Beer & Brewer Magazine Issue 28 Autumn 2014 by LipCORP Publishing (formerly Beer & Brewer Media)

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Chuck Hahn season explains thePreview style

SCOTCH ALE

The devonshire Tea of the Beer world

DRAUGHT BEER Our Reader Survey Results

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n a C ! THe sTIFLInG eFFeCT OF eXCIse TaX On OUR CRaFT BReweRs.

We’ve been drinking tinnies for decades but why is there a sudden resurgence in canned beer?

ISSUE SIxTEEN AUTUMN 2011

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6 free craBBie’s GiNGer Beer offer 10 2013 B&B NZ awards resUlts 28 aMBer ales 32 draUGHt Beer sUrvey resUlts 40 eNGlisH ciders 44 craft Beer iN caNs 54 weeKeNd iN sydNey 60 Brewery toUr asaHi, vic. 64 Beers aNd BUrGers 68 top 10 72 tastiNG Notes

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features

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David Lipman analyses the results of the 2014 B&B Draught Beer Survey, with some very interesting conclusions.

With the US craft beer scene going positively nuts over beer in cans, and a resurgence in popularity of the humble Aussie “tinny”, Gregor stronach takes a look at canning...

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BEER TALK

Reader Survey

DRAUGhT BEER –

3 TRENDS, 3 INSIGhTS, 3 INNOVATIONS david Lipman conducted a Reader Survey on Draught Beer in February 2014, receiving 400 responses, so as to better understand consumer demand in pubs and their knowledge of draught beer, which led to the question is consumer demand being met by supply in pubs? Here are the results...

raught beer has come a long way from the 6 o’clock swill in the WWI and WWII eras and beer poured ‘off the wood’ at The Breakfast Creek Hotel (it still does today). These days, we’re seeing cold beer poured from glycol systems with so much available for publicans to choose from. American troops at The Breakfast Creek Hotel (Qld).

TRendS

Most people know that draught beer volumes in pubs are on the decline, and have been for some time now, particularly in the uK (down 6.5% year to 2012, British Beer & Pubs Association, uK) and Australia (down 2.2% last three months to January 2014, Barscan), while in the uSA draught beer is up 1% over the last 10 years to 2012 (Brewers Association, uSA).

tRend # – pReMiuMisation – Consumers are drinking less and spending More While we are seeing people drinking less beer, they are spending more, thanks to premiumisation, where consumers are trading up from commercial lager to premium international brands, premium local brands and craft beer (both local and imported).

Craft beer for example attracts a 20% price premium which has led to a 1.6% growth in value in the three months to January 2014, according to Barscan. Draught beer in the uK and Australia makes up nearly 50% of the total beer market, while in the uSA it is only 10%. It appears in the uSA most beer is consumed at home, with 53% of beer sold via cans and 37% in bottles (Brewers Association uSA). Craft beer as a total share of volume is approximately 2% in Australia and 2.5% in the uSA. In the uK the category of craft beer has only very recently become apparent, with 8.3% of total beer volume being draught Cask Ale (thereby 18% of total draught beer volume), which could be likened to Craft Beer, as an indication of how consumers appreciate flavour in beer. According to Bart Watson, staff economist at the Brewers Association, Craft Beer in the uSA makes up 6.5% of total beer volume to 2012, of which 37.4% is draught, 60.5% is bottles and 2.1% is cans. The draught component equates

If a brewer is not classified as small, or independent, then they may not be a craft brewer per se - however, they can still brew craft beer, provided traditional ingredients and brewing techniques are used. Most craft brewers tend to brew ales, as ales and ale yeast provide a more full-flavoured experience. Also, ales ferment and condition faster, allowing them to be released to market a lot sooner.

Hotel (WA) where draught beer represents 60% of total liquor revenue, three quarters of that (45%) is from draught craft beer, representing nine times the average value of draught craft beer sales in Barscan venues.

CRaft BeeR

The category of Craft Beer came from the uSA and the Brewers Association define a craft brewer as: Small – 3% of total production, 6 million barrels or less produced per annum, which is equivalent to 715 million litres; Independent – less than 25% owned by a non-craft brewer; and Traditional – a majority of production is beer and uses traditional or innovative ingredients in the brewing and fermentation. The Brewers Association don’t actually define craft beer and there is debate as to what is a craft beer. The size isn’t applicable in Australia given Coopers for example produces around 10% of the stipulated ‘small’

tRend # – RepeRtoiRe dRinkeRs – Craft Beer drinkers demand 2-4 different Brands per Month The Grain Store Craft Beer Café, Newcastle (NSW).

CRAFT BEER IS GROWING AT OVER 20% IN PUBS.” to 2.5% of total beer volume, and 25% of total draught beer volume. Whereas in Australia draught craft beer is approximately 2% of the total beer volume (with total craft being 4% of total beer volume), which is 4% of total draught beer volume (craft is 5% of total value of draught beer, Barscan).If one wanted to speculate on the amount of growth left for craft beer on draught in Australia, it would range from 25% growth (based on uSA numbers) to 325% growth (based on uK numbers). looking at the potential for some venues that specialize in craft beer, while Barscan says the average revenue of craft beer in a venue is 5% of total draught beer revenue, at The Sail & Anchor

Craft beer is growing at approximately 20% year on year according to Andrew Thomson from Barscan, driven by consumers’ educated palates. This awareness of flavour is coming about from consumers travelling overseas, immigration into Australia and increased choice at the bottleshop and pub for various local and imported beers. 58% of the 380 respondents say they drink four or more different brands of beer per month. It is said by some that the repertoire is more like eight different beers per month, however not so specifically for pubs, where choice is around 20% of the selection in bottleshops, due mainly to space restrictions. While 90% of beer consumed in Australia is lager (90% in the uSA and 80% in the uK), this statistic is the opposite for survey respondents, with 87% of respondents drink

production and Coopers is Australia’s largest independent brewery. The independent point is the most debated point, largely due to the acquisition of craft brewers by noncraft brewers. However, if they retain the same brewing techniques, philosophy and ingredients, should they be removed from a craft brewer status, and be penalised for successfully increasing production or being owned by a non-craft brewer? Craft beer produced by non-independent craft brewers in Australia accounts for around 3% of the total volume of beer, while craft beer produced by independent brewers accounts for 0.5-1% of the total volume of beer in Australia.

a beer specifically for the Sail & Anchor Hotel (WA) as well as redoak (NSW) have one of their beers rebranded as opera Ale at opera Bar (NSW).

being craft beer (local), 24% is craft beer (imported), 18% is commercial lager (including Mid-Strength), 11% is premium international. If a pub is serving only commercial lager, then it is missing out on the craft beer drinkers, who are located all over Australia, in metro and regional areas. Thomson says of Barscan’s sample size of 300 venues across Australia 45% have one craft beer on tap, and 67% have one cider on tap. Given most craft beer consumers are demanding four or more different craft beers per month, representing 50 per year, unless venues that do have one craft tap that they rotate four times a month, the selection is not being offered to meet demand. At the tip

exCluSIVeS A beer that is exclusively available on draught only, not available in packaged format in bottleshops. Coca-Cola Amatil have a range called Alehouse, which brews different styles of beers only available in draught format so that pubs can choose which beer they sell to match their customer demographics, and providing a point of difference.

This issue, we take a look at the rising number of brewers opting to bring their brews to market in cans.

CollABorATIoNS Similar to house beers and exclusives, the venue(s) and the brewer collaborate together in recipe development, branding and marketing of the beer that is exclusive to a specific venue or venues. The venue staff can even attend the brewery to help brew the batch! Bridge road Brewers (Vic) produced a bar series in collaboration with 10 of Australia’s leading craft beer venues on the east coast, with another bar series brewed in collaboration with the west coast venues.

RegulaR and guest taps

There is a need for regulars and guest taps to facilitate the demand from craft beer drinkers. Peter Bottcher Venue Manager of The Sail & Anchor (WA) says to get the balance right between guest taps and permanent ranged beers, “brewers deserve some financial stability - and venues need to be able to build a relationship with brewers. This won’t happen without permanent taps. Consumers need some consistency in product, not all beers can be one-off brews, brewers need the chance to perfect a brew over time”. Bottcher continues on when considering a mix of beers to put on tap, “there needs to be a balance of differing styles and producers. A balance between interesting beer (crazy styles, one-offs and rare imports) as well a good quality, local, fresh beer. The imports are fun and get the beer geeks attention, however local and fresh is vitally important.” Some examples of how pubs can incorporate craft beer into their bank of taps and provide a point of difference to other venues and offpremise, include: HouSe BeerS These beers can be exclusively brewed for the venue, or rebranded from the brewery to the venue brand, so as to be a regular beer that provides a point of difference. examples include Feral Brewing (WA) brew

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An in-depth look at the history and current affairs that are driving this rapidly expanding beverage segment.

44 Beer iN caNs

PUBS NEED ROTATING TAPS AS CONSUMERS DEMAND 2-4 DIFFERENT BEERS PER MONTh.” of iceberg in relation to venues specialising in craft beer, The Albion Hotel in Newcastle (NSW) is an example worth noting, as they have sold 500 different beers in one year over 2012/13. The Sail & Anchor hotel sells around 200 different beers over a year, from its 43 taps, with only 5-6 taps changed per week.

40 eNGlisH cider

beer talk traveller gourmet

the fridge

Winners of 2013 Beer & Brewer Get the lowdown on what’s on Three of the best burgers in Awards NZ, and more. offer around Ol’ Sydney town. Victoria, plus a killer recipe from Sydney’s Goodtime Burgers - and beer!

Ian Kingham’s best brews for you to try as things cool down this Autumn.

aNd 10News awards

54 weeKeNd away

14 B&B Update

58 Brewery directory Brewery 60 toUr

Everything you need to know about your world of beer.

& cider 20Beer sales stats

24profile

MicroBrewery

Meet the team behind Queensland’s Beard and Brau.

style Notes

Dr Chuck Hahn steps us through the finer points of Amber Ales.

32draUGHt Beer

A comprehensive wrap up of what’s happening on tap.

& 64 Beers BUrGers

10 for 68 top aUtUMN

71 staff picK

A fond farewell from outgoing Beer & Brewer Publisher, David Lipman.

A look inside the monolith that is the Asahi Premium Beverages plant in Victoria.

gourmet Autumn xxxxxxx Recipes xx

Burgers and Beers

61 62veNUe reviews

eveNts caleNdar

Three burge r-loving Victo rians set out the best burge to find rs in Victoria, and the result The Burger Book. is We spoke to author ethan and got three Jenkins, of his favourites.

The InkeRmAn

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72 tastiNG Notes

Want a handle on how things taste? Our expert panel spills the beans on a bunch of new brews and ciders.

hoTel,

The Inkerman burger is the perfect this: a no frills, classic Australian example of patty is a classic burger. The beef one, blanketed cheese with a hint in melted health conscious of lettuce as a nod to the . with an egg to A couple of slices of tomato, give along with grilled it that true Australian feel, Aussie pub-style onions. It is served with fat chips for extra authentici This is almost an ‘official’ Australian ty. and it’s so good burger that, while you with a pint, you wash it down won’t dog came in fourth! even realise that your BeeR mATche Matilda Bay (Vic)S Stoke (NZ) Amber Fat Yak 4.7% Ale 4.5% BrewDog 5am Saint Amber Ale 5%

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brewer.com

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Publisher’s Farewell

fter 28 issues I bid you farewell, as Publisher and Founder, and thank all and sundry for the support and contributions since May 2007. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past seven years I have devoted to the magazine and all the people and readers I have met. The decision to move on is based around my growing family’s needs, with my second son due later this year. I’m excited about my next challenge although I will still be publishing books focusing on beer and cider, so you haven’t heard the last from me! This autumn edition is packed with great content including the increasing focus on canning craft beer, our draught beer reader survey results, with the need for pubs to meet repertoire drinker demand for craft beer. Chuck Hahn has written the Style Notes on Amber Ale, a style he can be heralded for introducing into Australia. There is a feature from NZ Beer Writer of the Year, Michael Donaldson. Finally I encourage readers to keep emailing feedback and attending events and for the industry to get behind the magazine with updates on new releases and events, and sending beer/cider samples, plus advertising in the mag no matter the size - it all helps. Cheers, David - dlipman8@gmail.com, 0415 081 285, @DLipman_Beer

contributors

a u s t r a l i a

n e w

z e a l a n D

Editor David Lipman editor@beerandbrewer.com

Deputy Editor Gregor Stronach Art Director Jenny Cowan Consulting Editor Ian Kingham NZ Editor-at-Large Neil Miller neil@ncm.co.nz

Photography iStockphoto.com, David Lipman Valued Contributors James Adams, Neal Cameron, Michael Donaldson, Dr Chuck Hahn, Michael Jordan, Ian Kingham, John Kruger, David Lipman, Neil Miller, Tina Panoutsos, Jeremy Sambrooks, Gregor Stronach, Bill Taylor, Sadhbh Warren, Brian Watson, Graham Wright. Ad Design Matt Burns Accounts Isha Kalia Publisher David Lipman dlipman8@gmail.com, 0415 081 285 Advertising The Intermedia Group +61 (0)2 9660 2113 Media Kit available for download at www.beerandbrewer.com/advertise Subscriptions Tel: +61 1800 651 422 Fax: +61 2 8580 6312 subscribe@beerandbrewer.com www.beerandbrewer.com /subscribe Mail: PO Box 55 Glebe NSW 2037 Subscription Rates Australia $79.99 3 years (12 issues) saving $39.41 (33%), $54.99 2 years (8 issues) saving $24.61 (31%), $29.99 1 year (4 issues) saving $9.81 (25%), 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%), International $132.99 3 years (12 issues), $89.99 2 years (8 issues), $47.99 1 year (4 issues). Rates 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, 8 Point Distribution (Overseas), Dan Murphy’s, imake, The Beverage Food Group (VIC) ISSN 1834 5115

chuck hahn

Dr Charles (Chuck) Hahn is the brewmaster for Malt Shovel and Hahn. He started at Coors in Colorado in 1971, coming to Australia in ‘81 with Tooths and Reschs, spent ‘84-’87 in NZ with Lion, returning to Sydney in ‘88 to build the Hahn Brewing Company. In ‘99, he started James Squire at the Malt Shovel Brewery and Kosciuszko Brewery in ‘09. See page 28.

Michael DonalDson

A journalist for 25 years, mainly in sport, Michael Donaldson is the author of Beer Nation – the art and heart of Kiwi beer. He writes a regular beer column in the Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand’s only national newspaper, where he is also the editor. Brewers Guild of NZ, NZ Beer Writer of the Year 2013. See page 22.

Published By Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd ABN 90 155 638 494 dlipman8@gmail.com, +61 415 081 285

Audit figure 6525 per issue, April 1 – September 30, 2008

Nominated, Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards 2010, Best Drink Magazine, Best Food and/ or Drink Section in a Magazine BELL Award, Highly Commended, Best Consumer Magazine Launch 2007, Best Consumer Magazine Cover 2008 DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine. Copyright 2012 by Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior permission of Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd. Selected images copyright Getty Images, iStockphoto, 123rf.com. All rights reserved.

gregor stronach

One of the original members of the Chaser team, Gregor is the Deputy Editor of Beer & Brewer, with a deep and abiding passion for craft beer and whisky. Actually, mostly whisky. But beer is good, too. Especially beer that’s been aged in whisky barrels. Or made with peat-smoked malt. Does anyone read these panels? If so, I’m trapped in the office! Send whisky! See pages 14, 26, 43, 44, 54, 60.

neil Miller

Neil is a beer writer who combines a strong knowledge of beer with extensive research, interview skills, a passable palate, pop culture references and a dry wit. Neil’s work has also appeared in Cuisine, The Dominion Post, Dish, BEER and The Wellingtonian. See pages 18, 31, 53.

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PRIVACY NOTICE This issue of Beer & Brewer Magazine may contain offers, competitions or surveys which require you to provide information about yourself if you choose to enter or take part in them (Reader Offer). If you provide information about yourself to Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd, Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd will use this information to provide you with the products or services you have requested, and may supply your information to contractors that help Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd to do this. Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd will also use your information to inform you of other Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd publications, products, services and events. Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd may also give your information to organisations that are providing special prizes or offers and that are clearly associated with the Reader Offer. Unless you tell us not to, we may give your information to other organisations that may use it to inform you about other products, services or events or to give to other organisations that may use it for this purpose. If you would like to gain access to the information Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd holds about you, please contact Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd Privacy Officer at Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd Publishing, 41 Bridge Rd Glebe NSW 2037. Cover main photo: istockphoto.com Homebrewer main photo: istockphoto.com Cover Amber Ale photo: Endeavour Vintage Beer.

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editor’s Pick "What is ‘Craft’ Beer?”

i read your emails regularly and brew allgrain beer at home, i try nearly every new beer that comes out etc, so i think i know a little bit about beer. i note that your email carries an advert for James squire so i understand you may not be able to be honest in your opinions about what is Craft Beer as you need income form the advertisers. 150 Lashes is available in lots of pubs around tamworth (i live nearby). it’s probably available right across australia (?) in my opinion, beer brewed at that scale is not “Craft Beer”. Little Creatures is big too, and whilst i don’t think you could call Little Creatures craft beer anymore, their occasional special brews do fall into that category as far as i’m concerned i think craft beer is the beer that is brewed for people who like ‘real’ beer, brewed in small batches, the beer that brewers like to drink (i.e. not tooheys New, XXXX, Crown Lager, James squire) i don’t think size is that important (w.r.t. what is craft beer…) i call Murray's craft beer because shawn really knows how to brew a

a WOrD Or tWO ON eXCise

Dear editor - i'm writing very quickly to say thanks for putting together such an interesting magazine, and to put my two cents worth in about the ridiculous excise situation on australian brewers.

beer. Craft Beer is promoted at things like Bitter & twisted at Maitland Gaol. i didn’t see tooheys or James squire there but i tried beer from Murray's, six string and lots of others. You can go to events like that and talk to brewers. if you can chat to the person who brews the beer it must be craft beer if you see a ute with a beer sticker on the back – that beer is not craft beer if you walk into a pub and see lots of taps you don’t recognise – that’s probably craft beer if you go to a brewery and the owner is there making beer – that’s craft beer if the beer label has a bar code on it – its most likely not craft beer (unless it’s a special brew from someone like Little Creatures – they’re a craft brewery that got big because they do what they do very well) Cheers – i’m going home to have one of my craft beers

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OSCAr DE COSTA PEnrITH, nSW

Thanks for your letter, Oscar. The industry is crying out for excise reform, and we reckon you're pretty much 100% correct as well. Here's hoping that someone will see some sense in the government and start looking at the problem in a more serious manner. There must be someone in the public service that likes good beer...

hOW GOOD is Beer?

GLEn TurnEr nSW

Thanks for your letter, Glen - it's one of those issues that seems destined to be debated for years to come... hopefully over a few beers! - Ed.

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it's not hard to see that even just a few tiny changes to the way excise is handled by the australian Government would radically change how level the playing field is between the various elements of the australian brewing, winemaking and liquor industries. the level of excise paid by brewers, in particular, is bordering on lunacy - it's a wonder that anybody goes into the business at all, when such a huge percentage of their hard work ends up straight in the coffers of the government, instead of being available for the brewers to grow their business, spend time innovating and brewing more new and exciting beers for us all to try. even worse is the archaic method of determining the excise, based solely on the volume of the vessel the beer is packed in by the brewer. On what basis was it determined that if the beer went into a sub-50L keg, it should attract more excise? it makes absolutely no sense to me at all - especially when you consider that the answer is so blindingly obvious, it's staring the government's bean-counters right in the face. surely a system of excise based on the volume produced (and not how it's packaged), and the alcohol content by volume, would be a much fairer - and simpler - system for brewers to follow. it would free up a lot of the tedious paperwork, even the playing field for the smaller guys in the industry and allow them to get on with the work they so clearly love to do - making damn fine beers for the rest of us to enjoy.

i'm writing to share my thoughts on what's been an amazing summer for beer in australia. it really did seem like every time i turned around, there was another big beer festival on, or my local was having a tap takeover, or there would be a new beer being launched by my

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your shout Letters to the Editor

favourite brewers - or, even better, by a brewery I'd never even heard of before. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, we didn't have a lot of beers to choose from in the suburbs. You either drank VB, New or - God help us - bourbon and coke at the local pub. If you asked for something else, you'd end up in a scrap in the carpark. Which is why it's been such a great time in the past few years, seeing the Australian craft beer scene almost literally explode, with so many new brews pouring all around the country. There's nothing quite like the journey of discovery you get when you walk into a good craft beer pub, and see the unfamiliar taps... It really is a good time to be alive. PEtEr GouLd FItZroY, VIC

Couldn't agree more, Peter - it really is exciting to see so many great new beers on the market every week. - Ed.

HOW TO BE A BREWER?

Hi. I'm interested in becoming a brewer, but I'm not 100% sure where to start. I keep hearing different ideas from all the people that I talk to - some of them tell me to start off with some homebrewing, while other people tell me that I should do a course somewhere. I don't want to take any shortcuts at all - but I

Beer & Brewer online – latest blogs and news from www.beerandbrewer.com Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook, to keep up to date on the latest news, or participate in the forums. Blog – Gregor Stronach, deputy Editor LESSoNS IN LIFE One of the things I’ve really loved about working on Beer & Brewer over the past four years has been the amount of learning I’ve be able to do. When I started with the magazine, I knew a little bit about beer, and a lot about whisky – and nothing about cider. Four years down the track, my cider knowledge is still a bit shaky (but I promise to fix that soon…), my beer knowledge has improved to the point where I’ve had a pretty good success rate picking hop varieties from finished beers, and I’ve delved even further into the world of whisky. I’ve been helped along by a number of amazing people – whose knowledge of these things still far out-strips my own – through oneon-one chats, and through attending events designed to help people to discover the best of their favourite beverages. That’s why I was really pleased to see that a number of venues around Australia are really getting on board with the idea of helping to educate their punters. A recent addition to that 8

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am keen to get into brewing full time as quickly as possible. Do you have any advice? SIMoN SChuStEr SYdNEY, NSW

thanks for your letter, Simon. Straight up, there's no one single way to get into brewing full time, but there are a number of different options available to you to explore. the first, and perhaps the most obvious, is to start homebrewing to get a feel for what you're getting yourself into. the best way to start that is to head to your local homebrew shop (take a look at our homebrewer section of the magazine for some ideas on where they are) and start asking questions. Another option is to undertake a brewing course - and there are a number of those available, ranging from private courses through to university postgraduate diplomas. the last option is to start knocking on doors and asking if you can help out at some of the smaller breweries. offer your time up for free, just to get a feel for how it all operates, and see what happens. But be prepared to do a lot of cleaning and scrubbing equipment.

WHY CAN'T I FIND THAT BEER?

I've been reading Beer & Brewer for a few years now, and one of my favourite parts of the magazine is the Tasting Notes section, where you highlight all the new beers on the market.

line up is The Wild Rover in Sydney, a great little bar with a phenomenal craft beer selection and a very tidy range of whiskies as well. The crew there have kicked off a new initiative called the Campbell Corner Whisky Cooperative, with guided whisky tastings featuring some of the giants of the industry. Last week, punters were treated to a barrage of information by Douglas Cooke, representing Glendronach distillery. Cooke talked us through the basics and intricacies of the different age expressions of Glendronach, at the same time providing an excellent run down of the whisky scene in Scotland. It was a great night – and fulfilled precisely the needs of anyone wanting to know more about their favourite drink. I learnt a lot, made some great new whiskyloving friends, and went home a happy man. You can’t ask for more than that – and it’s brilliant to see venues taking precisely this sort of initiative to help us all get the most from what we’re drinking.

Blog – Neil Miller NZ Editor-at-Large

thrEE FACES oF BrEWErY ACQuISItIoNS Big breweries buying little breweries has been a global trend for decades and, in terms of beer quality, the results have generally been pretty awful. While not quite on the same scale as Britain or America, it is happening in

The only problem I have with it is that it's often quite hard to find those beers. Either my local bottle shop doesn't stock them, or if it's something new on tap, my local pub doesn't stock it. And by the time I get to the craft beer pub a few suburbs over, all the guys with the big beards and peaked caps have scoffed it all, leaving none for the rest of us. How does someone who doesn't have time to get to the pub every night get to taste all these new beers? They all sound so amazing, and I'm getting a bit peeved that there never seems to be enough to go around. AdrIAN BLAKENEY GLEBE, NSW

Adrian - there are a couple of factors at play here, but the main one is that a lot of the craft beers that arrive at any given time are not produced in the kinds of quantities that beer lovers - and even the brewers themselves - would consider to be adequate. Most craft and microbreweries operate on a small scale, which means that the beers will always be a bit scarce. Your best bet is to figure out which of the breweries you like the look of, and pay close attention to their website, twitter feed or Facebook page - that's where a lot of them announce their new brews, and where they're going to be available. Also, most venues will announce when they're getting new brews in, again either on their own website or through social media. Good luck in the hunt!

