and planning, the couple’s dream became a reality last December when they opened the doors to 20 20 Distillery in the Cooroy industrial estate. 20 20 Distillery, which refers to having 20/20 vision (not the year 2020), has been going from strength to strength ever since, attracting gin connoisseurs from Brisbane, Gympie, the Gold Coast and further afield (when border restrictions have allowed). The elegant cellar door, offering cocktails and tasting platters, has also been embraced by Sunshine Coasters and especially hinterland locals. To keep up with growing demand, Brian explained they’ve gone from making two litre batches in little pots to now distilling in a 700 litre vat he’s called Gene. “As the batches get larger, I’ve had to adjust the recipes to keep the same flavour profiles we developed in the smaller runs,” he shared. The spirit run to make a gin doesn’t take long, around six to eight hours, but it’s the choice of high quality, traditional botanicals macerated for 24 hours in the 96% ethanol that gives 20 20’s signature gin, the East London Dry, its flavour. “Being such a high percentage, it really does strip all the oils out of the botanicals,” Brian explained. When asked what makes 20 20 gin taste unique, Brian shared he’s a traditionalist who doesn’t want to overcomplicate things. “I switched, I suppose to drinking a London Dry when Tanqueray first hit its heights in the mid two thousands – and also because I’m from East London – and 20 20’s signature white spirit pays homage to where the original London Dry gin came from,” he shared. Brian explained there are only eight or nine original gin botanicals and he uses seven of those, as well as macadamia shells. 20 20 Distillery sources these shells from Nutworks, “down the road in Yandina.” Page 12 | Your Local Lifestyle April 2021
The oil from shells stripped out during the maceration process gives, “a really silky, warm mouth feel and because the oil stays in your mouth it holds the botanicals. Sixty seconds after swallowing, you can still taste my gin.” “So that’s the idea – to give you that lovely velvety mouth feel,” Brian enthused. Brian is also planning to experiment with infusing flavours for smaller, seasonal batches. 20 20’s Founders’ Club (which currently has around 100 members) get the opportunity to try all of the gins first. “We’ve got a navy strength gin named after my Granddad George who was a stoker in the WW2, coming out in June and more than 16 gins in the pipeline over the next six years,” he shared. When asked if the alchemy of experimenting with flavours was addictive, Brian enthused, “there are 110,000 Australian botanicals no one’s even tried, so it’s really limitless – it’s wherever your imagination takes you.” “It’s kind of like a risotto – you’ve got a base and there’s just so many things to try and combine it with.” Brian added that you also need to have a flair for flavours. But that a lot of it is trial and error. “Sometimes it leads you down a rabbit hole you wish you didn’t go down… then sometimes it’s magic!” he said. Creating a gin flavoured with botanicals that are unique to the Noosa hinterland is also planned for future Gin runs. “We do want to work with the local Gubbi Gubbi and, get some insider knowledge, do some local foraging and find out what’s local to us in Cooroy,” Brian shared. Now he’s perfected 20 20 Distillery’s signature gin and wholesale of the London Dry has begun rolling out, Brian is keen to move onto the next challenge – whisky! Unlike gin, whisky is a much bigger investment of both money and time. “We saved really hard and have made a big capital push up front, so we were able to get enough barley and barrels for 10,000 litres and that’ll be our first year’s quota,” Brian said. Most people who make whisky make a white spirit first, but Brian explained it is actually beer and whisky that are brothers, as the process is much the same - bar one step. “Under [Australian] legislation, whisky, rum, brandy, all have to be on wood for a minimum of two years to be called those names.” “Any time before that it is still a newmake spirit – or they call it a cane spirit if its rum,” he explained. “You can make a reasonable whisky in two years but you’ve got to use 20 litre, small format barrels so the whisky matures a little quicker,” Brian said. Once put into the barrels they’ll have to sit on the shelves for at least two years where Brian and the Whisky Founders
Brian Bedding
Club members will regularly taste the spirit to gauge how it’s maturing. With a twinkle in his eye, Brian bemoans this is one of the most taxing parts of the job. With a much longer maturation time, getting the flavour of the whisky right is a big challenge. Brian explained because there are so many variables, at the moment they’re sticking to one yeast and a plump barley from New Zealand. “[We’re] making sure we get everything spot on the first time around, but once we go through our first ten thousand litres, then we’ll start doing small batch stuff – only do two barrels of one flavour – and play around a bit more with our yeast,” he shared. “We’d like to try a Belgian yeast that has a banana flavour and experiment with making a tropical whisky because it’d suit the climate and location – we’re in the tropics - so seems a good fit,” he said. Starting this new business venture, the biggest challenge for Nadia and Brian has been keeping their day jobs to fund their dream distillery. Brian has been doing FIFO since 2011. He’s a construction manager in the mining industry and flies from here to Perth (five hour flight), stays there the night, then flies another two hours up to a mining site near Karratha. “It’s a means to an end, unfortunately the capital investment in starting a distillery isn’t low – a lot of time and money – but it’s just the way it rolls,” Brian shared. Until the wholesale market for the East London Dry gin takes off – which is the primary goal of the distillery –Brian will keep having nine days over in WA and five back in Cooroy brewing and distilling. “I’m
lucky to have my best mate Danny who looks after the tasting bar when I’m not here - we’ve been mates for 20 odd years, but also the equipment is designed around me being FIFO,” Brian said. Brian said he, Nadia and Danny are happy to be creating artisan spirits and really happy to share them with “all the lovely people that come in.” “We’ve been very humbled by all the comments and appreciation. It’s certainly something I never expected and it’s a really good feeling.”
20 20 Distillery, U1/5 Taylor Ct, Cooroy, is open Fridays 3pm - 8pm, Saturdays & Sundays 12pm - 8pm. Bookings highly recommended. The first whisky will be going into barrels this April when Brian returns from his FIFO job. The best way to get a taste of the limited release spirits and the whisky as it develops is by joining the 20 20 Distillery Founders’ Club. 2020distillery.com.au