New Zealand. Recent events have made me reflect on brewery sales and acquisitions in New Zealand, particularly how differently they all turned out. The highest profile purchase was undoubtedly Lion’s buyout of former Champion Brewery of New Zealand Emerson’s Brewing Company. For NZ$8m, Lion completely bought out one of the country’s most respected breweries and one which was at the vanguard of the craft beer revolution. However, the senior staff at Emerson’s negotiated a three year contract which gives them effective creative control over their beers – it is the same brewers in the same brewery making the same beers with the same branding. The main difference is the vastly expanded distribution network. Emerson’s beers are now available in a huge number of venues, including many which had no craft beers before. Currently, this seems like a textbook example of how to conduct an acquisition – craft beer quality with mainstream brewery distribution and marketing support. The challenge will be when the contract runs out in 2015. The best description of the situation I heard was “I will keep drinking Emerson’s Bookbinder until it begins tasting like Lion Bookkeeper.” I still wish I’d said that. Another major acquisition was Independent Liquor (through the Boundary Road label)

BEER TALK Web site News

purchasing the multi-generational Founder’s Brewery in Nelson. The Duncan family has been brewing for six generations and, to some surprise (including mine), sold their family run, organic, vegan and kosher brewery to the multi-national corporation. While the family is still involved it is not nearly to the same extent as before. Most of the brewing is now done off site (a bit like symbolic Monteith’s West Coast brewery) and while Founder’s are still making several of their original beers there has been a reworking of the range and a complete and quite radical rebranding. Like Emerson’s, Founder’s benefits from increased production and a vastly expanded distribution network but, to be honest, the flavours are a bit more restrained though the brews were heading that way before the sale. Founder’s is now more consistent and accessible, but it has moved significantly away from the original points of difference – family, local and organic. On the other side of the coin is the Cock & Bull range of beers, then brewed by Steam for the chain of Cock & Bull pubs in Auckland and Hamilton. It was initially reported that the Nourish Group bought the chain though they later denied any involvement. The new owners, whoever they are, not only changed the English themed Cock & Bull pubs to cookie cutter Irish bars (under the Doolan Brothers

brand) but they abolished the Cock & Bull house beers. These beers were contract brewed by Steam Brewing Company, including Monk’s Habit, probably New Zealand’s most medalled beer and a personal favourite, and Fuggles, a regular winner at the NZ Beer Awards. Worse, the new bars seem to have signed a new, presumably exclusive, contract with brewing giant Lion. It is hard to tell though because their website makes absolutely no references to beer, though there are plenty of posts about joker poker, free Wi-Fi, bingo and assorted miscellany. This acquisition saw the demise of an entire range of award winning beers and the current owners don’t seem to care in the least. I recognise that craft brewers work hard for years and deserve a payout – no one begrudges Richard Emerson or the Duncan family their success – but some sales are better structured than others when it comes to the quality of beer.

News – YOUNG HENRYS CONQUERS THE UK Richard Adamson and the team at Young Henrys are celebrating a huge win, following the announcement the Young Henrys Real Ale has won the Gold Medal for best overall beer at the highly prestigious JD Wetherspoons’ Spring 2014 Real Ale Festival in the UK. The Real Ale was also judged to be best in class, by a panel of experts that included

members of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), respected UK brewers and suppliers, and representatives of JD Wetherspoons, a British pub chain with more than 900 outlets. The team describes the Real Ale as “a modern twist on the English Best Bitter made with new varietal Australian hops. As you’d want from the style, it’s a fairly low alcohol beer at 4 per cent ABV, with fairly low carbonation and a long, smooth bitterness. That bitterness comes from the all-Australian hops – Galaxy, Stella and Topaz – which also add a bit of a citrus kick. The beer is served as both standard tap pour and traditional hand pump. MORNING PENINSULA BREWERY GETS CANNING The Mornington Peninsula Brewery has launched its first canned beer, called Pale Can. The launch is the product of a recently acquired and installed canning line – making Mornington Peninsula Brewery only the second microbrewery in Australia to have its own, on-site canning facility. Matt Bebe - Managing Director, Mornington Peninsula Brewery, explains their decision to put in their own canning line as a conscious decision to take a risk, but one that will hopefully pay dividends in raising the profile of craft beer in Australia.“We saw the US beer market is flourishing with cans over there, and figured that it was working well in the US for a reason,” Matt says.

beer talk Beer & Brewer Awards

’s e l p o e p r e w e r B Beer & s t l u s e r Z N s d choice AwAr

Best Venue Ove rall - Sprig & Milton St Nelso Fern, n.

Here are the NZ results 100% decided by readers votes on the best beer venues, beers and brewers from the 2013 poll. The Beer & Brewer Awards are currently under review, with the magazine determined results left out on this occasion. Stay tuned for when voting and dates are announced for the 2014 Awards at www.beerandbrewerawards.com.au. Best Beer Venue Overall 1. Sprig & Fern, Milton Street, Nelson 2. Sprig & Fern, Tinakori Rd, Thorndon 3. HashigoZake Best Beer (Local) 1. Stoke Bomber Bohemian Ale 2. Sprig & Fern Tasman Reserve Lager 3. Sprig & Fern Pilsner Brewer of the Year (over 30 years of age) 1. Tracy Banner, Sprig & Fern Brewery 2. Sam Wilson, McCashin’s Brewery 3. Andy Deuchars, Renaissance Young Brewer of the Year (30 years and under) 1. Shigeo Takagi, Funk Estate 2. Matt Duncan, Founders Brewery 3. Matt Warner and Matt K, Parrotdog Beertender of the Year 1. Scott Bradley, Rythym & Brown, Nelson 2. Andrew Cole, Moutere Inn; Dylan Jauslin, Golding’s Free Dive; Hayley Jane Wakeford, Sprig & Fern; Pip Honeychurch, The Portsider; Daniel Hargreaves, Little Beer Quarter Best Beer List (On-Premise only) 1. HashigoZake 2. Malthouse 3. Pomeroys Best Small Bar/Pub (less 150 patrons) 1. Sprig & Fern, Milton Street 2. Brothers Beer, Auckland and Sprig & Fern Tinakori Rd, Thorndon 3. HashigoZake, Wellington and Rhythm and Brown, Nelson Best Large Bar/Pub (more 150 patrons) 1. Cassel and Sons Brewery, Christchurch and The Freehouse, Nelson 2. Galbraiths Alehouse, Auckland 3. Dodson Street Beer Garden, Blenheim and Fork & Brewer, Wellington Best Brew Bar/Pub 1. Fork & Brewer, Wellington 2. Sprig & Fern, Milton St Nelson 3. Brothers Beer, Auckland Best Specialty (Themed) Beer Venue 1. Pomeroys, Christchurch 2. Three Lamps, Ponsonby Auckland 3. Cock & Bull, Hamilton Best Cellar Door (Microbrewery, Brew Bar/Pub) 1. Garage Project, Wellington 2. McCashin’s Brewery Cafe Bar & Bottlestore, Nelson 3. Galbraiths Alehouse, Auckland and ParrotDog, Wellington

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Best Restaurant/Café 1. Dodson Street Beer Garden, Blenheim 2. The Hop Garden, Wellington 3. Moutere Inn, Upper Moutere and Pomeroys, Christchurch Best Bottleshop (less 200 beers) 1. Glengarrys, Ponsonby Rd, Auckland 2. The Hamilton Wine Company, Victoria Street, Hamilton Best Bottleshop (more 200 beers) 1. Regional Wines and Spirits, Wellington 2. Fresh Choice, Collingwood Street Nelson 3. The Village Winery, Auckland and Liquorland Mount Maunganui Best Cider (Local) 1. Sprig & Fern 3 Berry Cider 2. Peckhams Cider 3. Rochdale Cider, McCashin’s/Hancocks Best Supplier 1. New Zealand Hops, Nelson Best Web Site (Brewery/Retailer) 1. www.beercellar.co.nz 2. www.haurakihomebrew.co.nz 3. www.tuatarabrewery.co.nz Best Online Retailer 1. www.beercellar.co.nz 2. www.cultbeerstore.co.nz 3. www.brewshop.co.nz and www.glengarrys.co.nz Best E-Newsletter (Brewery/Retailer) 1. www.beercellar.co.nz 2. www.glengarrys.co.nz and www.hashigozake.co.nz 3. www.moutereinn.co.nz Best Advertising Promotion/Offer/GWP 1. Tui Yeah Right, Billboards Nationwide Best Microbrewery/Beer Company 2. Sprig & Fern Brewery, Richmond 3. 8 Wired and ParrotDog 4. McCashin’s Brewery and Garage Project Best Beer Distributor 1. HashigoZake 2. BeerNZ 3. Hancocks Best Home Brew Shop 1. Hauraki Home Brew 2. Brewers Coop, Auckland 3. The Brewhouse, Wellington and Your Shout, Linwood Best Beer Event 1. Beervana, Wellington 2. Marchfest, Founders Park Nelson 3. Great Kiwi Beer Fetsival, Christchurch and NZ Beer Festival, The Cloud Auckland

Best Large Bar/Pub-Cassel & Sons.

Brewer of the Year – Tracy Banner, Sprig & Fern.

Best Beer EventBeervana.

Best RestaurantDodson Street Beer Garden.

Best Cellar DoorGarage Project.

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BEER TALK

dave Brough (indian ocean Brewing) and pete Bottcher (sail & anchor).

Awards

Perth royal Beer Show The 2013 Perth Royal Beer Show has been run and won in WA, with a number of big names and new names all making waves at the hotlycontested event. A total of 22 trophies were awarded across a range of categories, recognising both commercial and amateur brewers from around Australia. The major winners were:

speCial - Trophies The hopCo Trophy For BesT CommerCial Brewery Redoak Boutique Beer The sail and anChor Trophy For BesT wa Brewery Indian Ocean Brewing Company The Beer and BeeF ClUB oF perTh Trophy For BesT CommerCial Beer oF The show Redoak Boutique Beer (Redoakweizendoppelbock) The premier’s Trophy (on BehalF oF The governmenT oF wesTern aUsTralia) For BesT wesTern aUsTralian Beer oF The show Feral Brewing Co (Hop Hog)

Trophies CommerCial seCTion

Trophies amaTeUr seCTion

The ediTh Cowan UniversiTy Trophy For BesT lager paCkaged Wayward Brewing Company (Wayward Devil’s Advocate Eisbock)

The royal agriCUlTUral soCieTy oF wa Trophy For BesT lager Terry Stainton (Old Smokey)

The Cryer malT Trophy For BesT lager draUghT The Australian Brewery (The Dark Lager) The Beer and Brewer magazine Trophy For BesT ale paCkaged Feral Brewing Co (Hop Hog) The Beer and BeeF ClUB oF perTh Trophy For BesT ale draUghT Feral Brewing Co (Hop Hog) The ediTh Cowan UniversiTy Trophy For BesT sToUT paCkaged Bush Shack Brewery (The Chefs Wicked Chocolate Beer)

The James sqUire Trophy For BesT amaTeUr Brewer Brian Fitzgerald

The hopCo Trophy For BesT sToUT draUghT Nail Brewing Australia (Nail Stout)

The BrewmarT Trophy For BesT amaTeUr Beer oF The show Jeremy Sambrooks (Rapid Fire Weizenbock)

The lion Trophy For BesT redUCed alCohol paCkaged Gage Roads Brewing Co Ltd (Pils 3.5)

david hollyoak (redoak) and sandy ross (hopco).

The ClanCy’s Fish pUB FremanTle Trophy For BesT redUCed alCohol draUghT Redoak Boutique Beer (Redoak Bitter) The pall aUsTralia Trophy For BesT wheaT Beer paCkaged Matilda Bay Brewing Company (Redback Original) The Cryer malT Trophy For BesT wheaT Beer draUghT Redoak Boutique Beer (Redoakweizendoppelbock)

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The BrewmarT Trophy For BesT ale Brian Fitzgerald (Farmhouse Red) The Beer and BeeF ClUB oF perTh Trophy For BesT sToUT David Allsworth (Byford Black Oatmeal) The Beer and Brewer magazine Trophy For BesT redUCed alCohol Matt Marinich (Easy Vader) The royal agriCUlTUral soCieTy oF wa Trophy For BesT wheaT Beer Jeremy Sambrooks (Rapid Fire Weizenbock)

Trophy - paCkaging and design The menu magazine Trophy For Best packaging and design Matso’s Broome Brewery (Matso’s Chilli Beer) will irving and Brendan varis (right) Feral Brewing.

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beer talk What’s Brewing

Beer & BreWer Update See the New Releases in the Buyers’ Guide for new beers, cider and whisky from local and imported suppliers.

Beer & Brewer reports on what’s brewing in new and existing breweries, news in beer bars and bottle shops.

NSW

Young Henrys head brewer Richard Adamson accepted an invitation to head to England and brew for the JD Wetherspoon’s International Real Ale Festival, and brought home the Gold Medal for the event. It was Richard’s third trip to the festival. The festival featured ten brewers, invited from around the world to travel to England and brew their beer with local breweries. This year saw Richard team up with the Banks Brewery in Wolverhampton to produce Young Henrys Real Ale “specifically for cask conditioning, that will go to more than 900 JD Wetherspoons pubs across the United Kingdom.” Richard isn’t the only antipodean brewer heading to the festival, however. New Zealand brewers The Yeastie Boys also went across for the festival, and lined up to brew their Gunnamatta Earl Grey IPA at the Adnams Brewery in Southwold, Suffolk. Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) Management broke the news with brewery staff, that the Central Coast located brewery, one hour north of Sydney, was going to close down. The brewery is well known as the home of Bluetongue, launched by a team of passionate beer lovers and businessman in 2001, with John Singleton buying a stake in 2005, then in 2007 was acquired by Pacific Beverages RIP: Bluetongue Brewery.

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and then in December 2011 acquired by SAB Miller. The brewery today brews Bluetongue along with being the site for brewing under license of Peroni, Miller Chill and Miller Genuine Draft, all SAB Miller brands. According to our meticulous research, 536 people have gone into space in the history of humankind. But having such a small target market hasn’t stopped the good folks at 4 Pines and Vostok have successfully tested the next step towards being able to enjoy a beer in space – from a bottle, and not one of those squeezy plastic bags that astronauts have to contend with in zero gravity. The Vostok Space Beer project took to the skies once again, to test out ‘The Device from Down Under’ – a gizmo designed to ensure that beers can be drunk straight from the bottle in micro- and zero-gravity. Obviously, we’re not scientists – so the low-tech explanation of the Device is this: it’s an insert that pops into a bottle, which “takes advantage of surface tension to wick the liquid from the bottom of the bottle to the top”. Like all good science-type stuff, it sounds deceptively simple… The end result, creators Jaron Mitchell (4 Pines) and Jason Held (Saber Astronautics) hope, will be a commercially viable thingamajig that will allow future space tourists and astronauts to enjoy a refreshing beverage while hurtling through space at roughly 28,000 km/h. A joint venture between Casella and CocaCola Amatil (CCA) called The Australian Beer Co. has been launched, with an eye on taking on some of the biggest players in the nation’s beer and cider markets. At launch, the line up includes newly created and locally produced brands; Pressman’s Original Australian Cider and the Australian Beer Company Alehouse, as well as ARVO Premium Lager, launched by Casella in 2012. The partnership will be run from the Casella brewery in Griffith, led by General Manager Derek O’Donnell. Casella is no stranger to

Coors Lager launch Coogee Bay Hotel.

high volume production, with the company’s flagship [yellowtail] wine brand recently celebrating its billionth (yes… that’s billion, with a B) bottle of wine produced. Hot on the heels of that announcement came the news that one of the biggest brands in American beer is headed downunder, following the launch of Coors in Australia by Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA), which has inked an exclusive agreement to distribute the Molson Coors range in Oz. Brett Vye, Chief Commercial Officer for Molson Coors International, said “This is a market that we’ve always thought was a great fit for our beers. Our initial focus will be on Coors and Blue Moon Belgian White, but there are plenty of supplementary brands that could be introduced in time.” The Australian Brewery has announced the winner of its “Name the Beer” competition, with local Sunil Bahkri taking out the chance to name the new drop, and have a hand in its creation. The new brew will be called “The Rebel Rouser”, named for the Castle Hill Rebellion that occurred on 4 March, 1804, which saw an uprising from a group of Irish convicts against the British colonial authority. The beer is described as delivering “a punching crafty flavour as well as a crisp and refreshing taste you would expect from the Australian Brewery. However, you’ll also detect a full-flavoured Amber Lager balanced out with a hint of biscuity malt to finish.” The beer will be stocked in a range of bottle shops and bars in the Hills District of Sydney, including on tap at the Australian Brewery, the Hillside Hotel and the Bella Vista Hotel. Sydney’s northern beaches suburb of Brookvale will soon be home to a brand new brewing project, the brainchild of ExperienceIt beer lovers Johnny and Kerrie Latta, Leonardo Di Vincenzo, from Italy’s leading craft brewery, Birra Del Borgo, and Paolo Bertani. They’re calling the new venture Nomad Brewing Co, a tip of the hat to the lifestyle they’ve all led over the years they have spent travelling the world in search of the best beers they could find, or make. In a statement released recently, it is made abundantly clear that this won’t simply be Leonardo brewing his Italian beers in Sydney – the idea behind the project is to develop something unique, drawing on the skills and knowledge that the team has developed over their years in the industry. Nomad has engaged the services of Brooks Caretta, who has spent years brewing around the world, including as brewmaster at the Birreria projects for Eataly New York, and Eataly Rome.

BEER TALK What’s Brewing

Sunil Bahkri, all smiles after winning the Australian Brewery ‘Name the Beer’ competition.

VIC

Jayne Lewis and Danielle Allen, the team behind Two Birds Brewing, have announced that their long search for a brewery to call their own has finally come to an end. Two Birds Brewing will set up shop in Melbourne’s innerwest, with the first beers to flow from the new

set up ‘sometime in 2014’. It’s been a little over two years since the pair went into business together, after Jayne left her gig with Mountain Goat to team up with Danielle. Since then, the pair had been on the hunt for a suitable site to set up their own brewery, settling on a location in Spotswood.

“We’ve proven to ourselves that a real demand exists for our product,” said Danielle. “We’ve always had the end game of owning our own brewery in mind and we’ve worked hard over the last few years to ensure that we built a solid foundation for our business, because we’re here to stay. We’ve definitely taken the “one-step-at-a-time” approach, so we’ve had to be patient, but it has been worth the wait.” The new brewery will consist of a brand-new 18hL 2 vessel DME Brewhouse, which is on its way to Melbourne from Canada, and will provide enough volume to service the growing demand for Two Birds beers for the east coast of Australia. The west coast market will continue to be looked after through the existing contract brewing arrangements with Gage Roads Brewing in WA. Temple Brewing has announced the departure of Brewmaster and Co-Founder Ron Feruglio. In a joint statement, published on the Temple Brewing Co website, Ron said “I have achieved everything I set out to achieve with Temple. Whilst Temple will always be a part of me, the time is right for me to move on to new adventures and pursue more exciting endeavours.

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beer talk What’s Brewing

Two Birds Brewing finally have a brewery to call their own.

“I’d like to personally thank everyone who has supported me over the years and has bought and enjoyed my beers. I’ve still got a lot of ideas to develop and recipes to brew, and I think my best is yet to come. I thank Renata and the team at Temple and wish them all the best and every success moving on, but I look forward to the new opportunities, challenges and adventures that will be in my own future.” Melbourne’s vibrant craft beer scene has a new player on the field, as Make Beer - a nanobrewery operating under the watchful eyes of partners Daniel Hall (ex Moon Dog) and Steven Germain (Phoenix Beers) - launched its first-ever brew. If the description of their first beer is anything to go by, Daniel and Steven should have a pub-full of curious punters on the doorstep. Called Deep Steep, Make Beer is labelling the brew as a ‘chamomile infused hop ale’, which they say straddles the line between a Pale Ale and an IPA, with the aroma and flavour of chamomile worked into the beer. Make Beer describes itself as an experimental brewing project, rather than a bricks-and-mortar brewing operation. They will be specialising in 50-100 litre batches, with a focus on the kind of one-off releases that the early days of craft brewing were famous for. West Australian craft brewing powerhouse Little Creatures has opened up a brand-new, $60 million facility in Geelong, Victoria. The brewery is the third in the Lion-owned Little Creatures portfolio, and will double the brewing capacity of the brand, serving up an expected 1.25 million cartons of beer for the east coast of Australia in its first 12 months. The Geelong facility joins the original brewery in Fremantle and the Healesville site, which is home to White Rabbit and Pipsqueak cider, also part of the Little Creatures family. Alongside the brewing operation, the new

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Geelong facility will also house a hospitality venue - the fourth for Little Creatures in Victoria. The venue will offer the complete range of Little Creatures products matched to a menu with a focus on share plates. The venue will also offer space for local artists to show their work, and there are plans afoot for an artisan’s market to launch at the site in February 2014. The brewery has been built using stateof-the-art German technology and features a number of environmental initiatives such as waste heat collection and a carbon dioxide recycling system. It also has a combined heat and power plant installed on site, which will eventually be used to create electricity, using the excess energy as a heat source in the brewing process. Melbourne brewing brothers Callum and Nat Reeves have enjoyed solid success with their initial brews under the Monster Mash label. However, with success comes getting noticed – and the pair have received a ‘cease and desist’ letter from Monster Energy Drinks. Rather than enter into a lengthy, tedious (and expensive) legal battle to use the name, the boys have decided to change the brewery name to KAIJU! – it’s Japanese for ‘Monster’. Look out for their new labels, and a new IPA called Metamorphosis.

Clare Valley Brewing Co have finally commenced brewing with 3 quality beers, an Amber, Stout and a cracking APA as well as a grape cider. Their cellar door is now running in Auburn in the Clare Valley which has a cool retro vibe and the all important tasting paddle available as well as bottled beers available for takeaway. Local Clare venues have embraced the new beers as well as Adelaide hotels like the Wright Street hotel and The Kings. Big Shed Brewing have been wading through red tape and have finally started brewing their own beers as well as brewing locally for Gypsy brewers Mismatch Brewing Co. There’s a huge gap for contract labels to be made locally in South Australia so there’s sure to be plenty of new and exciting brews to come out of Big Shed Brewing in Royal Park, which is only 15 minutes from the city. This is huge news for SA brewers looking for a local facility to produce fresh batches of beer. SA’s centre of the beer universe, The Wheatsheaf Hotel are close to starting their own brewery on site and everyone awaits in anticipation for the first full scale brews to be available in their front bar. Fresh beer will be kegged and poured three ways through normal draught, hand pump and through the “Glasshopper” filled with all sorts of unusual options, be it fresh local fruit or a burst of whole cone hops. There’s still installation and some red tape to clear up but owner and brewer-to-be Jade Flavell has already been seen embracing her new hop back. They hope to be running the system by the end of the year. Coopers Brewery has entered the cider market in Australia, inking a deal with English manufacturers, Thatchers Cider. The deal will see Coopers taking on responsibility for kegging draught Thatchers Gold at its brewery in Regency Park, and distributing it nationally to the on-premise market through its Premium Beverages arm. “We expect Thatchers Gold will have a major impact on the draught cider market in Australia,” said Dr Tim Cooper, Managing Director of Coopers. “It is highly regarded as one of the world’s best ciders and is a great fit within our portfolio of quality beers. We are determined to establish Thatchers Gold as a premium brand in the growing Australian cider market.” The agreement, which was signed late in

By John Krüger South Australia is buzzing with beer activity as the weather heats up. Prominent craft beer supporting bottle shops are trying to out-do each other and the Highway Hotel is doing all they can to lead the way. They now have 353 craft beers in the bottle shop, an increase of 43% in the last 9 months, with new lines arriving every fortnight. They’ve also run their second annual Craft Beer Festival which was held April 5th and 6th.

The Wheatsheaf Hotel.

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2013, marks the end of a threeyear search by Coopers to find the right partner to enter the cider market in Australia. “Chairman Glenn Cooper and I met Martin Thatcher and his team in the UK and felt an immediate affinity with them,” Dr Cooper said. “Thatchers is a fourth generation family business that produces premium quality products. It has been growing rapidly in the past 20 years and the fit seemed right. We are extremely excited about the possibilities.” “There are so many synergies between Thatchers and Coopers that I’m absolutely convinced this has always been a partnership just waiting to happen,” said Martin Thatcher, Managing Director of Thatchers. “Both companies share

similar values of heritage, family history, quality and most importantly a deep rooted care for their business and their customers.” It’s also been a bumper year for the South Australian brewery, with sales surging past the 70 million litre mark for the first time in the company’s 150 year history. The figure marks an increase in volume of 4.7% over the 2012 results, when Coopers sold 68.8 million litres for the year. For the number crunchers among us, the stats breakdown is interesting: South Australia is still the major market for Coopers, swallowing 26.9% of the total sales for the company, followed by New South Wales at 26.0%. The big increases in volume came from the smaller end of the market for Coopers – Victorian consumption leapt 15.4%, with Queensland (12.1%) and Western Australia (9.4%) following close behind. Overall, Coopers represents 4.5% of the entire Australian market .

QLD

The Fortitude Brewing Company has announced that it will take over the nearby MT Brewery at Mt Tambourine, allowing them to

expand production and make the move into the packaged beer market. It’s a big step for the Queensland brewers, and will set Fortitude up as the fourth-largest brewing operation in the state – not a bad effort, considering Fortitude Brewing and “little brother” label Noisy Minor were only launched in 2012. The ‘new’ premises is a 24-hectolitre, full production brewery, which will house the bulk of the Fortitude Brewing work, with the existing 5-hectolitre brewery being put to use working on the Noisy Minor side of the coin.

TAS

Lark Distillery has acquired Old Hobart Distillery and the Overeem brand, in a deal that will see both brands continue to operate as separate entities in the marketplace, but with Overeem as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lark. The move signals a couple of fundamental shifts in the Hobart whisky scene, with Bill and Lyn Lark, as well as Casey Overeem, moving into new hands-off roles with their respective distilleries. The move is a natural progression for Bill and Lyn, who sold a large part of their business

beer talk What’s Brewing

to a “syndicate of investors”, most of whom are based in Hobart. That sale has allowed Bill and Lyn to step back, Lyn in a non-Executive role on the board and Bill acting as Lark Global Brand Ambassador. On the Overeem side of the deal, Casey Overeem is moving into “semiretirement”, and will focus on quality control and brand ambassadorship for Overeem. The team from Willie Smiths has announced that its latest development, The Apple Shed, has been officially opened to the public. The Apple Shed occupies a refurbished apple packing shed on the Smith family’s orchard in Grove, Tasmania, and will house a museum, a providore-style shop stocking the best of the Huon Valley produce and a “simple menu” developed using regional and seasonal produce, and designed to accompany the Willie Smiths cider range. The new facility will form a major part of the Tasmanian Cider Trail, a major initiative of government and business in Tassie. The Apple Shed was developed at a cost of more than $450,000, including a State Government grant of $150,000. The Federal Government has committed $60,000 to the development of a cider trail through the $100 million forestry peace deal funding and the Willie Smiths team is confident The Apple Shed will play a key role in attracting visitors to the Huon Valley.

By Jeremy Sambrooks Starting with a bit of sad news that slipped under the radar, after less than five years in operation, the Ferguson Valley’s Wild Bull Brewery has closed its doors. Owners Paul and Michelle Bevin announced the closure on social media last year, which leaves Moody Cow as the only brewery in the Ferguson Valley. The South West Craft Beer Festival is back again, but this time at a brand new venue. Moving from its original home of Palandri Estate in Margaret River, the 2014 festival will be held at the Old Broadwater Farm in Busselton. As in previous years, festival goers will be able to sample the regions finest brews

Naked Monkey could be in their way to a city venue.

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while listening to live music from local artists. Buses to and from the festival depart from and return to Busselton, Dunsborough, Yallingup and Margaret River. For more details, visit the festival’s website. Two new Western Australian breweries opened for business in the later part of last year. Naked Monkey Brewing Company is headed by friends Jon Goodgame and Paul Gasmier (formerly brewer at Sail & Anchor and head brewer at Duckstein and Gage Roads). So far Naked Monkey has released one beer – the 4.7% Red Session Ale, which can be found on tap at Clancy’s City Beach, Fremantle and Dunsborough as well as Bad Apples Bar, The Wine Store and Barque Restaurant. Three more brews are planned for 2014, including two seasonal brews and one to add to their permanent lineup. While currently commuting to WA’s Margaret River region to brew, the Naked Monkey team is looking, in the near future, at setting up its own City brewery, complete with bar and restaurant. Bickley Valley Brewery is the project of Brad Harris – who has previously worked as head brewer at Elmars in the Valley for six years. The 20 hectolitre brewery has been designed and built by Harris himself and is currently used to produce two beers: Bickley Valley Kolsch and American Pale Ale, although more beers will be released soon. Strictly a production brewery, you can currently find Bickley Valley’s beers on tap at Clancy’s Canning Bridge, High Wycombe Tavern and The Lesmurdie Club, as well as on the Pegas for growler sales at Cellarbrations Carlisle. Finally, after four years of lobbying, Beaten Track Brewery has had a major victory in the fight to serve full glasses at their KalgoorlieBoulder premises. WA liquor laws currently dictate that without a tavern licence, Beaten Track (and other breweries holding a producers licence) can only serve 100mL tastings. On the other hand, wineries have no such restrictions. Submissions made by Beaten Track’s owner and brewer, Nick GaltonFenzi, Billabong Brewing’s owner Alan Proctor, the Western Australian Brewers Association and others have been taken into consideration in a recent review of the Liquor Control Act. The committee responsible for the review agreed that it is not ‘appropriate’ or ‘justifiable’ to distinguish between beer and wine producers, recommending that the Act be amended to allow breweries to sell their product for consumption on-site. It seems that commonsense has prevailed at last, although it will be several months before the reviews are put into practice.

By Neil Miller Post-modern” craft brewers the Yeastie Boys have received one of only ten worldwide invites to brew their distinctly offbeat Gunnamatta earl grey tea India Pale Ale for the prestigious JD Wetherspoon’s International Real Ale Festival in Britain. They will brew at the famous Adnams Brewery and, in one day, will brew more Gunnamatta than they do over an entire year in New Zealand. The resulting beer will be served in 850 pubs across England during the two week festival in April. While overseas, the Yeastie Boys will look into the possibilities of contract brewing their regular beers in the United Kingdom or Belgium, for distribution across Europe. The date for New Zealand’s premiere beer festival has been set. The 13th annual Beervana will be held on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd August 2014 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. There will be more than 200 craft beers available over four sessions and a range of presentations, workshops and seminars. Following the passing of new restrictive liquor laws, the Brewers Guild of NZ and the Brewers Association jointly hosted a free industry workshop to assist people hosting beer events to fully comply with the tougher Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. The audience included organisers of small scale tastings

Beaten Track - finally able to offer punters more than 100ml at a time.

and major beer festivals. A key outcome of the Wellington workshop was the identification of key issues for hosts and the development of workable solutions to them. The workshop included presentations from the Ministry of Justice, the Police, the Health Promotion Agency (formerly ALAC), the Advertising Standards Authority, a Liquor Licensing Inspector, and Beervana’s David Cryer. American craft beer circles have been abuzz at confirmation that Greg Koch from Stone Brewing, a high profile brewer and commentator, will take a four-month minisabbatical where he will travel and drink, but not make any beer or answer any emails. New Zealand is on his declared itinerary (as is Australia) and, while his plans remain secret, at least one massive Stone tap takeover is expected in Wellington, possibly the largest ever seen in New Zealand. The very picturesque Queenstown hosted the inaugural Heartland Beer Festival. Twenty seven craft brewers signed up to the event, exceeding the organiser’s expectations of around 20. There were more than 150 different beers and ciders available, plus stalls, hearty food, master classes, a home brew contest judged by professional brewers, and a hot dog eating competition adjudicated by comedian Leigh Hart. Influential magazine Metro has identified its annual ten hottest restaurant trends in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. Under the heading “Craft Beer Takes Off”, Metro said “Treating beer as an afterthought is so 2012. Now, any bar or eatery worth its salt knows its English Porters from its Indian Pale Ales — and can explain the difference, in layman’s terms.” It specifically mentioned Brothers Beer, Sprig & Fern, Vulture’s Lane, Three Lamps and The Crown. One of New Zealand’s oldest breweries has been given a $40 million facelift by Lion New Zealand. Speight’s brewery, which has been in Dunedin for 137 years, has had the royal treatment by Lion, in an 18-month long project to redevelop the heritage site. The catalyst for work starting was the loss of a brewery to the Canterbury earthquake in 2011. A large chunk of the $40 million cost was spent on seismic strengthening of the site, with New Zealand still prone to earthquakes. Part of the site has been kept in original condition, and will be preserved as a museum, catering to the 30,000 tourists that visit the brewery every year. The rest of the plant has been upgraded, resulting in a brewing capacity of 24 million litres a year.

ASIA

By Michael Jordan Born in late 2013 out of a desire to brew distinctive, Young Master Ales is aiming to make world-class beers locally for the Hong Kong market. They are brewing a wide range of ales from Hong Kong Black to Cha Cha Soba Ale

using locally sourced organic buckwheat. All their beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized to provide freshly brewed beer. Their beers can be found on draft in the Hong Kong market or you can visit their 10 Bbl brewery in Ap Lei Chau. Shanghai Beer Week kicks off on Friday, 23 May - 1 June, 2014. It’s China’s original beer week, now in its third year, New for 2014 is a China Craft Beer Festival. The grand finale will be the Sinan Mansions Beer Festival on May 31 and June 1 at the Sinan Mansions Complex near Fuxing Park. Thailand’s beer lovers are celebrating the opening of Danish beer bar Mikkeller’s new Bangko outlet, featuring 30 taps and a specialised bottle selection from around the world.

IMPORTERS OF QUALITY HOPS AND HOP PRODUCTS AGENTS FOR HANDTMANN FILTRATION AND BEER STABILIZATION EQUIPMENT

NSW

Beaten Track Young Henrys – www.younghenrys.com 4 Pines – www.4pines.com.au The Australian Brewery – www.australianbrewery.com.au Nomad Brewing Co – www.nomadsbrewing.com.au

VIC

Two Birds Brewing Co – www.twobirdsbrewing.com.au Temple Brewing – www.templebrewing.com.au Make Beer – www.wemakebeer.com.au La Sirene – www.lasirene.com.au Little Creatures – www.littlecreatures.com.au

Highway Hotel – www.thehighway.com.au Clare Valley Brewing Co – www.clarevalleybrewing.com.au Big Shed Brewing – www.bigshedbrewing.com.au The Wheatsheaf Hotel – www.wheatsheefhotel.com.au Coopers – www.coopers.com.au

QLD

Fortitude Brewing Company – www.fortitudebrewing.com.au

TAS

Lark Distillery – www.larkdistillery.com.au Willie Smiths – www.williesmiths.com.au

South West Craft Beer Festival – www.swbeerfest.com.au Beaten Track Brewery - www.beatentrackbrewery.com.au Moody Cow Brewery - www.moodycow.com.au

Beervana – www.beervana.co.nz Heartland Beer Festival - www.heartlandbeerfestival.co.nz/ Metro Magazine – www.metroeats.co.nz Yeastie Boys – www.yeastieboys.co.nz

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S t A t S S e l A S c e t Az

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AuStrAliAn Beer nAtionAl top eleven 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

victoria Bitter XXXX Gold Corona Extra Carlton Draught Carlton Dry tooheys New tooheys extra Dry Carlton Mid Strength Crown lager Coopers pale Ale Hahn Super Dry

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nSW 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 little Creatures Pale Ale 4 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 4 pines Pale Ale 7 little Creatures Bright Ale 8 lord nelson Three Sheets 9 James Squire Four Wives Pilsener 10 White rabbit Dark Ale

1 James Squire The Chancer

Golden Ale Coopers Dark Ale James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale little Creatures Pale Ale Mclaren vale Ale Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 8 Southwark Old Stout 9 Coopers Vintage Ale 10 Mclaren vale IPA 2 3 4 5 6 7

viC 1 little Creatures Pale Ale 2 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 3 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 4 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 little Creatures Bright Ale 7 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 8 White rabbit Dark Ale 9 White rabbit White Ale 10 Matilda Bay Beez Neez Honey Wheat

WA 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 little Creatures Pale Ale 3 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 4 little Creatures Rogers’ 5 Matso’s Mango Beer 6 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 7 little Creatures Bright Ale 8 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 9 Hoegaarden White 10 Matilda Bay Redback

QlD 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 4 little Creatures Pale Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 Stone&Wood Pacific Ale 7 little Creatures Rogers’ 8 Burleigh 28 Pale Ale 9 little Creatures Bright Ale 10 Hoegaarden White

tAS 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 little Creatures Pale Ale 4 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 5 Boags Wizard Smith Ale 6 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 7 James Squire Four Wives Pilsener 8 little Creatures Bright Ale 9 White rabbit Dark Ale 10 Gage roads Atomic Pale Ale

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CrAFT BEEr (ExCLuDING CuB AND LION) NSW 1 4 Pines Pale Ale 2 Lord Nelson Three Sheets 3 Stone&Wood Pacific Ale 4 4 Pines Kolsch 5 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 6 McLaren Vale Ale 7 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 8 Matso’s Mango Beer 9 Monteith’s Golden Lager 10 Monteith’s Black

VIC 1 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 2 Stone&Wood Pacific Ale 3 4 Pines Pale Ale 4 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 5 Mountain Goat Hightail Ale 6 Monteith’s Golden Lager 7 Hawthorn Pale Ale 8 Matso’s Mango Beer 9 4 Pines Kolsch 10 Monteith’s Black

WA 1 Matso’s Mango Beer 2 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 3 Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss Dark 4 Feral Hop Hog IPA 5 Matso’s Pearlers Pale Ale 6 Wahoo Premium Ale 7 Weihenstephaner Kristall 8 Weihenstephaner Pilsner 9 Monteith’s Black 10 Matso’s Smokey Bishop Ale

QLD 1 Stone&Wood Pacific Ale 2 Burleigh 28 Pale Ale 3 4 Pines Pale Ale 4 Burleigh My Wife’s Bitter 5 Monteith’s Golden Lager 6 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 7 Matso’s Mango Beer 8 Monteith’s Black 9 Burleigh Hefeweizen Wheat Beer 10 Byron Bay Pale Lager

TAS 1 Moo Brew Pilsner 2 Moo Brew Pale Ale 3 Monteith’s Black 4 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 5 Monteith’s Golden Lager 6 Ironhouse Pale Ale 7 Obrien Premium Lager 8 McLaren Vale Ale 9 4 Pines Pale Ale 10 Moo Brew Wheat Beer

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

McLaren Vale Ale McLaren Vale IPA McLaren Vale Lager Sierra Nevada Pale Ale McLaren Vale Dark Matso’s Mango Beer Monteith’s Golden Lager Feral Hop Hog IPA Mountain Goat Steam Ale Wahoo Premium Ale

The canvas-draped courtyard at The Mussel Inn.

BEER TALK Feature

The MorTon CouTTs Trophy for InnovaTIon At the annual New Zealand Brewers Guild Awards, one of the most coveted prizes is the Morton Coutts Trophy for Innovation. Michael Donaldson explains.

f Morton Coutts was still alive – he died aged exactly 100 a few years ago, working until the last day of his life – he’d probably win it himself every year. Coutts was the son and grandson of brewers and inherited a post-Depression career with Dominion Breweries, one of New Zealand’s

big two. Coutts, if he hadn’t been born into brewing would probably have won a Nobel Prize for science, or cured cancer. Nothing less than a genius, he invented his own X-ray machine when he was a boy (this at a time when then technology was still being refined) and X-rayed the family cat.

CouTTs’ InvenTIve spIrIT lIves on In Modern KIwI brewers.” He built a radio transmitter and during World War One used it to contact London. “I was the first person to send a signal past the equator,” he claimed late in life. He did experimental television broadcasts and sent signals to the moon to measure the distance to the moon from Earth.

Morton Coutts in 1961, the father of continuous fermentation.

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But his lasting legacy is a brewing technique called Continuous Fermentation, which, simplisticly involves flowing wort through a series of tanks where it meets yeast that is continuously recycled to meet the beer at the appropriate stage of fermentation. It’s so efficient the machine needs to be cleaned only

once a year and beer is continuously produced. The method, used for the first time in 1958, is still used at DB to this day and while other breweries around the world have tried to develop the same technology none have been able to make as well as Coutts did. Coutts’ inventive spirit lives on in modern Kiwi brewers, with new techniques, off-centre views and stubborn determination the underlying characteristics of an industry that produces some of the most imaginative brews you can hope to wrap your lips around. A recent winner of the Morton Coutts trophy was Yeastie Boys, two blokes by the name of Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie. Stu was a great home brewer who got tired of his mates drinking all his beer for free and figured it was possible to make a buck out of this caper, so he and Sam approached Steve Nally of Invercargill Brewery with the aim of producing a batch of commercial beer without having to invest their lives or give up their jobs. “There was no business plan, simply a desire to brew 50 times what I could brew on my deck. Sam and I were always searching for something new, so why not make it ourselves, the beers we wished someone else would,” McKinlay says.

Where the magic happens at Garage Project.

Specialty Malting Company since 1879

Bamberg - Germany A full line of superb quality 2-row Bavarian Malts including :

And what beers! Pot Kettle Black, their first effort, set the benchmark for hoppy Porters but their true creativity has been revealed in Rex Attitude, the beer that’s made with 100 per cent peated malt and tastes like whisky, and Gunnamatta, the Earl Grey tea-infused IPA named after an instrumental track by Paul Kelly. “We’ve probably done it all wrong, according to the experts of beer and business,” McKinlay reflects, “but we’ve always started things by first asking ‘why not?” And, in our world, ‘Rheinheitsgebot’ is not a valid answer. Our minds are more open now than they were when we started.”

SMALL MARKET, BIG BEERS One of the beauties of New Zealand is its small population, says leading brewer Kelly Ryan. The small market is a disincentive for those hoping to make a quick buck from cheaply made beer, leaving room for “the people who love making interesting beers”. And in a small population, Ryan says, “one voice can be heard – whether that’s politically or by making a beer with a whole lot of Earl Grey tea in it.” One relatively small voice that’s been shouting loud for a year or so is Garage Project. Brewer Pete Gillespie had worked at the Malt Shovel Brewery in Sydney and when he came home he hooked up with a friend of his brother’s, Jos Ruffel, who was working in the online gaming industry. They got noticed when they set up an ambitious plan to brew 24 beers in 24 weeks, each 50-litre batch going on tap mid-week at Wellington’s cult bar Hashigo Zake. The following they developed drew investors and within a year they had a small brewery up and running. These guys constantly push the limits of what’s possible in beer, drawing on ideas from modern cuisine to create flavour packages, or in the case of their stunning Red Rocks Reserve, going back to ancient methods – in this instance, dropping super-heated volcanic rocks into a kettle to create the most sensational visual sight and a lustrously caramelised beer.

Another brewery to take inspiration from history is the Mussel Inn, based in the hippiecentric resort area of Golden Bay at the top of the South Island. Inspired by the story of the first beer made in New Zealand by explorer Captain Cook, who used leaves and bark to flavour molasses in order to ward of scurvy, Mussel Inn uses the leaves of the native Manuka tree in their Captain Cooker to create a beer with hints of Turkish Delight. The preparedness of Kiwi brewers to take a chance is no more evident than in Epic’s Coffee and Fig Imperial Oatmeal Stout, a beer born of random partnership thrown up by Wellington’s annual Beervana festival. To drive media interest, festival organisers a few years ago partnered writers and brewers. Luke Nicholas and Kelly Ryan, of Epic, joined forces with Victoria Wells from Dish magazine to make an experimental beer using a sticky mess of figs caramelised in stout malt. That the beer, three years later and with some refinements, is commercially available and something of a hit is testament to the Kiwi spirit of creativity, experimentation and dedication to great flavours.

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BEER xxxxx TALK Microbrewery xxxxxxxxx Profile

BEARD & BRAU FARMHOUSE BREWERY It took a tree change from the suburbs of Adelaide to the lush surrounds of Tamborine, QLD, for these two brewers to find the perfect spot to make the beers they love. Head Brewer Chris Herring answers Beer & Brewer’s questions… HOW DID YOU GUYS GET STARTED IN THE BREWING INDUSTRY?

When Tanya (Tan) realised “you can make your own beer!” (Futurama quote!), Chris (Fish) bought Tan a homebrew kit as a present when we started dating around 15 years ago. Add 10 years of fun brewing times, experience in food, wine and beverage manufacturing industries and study, a brewery was purchased on our honeymoon, on a dodgy internet connection in the Cook Islands. Now the bank has our soul…..

WHAT SORT OF BUSINESS DO YOU RUN? After many years brewing from an industrial shed in Adelaide we have had a tree change and are now a farmhouse producing brewery. We are now brewing beers at a volume and style which are suited to our surroundings and resources on a small rural property in Tamborine Qld. We are looking forward to extending our collaborative experience into propagation of our own grown ingredients

from other local farms. Yes, satellite hops, barley and herb farms, back to when the ingredients came from farms local to the brewery, the philosophy of from the farm, back to the farm and prosperity to the community.

WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE BREWERY?

We ripped out an old school infusion mash system from a pub in the US made by the Brew Pub Company (now defunct), it seemed to be the trend in the US in 2007. “A brewery in working order”, yeah well we have all heard that sales pitch from the used car sales person… Luckily Fish’s many years working in food and beverage as an engineer came in handy. Fish and his bro were happy as pigs in it, fixing, blowing up stuff, fixing again and improving the system.

WHAT IS THE BREWERY’S CAPACITY IN HECTOLITRES AND HOW MUCH HAVE YOU EXPANDED?

A tranquil setting at Albert River,Tamborine Village.

We brew double batches into 8 US BBL fermenters (800L) and are pretty much always brewing as often as we can. We have dabbled having the regular brews contracted during the move from Adelaide to Queensland, with admittedly not the success and quality we had hoped. So we are back to the farm focussing only on brewing out of our brew house. Capacity when brewing hard could see around 70,000 L p.a. – not much really but we are in a drought hey!

WHAT INSPIRES YOU GUYS WHEN CREATING RECIPES?

Tan wakes up after dreaming concepts (yeah we dream about new beers), we respect the traditions of beer and the many years of Brewers and knowledge that has come before us and take inspiration from old school beer styles. Locally grown ingredients also hold fascination as this is traditionally how beer was made, from whatever you could lay your hands on. Fish is looking forward to brewing with the local stinging nettle grown down by the Albert River, myrtle and heather found in Tamborine.

Tanya and Chris ‘Fish’ Herring, the brains behind Beard and Brau.

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WHAT ARE YOUR BEST SELLERS AND OLD FAVOURITES? Red Tail (Amber Ale), a brew that had its origins from our home brewing days, totally

BBER TALK Microbrewery Profile

paid Eat grass, get t. in beer. Perfec

inspired by hoppy flavours from and iconic an craft brewery James Squire’s Golden Ale & Amber Ale but always respecting old English Ales body and mouth feel.

feel. The social media excitement of our recent four legged mower (Victa the miniature Goat) seems to have gained lots of retweets and favourites…he is very cute…

HOBBIES – WHAT ARE THEY? I THINK WE DO SLEEp OCCASIONALLY... AND THEN WE DREAM BEER. ” Favourite brews would have to be Trios Monts which has inspired our foray into the Farmhouse brew – Bon Chiens. Followed by Rogue’s Noir Dirtoir (GYO) an inspirational beer which took us from some depressive moments from our own recent local council battles to gaining approvals to have and develop the farmhouse brewery on our property on the Albert River, Tamborine.

ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY LIMITED RELEASES OR HAD ANY ON THE MARKET RECENTLY?

WHERE CAN BEER FANS FIND YOUR BREWS?

We have a few loyal locations around Australia. Predominantly tap beers, we are popping up in bars around the place and are building a fan base in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Always on tap at our original home Earl of Leicester and now the recent local the Bearded Dragon in

Tamborine, with brews distributed by Boutique Beverage Distributors in VIC. Check our website for stockist details.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF BEER? WHAT ARE THEY?

Hobbies – what are they? Tan likes to squeeze in a bit of her true talent painting (check out the painting for the IMA at the Earl of Leicester), Fish is a Rural Fire Service volunteer. With a farm, dogs, sheep, goat, full time work and a brewery coupled with the occasional QLD natural disaster, I think we do sleep occasionally.., and then we dream beer. Beard & Brau Farmhouse Brewery – Tamborine Village Qld www.beardandbrau.com.au e: beer@beardandbrau.com.au t: @beardandbrau Brewer/Owner - Chris Herring & Tanya Harlow

The Brewhouse and Fermenters.

The ‘High Brau’ range of brews are of limited seasonal and sporadic release. The most recent in the range is the Indian Mastiff Ale (IPA), a collaborative brew with our besty Nathan from the Earl of Leicester Hotel in Adelaide.

WHAT SORT OF REACTION DO YOU GET TO YOUR LIMITED RELEASES?

The seasonal specialities tend to sell out very quickly, often before they have left the fermenter. A lot of publicans trust that the beer we make is quality and will put in an order before trying the beer. Twitter and apps like Untappd helps to keep track of how the punters

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BEER TALK Beer Club

s r e T n u h The Beer

South east of Brisbane, a hunt is underway – as the Beer Hunters gather for one of their regular meetings to sample, discover and yarn about the beers they love the most. Gregor Stronach chats with Peter Blackwell…

n the Queensland suburbs around Brisbane, a group of brew-loving citizens have formed The Beer Hunters, a loose collective that is dedicated to finding the best beers they can, and learning as much about our favourite brews as humanly possible. Most recently, the Beer Hunters gathered for a tasting night at The Victoria Point Tavern, for an evening of beer tasting, with matching food. We’ll let Beer Hunter Peter Blackwell tell the story in his own words: “The night was organised by Chris, the manager of Dan Murphy’s, Victoria Point. The Tavern in Victoria Point was the venue on Thursday 14 November. Eighteen beer lovers turned up for what was a very enjoyable and informative evening. The tasting was in three flights, with each flight consisting of eight beers. The first was a selection of Pale Ales, which got the evening off to a great start. All eight beers were top class, and included Little Creatures Pale Ale, Sail & Anchor Monkeys Fist Pale Ale, Stone and Wood Pacific Ale and our American friends Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. These beers were perfectly matched to Chilli

and Lime prawns, which were kindly supplied by the Chef at Graziers Restaurant. A selection of wheat beers in the second flight matched to the Chef’s Sweet Spiced Pork was a real treat. We sampled some old favourites and a few new brews, including Hoegaarden, Mont Blanc Blond and Burleigh Brewing HEF, to name a few. The line up for

there is a lot more to enjoying a beer or three than opening a coldie ...” the second flight really highlighted the class of beers available in that particular variety. Flight Three was a selection of dark ales – the perfect way to end an evening of tasting. There were rumblings from a few of the club members, who thought serving the beer at a slightly warmer temperature would have released stronger flavours… but, in the end, the beers were all solidly enjoyed.

There’s nothing quite so happy as a Hunter returning, trophy in hand.

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The flight included Murray’s, Dark Knight Porter, Chimay Blue, La Trappe Quadruple and Old Tom with Chocolate, (as a side note, I reckon a nice slice of chocolate cake would go well with Old Tom.) Graziers Chef once again provided a food match of Beef Stroganoff to match these top brews.

Chris and Fraser ran an Informative and very enjoyable Master Class. We were all made aware that there is a lot more to enjoying a beer or three than opening a coldie and swigging from a can or bottle. Pouring a beer into a quality glass so that the appearance, aroma and taste can be appreciated to their full is the ultimate way to enjoy our favourite beer.”

! M A WH Good news for those of you who believe that the human race is doomed to be wiped out by nuclear missiles… the beer will probably survive the blast.

e all know that beer is inherently tough. It’s tough to make, some of them are tough to drink - and many of us secretly believe that drinking beer somehow imbues us with some of the toughness each and every glass or bottle carries with it. But precisely how tough is beer? Well... let’s just say that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, provided you manage to survive, you’ll be very pleased to know that the beer you’ve got in your fridge will probably fare better than you. We know this because of part of the United States’ Nuclear Defence Agency’s “Operation Teapot” - which sought to find out what would happen to the world if it suddenly started raining enriched uranium and massive explosions. Project 32.2a, specifically, looked at what would happen to beer (and soft drink) if it were subjected to a nuclear blast - ostensibly to find out what survivors of a nuclear conflict would be able to drink if the water supply was irradiated. The results of that project were startling: provided the beer was more than 1270 feet (about 400 metres) away from Ground Zero, and the bottles weren’t hit by flying debris, then the beer inside would be perfectly safe to drink and wouldn’t even taste funky, either. So in the event of a nuclear war, we suggest the following procedure: stack all your bottled beer around you to form a makeshift bunker, and sit inside drinking beer until everything’s okay again. Simple!

Froth/Trivia

trivia teasers!

Think you’re a beer expert? Try these ten trivia teasers to see where you really stand.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Which New Zealand craft brewery has been invited to brew for the prestigious JD Wetherspoon International Real Ale Festival? What is the name of the first commercial beer produced by the Behemoth Brewing Company? When will the 13th annual Beervana be held in Wellington? What are the new default closing times for New Zealand on-licences and off-licences? Which New Zealand brewery uses only cans and kegs – no bottles? Which UK cider company has teamed up with Coopers? Which iconic craft beer brand in NSW was recently closed down? Which craft brewers recently announced a new brewery in Victoria? Which US city is regarded as the birthplace of American beer? What percentage of beer sold in Australia in 2010-11 was full strength?

Answers 1 The Yeastie Boys. 2 Chur Pale Ale. 3 22-23 August. 4 On-licence 4am. Off-licence 11pm. 5. Hot Water Brewery (Coromandel). 6 Thatchers. 7 Bluetongue. 8 Two Birds Brewing. 9 Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 10 82.5%.

froth

BEER TALK

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Amber Alert

BEER TALK Style Notes

Dr Chuck Hahn explains the history of Amber Ale, and how he developed his own recipe to create one of Australia’s bestknown beers.

ames Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale is perhaps the most well-known Amber Ale in Australia, but it was not always that way. The origin of Amber Ale dates back to early English brewing heritage so it was logical that this style of ale would be the first brewed by the Malt Shovel Brewery in late 1998 in honour of James Squire, Australia’s first brewer. James Squire would have brewed similar style ales in colonial Australia in the early 1800’s. We looked at his original recipes, and he would have brewed a thick Brown Ale, rich in alcohol, served warm, cloudy and flat. We quickly realised that such a beer style would have been difficult to sell, as the average Australian beer consumer in the late 1990’s was just starting to wake up to the enjoyable pleasures of craft beer with rich roasted malt and generous hop characters. We needed something distinctive in presentation, aroma and flavour, but drinkable and highly satisfying. Amber Ale seemed to satisfy all of that.

english brown ale

The earliest of the English beers were brown in colour. Since they were brewed with malts that were brown and smoky from being kilned over a wood fire, the resultant ales were both brown and smoky. This smoky characteristic was initially a desired character that was only eliminated when malt kilning was switched from wood to coke or coal. However, brown malts have been used in brewing in England for over eight hundred years. The terms Mild and Brown have been used for many years to describe English beers. Since large amounts of brown malt were used in the brewing of Stouts

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and Porters, even these richer brews were also sometimes referred to as Brown Ales. As far back as 1720, due to some Brown Ales and Stouts being considered too heavy, a mixture of aged strong ale, Mild Ale and Stout, which was called three-threads, was mixed up by the publican. This later became known as Porter, as it was demanded by the porters from the London produce markets. These dark beers were consumed mostly in the London area due to the mineral profile of the water being ideally suited for the brewing of dark beers and due to the needs of the labouring class for a heavier, dark beer that provided sustenance and nutrition.

Developing an amber ale

Two styles of Brown Ale developed in England: Southern or London Brown Ale and Northern or Newcastle Brown Ale. The London Brown was dark brown in colour, sweet on the palate with malt sweetness and caramel notes and with low hop character. The Newcastle Brown Ale was an amber reddish brown colour with medium roast notes and medium hop character. This ale seemed highly drinkable and even today ‘Newky Brown” from Scottish and Newcastle Brewery (in the clear bottle) remains one of the top selling bottled ales The late Michael Jackson, AKA The Beer Hunter, inside the Malt Shovel Brewery with Chuck Hahn.

beer talk Amber image courtesy of Wikipaedia

Style Notes

in the UK. We determined that we needed a similar style of ale, but with increased hop character and less sweetness so as to greater refresh the palate for increased drinkability. Both Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale and the classic Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale had further influences on our brewing recipe. A long look at what was available in the USA in 1998 indicated good acceptance of American Brown Ales with the leaders such as Brooklyn Brown Ale, Pete’s Wicked Ale and 90 Shilling Ale from Odells Brewery. However, even more character was evident in New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale with interesting late hop notes. Then and even now, Fat Tire Amber Ale remains the biggest seller from New Belgium Brewing Co. in Colorado. We determined we could brew an acceptable Brown Ale with subtle late hop notes that would satisfy our UK connection, be distinctive in flavour and presentation, and be approachable and drinkable. After a few brewing trials, we released James Squire Original Amber Ale in late 1998 in kegs and in 345ml embossed brown bottles. For the

first five years, we used a body label that had six different stories of the history of James Squire. These labels were collated so that in one six pack, one had a good chance of getting at least four of these stories. Squires Amber Ale remained our biggest seller for the first

from all the mild flavoured and light coloured lagers of the day. These features enabled us as brewers to walk into any pub and immediately determine who were enjoying our ales and to engage them. This was very important in developing our market awareness.

In thIs, they recall the old wassaIlIng tradItIon of cups and punches, possets and syllabubs.” eight years, so the recipe must have been appropriate to lead out the craft beer revolution in Australia. Squires Amber Ale was more amber copper in colour than Coopers Sparkling Ale and much less dark brown than Tooheys Old. It was medium bodied with creamy malt flavours and a slight nutty finish with a citrus edge. Its rich creamy head and distinctive colour set it aside

This robust ale went along with the developing beer and food programs. The rich crystal malt character hooked in well with the caramelised meat flavours and complements them. One of the best matches is lamb chops with mint jelly and Amber Ale. There is no need for a nice Shiraz if Amber Ale is available.

Amber Ale ChArACteristiCs

In most beer competitions, the Amber Ale style comes under the English or American style Brown Ale categories. However, at the GABF, there is a category for American-style Amber/ Red Ale. However, that category specifies much higher hop bitterness (25-45 BU’s) and character than is apparent in the Squires Amber Ale. Most popular categories in these competitions are usually the Pale Ale or the India Pale Ale groups The malt bill for our Amber Ale is similar to those for the English Brown Ales and Mild Ales. Most breweries would use 10-20% crystal malt with the balance being pale malt. In addition, for greater fermentability (and greater drinkability), 10-20% cane sugar might be incorporated into the brew (added at the kettle). Good craft brewing does not necessitate always using 100% malted barley or always using 100% imported malts. We have been extremely satisfied with the quality of malts that we purchase from the local Joe White Malting Company. Our crystal malt comes from Ballarat and our pale and Munich malts from Tamworth.

Pioneering CrAft beer

Hopping is important in order to provide the appropriate balance for the malt sweetness from the crystal malts. Squires Amber Ale uses Super Pride of Ringwood as the bittering hop at the start of boil and Tassie Willamette as the late hop at the end of boil. Willamette is an English Fuggle descendent so we can respect that English heritage as we try to do in most James Squire brews. Willamette hops were originally grown near Portland, Oregon, in the Willamette valley but are now available from Bushy Park in Tasmania. Late hopping with this hop produces a slight grapefruit hop aroma which balances out nicely with the crystal malt sweetness and nuttiness.

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beer talk Style Notes

James Squire Original Amber Ale, now called Squires Nine Tale Amber Ale, pioneered craft beer acceptance across Australia. All of our ingredients were sourced from Australia, and the ale quickly became widely accepted as an authentic link back to colonial brewing with the Squires stories. In 1998/99, we were up against a totally lager dominated beer market; Coopers Ales and Tooheys Old Black Ale were the only ales really available to the tap beer market. Pale Ales were just starting to become popular through the efforts of Little Creatures Brewery in WA and a number of the other smaller craft breweries across the country. Holgate and Mountain Goat released Pale Ales and Brown Ales. The revolution of flavour in craft beers was just beginning, and the Squires brews had a lot to do in getting it started. And in the end, the result is more enjoyment for those beer drinkers that taste and savour those distinctive flavours and aroma.

amber aleS iN auStralia

2 brothers (Vic) Grizz 5.7% badlands (NSW) Mild 3.5% barons (NSW) Black Wattle Original Ale 5.2% beard & brau (Qld) Red Tail 5.1% bootleg (WA) Tom’s Amber Ale 4% brewboys (SA) Maiden Ale 4.9% buckley’s (Vic) Original Ale 4.5% Coldwater Creek (Vic) American Pale Ale 5.1% Dolphin (Vic) Amber Ale 4% endeavour (NSW) Reserve Amber Ale 2013 5.2% forrest (Vic) Amber Ale 4.2% fusion (NSW) Prime 4.9% grumpy’s (SA) Roger And Out 4.3% hawthorn (Vic) Amber Ale 4.7% illawarra (NSW) Rust 5.1% James Squire (NSW) Nine Tails Amber Ale 5% little Creatures (WA) Rogers’ 3.8% mountain goat (Vic) Hightail Ale 4.5% mountain goat (Vic) Rare Breed Fancy Pants Amber Ale 5.2% red Duck (Vic) Amber Ale 4.9% rusty water (Vic) Amber Ale 6% Sail & anchor (WA) Boa’s Bind Amber Ale 5% Savarain (Vic) Amber Ale 4.6% Steamrail (Vic) Lucky Amber Amber Ale 4.5% three troupers (Vic) Amber Ale 4.5% tooborac (Vic) Woodcutters Amber Ale 5.3% two metre tall (Tas) Forester Bitter Amber Ale 5.3% Van Dieman (Tas) Jacobs Ladder 4.2% Zierholz (ACT) Amber Ale 4.9%

A look inside the brewery at the Malt Shovel Brewery, Camperdown, NSW.

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Kiwis growing taste for the amber.

nce famous for our Sparkling Ales, Amber Ales and Porters, the industrialisation of the New Zealand brewing industry saw production switch almost exclusively to lager. Many of these lagers were amber, sweet and drunk very cold. However, craft brewers are increasingly producing balanced, flavoursome Amber Ales showcasing the traditional caramel/chocolate, orange/ tangelo, spicy/grassy notes. The modern benchmark is Mac’s Sassy Red. Created at the now closed Wellington waterfront brewery, Sassy Red dominated its category at the New Zealand Beer Awards for half a decade and is still in production. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Limburg Rosie’s Red which veteran connoisseurs still rave about. Founder’s have been making their Red Head ale for many years from an old recipe. After being bought out by Boundary Road, Red Head has been renamed and repackaged as 1903 Amber Ale though the taste remains the same. Newer craft brewers are embracing the style and putting their own spin on it. Notable examples include the biscuity

beer talk Many of the country’s most famous amber beers are lagers – the ubiquitous New Zealand Draught style. neil miller looks at craft brewers making proper Amber Ales. Raindogs Apothecary Amber Ale, the dark, fruity Golden Eagle Apache Amber and the US-inspired Dale’s American Amber. A collaboration amber ale produced by the Beer

muscular interpretations include the hoppy, tropical fruit Yeastie Boys Hud-a-wa’ Strong, the punchy ParrotDog BloodHound and the big but beautifully balanced 8 Wired Tall Poppy.

...amber ales ... the traditional caramel/chocolate, orange/ tangelo, spicy/grassy notes.” Baroness and Epic Brewing Company, Lady Danger, has proved particularly popular with female drinkers with both the name and flavour finding favour. Reacting to consumer demand for bigger, stronger and often hoppier beers, several brewers have “super-sized” their Amber Ales. These more

Others have gone in the opposite direction, embracing the balance and subtlety that Amber Ales have long been known for. The more mainstream examples include Hawke’s Bay Independent Brewing Amber and Stoke Amber. Ones to look out for include Good George Amber with its bold caramel flavours

style notes

and the sessionable Northend Amber which draws inspiration from what brewer Kieran Haslett-Moore describes as the “much maligned” Mild and “old school” American Amber styles. Scott’s Brewing Company also produces a very rare Gluten Free Amber Ale as part of their core range. Overall, Kiwi Amber Ales are expected to steadily increase in popularity as winter comes and the Pale Ale obsession perhaps finally reaches its peak.

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8 Wired Brewery – www.8wired.co.nz – 50Lt DIN and EURO kegs are available with DB – www.db.co.nz A-Type (flat) or– D-Type (well) valves Garage Project www.garageproject.co.nz Golden Bear Brewing - www. goldenbearbrewing.com/ Hallertau Brew Bar – www.hallertau.co.nz Invercargill Brewery – www. invercargillbrewery.co.nz Liberty Brewing – www.libertybrewing. co.nz/ Moa Brewing – www.moabeer.com Contact our Asia-Pacific Yeastie Boys – www.yeastieboys.co.nz

distributor, Bintani Australia:

T: +61 (0) 3 9580 3566 E: kegs@bintani.com.au

BEER TALK Reader Survey

DRAUGhT BEER –

TRendS

Most people know that draught beer volumes in pubs are on the decline, and have been for some time now, particularly in the UK (down 6.5% year to 2012, British Beer & Pubs Association, UK) and Australia (down 2.2% last three months to January 2014, Barscan), while in the USA draught beer is up 1% over the last 10 years to 2012 (Brewers Association, USA).

Trend # – PremiumisaTion – Consumers are drinking Less and spending more While we are seeing people drinking less beer, they are spending more, thanks to premiumisation, where consumers are trading up from commercial lager to premium international brands, premium local brands and craft beer (both local and imported).

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Craft beer for example attracts a 20% price premium which has led to a 1.6% growth in value in the three months to January 2014, according to Barscan. Draught beer in the UK and Australia makes up nearly 50% of the total beer market, while in the USA it is only 10%. It appears in the USA most beer is consumed at home, with 53% of beer sold via cans and 37% in bottles (Brewers Association USA). Craft beer as a total share of volume is approximately 2% in Australia and 2.5% in the USA. In the UK the category of craft beer has only very recently become apparent, with 8.3% of total beer volume being draught Cask Ale (thereby 18% of total draught beer volume), which could be likened to Craft Beer, as an indication of how consumers appreciate flavour in beer. According to Bart Watson, staff economist at the Brewers Association, Craft Beer in the USA makes up 6.5% of total beer volume to 2012, of which 37.4% is draught, 60.5% is bottles and 2.1% is cans. The draught component equates

CrafT Beer

The category of Craft Beer came from the USA and the Brewers Association define a craft brewer as: Small – 3% of total production, 6 million barrels or less produced per annum, which is equivalent to 715 million litres; Independent – less than 25% owned by a non-craft brewer; and Traditional – a majority of production is beer and uses traditional or innovative ingredients in the brewing and fermentation. The Brewers Association don’t actually define craft beer and there is debate as to what is a craft beer. The size isn’t applicable in Australia given Coopers for example produces around 10% of the stipulated ‘small’

CRAFT BEER IS GROWING AT OVER 20% IN PUBS.” to 2.5% of total beer volume, and 25% of total draught beer volume. Whereas in Australia draught craft beer is approximately 2% of the total beer volume (with total craft being 4% of total beer volume), which is 4% of total draught beer volume (craft is 5% of total value of draught beer, Barscan).If one wanted to speculate on the amount of growth left for craft beer on draught in Australia, it would range from 25% growth (based on USA numbers) to 325% growth (based on UK numbers). Looking at the potential for some venues that specialize in craft beer, while Barscan says the average revenue of craft beer in a venue is 5% of total draught beer revenue, at The Sail & Anchor

beer talk Reader Survey

Craft Beer may best be defined by the use of traditional or innovative ingredients that focus on flavour with the intention to be different to commercial lager. According to Tina Panoutsos, Sensory Manager at CUB, flavour in beer is made up of 40% palate (taste and mouthfeel) and 60% aroma. Craft beer can generally be said its most beer other than commercial lager, as commercial lager: 90% of beer sold in Australia and craft beer is a point of difference to this Focuses on taste and mouthfeel and not aroma May not be using traditional ingredients Production is far greater than craft brewers. If a brewer is not classified as small, or independent, then they may not be a craft brewer per se - however, they can still brew craft beer, provided traditional ingredients and brewing techniques are used. Most craft brewers tend to brew ales, as ales and ale yeast provide a more full-flavoured experience. Also, ales ferment and condition faster, allowing them to be released to market a lot sooner.

tRend # – RepeRtoiRe dRinkeRs – Craft Beer drinkers demand 2-4 different Brands per Month The Grain Store Craft Beer Café, Newcastle (NSW).

a beer specifically for the Sail & Anchor Hotel (WA) as well as redoak (NSW) have one of their beers rebranded as opera Ale at opera Bar (NSW). exCluSIVeS A beer that is exclusively available on draught only, not available in packaged format in bottleshops. Coca-Cola Amatil have a range called Alehouse, which brews different styles of beers only available in draught format so that pubs can choose which beer they sell to match their customer demographics, and providing a point of difference.

PUBS NEED ROTATING TAPS AS CONSUMERS DEMAND 2-4 DIFFERENT BEERS PER MONTH.” of iceberg in relation to venues specialising in craft beer, The Albion Hotel in Newcastle (NSW) is an example worth noting, as they have sold 500 different beers in one year over 2012/13. The Sail & Anchor hotel sells around 200 different beers over a year, from its 43 taps, with only 5-6 taps changed per week.

RegulaR and guest taps

HouSe BeerS These beers can be exclusively brewed for the venue, or rebranded from the brewery to the venue brand, so as to be a regular beer that provides a point of difference. examples include Feral Brewing (WA) brew

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beer talk Reader Survey

TAP TAkeOverS A craze that is very popular at the moment is craft brewers and distributors taking over as many taps as possible in a venue usually for a week. The brewer will usually supply one or two kegs of each of their core range, plus limited releases and may even brew a new beer especially for the tap takeover. These events are great Pr and provide pub customers with the opportunity to taste all the beers from a given brand in the one place at the one time, or over the course of a week. The venue may also run a beer dinner, meet the brewer tasting and other events to tie with the tap takeover.

SeleCTion

There are over 3000 beers available for pubs to sell.

One way some venues decide on selection is as Brad Flowers of craft beer distributor Hops and More (NSW) says, “venues allocate me a tap and say send me 5 or 20 kegs each month of specific brands or whatever you like, as long as it’s new, fresh and interesting”. Flowers confirms the craft beer demand by stating “I can send an email in the middle of the night to venues, informing them of a new release (from a reputable craft beer brand) and within 10-20 minutes my supply is sold out, from venues ordering one keg here and there”.

The average number of taps in a venue is eight. There are over 100 styles of beer, more than 3000 different beers and over 200 beer brands in Australia to choose from. With so much beer available, how do pubs decide on the perfect selection? “Given the top three tap beer brands in The PerfeCT TAP BAnk Mix an average bar of eight taps drive in excess When survey respondents were asked if a of 70% of beer sales, replacing a key seller venue had 10 taps, what beers should be on tap, with a another brand is likely to hinder sales 99% of responses were for Craft Beer (local) and profitability,” says Thomson of Barscan. and 67% for Craft Beer (imported). Therefore Draught Beer Survey “Craft beer has a higher propensity to do well given craft beer drinkers are spread all over in bistros, restaurants bars and general bars the country, every venue should try at least one Q15 If a pub has 10 taps, what should be on compared to public and sports bars”. craft beer tap, and try rotating this tap two to

tap?

lager

Craft Beer Craft beer (Local) (local) Craft Beer Craft beer (Imported) (Imported)

pilsner

Commercial Commercial lager Lager

Golden ale

Premium premium Imported Imported

pale ale

Mid-Strength Mid-Strength australian ale

low alcohol Low Alcohol

India pale ale

no alcohol No Alcohol Cider Cider (Mainstream) (Mainstream)

american pale ale

Cider (Local Cider (local small producer) small producer)

amber ale

Rum Rum

hefeweizen (German)

wine Wine witbier (belgian) Other other

porter or Stout

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

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sw er Choices

Responses

aft Beer (Local)

99.37%

Trend # – Pale Ale is the Most Consumed Style of Craft Beer

Survey respondents were asked what styles of draught beer they drink most at the pubs and collectively Pale Ale dominated the responses, with 37% being for India Pale Ale (IPA) as the most popular sub-style, then 23% for Australian Pale Ale and 12% for American Pale Ale. If a venue is thinking of what craft beer to put on tap, Pale Ale is a good start, or an IPA to be more specific. Bottcher from The Sail & Anchor (WA) says that the trend is not all about Pale Ales. Over the past year he has seen “craft brewers pushing out a lot more Summer Golden Ales… as a step away from big and bold beers and dragging people away from macro lager in a less challenging way”. what Style of dRauGht beeR do you dRInk MoSt at a pub?

If a pub haS 10 tapS, what Should be on tap? Answ ered: 316 Skipped: 59

four times a month to gauge customer feedback on their tastes and preferences. Commercial lager, mainstream cider, small producer cider, mid-strength, low alcohol and premium imported categories of beer and cider also fared well in responses. This makes up the eight taps, if there needed to be a perfect mix, and any additional taps will allow for more craft or other categories of beers the venues customers prefer.

314

beer talk Reader Survey

going stale. This isn’t a good story for the flavour of craft beer as a point of difference to commercial lager. Plus a tap isn’t really paying its way with less than one keg sold per week. If a craft beer isn’t selling one keg per week it is a good indicator to try a different craft beer – however, some would say a craft beer needs a month or more to prove itself in a given venue. Tasting Paddle at The Monk, Fremantle (WA).

InSIghtS InsIght #1

– Consumers Want to try something new, Weekly

survey results:

80% want to try a new beer at the pub 56% would like a free taste of a new beer 40% say tap handles and fonts influence their buying decision 32% visit the pub 1-2 times a week

These results cement the importance of offering customers new beers per month, particularly on a weekly basis, given a third

exCIse tax on 30 lItre kegs If craft beer was packaged in a 30 litre keg the problem of stock turnover is solved, however craft brewers have to pay 40% more excise by volume because the beer is packaged in a container less than 48.5 litres. Peak industry bodies are actively lobbying Treasury, but there is still a lot of work to do on this front to reform the excise structure so that it is levied on volume and ABV only.

glassWare

71% of survey respondents want to drink from glassware that suits the style of beer. Pint glasses (568mL) were the most popular with 40% of responses, followed by Tulip glasses (400mL) with 28% of responses. Obviously as space is a premium venues cannot store multiple beer glass styles however the Pint and Tulip are highly recommended as the minimum to suit all beer styles, with the Pint for session and full strength beers and Tulip for higher cost

80% OF CRAFT BEER DRINKERS WANT TO TRY SOMETHING NEW AT THE PUB, WEEKLY.” of respondents are going to the pub once a week to drink draught beer. Some venues offer tasting paddles so the customer can sample the range, rather than a free “try before you buy”. An example is $10 for four tasters, or $20 for four tasters with four paired tapas dishes.

InsIght # – Craft in Itself Doesn’t Deliver venue Credibility There are many factors in craft beer to ensure customers consume it as the brewer intended. These centre around quality of product, as craft beer doesn’t tend to be pasteurized, or have preservatives added, so it needs to be sold ideally in a week once tapped. This leads to the need to keep the craft beer refrigerated and away from heat and sunlight.

stoCk turnover

Barscan report that only 75% of a 50 litre keg are sold per tap, per venue, per week. This means beer is sitting in the keg, quickly

per serve or ABV beers, thereby increasing the Gross Profit (GP) on price per serve. If a venue is pouring a Strong Belgian Ale with 7-9% ABV in a Pint glass, the price per serve may scare off customers, or lead to faster intoxication. Abbey Ales are typically served in Chalice / Goblet style glasses however as a one size fits all, the Tulip glass gives these beers more elegance and class than a Pint glass. If a sessional Pale Ale is served in a Tulip glass, then the venue is not maximising volume per serve or price per serve, although GP would be higher.

Draught Beer Management and Service helps venue creditability - in this instance not the correct way with hand at top of the glass and tap spout in the beer foam.

PourIng Beer

Credibility in a venue serving craft beer extends to the handling of glassware when pouring the beer. There seems to be a habit of some bar staff to let beer pour into the drip tray before filling up the glass, wasting beer. If the reason is a foamy beer, then a two pour may be needed, or troubleshooting is needed with the glycol, gas, beer system, keg temperature in the cellar and so on. When you see bar staff pouring a beer and holding the glass at the top where your mouth goes, say something. When the tip of the tap spout is dunked into the head of the beer, ask for a re-pour.

staff knoWleDge / servICe / amBIenCe When survey respondents were asked what attributes (listing as many as they liked) are most important to them in a pub, 68% of respondents said Service, 66% said Ambience and 53% said Staff Knowledge. With over 100 styles of craft beer, and over 3000 different beers available, staff need to be well trained and passionate about the specific styles and beers served at the venue.

Beer lInes anD Draught Beer CleanlIness

When beer lines are not cleaned weekly, the beer left in the line will taste stale and sediment from the keg builds up, negatively affecting the flavour. It’s also important to soak deconstructed parts monthly to remove bacteria and keep odorous items such as food and perfume away from semipermeable beer lines as they absorb these odours, affecting the flavour. Replace O-Rings and washers before breaking for preventative maintenance. According to Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director at the Brewers Association (USA), “We are seeing innovation in beer line cleaning, advancement of stainless as the norm - no more brass parts that can corrode and influence flavour - different laws in different states on line cleaning, growlers growing like gangbusters, the beer clean glass rinser (as seen in the Belgian Beer Cafes in Australia) as a common feature of many draught bars and more”.

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BEER TALK Reader Survey

When beer is tapped venues need to ensure the beer is tasted and smelt for quality. It is recommended that the cellarperson and beer buyer undertake taste training from the supplier to understand beer faults and what characteristics these faults have. That way the venue can send back any infected or flawed beer before it is served to the public. A good source of information is How to Brew, by John Palmer.

Storage

It’s important for venues to ask suppliers how has the craft beer been handled from the brewery door in transit to the distributor and in transit again to the venue. It is then important for the venue to store the kegs in cold storage. Brad Flowers from Hops and More is now storing kegs in refrigerated containers within Warehousing and Distribution Services in Auburn, Sydney. In a venue where cold storage for untapped beers is not possible, then it’s imperative the keg is stored in a cool dark place out of direct sunlight.

Tasting Board at Redoak Boutique Beer Café, Sydney (NSW).

at least 2-4 different brands per month either rotating the same tap, or additional taps. Beer Events, Better Food, Promotions Survey respondents want to be given reasons or occasions to visit a pub more often, such as 29% wanting a better food menu and 18% wanting more beer dinners/lunches. A good option is to suggest beer and food pairings on the bistro menu to help/guide customers in beer choice. As mentioned previously, offer a tasting paddle of say four beers, paired with four tapas size dishes for $20. The Redoak Boutique Beer Café in Sydney does this superbly. If a venue’s drinks

GROWLERS HELP PUBS EMBRACE THE HOME DRINKER.”

list has 50 wines and 5 beers (sometimes all lagers), that is an opportunity to embrace craft beer into the venue.Venues getting involved with Craft Beer Weeks is a great way to entice new customers into venues. 31% want more beer of the month promotions, 28% want a Meet the Brewer or Brand Ambassador Tasting Event, 25% want growler sales for takeaway beer.

InnovatIonS InnoVatIon #1 – growlerS: Formats

home ConSumPtIon

It’s interesting to note that only 10% of total beer volume in the USA is draught beer, with most beer being consumed at home or events. If consumers want to drink draught beer at home, then one container that is taking the USA and Australia by storm is Growlers. These tend to be 1.89 - 2 litres in volume, and glass bottles, taking many shaped formats. Growlers help pubs can embrace the home drinker by offering them the ability to buy draught beer from the pub to consume at home. The repertoire drinker looking for 2-4 different brands per month can be catered for, from either an existing tap, or dedicated tap for Growler fills.

exCISe/lICenSeS

InSIght #3 – how to Increase Venue Patronage

In Australia use of Growlers in pubs is only seen in a handful of venues, due to excise

Survey respondents were asked what will make them visit a pub more often. Make Craft Beer More Affordable Surprisingly survey respondents want craft beer to more affordable, when it was thought that craft beer drinkers were happy to pay a premium for more flavour in beer. Not so for a majority unfortunately, which puts more pressure on brewers and/or venues to cut costs or improve economies of scale, which basically needs increased production and sales, leading to a catch 22, if prices are cut now, then the volume is not there to make it possible. Consumers need to demand craft beer at their local pub and thereby help sales grow then economies of scale will help craft beer become more affordable across the board. According to Roger Putman, Editor of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) Brewer & Distiller magazine,“In the UK 60% of drinkers are willing to pay more for quality, although 52% say the price is important.” Improve Selection of Beer (76% Craft Beer) Quite simply a venue can increase its patronage by embracing craft beer and ensuring they start serving craft beer if not already. If already serving craft beer, it’s then a matter of offering

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Growler fill station at Celebrations Carlisle (WA).

Beer Talk Reader Survey

going flat. There are various accessories available and in the pipeline (such as a TapIt Cap in the USA) which turns the Growler into a mini keg to stop oxidation.

requirements. If a venue dispenses beer into a growler from a 30 litre keg, then no excise is payable from the venue as the brewer has already paid the higher rate of excise. But if a venue pours beer into a growler from a 50 litre keg, then as the brewer has paid 40% less excise by volume, then the venue will be the one that pays for the remaining excise. Venues are required to apply for a license to dispense beer into growlers.

innovation # cont’d – Growlers: dispense

Beer JuG?

Growler fill station at Warners at the Bay (NSW).

Bottcher from the Sail & Anchor Hotel (WA) sites one reason for not going ahead with Growlers to-date due to the possibility of customers treating the Growler like a beer jug and ordering it at the discounted price to consume on-premise rather than for takeaway.

home. Bottcher also says that storage is also a reason for not offering Growlers and it’s a matter for management to see the benefits from a retail perspective.

Quality

storaGe/retail

Oxygen is not good for beer quality and is in contact with beer as soon as the beer gets poured into the Growler, unless the beer is overpoured so it spills out of the top, pushing the oxygen out. It comes into contact again every time it’s poured into a glass. It’s best to consume a Growler within 48 hours of purchase to minimise oxidation and the beer

Mark Mead of Warners at the Bay Pub and Bottleshop (NSW) says they don’t offer Growlers at their pub, as they already do at the adjoining bottleshop. Space is a premium in the pub, and they want to keep people inside the pub as much as possible rather than encouraging them to leave via taking a Growler

Pubs may not have a spare tap to offer craft beer and hence fill Growlers, therefore may consider installing a Growler station in a retail space, or at the end of the bar.

innovation # – one way & Keg rentals one way KeGs

Brewers have the challenge of minimizing freighting empty kegs all over the country and venues have the challenge of storing empty kegs while waiting to be picked up and returned to the supplier. One solution is one-way kegs, however the Craft Beer Industry Association (CBIA) issued a statement in January 2014 stating that “most steel kegs have maximum operating pressures of 415 to 500kpa, however, plastic kegs and some other one way kegs have

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The Hoperandus at the Wig and Pen Tavern & Brewery (ACT).

Reader Survey

maximum working pressures of 300 to 350kpa. Most Australian beer systems are designed to have 400kpa pressure relief valves to protect the keg from exploding.” “The CBIA strongly recommends setting gas pressure relief systems at 300kpa. This reduced gas pressure relief will enable any keg type to dispense and will ensure that pressure relief will occur at or before maximum working pressure.”

innovation #3 – aLteRnative Dispense options With the biggest challenge of craft brewers in pubs being getting their beer on tap, due to pubs not having available taps to offer, one solution is for brewers to purchase standalone draught beer systems to essentially buy themselves a tap in a pub, costing around $750-$3000 each. These smartDRAFT units come from Brewtique, and are ideal for venues with limited space which can be treated like an espresso machine, which can sit on the edge of the bar, next to the cash register, or on the bar top as a beer on promotion, and even to dispense growlers, or for beer sales representatives to use for sampling to potential pub customers.

Hopinator, such as infusing a cider with fresh slices of apples. Aussie Beer Tubes are the suppliers of these beer tubes, which are also being used for premixed cocktails (party tubes) and other beverages. Cask Ale is seeing a resurgence in Australia as draught beer in pubs, requiring a beer engine to dispense the beer via hand pump. This beer requires a cellarman with experience in secondary fermentation to look after the beer prior being served to the public.

One Of the mOst visually pleasing dispense innOvatiOns is the hOpinatOr.” Keg Leasing

Bintani have opened a Keg Leasing division to allow brewers to lease kegs over a one, two or three year term, to allow them to better afford a fleet of stainless steel kegs from Germany manufacturer FRANKE. This way a more realistic quantity of kegs can be used by the brewer. “It is very difficult to approximate as there are many variables however it is common that for every local tap serving their beer, the craft brewer will need 4 to 6 kegs as a minimum,” says Phil Meddings of Bintani. “This will increase where the venue’s turnover is high and where the distribution lead time is long.”

Keg RentaLs

One innovation that helps venues remove empty kegs from their venues is the Kegstar model, which has a distribution deal with Bevchain who already have an established logistics network set up in picking up kegs for the major brewers. Kegstar has an App and 1300 number for venues to call, when kegs are ready to be picked up. The brewers pay a cost-per-keg for a given period of time. This model is used in the USA.

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innovation #3 cont’D Dispense options – Hopinator’s, Beer tubes, Beer engines – aLteRnative

One of the most visually pleasing dispense innovations is the Hopinator, also known as a Randall, Glasshopper or Hoperandus. This is not a new innovation, having been pioneered by Richard Watkins, about 10 years ago, now Head Brewer at Bentspoke Brewing in Canberra. The Hopinator allows beer to flow through it on its way to the tap, infusing the beer with whatever ingredients the brewer or publican decides to put in the vessel! The picture provided shows truffles, cumquats and much more infused into a beer sitting on the bar at the Wig and Pen Tavern & Brewery (ACT). Beer Tubes are a fairly new innovation in Australia, over the last three years, acting like a glorified beer jug, about 3 litres volume, filling at the bar and taking it to the customers table for the guests to pour themselves. They provide a great opportunity to treat them like a

SuMMARy Consumers are drinking less, but spending more – more on craft beer, premium local and premium imported Craft Beer is growing at 20% in pubs Craft Beer Consumers are located all over Australia Craft Beer Drinkers demand 2-4 different brands on tap per month. RefeRenceS:

Aztec. Barscan. Beer & Brewer magazine Draught Beer Reader Survey Results, February/March 2014. 400 responses received. Beer Institute, USA. Brewers Association, USA. British Beer & Pub Association, UK. craft Beer Industry Association (CBIA). Institute of Brewing & Distilling, UK. national Measurement Institute, Australian Government.

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30/03/201

cider English Cider

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enGlish

Cider

James Adams looks at the history of English Cider and the differing styles and types giving consumers more choice than ever.

he production of cider in England is said to be steeped in rich heritage and history. It is believed the Norman Conquest of 1066 revolutionised apple growing in England with the introduction of cider making. The Normans introduced new apple varieties and cider making techniques, which the English studied and mastered. By 1230, records show that cider presses were being used as a source of income, and in 1275 cider was being sold to the public. In the 14th Century, children were baptised in cider due to it being so much cleaner than water. It has also been documented that Captain Cook requested cider on board his ship to help prevent his crew succumbing

The London Eye.

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to scurvy. During the 17th Century, cider popularity grew rapidly, overtaking wine as drink of choice amongst royalty and gentry, and by the 18th Century cider was being used as wages for thirsty farm workers. Ciders popularity was at an all-time high during the mid 1800’s, with vast planting’s of cider apples throughout Somerset, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Devon. Sparkling cider was also developed during this period, with even famous French Champagne producer Dom Perignon learning the art of bottle carbonation. At the turn of the century, cider was being approached more scientifically, with research into grafting apples and efficient production techniques but its popularity and quality declined. During the 20th century, cider made a miraculous comeback, with popularity surging again especially from 1970 onwards. The thirst for highly mass produced, industrial cider was to kick start the industry once again. Today cider popularity in England is rivalling its ales, with the larger brands, but also smaller Farmhouse cider producers once again rising in popularity and respect. Of all apples growing in England today, 45 per cent are used for cider with over 365 cider apple varieties used, and over 6 million hectolitres produced annually.

The GianTs

England is home to some of the largest brands of cider in the world, who are mass produced and distributed worldwide. These larger brands somewhat typify the perception of modern English cider, and many are produced with large quantities of Chinese concentrate – not English apples. Brewing giant Heineken currently owns five of the top ten UK cider brands in terms of revenue in the UK. One brand in Heineken’s portfolio which is considered the global heavy hitter of cider is Strongbow which was first produced by Bulmers in 1970. Strongbow which is considered the ‘classic’ English

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The Old Spot Inn, Dursley, UK.

label currently holds a staggering unbeaten 32 per cent market share in the UK, and 15 per cent globally. Bulmers was first produced in 1887 in the county of Herefordshire, West England. Today, the Bulmers brand owned by Heineken is one of the world’s largest, and is responsible for also producing the Scrumpy Jacks and Woodpecker brands. Strongbow and Bulmers are currently brewed under licence and distributed in Australian by Carlton and United Breweries, and also now produce a fruit cider range. Gaymers Cider first produced in 1770, is considered the second largest cider brand in the UK. In 2009, Gaymers was bought by Irish company C & C Group PLC and now crush 30,000 tonnes of apples annually out of their Shepton Mallet facility in Somerset. The Gaymers brand has 3/03/2014 AM recently begun to be imported and11:59 distributed into Australia by Barcardi-Lion, with their new flavoured cider range.

The independenTs

Although England is awash with mass produced industrial cider, larger yet still independent cider producers are still flourishing. Thatchers, based at Sandford in Somerset was established in 1904. Today Thatchers pride themselves on the fact they use real English apples and pears, processing approximately 25,000 tonnes per year. With a capacity to ferment up to one million litres, the brand is continually growing. So much so, independent South Australian brewer Coopers are now be bottling and kegging Thatchers Gold cider in Australia for local distribution. Westons founded in 1878, is another independent cider producer, hailing out of Much Marcle in Herefordshire. Westons produce a vast array of cider styles and are

cider English Cider

currently imported and distributed into Australia by World Brands Australia who are owned by H.Westons and Sons Ltd. To put thing to perspective, Westons only holds approximately 3.4 per cent of the UK cider share, compared to Strongbow’s 32 per cent as stated. This demonstrates the grand scale of market share larger, mass produced cider holds in the UK. Finally, we can’t forget the true cider custodians who are the farm producers of traditionally made cider. Scattered throughout the western and south western countryside, small cider makers who produce only smaller amounts of Cider and Perry compared to the big giants, master their craft in old wood

More traditional English cider made by independent and boutique producers in the West Country of England instinctively and skilfully retain the essence of the apple. Only 100 per cent cider apples with varieties such as the Kingston Black, Michelin, Yarlington Mill, Bulmers Norman and Somerset Red Streak are used. Traditional production techniques such as wild fermentation, barrel aging, keeving, natural settling and natural carbonation are carried out to produce a cider with extreme depth of rich flavour, darker colour, fuller mouth feel, texture and complexity. Although many of these ciders are filtered bright, they still retain such purity and authenticity with alcohol levels ranging from 5 to 8 per cent. Scrumpy is the true quintessential English cider. Made in the counties of Somerset,

Of all applEs grOwing in England tOday, 45 pEr CEnt arE usEd fOr CidEr... ” barns in historic oak casks. Typically labelled ‘Farmhouse’, these ciders are traditional, authentic, handmade and almost never consistent year by year. Although rarely available in Australia, such producers consist of Gwatkins, Oliver’s, Burrow Hill, Hogan and Once Upon A Tree. With an influx of foreign ciders labels from giant companies such as Stella who produce the Stella Cidre, Carlsberg - Somersby Cider and Molson-Coors - Carling Cider, cider integrity and authenticity is in danger of becoming a lost art in England. It is these smaller English brands who are trying to keep cider honest and true.

Herefordshire, Devon and Gloucestershire, this style is made to be raw and rustic yet show large levels of complexity and traditionalism. Scrumpy can be made with either apples or perry pears and characteristically contains large tannins, very high alcohols, a cloudy appearance and no carbonation. This style is vastly different to more commercial cider, but is a style for the true cider lover and mostly produced by smaller boutique makers.

English CidEr CharaCtEristiCs So what can you expect from an English cider? Most use traditional cider apples which fall into four categories of sweet, bittersweet, sharp and bittersharp. These categories all have various levels of tannins and acidity, and are skilfully blended together by the Cider Maker. More mainstream English cider, such as Strongbow is generally filtered bright, artificially sweetened and carbonated with a typical alcohol of around 5 to 6 per cent. Very little in terms of depth of flavour, texture and authenticity is seen in this style of cider as dessert apples are most commonly used. Being mass produced means the cider goes through large industrial processes such as filtration, pasteurisation, use of preservatives and rehydration of concentrate to keep up with demand. In the end, the quality and originality of the cider is lost, but the purpose built drinkability and appeal is enough to keep many consumers continually drinking these very accessible ciders.

The source of all that cidery goodness... Apples.

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Cider English Cider

Ready to be turned into cider. Yum!

Perry

Coming from Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, traditional Perry is also made in England using Perry Pears such as Blakeney Red, Gin and Yellow Huffcap. Traditional Perry, which is made with the same techniques as apple cider is rich, juicy,

With the lack of Perry pears, these new wave ‘Pear Ciders’ lack the charm and personality of traditional Perry but again, possess high levels of drinkability. English cider has definitely had its share of up’s and downs over its long and celebrated history. The differing styles and types are

ScrumPy iS the true quinteSSential engliSh cider. ” Distributors delicate, often a little sweet and quite tannic. However, Perry Pears are in very short supply due to a decline of popularity over 70 years ago, resulting in a large Perry pear orchard pull. Today, Perry’s sales in the UK only equate to around 5.5 per cent of cider, but its popularity is currently climbing fast once again. Like apple cider, the large producers are making lifeless concentrate or dessert pear examples targeted towards female consumers.

giving consumers more choice than ever. With the popularity of cider skyrocketing in Australia, be prepared to see more English styled cider hit our shores in the near future. Traditional English styled cider is also being produced very well, albeit by only a select few producers, in Australia and New Zealand too. This trend will continue to grow in years to come as more cider apples are planted and become available. The Old Brewery, Greenwich.

World brands Australia – www.wbaustralia.com.au The beer and Cider Company –www.beerandcider.com.au bacardi-Lion – www.bacardilion.com.au Phoenix beers – www.phoenixbeers.com.au Coopers – www.coopers.com.au beer importers and Distributors – www.bidbeer.com Carlton and united breweries – www.cub.com.au

AustrALiAn/nZ/EngLish CiDEr MAkErs small Acres Cyder – www.smallacrescyder.com.au Daylesford Cider Company – www.daylesfordcider.com.au henry of harcourt – www.henrycider.com red sails Cider – www.redsails.com.au Wilmot hills – www.wilmothills.com Zeffer (nZ) – www.zeffer.co.nz Peckhams Cider (nZ) – www.peckhams.co.nz

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It’s a Rye smIle Tasmania’s full of quiet achievers, and Peter Bignell’s list of achievements is breathtaking – not least of which is his aged rye whisky. By Gregor Stronach.

Peter in the rye with like surprises – his whisky. I really, really do. So it was something of a pleasant shock when I discovered that Peter Bignell, a true Renaissance man from Kempton, Tasmania, had very quietly released his first batch of aged rye whisky from Belgrove Distillery. Peter’s story is an interesting one – a committed environmentalist, he travels about the place collecting used cooking oil from a handful of local café’s, which he turns into biodiesel to run the Belgrove farm. Everything from his vehicles, to his home power and central heating – and even the 500-litre copper still – is enviro-friendly. In fact, even the still is something quite unique. Modelled on one of Bill Lark’s early stills, Peter built it himself. Keeping with his vision of sustainable practices, the next thing that sets Peter’s whisky apart from the rest is that it is a complete paddock to barrel operation. All of the rye used to make the whisky is grown, malted, milled, mashed, fermented and distilled right there on the farm. The only other Australian whisky maker doing that is down the road a spell at Redlands – and between them, they are two of only three (that I can remember) paddock to barrel producers in the world. The whisky is made using 100% rye, which will make it a lot dryer than most of the North American rye’s you might be familiar with, which often use corn in the recipe to sweeten the mix, giving it a more bourbon-like flavour. While it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the legend of the man behind the whisky, the proof – of course – is in the pudding. And right off the bat, I reckon it’s safe to say that Peter’s rye whisky is among the best I’ve ever tasted. From the bottle, it’s a wonderful pale gold colour, with an immediately familiar rich, grassy aroma that speaks volumes about the rye it contains. Beyond the grassiness, there are some really interesting herbaceous top notes, that for the next few passes remain tantalisingly difficult to pin down – the closest I could come was that it was like a bouquet of the fresh herbs used in pickling, but all with the wonderful earthiness that comes from freshly crushed leaves. On the palate, it really is smooth – almost deceptively so. The initial burst of heat tempers very quickly, giving way to an excitingly dry combination of black bread and herbs, with a slightly peppery note towards the end of a good, strong finish. Peter Bignell’s life has been about bucking trends, and by taking on the challenge of producing a rye in a marketplace dominated by malt whisky, he’s certainly set himself another challenge – but it’s one that he’s risen to strongly, and I reckon his rye whisky is a real winner.

Whisky News

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With the US craft beer scene going positively nuts over beer in cans, and a resurgence in popularity of the humble Aussie “tinny”, Gregor Stronach takes a look at canning...

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A freshly packed pallet of cans at the Australian Brewery & Hotel, NSW

o have a tinnie at the end of a day’s work is about as Australian as you can get – and for the past few generations, those tinnies have been ubiquitous. All the major brewers around the country have been packaging their beer in both glass and aluminium for decades – and the sight of an esky full to the brim with ice cold cans of beer is recognised as one of the greatest sights on earth on a summer’s day. In recent years, though, the humble aluminium can has started to make its way

make sense to put that beer into a container that would alter the flavour. Yes, there are some beers from around the world that might have had their flavour improved somewhat… but let’s not dwell on that for too long, shall we? Besides – beer had been put into glass bottles for centuries, so why mess with a good thing? It wasn’t until the boffins came up with a proper, impermeable coating for the cans that beer in a tin really took off. By reducing the metallic tinge, the beer became more palatable.

cLoser to hoMe, And the List of crAft beers in cAns is very short – but growing.” beyond the sole domain of the big brewers, and enter the craftier end of the market as well. I recall a number of raised eyebrows when Mountain Goat debuted its first brew in a tin, and it seems like it’s likely to catch on even further than that. But the humble tinnie – as Aussie as it is – doesn’t have its roots in Australia. To understand it, we need to look back to the 1930s, and look to a company called American Can to find the origins.

A brief history.

When American Can debuted its patented Vinylite product – which was the plastic stuff used to line the inside of a can to stop the liquid seeping out, and stop the metal tainting the product inside as well – it was a stroke of absolute genius, except that it didn’t work very well. For decades, whenever beer was put into a can, the beer came out the far end of the process with a distinct metallic tinge. And for anyone who loved their beer, it simply didn’t

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The major players in the US all took to canning their beers, and the rest is history.

the “Modern” erA

Fast forward to the early 2000s, when craft beer was surging in the US. By then, Australian drinkers were well used to the idea of getting their beer in a can, thanks to the major producers opting to provide consumers with the choice of buying their beer in a bottle or in a can. And, for the most part, consumers couldn’t tell the difference between them at a flavour level. But it wasn’t until more recently that the smaller breweries started to look at canning as an option – and a second canning surge began in the US. Indeed, according to “The only canned beer database on the web” at www.craftcans.com, there are some 1406 craft beers, representing 94 different styles from 390 brewers currently available in cans in the United States. Everything from the South Dakota-based Crow Peak Brewing Co 11th Hour IPA to Florida’s 7venth Sun brewery’s Wolfman’s

Berliner is listed on the site… and that database bears witness to the popularity of craft beer in a can in the United States. But closer to home, and the list of craft beers in cans is very short – but growing. One of the first cabs off the rank in terms of craft beer in cans came from Coopers – Dr Tim’s Traditional Ale, which emerged in 2004. Developed by Managing Director and Head Brewer, Dr Tim Cooper, it is the product of a lengthy period of experimentation that saw the Coopers team produce a speciallydesigned vessel that would allow for secondary fermentation in the can itself. It also meant that Coopers had to breed a new strain of yeast – one that provided the right amount of conditioning without giving off too much carbon dioxide, lest the structural integrity of the can give way. That was followed by another brew from the Coopers team, Coopers Clear – a low-carb, American Pale Lager style beer that was made available in “Euro-sleek” 355ml cans. At the time, Glenn Cooper said “We see Coopers Clear as the next generation in Coopers products. We are excited to offer something that is new, yet will remain with Coopers’ tradition of quality, allowing us to cater for a broader range of drinkers.” Coopers Light and Coopers Mild Ale are all available in cans as well.

LeAding the chArge…

In late 2013, Mountain Goat Beer caused a bit of a stir when it released its first brew in a can, the Summer Ale. To many, it was the first ‘real’ craft beer in a can in Australia, and it was an instant sensation. At the time, the team at Mountain Goat explained that they had been looking at getting at least one of their beers into a can for a few years before biting the bullet, and pushing ahead with the plan. They approached Independent Distillers, the whollyowned subsidiary of Japanese brewing giant Asahi, and had the beer brewed onsite and put through the phenomenally large

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COVER Canning

canning line at the Laverton plant. The canning line at Laverton is a far cry from anything that a smaller brewery could ever hope to afford – it’s a multi-million dollar system that is used to can everything from beer, to RTDs and soft drinks, churning out a mind-numbing 1000 cans every minute – and on a round-theclock operation like that one, we’re looking at nearly 1.5 million cans in a 24 hour period. The success of the Mountain Goat Summer

The liTTle Big guys

Putting beer in a can has a tendency to be a polarising topic of debate. When the decision for Malt Shovel Brewery to can its Golden Ale – which, at the time, was only available on Qantas flights where bottled beer wasn’t an option – head brewer Chuck Hahn told Beer & Brewer that he still firmly believed that “all craft beer should always be placed into bottles — and brown bottles at that”. “Cans just don’t carry that premium image that we would always seek for our beers,” Chuck continued. “Though a number of craft brewers in the USA are going all cans and are

neAl wAs posiTively evAngelisTic ABouT puTTing his Brewery’s Beer inTo cAns.” Ale in a can has led the team to announce that a second canned beer has been launched under the Mountain Goat label – the Fancy Pants Amber Ale. It’s been canned in the same 375ml format aluminium packaging that the Summer Ale used to get to market. The canning line in full swing at the Australian Brewery & Hotel

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attempting to change that ‘less than premium’ image that cans seem to carry.” That was in 2010, and since then James Squire Golden Ale in cans was made briefly available to the public, but has since been discontinued.

The AusTrAliAn Brewery

Stepping forward to 2013, and we saw a major investment from The Australian Brewery, where head brewer Neal Cameron had made the decision to put a canning line in – making his brewery the first microbrewery in Australia to have its own line. The system in place at The Australian Brewery was supplied by Cask, based in Calgary, Canada. When I visited Neal Cameron’s operation in north-western Sydney, Neal was positively evangelistic about putting his brewery’s beer into cans – largely on the basis that canning his beers removed two of the major obstacles for palatability and longevity: light, and oxygen. The light component – specifically UV light – is hugely problematic for beers. When the UV light passes through a beer, it sets off a reaction in the hop and sulphur compounds in the bottle. I’m reliably informed that the energy from the UV light effects the acids, transforming them into 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. For those of us who aren’t scientists, the light makes the beer stink and taste funny – hence the term ‘skunked’. The oxygen issue occurs when a beer is exposed to too much oxygen post-packaging – which can happen during the bottling process. This leads to oxidation, which in turn leads to the beer going very stale, very quickly. The result can be disastrous for the brewery, and for

Let’s be honest Australia, as a country you’re doing OK. And us Kiwis are smart enough to know that we’d do OK if we’re over here with you guys, who to be fair, were actually doing OK without us. We love Melbourne, we love Perth, we love Sydney and there’s so many of us up in Brisbane the state slogan is now “Queensland, beautiful one day, over run with Kiwis the next”. In fact the only place we’re not sold on is Canberra, which is probably why your government there spent three million dollars on New Zealand television asking “Where the bloody hell are ya?” Which we never got to see as we were already living in Bondi. Luckily, becoming Australian is not that difficult for us either. We all grew up with Scott and Charlene, we know the correct procedure for eating a Tim Tam, most of us can tell you who the original singer for Acca Dacca was and everyone over the age of 30 knows the answer to the question ”David Boon. Sydney to London. How many?” Our Prime Ministers pretend to like each other too, which is nice, and best of all we can get on the dole straight away.

Sure, there’s some parts of Australian culture we can’t quite get our heads around. Burt Newton is a complete mystery to us, we can’t tell who’s a Skip and who isn’t, and have a suspicion that Kath and Kim is actually a documentary series. But generally we’re happy to be here, and generally most of you accept us, even though the line “Welcome to Australia, we’re glad you’re here and so are the sheep back in New Zealand” does wear a bit thin after a while. There are some things from home we miss though and unsurprisingly decent beer is one of them. Thankfully one of our most famous exports is Moa Beer. Moa Beer is to us what Vegemite is to you guys except you’re not allowed to give it to kids - and most Kiwis have a few bottles of it hidden somewhere. We enter it in all the beer competitions around the world and it keeps winning medals (so other beer companies get a bit dark whenever Moa is mentioned) but best of all it’s now available over here in Australia. Well, actually it’s been here for a while but we’ve only just got around to telling you because sometimes us Kiwis aren’t very good at getting our act together. But you probably already knew that anyway.

BOTTLE FILLING

COVER Canning

Mornington Peninsula

The most recent entrant to the canning line story is Mornington Peninsula Brewery, where the team has recently installed a brand-new unit to handle releasing a selection of their

of filling around 27 cans per minute, which works out to be about a pallet of beer every hour. Matt says the brewery went with a 330ml can - developed with the assistance of Visy - for a couple of reasons - the main one being that a 330ml can is about the same volume as most of the bottled craft beer on offer. At the time of writing, two complete canning runs had been done - with every drop selling out in under two weeks. The canning system at Mornington Peninsula Brewery is scalable, with the option of bolting on additional pairs of filler heads - which would lead to an increase in The business end of a Meheen aluminium volume. However, Matt points bottling line US craft brewer Base out that while the brewery has Camp uses a system from Meheen Manufacturing for nine different beers on offer filling 22oz aluminium bottles supplied by Exal in its core range, it is highly wanting to serve beer in cans – they will unlikely that we’ll see more NOVEMBER THE CANMAKER © 2013 Sayers Publishing Group probably always prefer to have their beer in 45 than a handful of those ever bottles for the table.” finding their way into a can. “We are the second microbrewery in Australia to put in our own canning line, and the Cons of Canning we’re very proud of the fact that we’re helping Of course, wherever you have an upside to lead the industry,” Matt says. “We’re to an issue, there are some downsides. The receiving great feedback about the beer canning line at The Australian Brewery can especially in terms of people who like to attend push through around 3500 litres of beer in a events, or go camping… places where glass solid day’s work – about a third of the volume bottles aren’t allowed, or where canned beer is of some bottling lines. The canning line at Mornington Peninsula Brewery is a bit faster, capable of around 4300 litres of beer in an eight-hour work day. Compare that to a modern bottling line, and there is a big difference. For a microbreweryscale bottling line, like the one installed at the Mildura Brewery, it’s not uncommon to see up to 3000 bottles coming off the line every hour. Time concerns aside, perhaps the biggest preferable to glass. Cans are easier to transport, issue is the packaging itself. For a beer can they’re easier to dispose of and they are 100 to be branded, it needs to be printed – and percent recyclable.” printing a shipment of beer cans is a massive However, Matt agrees that beer in cans isn’t investment. going to mean that craft beer will no longer The economy of scale that needs to be be sold in bottles. “There is still, obviously, overcome is the hardest part, Matt Bebe says. going to be a market for craft beer in bottles. The minimum order for printed aluminium At the very least, I can’t see restaurants cans – i.e., cans adorned with the brewery logo, the name of the beer and all of the other legally required information – is 100,000. It’s a huge investment, and one of the factors that has traditionally kept smaller breweries out of the canned beer market. Neal Cameron agrees. When we visited his brewery, he said pretty much the same thing. At that phase of his set up, Neal was using plain cans, creatively packaged into four-packs to allow consumers to find the beer that they wanted. Since that time, Neal has invested in having the cans printed and branded, with four distinct products coming to market in the slimline, 355ml cans – three beers, and the Australian Brewery Fresh Press Cider. ●

we believe that there are a lot of PeoPle who won’t Move away froM drinking Canned beer.” brews in cans. Matt Bebe - Managing Director, Mornington Peninsula Brewery, explains their decision to put in their own canning line as a conscious decision to take a risk, but one that will hopefully pay dividends in raising the profile of craft beer in Australia. “We saw the US beer market is flourishing with cans over there, and figured that it was working well in the US for a reason,” Matt says. “But the other big reason we went with a can for our Pale Ale is that we believe that there are a lot of people who won’t move away from drinking canned beer… which means that they are unlikely to try a craft beer.” It wasn’t a decision that was made lightly, and it took the shareholders in the brewery some time to agree before the team at Mornington Peninsula approached Wild Goose Canning, based in Boulder Colorado, to purchase the line. The Wild Goose Canning setup in the Mornington Peninsula Brewery is a relatively simple two-head filler system, which is capable

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US craft brewer Base Camp is packaging its beers in aluminium bottles as it believes they offer clear advantages over glass. Tom Woerndl reports

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the consumer – if you’ve ever had a crook beer, you’ll know why. Neal pointed out that the canning line in place at his brewery reduces both of those factors to virtually nil, ensuring that the precious cargo inside the can will be fresher for a lot longer, and can survive better during transportation as well, when external temperatures might otherwise not be optimal. Neal was also quick to point out that the savings in terms of packaging when using cans was quite impressive. Where an empty glass bottle will weigh roughly 210g, an empty aluminium can tips the scales at a very modest 16g. That alone tallies up to a 42% saving in weight and materials for packaging the beer – which in turn ends up saving the brewery a nice chunk of change in storage and distribution costs.

Base Camp for bottles

raft brewers in the US are embracing metal packaging: whether it be the big players like Boston Beer Company, which launched the ‘Sam Can’ for its flagship Samuel Adams brand earlier this year (The Canmaker, October 2013), or pioneers in the segment, such as Colorado-based Oskar Blues, which has used metal packaging exclusively for its single-serve products since 2002. One of the latest US craft brewers to fill its beers into metal packaging is Portland, Oregon-based Base Camp Brewing. But, instead of focusing on cans, the company is packaging its brews in 22oz impact-extruded aluminium bottles supplied by Exal. “The decision to use aluminium bottles was an easy one,” explains Justin Fay, brewmaster and owner at Base Camp. “They are just by far a better package than glass bottles in every aspect. Also, they fit in our backpacks for adventures!” Having opened the brewery in November 2012, Fay estimates Base Camp will brew about 3,000 hectolitres in its first year. “We are a production brewery with an emphasis on lager beers,” he says. “We have a four vessel 28hl brewhouse, a number of vertical cylindroconical fermenters and a number of horizontal layering vessels.” To bottle its beers, the company uses a filling and capping system from fellow US company Meheen Manufacturing, which is based about three hours drive away in Pasco, Washington. The counter-pressure filling system, which is called Merlin, is the brainchild of Dave Meheen, president of the packaging machinery supplier. “A key benefit of this system is that it offers three filling modes: Evac/Purge, Purge or Double Evac,” explains Meheen. “This gives brewers or beverage companies a good deal of flexibility. “In addition, the machine is relatively low-cost compared to our competitors, is powered by compressed air, which eliminates conveyors, motors, drives, bearings and other wear and maintenance components, has a small footprint of 36 by 60 inches, and is set on casters so that it can be moved on the production floor.” According to Meheen, the filling machine is also completely computer automated, allowing an operator to connect directly to the dispensing tank, eliminating the need for a pressure bowl found on other counter-pressure machines. Patented ‘long tube’ technology is additionally said to reduce turbulence and exposure to the internal atmosphere while filling. The Evac/Purge system at Base Camp operates at about 30 bottles per minute, filling three of the company’s beers: In-

The Cider side of Things

Female, natural and gorgeous.

Obviously, it’s not just beer that has been arriving in cans in recent times – and The Australian Brewery is also packaging its Fresh Press Cider in cans as well, making use of the canning line they have installed in the premises. Cider in cans is not quite as contentious as beers in cans – yet there are still only a handful of players in the cider market that are canning their product. South Australian-based Three Oaks Cider has had its Original variant available in a 375mL can since 2011 – targeting the picnic, BBQ and festival crowds specifically. Another cidermaker to get on the canning bandwagon is Coldstream. Based in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, their cider is on the market in 330mL cans as well.

Wrapping up

As always in the beer industry, the rumour mill is working overtime – and at the time of writing, we have unconfirmed reports of at least three of Australia’s craft brewers looking seriously at releasing a canned product before the end of 2014. Whether they are going to be packaged under license, or the breweries are going to go the whole hog and install their own canning line remains to be seen – but the gut feeling we have is that Australia won’t be lagging too far behind the United States brewing scene for too much longer, and that we’ll be seeing many, many more of our favourite beers appearing in cans in the coming years. ColleCtibles One of the things that many Australians love about beer in cans is the collectibility of the end product – and there are some truly amazing beer can collections around Australia. One of the largest belongs to a chap by the name of Des Whelband, whose Ipswich home is the stuff of legend among beer can collectors – largely due to the fact that he’s got close to 10,000 cans. Des started his collection almost by accident, some 34 years ago – and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. And while most of Des’ collection consists of international beer cans, it’s not because he likes them more… it’s just that Australian beer cans don’t tend to change too much, and we don’t do the kind of special edition cans that are the bread and butter of a collector. Avid can collector Des Whelband with a handful of his collection.

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COVER Canning

A number of brands are now opting for aluminium bottles.

However, with more brewers looking to cans, the future of the can collectors of Australia is looking like it might be a whole lot brighter – and a lot more Aussie as well. AluMiNiuM Bottles With aluminium cans becoming a craze in Australia & New Zealand, there is another option for brewers to consider when looking at aluminium packaging - aluminium bottles. Andrew Larsen, local agent for Meheen Manufacturing (USA), currently supplies the largest number of glass bottle packaging lines in Australia, and now offer brewers a packaging line that accommodates aluminium bottles – which Larsen says is as a big a craze worldwide as is currently for cans. “From a packaging point of view, the beauty of the bottle is it takes brewers a lot less time to get a crown seal cap on the aluminium bottle, than the lid of an aluminium can, therefore reducing dissolved oxygen (DO) in the product, giving a better quality packed product,” he said. For more information on aluminium bottles, head to www.meheen.com the “No GlAss” poliCy Anyone that’s been to any sort of festival in recent times will probably have noticed that a ‘no glass’ policy is pretty much the norm, right across the board. That, of course, has led to a number of beers turning up in cans specifically to assist in getting beers and ciders into the hands of festival-goers around the country. The ground-breaking Meheen aluminium bottling setup.

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But it’s not just festivals that enforce a no-glass policy. Many campgrounds or other recreational areas are declaring themselves ‘no glass zones’ – which means that most of Australia’s craft beers simply aren’t available on-site. Similarly, many workplaces are very strict about glass on the premises – and nowhere is this more evident than in the mining industry in Western Australia. With a huge fly-in, fly-out workforce, and an understandable thirst for beer at the end of a day in the mines, the industry has enforced a very strict ‘no glass’ policy. That was one of the major motivating factors for WA brewery Matso’s to repackage its ginger beer into 330mL cans, paving the way for its products to get into the hands of the miners who were after something different from the usual tinned lagers.

2014

A small but growing number of New Zealand craft brewers are selling their beers in cans. Neil Miller examines the revitalisation of canned beer.

he third largest brewery in New Zealand, Independent, started canning some of their Boundary Road range in mid2013 following a “Blind Taste Test” campaign designed to “knock down can naysayers.” Traditionally, most craft brewers had chosen bottles over cans, usually because of cost (packaging and plant) and, frankly, perceptions about the quality of canned beer. However, the Sawmill brewery in Leigh was canning all their products way before it was fashionable. In 2004 their brewery was churning out four packs of canned beer aimed at trampers and holidaymakers. They subsequently switched dramatically to swing top bottle before bringing back silver cans for Sawmill Pilsner late last year. The only Kiwi brewery to use only cans – no bottles – is Hot Water Brewing in the picturesque Coromandel. Owner and brewer Dave Kurth says he is “all about cans and they are all I’m going to use.” His passion started at Maui Brewing (Hawaii) when they were beginning to can. “I love cans because they are light, transportable and a good environmental choice. They are a better package for taking beer to the things I like to do, like go to the beach or go out fishing,” Kurth explains.

BEER TALK

Hot Water also sells six packs using an innovative, reusable holder from America. Kurth says it is “much better than the old seagull killers, means the cans can go straight into ice or the chilly bin, and we don’t need extra cardboard packaging.” The only downside of cans he sees is that some local bars and cafes have “turned down cans as not being ‘cool enough.’” Wellington’s Garage Project has released eight of their beers in cans but founder Jos Ruffell says “if we knew starting up what we knew now, we would have probably bought a canning machine over a bottling machine. It’s an elegantly simple process.” Ruffell notes they have always been very interested in canning, particularly after several great drinking experiences in the States. “Cans make very good sense - no chance of light strike, can

be recycled to a higher degree and we can fit more beer on a pallet,” says Ruffell. “Plus they look great, you get a different sensory experience and there is something fun about them.” After investing in a new canning plant, Ruffell says Garage Project is “committing pretty heavily to cans – it will be our standard. Personally, I believe 2014 will be the year of the can in Australia and New Zealand.” The trend is steadily growing. Moa Brewing are producing aluminium bottles for Air NZ flights and will begin canning shortly. Christchurch’s Three Boys Brewery has also invested in a new canning system while Harrington’s plan for a huge canning system in their new brewery has unfortunately been delayed. More brewers are expressing an interest. Andrew Childs from Behemoth Brewing Company has just released his first bottled beer but says canning is already a goal.

“Cans keep the beer better and cool down quicker. They are lighter, environmentally friendly and just look cooler. Cans are the whole package,” Childs says.

NZ Breweries

Boundary road www.boundaryroadbrewery.co.nz Garage Project Brewery www.garageproject.co.nz Hot water Brewing www.hotwaterbrewingco.com Moa Brewing - www.moabeer.com sawmill Brewery - www. sawmillcafe.co.nz/brewery.html Three Boys www.threeboysbrewery.co.nz

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M A N U FACT U RE D TO AU ST R A LI A N STA N DA RDS

Could Be THe Year of THe CaN iN

Canning

Traveller Weekend Away

This issue, we take to the streets of Sydney to explore the rapidly expanding world of beer in Australia’s most famous city. Words by Sadhbh Warren and Gregor Stronach.

ou’d think four tonnes of beer would be enough. But in September 1768, just a month after the Endeavour set sail for Sydney, Captain Cook’s vessel was nearly dry. He noted, “Served wine to the ship’s company, the beer being all expended to two casks which I wanted to keep some time longer.” Sydney seems determined to ensure the beer never runs out again. The city’s passion for brewing is as inexhaustible as it seems inescapable when you realise the sheer scale that even quite a small sampling of local The iconic Lord Nelson Hotel and Brewery in The Rocks

breweries will get to. But, with planning, it’s possible to design a visit that samples Sydney’s many delights and many of its brews. Start where the city started, in The Rocks. This is the oldest part of Sydney; originally a warren of laneways where criminality and debauchery would abound. These days, the criminality has gone – although a glance at some of the prices may make you think otherwise – but up-market debauchery remains with many restaurants and bars serving up sumptuous indulgences. The Rocks is home to some of Sydney’s most noted attractions: the weekend markets, the Sydney Observatory and the infamous but expensive bridge climb. If your budget or vertigo won’t allow for that, an alternative is the nearby Pylon Lookout, which gets a family of four almost as high over The Rocks for less than $30. The Rocks has it all: shopping, eating, culture and, of course, lots and lots of beer.

LorDs, BoxErs aND ButchErs

A natural starting point for beer historians is The Rocks’ oldest licensed hotel and Australia’s oldest brew-pub, Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. This stately pub combines colonial grandeur with a no-nonsense attitude to serving up great beer. You can contemplate the fermenting brews through the glass walls before requesting some of the finished

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product through the taps. The Lord brews six mainstay Ales, including the Quayle Ale, a cracking Summer Ale that’s perfect for the warmer months. Try not to get too Three Sheeted yourself, however, for this is just the first stop in The Rocks. Down the road is the Belgian Beer Café – Heritage and the excellent Harts Pub. This cosy but contemporary heritage-listed pub is the spiritual home of Rocks Brewing Co, which now has a brand-new facility in Alexandria. The new brewery bar in Alexandria offers up a great selection of American-style cuisine, matched to the range of beers produced on-site in the brewery. Rocks Brewing kegged its first brew, an Irish style Red Ale called The Boxer, in September 2008 and, according to director Mark Fethers, it was no quick process. “It took 16 versions to get it quite right, unlike our Porter, The Butcher, which took two versions. We knew exactly what we were after for the Porter, which definitely helps!”

The firsT beer – or was iT?

It’s doubtful that Sydney’s first colonists enjoyed such salubrious treats or excellent selection of beer. If you decide on a Casual outdoor dining at The Australian Heritage Hotel at the Rocks.

The Australian Heritage Hotel image courtesy of Tony Yeastes; Tourism NSW.

sYDNEY

traveller xxxxx

Sydney photo Courtesy of Hamilton Lund,; Tourism NSW

Weekend Away xxxxxxxxx

hear tunes from some of Sydney’s rock elite as they bring their vinyl collection in to keep the punters amused. Also in Enmore, tucked away in a tiny industrial estate, is the home of Young Henrys. It’s a working brewery with a handful of long tables nestled up to a bar, where tastings, pints and growlers are on offer. It can be a bit difficult to find, but it’s worth the hunt to try Richard Adamson and the rest of the YH crew’s core and seasonal ranges. The upstairs bar at Hart’s Pub, The Rocks.

postprandial stroll (or, realistically, waddle) swing through the Domain and the Botanic Gardens. You’ll find free outdoor events in the area in summer, from Opera in the Domain to Tropfest, but the gardens are well worth visiting all year round. And you’re still not that far from a beer. Watch out for the plaque near the Rose Garden Pavilion that marks the spot where John Boston is claimed to have brewed Sydney’s first beer in 1796. We say ‘claimed’ because while Boston is heralded as establishing Australia’s first licensed brewery in 1795, called Boston’s Mill, James Squire is Australia’s first known brewer, brewing as early as 1789, and selling beer to NSW Corps from 1793. There’s no doubt that Squire’s name is more recognisable, thanks to the Malt Shovel Brewery, which immortalised his chickenstealing, lothario lifestyle with a range of excellent beers. Malt Shovel also makes seasonal brews under the aptly-named Mad Brewers label, such as the 2014 release, Garden de Paradisi, which is available along with other Malt Shovel brews at the brewers’ recommended venue, the Marly Bar in Newtown. If you’re out that way. Be sure to start sampling some of the best new venues to hit the inner west, as Sydney’s small bar scene starts to get cracking. Principle among those are the Hive Bar in Erskineville, which offers up a relaxed and super-friendly environment, alongside a great beer list and superb cocktails, as well as great food. Sunday afternoons are the best time to go, for a post-weekend wind-down. For something a little more raucous, try Mary’s in Newtown. A converted two-story warehouse space, it’s the go-to place in the inner west for the best burgers in town, and a proper selection of local craft beers – including the unmistakable offerings from Young Henry’s. Try the Mary Burger with a Young Henry’s Newtowner – and don’t forget your big beards and trucker caps. Also in Newtown very worthy of a visit is the craft beer mecca The Union Hotel, and craft beer restaurant Bloodwood. Down the road towards Enmore is the Midnight Special, a tiny place with a big heart. Jostle up to the bar among the very friendly locals, or get lucky and snag a small booth to sample a really good beer list, and

Inside the Malt Shovel Brewery, Camperdown.

The CenTre of Town

Closer to the Sydney CBD is the almost-too-hip suburb of Surry Hills, home to some of Sydney’s best beer pubs and bars. A Mecca for chaps who like their beards long and their beers unique is the Royal Albert Hotel, the site of frequent tap takeovers from some of Australia’s most interesting breweries. It’s also known for its food, with a burger bar inside and a phenomenal dumpling restaurant out the back. Get there early – it fills up quickly most nights of the week. Down the street and around a few corners, and you’ll find the Wild Rover, one of the most exciting new venues in Sydney. Creatively inspired to be a place of comfort, and staffed by experienced and passionate people who really know their craft, it’s a must-do for anyone seeking out a brilliant beer list, or something unusual from the whisky roster. The house-made sausage rolls are to die for. Across the centre of town is Redoak Boutique Beer Café, Australia’s most awarded brewery – and home to the 2013 Brewer of the Year, David Hollyoak. It brews more than 40 premium beers, including a magnificent IPA and David’s All Day Breakfast, brewed with a special ingredient: Weetbix! Redoak runs beer-appreciation classes, serving a four-course degustation with six

matching beers. The team in the kitchen isn’t afraid to push the envelope on what food goes with a brew or even contains a brew. The kitchen is open for lunch from Mondays to Saturdays and beer-appreciation classes are held on the first Saturday of the month ($85 per person). Bookings essential. Across the street from Redoak is The Baxter Inn, a recreated speakeasy-style whisky joint with hundreds of whiskies to choose from. There are absolutely no signs outside the venue at all – but it’s not hard to find. Just look for the streams of people walking into or out of an otherwise unmarked tunnel between two buildings near Redoak. Another of Sydney’s CBD basement joints is Grandma’s, an unashamedly kitsch little place that serves up a great range of ‘new

Brewers at Young Henrys, Newtown.

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traveller Weekend Away

A Beer worth the BoAt trip

world’ themed cocktails, with a heavy lean towards island culture and – of course – rum. For the real night owls, the centre of Sydney is now a bit of a ghost town, with 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks – but the place to be when the lockout hits is Frankie’s Pizza, on Hunter Street. Walk through the doors, and it’s wall-to-wall young folk in a pizza shop. Walk through the door by the counter and it’s a craft beer and top-shelf liquor joint, with cranking music, pinball machines and frequent VIP visitors. Down on King Street Wharf, the King Street Brewhouse serves 17 local craft and imported beers on tap, and excellent food, making this one of the most pleasant outdoor venues in Sydney. Nearby, in Darling Harbour, The Pumphouse stocks more than 100 local and imported beers, plus its own house beers, including the tasty Thunderbolt Strong Ale. From the city, it’s a short hop out towards the iconic SCG – a trip that will conveniently deliver you at the front door of the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst, which boasts 20 beer taps with a changing selection and some great grub. They’re the perfect spots for post-game analysis after visiting the SCG or SFS. The King Street Brewhouse.

www.beerandbrewer.com

If it’s a typical Sydney experience you want, you’ll need to get out on the harbour. There are plenty of options for visitors: take a cruise, catch the ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo, or to Manly – a very popular destination since the first ferry ran in 1855. Manly is known for surfing and beaches, but even if the weather isn’t warm, it’s still worth the ferry trip. You can fill your stomach at the Manly Food and Wine Festival in June, or fill your ears at the Manly Jazz Festival in October. And all year round you’ll find it worthwhile visiting the Bavarian Beer Café (one of seven venues across Sydney) or the 4 Pines Brewery. Just minutes from the wharf, 4 Pines has rapidly become a local favourite with its tasty menu, cosy atmosphere and regular live entertainment. Out in the suburbs to the west of Sydney, in Parramatta you’ll find Riverside Brewing with a cellar door open 2-6pm Fridays and 12-4pm Saturdays to taste their flavoursome range via Growler fills or tastings. At the famous Paddy’s Markets in Flemington you’ll find Paddy’s A lunch and a pint at 4 Pines, Manly. Brewery. Try Paddy’s Award Winning Pilsner, or take on the Fat Arsed Bastard. It’s well worth the trip out, but if you’re worried that you may not want to leave, Paddy’s even does accommodation. In Rouse Hill you’ll find the Australian Hotel & Brewery, which opened in 2009 with the aim of providing both great beers and a spot to socialise. The Australian’s best offerings are the Extra Hoppy Ale and the Pale Ale – although all of the AB’s seasonal brews are worth hunting down. Whether you’re in Sydney to find a good beer, or you’re a local, you’re in for a treat – the growth of the scene in Pulling steins at the Sydney has been phenomenal, and it’s Bavarian Beer Cafe only getting better.

Inside the Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill.

www.skinnyblonde.com.au Doctor’s Orders Brewing www.doctorsordersbrewing.com Fusion Brewing www.fusionbrewing.com.au

LINKS

Photography from Hamilton Lund; Tourism NSW, Mark Chipperfield (select images).

4 Pines – www.4pinesbeer.com.au Ekim Brewing Co AustrAliAn Hotel & Brewery www.ekimbrewing.com.au – www.australianbrewery.com.au BAvAriAn Bier CAfé – www.bavarianbiercafe.com Endeavour True Vintage Beer tHe BAxter inn – www.thebaxterinn.com www.endeavourbeer.com frAnkie’s PizzA – www.frankiespizzabytheslice.com Happy Goblin Brewery GrAndmA’s BAr – www.grandmasbarsydney.com.au 11/1 Marina Cl, Mt Kuringai HArts PuB – www.hartspub.com www.happygoblin.com.au HeritAGe BelGiAn Beer CAfé - www.heritagebarandrestaurant.com.au Harts Pub (Rocks Brewing Co.) tHe Hive BAr – www.thehivebar.com.au 176 Cumberland St, The Rocks kinG street BrewHouse (02) 9251 6030 – www.kingstbrewhouse.com.au www.hartspub.com tHe loCAl tAPHouse – www.thelocal.com.au/syd/ tHe lord nelson BreweryJohn Hotel Boston Premium Beverages www.johnboston.com.au - www.lordnelsonbrewery.com mAlt sHovel Brewery – www.jamessquire.com.au Malt Shovel Brewery tHe midniGHt sPeCiAl (James Squire and Mad Brewers) – www.themidnightspecial.com.au Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Camperdown PAddy’s Brewery – www.marketshotel.com.au (02) 9519 3579 tHe PumPHouse – www.pumphousebar.com.au www.malt-shovel.com.au redoAk Boutique Beer CAfé – www.redoak.com.au roCks BrewinG Co – www.rocksbrewing.com riverside BrewinG Co – www.riversidebrewing.com younG Henrys newtown Brewery – www.younghenrys.com

www.lion-nathan.com.au

St Arnou www.st-arnou.com.au

Underground Brewing Gottie’s Woodfired Pizzeria and Restaurant Erskine Park Shopping Centre Swallow Drive, Erskine Park (02) 9670 1800

St Peters Brewery 15 May St, St Peters (02) 9519 0191

traveller Weekend Away

HAPPy GOBLIN BREWERy Mona Vale

Rouse Hill THE AUSTRALIAN HOTEL & BREWERy Hornsby

Pymble

Baulkham Hills Blacktown

Beacon Hill

Epping Chatswood

RiveRside BRewing CO

Parramatta

TOOHEyS BREWERy PADDy’S BREWERy

Liverpool

Bankstown

Manly 4 PINES BREWING COMPANy

Mosman North Sydney THE LORD NELSON BREWERy HOTEL HARTS PUB Concord (ROCkS BREWING CO.) BOUTIqUE SyDNEy REDOAkBEER CAFé Leichhardt MALT SHOVEL SCHWARTz BREWERy BREWERy HOTEL Bondi Marrickville ST PETERS BREWERy Coogee

Bexley

Head brewer Dave Padden at Riverside Brewing.

49 Bridge Road Brewers

NSW_Sydney_FINAL.indd 49

Brewery/Beer/Dining/Accommodation 7/9/2011 10:21:29 P The Old Coach House, Ford St, Beechworth Ph: 03 5728 2703 www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au Open 7 days from 11am

Holgate Brewhouse Brewery, Bar, Restaurant & Boutique Accommodation Ph: (03) 5427 2510 www.holgatebrewhouse.com Open 7 Days

Mountain Goat Brewery 80 North Street, Richmond Tel: (03) 9428 1180 www.goatbeer.com.au Tours: Wed 5-8pm. Open: Fri 5-12am

The 3 Ravens Brewing Company

1 Theobald St. Thornbury Direct to Public Sales (mob: 0438 RAVENS) www.3ravens.com.au Open Fridays from 2pm

Bellarine Brewing Company

2270 Portarlington Road, Bellarine Ph: (03) 5259 3310 www.bellarinebrewingcompany.com.au Daily 11am – 4pm (Cellar Door / Tastings) Brewery Tours by appointment

White Rabbit Brewery

In the line up of craft beers, Victorian brewers are making some of Australia’s, and the world’s, best brews. As a matter of national pride, support your local brewer and hunt down a real craft beer.

316 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville Ph: (03) 5962 6516 www.whiterabbitbeer.com.au Open 11am-5pm 7 days Fridays till 9pm

www.beerandbrewer.com Victorian Craft Beer Real Beer from Real Brewers

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY 1 Wig and Pen, CBD 2 Zierholz, Fyshwick 3 U-Brew It (BC) 1842 Beer, Fyshwick NEW SOUTH WALES 1 Lion-Nathan, Tooheys, Lidcombe 2 Lord Nelson, The Rocks 3 Scharer’s, Picton (BC) 4 Malt Shovel, Camperdown 5 Old Goulburn Brewery 6 Ironbark, Tamworth 7 St Peters Brewery 8 Paddy’s, Flemington 9 Bluetongue, Warnervale 10 Hunter Beer Co., Nulkaba 11 Redoak, CBD 12 King St Brewhouse 13 Dennis Beer Co, Newcastle 14 Brew Pack, Smeaton Grange 15 Sydney Brewhouse, CBD 16 Murray’s, Port Stephens 17 Illawarra Brewing Co, North Wollongong 18 Happy Goblin, Mt Kuringai 19 William Bull, Bilbul 20 Little Brewing Co, The, Port Macquarie 22 Mudgee Brewing Co. 23 Infusion Bar & Bistro 24 Stone & Wood, Byron Bay 25 4 Pines, Manly 26 Byron Bay Premium Brewery 27 Dalgety Brewing Company, Dalgety 28 Mountain Ridge Brewery, Shoalhaven Heads 29 Australian Hotel & Brewery Rouse Hill 30 Kosciuszko Brewing Company, Jindabyne 31 Fishrock Brewery, Mittagong 32 U-Brew It, Tweed Heads 33 U-Brew It, West Gosford 34 U-Brew It , Wollongong 35 U-Brew It, Wyong 36 U-Brew It, Hunter 37 The Beer Factory, Seven Hills 38 The Beer Factory, Wollongong 39 Thirsty Crow, Wagga Wagga 40 Black Duck Brewery, Herons Creek 42 Underground Brewing, Erskine Park 43 Badlands Brewery (BC) 44 Rocks Brewing Co, Harts Pub, The Rocks 45 Bluetongue Brewery Café, Pokolbin 46 Murray’s At Manly 47 Riverside Brewing Co, Parramatta 48 Young Henrys, Newtown 49 Casella Brewery, Griffith 50 Hop Dog Beer Works, South Nowra 51 Brewpack, Smeaton 52 Central Ranges Brewing Company 53 Steel River Brewery 54 The Beer Shed 55 Pickled Pig Brewery, Tweed Heads 56 Rebel Ant, Tamworth 57 Fish River Valley Brewing, Bathurst 58 Six String Brewing Co, Erina 59 The Grifter, Newtown 60 Willie the Boatman, Tempe (BC) Dennis Beer Co (BC) Wayward Brewing Co (BC) Mad Koala Brewery (BC) Doctor’s Orders Brewing (BC) Balmain Brewing Company (BC) Snowy Mountains Brewery (BC) Fusion Brewing (BC) Brewtopia (BC) Bowral Brewing Company (BC) Barons Brewing Company (BC) Brothers Ink (BC) Longboard Brewing Company (BC) Lovells (BC) Endeavour True Vintage Beer (BC) Ekim Brewing Co. (BC) Koala Beer/Burragumbilli (BC) St Arnou (BC) Dad & Dave’s Brewing QUEENSLAND 1 Castlemaine Perkins (Lion), Milton 2 CUB, Yatala 3 Sunshine Coast, Kunda Park 4 International Hotel 5 The Brewery, Townsville 6 Burleigh Brewing Co. 7 Blue Sky, Cairns 8 Mt Tamborine Brewing Co. 9 Brewhouse Brisbane, Woolloongabba 10 Castle Glen Brewery 11 U-Brew It, Varsity Lakes 12 U-Brew It, Portsmith 13 U-Brew It, Warana 14 U-Brew It, Nerang

N E W

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Z E A L A N D

Brew By U, Underwood Brew By U, Brendale Brew By U, Labrodoor Brew By U, Clontarf Brew By U, Townsville Brew4U, Boondall Brew4U, Wacol Brew4U, Deception Bay Brew4U, Toowoomba Brew4U, Woolloongabba Brew4U, Cleveland 4 Hearts Brewing, Ipswich Bacchus Brewing Co., Capalaba 29 Granite Belt Brewery 30 Spring Hill Craft Brewery 31 Green Beacon 32 Red Bay, Cleveland 33 BrewBake, Woombye (BC) Norfolk Island Brewing Company SOUTH AUSTRALIA 1 Coopers, Regency Park 2 Lion Nathan, Southwark 3 Port Dock, Port Adelaide 4 Grumpy’s Brewhaus, Verdun 5 Holdfast Hotel, Glenelg 6 Smiling Samoyed Brewery, Myponga 7 Barossa Brewing, Greenock 8 Gulf Brewery, Hackham 9 Knappstein Enterprise, Clare 10 Steam Exchange, Goolwa 11 Campus Brewery, Regency Park TAFE 12 Lobethal Bierhaus 13 Woolshed Brewery Renmark 14 Brewboys Croydon Park 15 McLaren Vale Beer Company, Willunga 16 Goodieson Brewery McLaren Vale 17 Beard & Brau 19 Boars Rock Winery 20 Pikes Beer Company 21 Pepperjack of Barossa 22 U-Brew It, Parra Hills 23 U Brew Here, Lonsdale 24 Barossa Valley Brewing, Lyndoch 26 Clare Valley Brewing Co 27 Myponga Brewery 28 South Australian Brewing Co 29 Thorogoods Cider 30 Prancing Pony, Adelaide Hills 31 Ekhidna, McLaren Vale 32 Baxters Boutique Brewery, Adelaide (BC) Swell Brewing Company (BC) Boar’s Rock Beer (BC) Swanky Beer (BC) Island Brew TASMANIA 1 Cascade, South Hobart 2 James Boag’s, Launceston 3 Moorilla, Berridale 4 Two Metre Tall, New Norfolk 5 Iron House, White Sands Estate 6 Seven Sheds, Railton 7 Van Dieman Brewing, Evandale 8 Tavener’s Brewery Launceston 9 The Squires Bounty 10 Morrison Brewery 11 Taverner’s Boutique Brewery 12 Wineglass Bay Brewing (BC) Tasmanian Chilli Beer Company VICTORIA 1 CUB, Abbotsford 2 Grand Ridge, Mirboo North 3 Southern Bay, Moolap 5 Buffalo Brewery, Boorham 6 Holgate Brewhouse, Woodend 7 Jamieson Brewery, Jamieson 8 James Squire Brewhouse, Portland Hotel, CBD 9 Ballarat University Brewery 11 Buckley’s Beers, Healesville 12 Independent Distillers, Laverton 13 Three Ravens, Thornbury 14 Lone Hand, Cassilis 15 Mildura Theatre Brewery 16 Mountain Goat, Richmond 18 Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth 19 Red Hill Brewery 20 Bright Brewery 21 O’Briens Brewery, Ballarat 22 2 Brothers, Moorabbin 23 Otway Estate, Barongarook 24 Coldstream Brewery, Coldstream (BC) The Flying Horse, Warrnambool 27 Sweetwater, Mt Beauty 28 White Rabbit, Healesville 29 Savaraln Brewery, Sale 31 Tooborac Hotel, Heathcote 32 Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company, Yarra Glen 33 True South, Black Rock

NATIONAL/REGIONAL BREWERY

BREW PUB

BREW ON PREMISE

(BC)

Coldwater Creek Tavern & Microbrewery, Doveton 36 Hickinbotham Winery and Brewery 37 Red Duck, Camperdown 38 Avonmore Estate 39 Bellarine Brewing Co, Bellarine 41 Harcourt Valley Brewing Company (BC) 42 U-Brew It, Keilor Park 43 U-Brew It, Wodonga 44 The Brew Barn 45 Brew 4 U, Geelong South 46 Barleycorn Brewers, Oakleigh 47 Forrest Brewing, Forrest 48 Kooinda Boutique Brewery 49 Mornington Peninsula Brewery, Mornington 50 Thunder Road Brewing Co, Brunswick 51 Bullant Brewery, Bruthan 52 Moon Dog, Abbortsford 53 True Brew 54 Matilda Bay Port Melbourne Brewery 55 Temple Brewery & Brasserie, Brunswick 56 Dolphin Brewery, Daylesford 57 Black Heart Brewery, Brighton 58 Cavalier Brewery, Brunswick 59 Black Dog Brewery, Taminick 60 Beechworth Brewery 61 Beechworth Cider 62 Boynton’s Brewing Company 63 Mount Markey Winery and Microbrewery 64 Napoleone & Co, Coldstream 65 Rusty Water Brewery 66 Wooden Spoon Brewing 67 Two Wives Brewery, Bellarine 68 Napoleone Brewers, Yarra Valley 69 The Public Brewery, Croydon (BC) Sideshow Brewers (BC) Purrumbete Brewing Company (BC) King Valley Brewery (BC) Broo Bee (BC) Three Troupers Brewery (BC) Hawthorn Brewing Company (BC) Boatrocker Brewing Company (BC) PI55 Brew Company (BC) Effen Enterprises (BC) Sundance Brewing International (BC) Two Birds Brewing, Melbourne WESTERN AUSTRALIA 3 Last Drop, Canning Vale 4 Bootleg Brewery, Wilyabrup 5 Matso’s, Broome 6 Bush Shack, Yallingup 7 Little Creatures, Fremantle 8 Edith Cowan University 9 Feral, Baskerville 10 Ironbark, Caversham 11 Blackwood Valley & The Cidery, Bridgetown 12 Colonial, Margaret River 13 Elmar’s, Henley Brook 14 Gage Roads, Palmyra 16 Tanglehead, Albany 17 Occy’s, Vasse 18 Mash, Henley Brook 19 Indian Ocean, Mindarie 20 Cowaramup Brewing, Cowaramup 21 Billabong, Myaree 22 The Monk, Fremantle 23 Wild Bull Brewery, Ferguson 24 Brew 42, Allanson 25 Duckstein, Wilyabrup 26 The Old Brewery, Perth 27 Mash, Bunbury 28 Old Coast Road, Myalup 29 Duckstein Brewery, Swan Valley 30 Blacksalt Brewery North Fremantle 32 Moody Cow Brewery Ferguson Valley 34 U-Brew It, Canningvale 35 U-Brew It, Joondalup 37 U-Brew It, Midvale 39 U-Brew It, Rockingham 40 U-Brew It, Webberton 41 Brews R Us, Greenwood 42 Eagle Bay Brewing Co, Eagle Bay 43 Brew ‘N’ Bottle 45 The Grove Vineyard Brewery, Willyabrup 46 Boston Brewery 47 Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery, Margaret River 48 Beaten Track Brewery, Boulder 49 Cape Bouvard Winery and Brewery 50 Denmark Brews & Ales 51 Elephant Rock Cidery 52 Margaret River Ale Company 53 Old Swan Brewery

MICROBREWERY BREWING COMPANY

54 The Generous Squire 55 Nail Brewing Company NEW ZEALAND NORTH ISLAND 1.1 Lion-Nathan, Auckland 1.2 DB, Waitemata, Auckland 1.3 Steam Brewing, Auckland 1.4 Independent, Auckland 1.5 Hallertau, Auckland 1.6 Galbraith’s Alehouse, Auckland 3 Roosters Brew House, Hastings 4.1 Croucher, Rotorua 5 Waiheke Island Microbrewery 6 Sawmill, Leigh 7 Brewhaus Frings, Whangerei 8 Sunshine Brewery, Gisborne 9 The Filter Room, Hawkes Bay, Napier 11 Peak, Masterton 13 DB, Tui, Mangatainoka 14 Tuatara, Waikanae 15 Mike’s Organic Brewery, Urenui 16 Aoteoroa, Kawerau 17 Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui 19 Coromandal Brewing Company 20 Rogue Brewery, Taupo 21 Kaimai Brewing Company, Mount Manganui, Tauranga (BC) 22 Scott’s Brewing 23 Cassels & Sons, Christchurch 24 St Katherines Brewing, Auckland (BC) 25 Epic Brewing Company, Auckland (BC) 26 Island Bay Brewing, Wellington (BC) 27 BREW, Rotorua (BC) 28 Shunters Yard Brewing, Matangi (BC) 30 Zeelandt Brewery (BC) 31 Garage Project 32 Kereru Brewing Company 33 Fork and Brewer 34 Deep Creek 35 The Brewery Britomart 36 Dallow’s at Sale Street 37 ParrotDog 39 Shakespeare Tavern 40 Good George Brewing, Hamilton 41 Fat Monk Brewing Company, Hastings (BC) Liberty Brewing Company, Karaka, New Plymouth (BC) Yeastie Boys (BC) 666 Brewing, Auckland (BC) Bennett’s Beer (BC) Ben Middlemiss Brewing Co, Auckland (BC) Valkyrie Brewing Co, Auckland NEW ZEALAND SOUTH ISLAND 1.1 The Twisted Hop, Christchurch 1.2 Wigram, Christchurch 1.3 Matson’s, Christchurch 1.4 Harrington’s, Christchurch 1.5 Three Boys, Christchurch 2.1 Lion-Nathan, Speights 2.2 Emerson, Dunedin 2.3 Green Man, Dunedin 2.4 McDuff’s, Dunedin 2.5 Meenans, Dunedin 3.1 Founders, Nelson 3.2 Nelson Bays Brewery 3.3 Lighthouse, Nelson 4.1 Moa, Blenheim 4.2 Renaissance, Blenheim 4.3 Pink Elephant, Blenheim 5 Kaiapoi Brewing Co. 6 Brew Moon, Amberley 7 DB, Mainland 8 Invercargill Brewery 9 Dux de Lux, Queenstown 10 Wanaka Beerworks 11 DB, Monteith’s, Greymouth 12 West Coast, Westport 13 Mussel Inn, Onekaka 14 Arrow Brewing Company, Arrowtown 15 Townshend Brewery, Upper Moutere 16 Golden Bear Brewing 17 Monkey Wizard Brewery 18 Totara Brewing Co. 19 Sprig & Fern Brewery, Richmond 20 McCashin’s Brewery 21 Green Fern Brewery 22 Boundary Road Brewery, Red Hill 23 8 Wired, Blenheim (BC) 24 Dead Good Beers (BC) 25 Ad Lib Brewing 26 Twisted Hop 27 Four Avenues Brewing Company, Christchurch (BC) Golden Ticket Brewing, Christchurch (BC) AdLib Brewing, Christchurch

LEGEND

A U S T R A L I A

BROOME

NO TER

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 35

13 10

TRIGG

BAYSWATER

COTTESLOE CANNINGTON 14 21

41 9 8 PERTH 54 53 18 29 56 30 34 3 FREMANTLE 19

49 39 28

22 1

24 16 46 50

ALBANY

BUNBURY

27 52 43 6 23 17 45 32 4 47 25 MARAGRET 42

RIVER

AUGUSTA

LOOKING FOR A BREWERY’S CONTACT DETAILS? REFER TO THE BREWING DIRECTORY IN THE CLASSIFIEDS SECTION OF THE MAGAZINE Makers of memorable, endlessly recyclable glass packaging. www.glassislife.com

7 12 CAIRNS

MAYNE

QUEENSLAND

ORTHERN

5 19 TOWNSVILLE

BALMORAL

PADDINGTON

RRITORY

1 29

HORNSBY

WOOLLOONGABBA

9 37

MANLY 46 25

PARRAMATTA 47

15 2 11 48 60 41 59 44 4 12

BANKSTOWN

33 3 14 2218 16 30 20 27

3 23

SOUTH

CRONULLA

AUSTRALIA

25 32BRISBANE 2 15 17 8 21 14 26 GOLD COAST 11 6 55 32 24 27

9 29 26 20 19 17 28 7 32 27 30 31 6 8 22 10

ADELAIDE

NEW EW SOUTH WALESS 43

20 6

22 52

57 7

54 17 31 17 34 5 51 38 28 50

CANBERRA 39

VICTORIA

5 18 27 43 38 59 40 58 41 50 66 7 20 60 63 21 53 54631 55 11 28 61 14 62 56 9 24 32 64 68 42 3 69 2 29 44 39 52 23 51 37 45 67 36 19 65 47

AUCKLAND

30 27

13 16

5 6 10 11 8 2 7

22 34

1 3 9

GREYMOUTH5

TASMANIA

WANAKA

KAIAPOI 1.1 25 1.3 26 27 23 1.2 1.4 1.5

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

14 37 WELLINGTON 26 13 17 16 20 3.2 3.1 BLENHEIM 15 3.3 NELSON 19 24 MALBOUROUGH 18 4.1 23 4.3 4.2 WESTPORT 12 21 11 6

DANDENONG

49 CLARENDON

3 30

MANAWATU 9 HASTINGS 33 PAHIATUA PALMERSTON 13 NORTH UPPER HUTT TAKAKA 31 11

23 15

TARANAKI

BIRDWOOD

6 39 1.1 5 BAY OF PLENTY 1.4 23 1.5 3635 1.2 1.3 17 1.6 24 22 25 40 20 21 16 27 8 4.1 28 GISBORNE 15

CROYDON

4 33

WHANAGAREI WARKWORTH 19 WAIHEKE ISLAND 34

NAPIER

SALISBURY

14 1 2

NORTH ISLAND

12 21

FYSHWICK

CAPITAL HILL

SYDNEY

MELBOURNE

45 10 13 16 58 9 53 36 NEWCASTLE 18 3335

2.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.1

QUEENSTOWN

TIMARU

DUNEDIN

14 8

INVERCARGILL CRYER MALT

Cryer Malt Australia www.cryermalt.com.au

www.nzhops.co.nz

Wholesale Ingredient Suppliers, www.bintani.com.au

www.nzhops.co.nz

www.hopco.com.au

Brewery Insurance Specialists www.breowan.com www.midlandinsurance.com.au

STUART ISLAND

SOUTH ISLAND

TRaveLLeR xxxxx

It’s like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Brewery xxxxxxxxx Tour

Japanese robots and beer We all knew it would happen one day – robots have taken over a brewery. Gregor Stronach investigates.

t’s not often that a brewery can reduce even the staunchest man to a wide-eyed child, filled with a sense of awe and wonder. But a recent trip down to Melbourne to have a poke around the Laverton headquarters of Asahi Premium Beverages was enough to leave me shaking my head in amazement. The first thing that struck me was the sheer scale of the operation. The phrase ‘industrial scale’ barely does this place any justice at all. It is absolutely massive – and just when I thought

I’d seen it all, the tour would turn a corner and there was even more space, filled to the ceiling with crates and crates of drinks – or, even better, some of the most high-tech bottling, canning and kegging equipment known to man. The brewery, where a number of beers – including the newly-acquired Cricketers Arms brand – is overseen by master brewer Dermot O’Donnell, who has been working with CA’s former owner Paul Scott to get the Cricketer’s Arms range of craft beers to market on a much larger scale. It is a very impressive setup, with an enormous amount of infrastructure in place to handle the volume of brewing required to keep everything ticking over. We moved on from there to the bottling and canning lines, which are on a scale that almost defies description. Capable of churning through up to 1000 bottles or cans every minute, the line is just a rattling, clanking blur, punctuated by an extremely occasional pop or hiss as one of the receptacles decides that it wants out of the process and makes a leap over the side to the hard concrete floor. The machinery is overseen by a team of engineers, who wait patiently for the precise moments that they’re needed, and then spring into action to adjust the lines for the next run, or in the rare event that there’s some sort of stoppage that needs to be fixed.

They don’t do things by halves here...

through the process and emerge full of beer. The rest is entirely computer-controlled, and it’s a technical marvel. I could have stood there all day and watched it do its thing… Emerging from the packaging area, the tour then walked through the ready stock warehouse – roughly the size of two football fields, it was stacked floor-to-ceiling with goods ready to be trucked out. It looked exactly like the closing scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark – boxes and

the single most impressive thing in the whole place is the new kegging line.”

Possibly the coolest thing you will ever see in a brewery.

www.beerandbrewer.com

Arguably, however, the single most impressive thing in the whole place is the new kegging line. It’s a lot slower than the bottling or canning lines, but what it lacks in speed, it makes up for by the fact that it is dominated by a massive robotic arm that does all the heavy lifting and stacking of the kegs, with an eerie precision. It’s a mesmerising piece of gear – and having it on the packing floor has reduced the number of people required to run the kegging line from around eight or nine, to just one. And the only human input required is forklifting pallets of empty kegs to the front of the machine, and then removing them when they’ve been

boxes, as far as the eye could see – and that was only a few days worth of stock. But even as we walked through the warehoused stock, I couldn’t stop thinking about the kegging line – and how much that sort of innovation could change our industry.

Asahi Premium Beverages 50 Swann Drive Laverton VIC www.asahibeer.com.au Tours are not offered to the public.

the ming event here in om to list your upco r 2014 is 1st June, 2014 r.c we re db an er be te Email editor@ entry. e for Issue 29 – Win next issue. deadlindress, contact details and any cost of me, ad Include the event na

traveller Calendar of Events

EVENTS 2014 APRIL 27 STARTING A MICROBREWERY

INFO SESSION: SYdNEY

King Street Brewhouse King Street Wharf/ 22 The Promenade Sydney NSW www.beverageandbrewingconsulting.com

18-19 WhISKY LIVE,

Royal Exhibition Hall Melbourne, VIC www.gabsfestival.com.au

St Kilda Town Hall 99A Carlisle St. St Kilda 3182, Melbourne, VIC www.whiskylive.com.au

BEER SpecTAPular

Melbourne, VIC www.rasv.com.au/Events/AIBA_ Home/

MAY 16 - 18 CLARE VALLEY GOURMET WEEKENd Clare Valley, SA www.clarevalleywinemakers.com. au/gourmet.php

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

Sydney, NSW www.sydneycraftbeerweek.com 30 SYdNEY CRAFT BEER WEEK

30-31 WhISKY LIVE,

Applications for Sydney Craft Beer Week events close. www.sydneycraftbeerweek.com

University of Canberra - Refectory Kirinari St Bruce, ACT 2617 www.whiskylive.com.au

JUNE

AUGUST

13-14 WhISKY LIVE,

22-23 WhISKY LIVE,

Parramatta Town Hall, 182 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150 www.whiskylive.com.au

The Tara Ballroom 175 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane QLD 4000, www.whiskylive.com.au

APPLICATIONS CLOSE

SYdNEY WEST

SYdNEY EAST

JULY

Melbourne, VIC www.australiancraftbeer.org.au

BEER AWARdS JUdGING BEGINS

14 - 16 2014 ROYAL AdELAIdE

22 AUSTRALIAN

Adelaide, SA www.theshow.com.au

Peninsula, Shed 14, Central Pier, 161 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC www.rasv.com.au/Events/AIBA_ Home/

Head Judge for AIBA 2014, Warren Pawsey, Head Brewer, Little Creatures.

SEPTEMBER

BREWERS CONFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL BEER AWARdS - PRESENTATION dINNER

Hot Poker Beer served at Beervana, 2013.

22-23 BEERVANA (NZ) Westpac Stadium, Wellington 147 Waterloo Quay, Wellington www.beervana.co.nz

The Entertainment Quarter 122 Lang Road, Moore Park NSW 2010 www.whiskylive.com.au

21-22 AUSTRALIAN CRAFT

CANBERRA

BRISBANE

20-21 WhISKY LIVE,

17- 25 GOOd BEER WEEK 2014 All over Melbourne, VIC www.goodbeerweek.com.au

MELBOURNE

21 SYdNEY CRAFT BEER WEEK

28 APRIL - 2 MAY

AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL BEER AWARdS - JUdGING

It keeps getting bigger and better – Whisky Live, 2013.

24-26 GREAT AUSTRALASIAN

14 - 16 2014 ROYAL AdELAIdE

20 - 5 OCTOBER OKTOBERFEST 2014 Munich, Germany www.oktoberfest.de/en/

OCTOBER 18-25 SYdNEY CRAFT BEER WEEK All over Sydney. www.sydneycraftbeerweek.com

BEER AWARdS PRESENTATION NIGhT

Adelaide, SA www.theshow.com.au

“Grain “GraintotoGlass” Glass” From From Australia Australia to the to the UK; UK; WeWe supply supply From Australia to the UK; We supply thethe best best ingredients ingredients and and brewing brewing the best ingredients and brewing equipment equipment so so youyou cancan craft craft thethe perfect perfect equipment so you can craft the perfect premium premium beer. beer. premium beer.

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Venue ReViews

traveller Reviews

BaRs, PuBs, RestauRants and Bottle shoPs NSW

The Wild RoveR

The Sail & anchoR

The Sail & Anchor is arguably the birthplace of craft beer in Australia and despite no longer brewing on site, the Sail is still all about the beer. With three bars, 38 cold taps, three beer engines, a hopinator, a revolving list of draught offerings and a growing list of bottled beers and ciders, there’s always something new to try. The Sail also boasts a full service restaurant, alfresco dinning and a host of private function options for your next big event. Beer enthusiasts look forward to regular events and month long showcases at the Sail, such as USApril, ‘Hey Brew’ NZ Craft Beer Month, Night of the Barrels and various meet the brewer events. The Sail & Anchor 64 South Terrace Fremantle WA 6160 Phone: (08) 9431 1666 www.sailandanchor.com.au

Sail and Anchor beer

www.beerandbrewer.com

Recently celebrating its first birthday, The Wild Rover is one of those places that is very hard to forget. From the solid brass bar and exposed brickwork to the (phenomenal) beer list displayed on an old-school Sydney train schedule, this is most definitely a bar to hit up when you’re in need of good company, superfriendly and knowledgeable staff and arguably the best sausage rolls in Sydney. Keep an eye out for their regular Campbell Corner Whisk(e)y Cooperative tasting nights, or just drop in for a lazy Sunday evening tipple and enjoy the live music upstairs. Check your ego at the door – everyone else does, which makes it a very friendly spot for a quiet drink. Oh – and there’s no sign. Just a big wooden door. You can’t miss it. The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone: (02) 9280 2235 www.thewildrover.com.au

The dove and olive

It’s deep in the heart of Surry Hills Hipster territory, but the Dove and Olive is far more than a sleeve-tattoo and ‘beer you’ve never heard of’ destination. That’s not to say that the beer list isn’t eerily impressive… but it’s also approachable, with plenty of help on hand from the bar staff who really know their gear. Front and centre are two of the biggest characters on the Sydney beer scene, Wombat and Grub, who regularly lead the charge into the beer unknown – and the Craft Beer Fight Club is always a night to remember.

The Dove and Olive 156 Devonshire Street Surry Hills, NSW, 2010 Phone: 02 9699 6001 www.doveandolive.com.au

The Dove and Olive in Surry Hills.

ThRee lampS BaR & eaTeRy

Nestled in the fashionable Auckland suburb of Ponsonby, Three Lamps opened in April 2013. Located in a beautiful old building which looks more like a bank or a library than a bar, there are over 200 beers available including an everrotating range of house beer and craft beer taps, and 100 bottled beers at $9. Food is a feature with shared plates (including gourmet sliders) and a full menu featuring seafood, juicy burgers and the famous lamb done three ways. Three Lamps caters for functions and operates a Beer Club which regularly hosts brewers and beer launches.. Three Lamps Bar & Eatery 1-3 St Mary’s Rd, Ponsonby, Auckland Phone: (09) 376 6092 www.threelamps.co.nz

Three Lamps Bar

Loving craft creations 12 rotational taps Funky functions Brand new heated Beer Garden Live music 4 nights The Stone Corner Hotel was first established in 1888, the Heritage Charm of the Stone Corner Hotel is felt right from the moment that you enter this beautifully renovated Landmark. Honeysuckle Hotel is a premier bar and function venue located on the beautiful Newcastle harbour. With stunning water views, state of the art facilities and historical design. 17 Tap Beers and a huge craft beer range both on tap and bottled. The Honeysuckle Hotel offers great food, great atmosphere and fantastic location. Lee Wharf C, Honeysuckle Drive Newcastle, NSW, 2300 Tel: (02) 4929 1499 www.honeysucklehotel.com.au

Royal Oak Hotel 123 Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell St North Adelaide, SA, 5006 Tel: (08) 8267 2488 www.royaloakhotel.com.au

29 BEERS ON TAP HUGE CRAFT RANGE SEASONAL & LIMITED RELEASES BEERS WITH HISTORY BEER DEGUSTATIONS SPECIAL EVENTS DEDICATED CIDER BAR 9 CIDERS ON TAP www.youngandjacksons.com.au

14 Craft Beers on Tap Tasting Paddles Seasonal Beer Taps Food to compliment the Beer Meet the Brewer nights Beer Tasting Evenings Alfresco Dining Soloist 346 Logan Rd Stones Corner, QLD, 4120 Tel: (07) 3397 3727 www.stonescornerhotel.com.au

gourmet Autumn xxxxxxxxx Recipes

Burgers and Beers

Three burger-loving Victorians set out to find the best burgers in Victoria, and the result is The Burger Book. We spoke to author ethan Jenkins, and got three of his favourites.

The InkeRmAn hoTel, ST kIldA

The Inkerman burger is the perfect example of this: a no frills, classic Australian burger. The patty is a classic beef one, blanketed in melted cheese with a hint of lettuce as a nod to the health conscious. A couple of slices of tomato, with an egg to give it that true Australian feel, along with grilled onions. It is served with fat Aussie pub-style chips for extra authenticity. This is almost an ‘official’ Australian burger and it’s so good that, while you wash it down with a pint, you won’t even realise that your dog came in fourth! BeeR mATcheS Matilda Bay (Vic) Fat Yak 4.7% Stoke (NZ) Amber Ale 4.5% BrewDog 5am Saint Amber Ale 5%

www.beerandbrewer.com

gourmet Autumn Recipes

the tRunk DineR, melBouRne cBD Two main burgers are on offer for lunch: the Diner Burger, a 175 gram deliciously seasoned and freshly-ground wagyu beef patty served on a brioche bun with baby cos lettuce, thick cut tomato, house-made pickles and a choice of cheeses; and the Super-Size burger. This is perfectly described on the menu as “… like when Mario becomes Big Mario”. It is the same as the Diner Burger only double everything! The great thing about Trunk’s burgers is that you have the option to add extras to these two burger options: three cheeses (cheddar, Gruyere and Monteray Jack), jalapenos, bacon, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms and guacamole. BeeR mAtches Endeavour (NSW) Reserve Amber Ale 2013 5.2% Dale’s (NZ) American Amber Ale 5.4% Baird (Japan) Red Rose Amber Ale 5.5%

WAysiDe inn, south melBouRne Labelled as a cheeseburger, almost does not do this burger justice. It is more than just a cheeseburger. It has softly smoked bacon that is cooked nice and crispy giving it a real smoky edge. Yes, it is also lathered in a blanket of melted cheese that engulfs the bacon and the patty. It has perfectly cut lettuce leaves and a slice of tomato atop the patty and bacon. However, it is the bed that this burger sits on that gives it a real kick. A pillow-topped mattress of shredded beetroot relish and mustard provide the moisture and sauce for this perfectly cooked beef patty. Order it medium rare to get the extra love that this place affords its steaks, only to be translated into a burger. Served on a brioche bun that is lightly toasted to get that nice buttery caramelisation and you have yourself a high-class burger. BeeR mAtches Sail & Anchor (WA) Boa’s Bind Amber Ale 5% Mac’s (NZ) Sassy Red 4.5% Peroni (Italy) NastroAzzuro 5.1%

www.beerandbrewer.com

gourmet Autumn xxxxxxxxx Recipes

The

‘JUICY Lucy’ From Sydney’s goodtime Burgers comes this heartstopping creation.

irector of Eastern Hotels Group, Andrew Lazarus was conducting thorough research into the world’s best burgers when he came across a burger that oozed cheese when you took a bite into the pattie. When he delved a little further he found out that it was aptly named the ‘Juicy Lucy’. Following this discovery GoodTime Burgers began an extensive ‘Juicy Lucy’ testing period where they tweaked the recipe numerous times until the perfect cheese oozing burger was created. It’s this final delicious, decadent and ultimate burger creation that graces the GoodTime Burgers current menu today.

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The Juicy Lucy Burger ServeS 1

IngRedIents Bun from local baker Neus Housemade tomato chutney Coral lettuce Sliced tomato Sliced Spanish onion Salt & pepper Cheese stuffed wagyu pattie Aioli

BeeR MAtches James Squire (NSW) Nine Tails Amber Ale 5% Hawkes Bay (NZ) Amber Ale Cuisine 4% North Coast (USA) Red Seal Amber Ale 5.5%

Method 1. GoodTime Burgers use Tajima Wagyu mince for the Juicy Lucy. Chef Matt Fitzgerald weighs out 2 x 125 g balls of mince, gently flatten down between a sheet of go-between till 5mm thick. 2. Place one pattie on the go-between, place a slice of cheddar in the middle, then a tablespoon of grated mozzarella on top. Place the second pattie on top of the cheese, then fold over the go-between to cover. 3. Working his way around the pattie, Matt squeezes in the edges to seal the cheese inside the two patties. He then places down on the bench, and with his hands, pats the sides of the patties all the way around to smooth over, returning to a round shape. 4. Lastly, give the pattie a gentle push down as well so it is not to high. The finished and ready to grill Juicy Lucy pattie should be approx 3cm high.

GOOD BEER VENUES

Beer & Brewer promotion

AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99 Availiable from Dan Murphyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

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The Monk Brewery & Kitchen is a multi award winning venue in the heart of the cappuccino strip. With its architecturally designed space, hand-crafted beers and mouth watering menu it is a must-see when visiting Fremantle.

33 south terrace, fremantle ph: 08-9336 7666 www.themonk.com.au

beer buye xxxxx

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The following Tasting Notes are from our expert panel of Beer Judges and only include those products deemed to be of a minimum bronze-medal standard. Brewers and importers are encouraged to email editor@beerandbrewer.com to arrange delivery of products for possible inclusion in future issues. Check our website or see our Bottlos to Trust for where to buy these products.

Editor’s Choice Top 10 for Autumn 1

LONGBOARD PALE ALE 4.5% ABV 330ML Named in accordance with the lifestyle and not the work associated with its location of origin, Wollongong, an industrial city approximately an hour south of Sydney, on the Coast. Longboard Pale Ale is gold in colour with a strong white head. A soft malty nose gives way to a very easy drinking, Australian Pale Ale. A great entry level Pale Ale, with nice dryness on the finish, well balanced with a good light pale malt character on the palate. GLASS: Tulip. FOOD MATCH: Calamari. WEBSITE: www.longboardbeer.com

MILDURA ASTOR ALE 4.5% ABV 330ML Aptly named after the historic Astor theatre, Mildura, which has been converted into the brewery from which this beer hails. The label offers synergy with the buildings facade and the beer colour conveys a golden era with its bright gold complexion. The firm white head releases a lovely malty nose and rests upon a fine example of Australian Pale Ale. Astor has good malt body and the use of galaxy hops blends some nice refreshing fruit notes to the finish. GLASS: Tulip. FOOD MATCH: Fettucine Carbonara. WEBSITE: www.mildurabrewery.com.au.

THE TASTING 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

Head Brewer for Lion Nathan, Bill Taylor has over 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.

www.beerandbrewer.com

Neal cameroN

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.

briaN WaTsoN

Brian is currently Brewmaster at the Island Brewing Co. (Fiji Islands), working with DME Brewing Services in the Asia Pacific, and is founder and Director at Good George Brewing, in Hamilton (NZ). Past Chief Judge NZ Beer Awards, current judge at the World Beer Cup (USA) & AIBA (Vic).

To track these down, see our Bottlos to Trust on pages 77.

graham WrighT

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-to-find whiskies.

iaN kiNgham

Ian has judged at the Australian Craft Beer Awards, Royal Perth Beer Show and Sydney Royal Beer Competition. He has also completed courses in beer and food pairing and studied food science at UWS (with a major focus on brewing).

ers guide thexxxxx fridge Buyers xxxxxxxxx Guide

John KEpplEr’s IrIsh CIdEr 4.5% ABV 568ml Spritely, medium gold in colour, with high carbonation. Keppler’s offers little on the aroma, with a hint of honey present. The palate is soft, with good balance and a gentle mouth feel. Medium dry on the finish with a subtle lingering apple note. A soft, very sessionable cider which loses some of its flavour character when served on ice, best served cool without. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Bratwurst sausages. WEBsItE: www.keplersirishcider.com

nAIl AlE 4.7% ABV 330ml Nail brewery is renowned as one of Australia’s premier breweries for award winning Stouts, which often overshadow the well brewed Nail Ale. Darker in colour for the style, Nail Australian Pale Ale pours deep gold and has a strong white head. A rich malty nose, with a hint of good honey offers a full taste profile. While the malt layering is the lead character, some minerally hop notes remain on the finish, balancing the richness well and leaving some residual spiciness. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Honey Prawns. WEBsItE: www.nailbrewing.com.au lIttlE BrEWInG WICKEd ElF KolsCh 4.9% ABV 330ml Brewed in the picturesque town of Port Macquarie, approximately four hours north of Sydney, Wicked Elf iconography can be likened to many a symbolic, all natural, Belgian Ale. Light gold in colour with a thick, foamy head, Wicked Elf Kolsch has the sweet malty, lemony nose of a Summer Ale. Pleasingly, this sample has all the refreshment of the style as well some light vinous notes. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Prawns and Lightly seared Scallops. WEBsItE: www.thelittlebrewingcompany. com.au trAdItIonAl sCottIsh WIllIAm WAllACE AlE 4.5% ABV 330ml Famous for brewing Scottish real ales, cask conditioned ales, coffee beer and whiskey ales, Traditional Scottish is based in Stirling, Scotland. While this beer offers full rich character, a proud head and the colour of a red beard, one could be forgiven for expecting a higher alcohol content. Rich and malty, with good caramel and bread notes, it finishes well with a brown sugary sweetness and some cereal graininess. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Braised lamb shanks. WEBsItE: www.traditionalscottishales.com

JAChmAnn pInK lAdy smAll BAtCh CIdEr 5.0% ABV 500ml A traditional wine maker’s cider from a James Halliday 4 star winery in the McLaren Vale, South Australia. Jachmann is champagne in colour, with a lovely pinkish hue and light carbonation. Aromatically the cider offers a clean appley tone with a hint of white peach. Uncomplicated, and beautifully dry, the cider shows a little of the fruit character, and a lot of the technical quality. Easy drinking and well matched to style. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Pork Loin Chops. WEBsItE: www.haselgrove.com.au BAtloW Cloudy CIdEr 4.2% ABV 330ml Batlow cider hails from the town of the same name in the traditional fruit growing area of Southern, New South Wales. A cooperative, value added product symbolic of the areas history and resolve. Cloudy lemon in appearance, with a strong, snow white head, Batlow cloudy offers a pleasant sweet sulphur on the aroma balanced with a strong culinary apple smell. The flavour is strong in apple, with some appealing, light bruised effect and a hint of parched oak like character on the finish. Dry and desirable with good apple expression. GlAss: Tulip. Food mAtCh: Roastpork. WEBsItE: www.batlowcider.com.au BrIdGEport hop CzAr 7.5% ABV 330ml Bridgeport brewery (est.1984) is often purported to be the brewery that first launched craft beer in America with its American Pale Ale. Located in Portland, Oregon, Bridgeport Brewery’s Hop Czar is every bit of a king of hops beer. Brown gold in colour, with a thick lacy head, it has a big hoppy aroma, rich in mineral content and some oily, kerosene like quality. The palate offers rich layering, with four hops and a rich malt bill to carry. The beer holds its alcohol well, showcases the hops brilliantly and delivers a nice dry, complex finish. GlAss: Tulip/Goblet. Food mAtCh: Beef Madras. WEBsItE: www.trumer-australia.com

10 CAstlE GlEn BrEWEry GrAnItE AlE

5.8% ABV 500ml Castle Glen Brewery is in Thulimbah QLD, in the Granite Belt region. Granite Ale is amber in colour, dusky in appearance and has a tan head. A new world Belgian style beer, it has a sour plum aroma with depth of flavour resembling prune and raisin, with a hint of cinnamon. Light malt layering brings great balance and sweetness to the sour lactic character. Dry on the finish and light subtlety of flavours highlights the beer as an easy drinking, entry level sour. GlAss: Goblet. Food mAtCh: Selection of cured meats. WEBsItE: www.castleglenaustralia.com.au

www.beerandbrewer.com www.beerandbrewer.com

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the fridge Buyer’s Guide

aUsTralia Gage Roads Brewing Co (WA) Rapid Fire IPA 6.3% ABV 640mL Style: American IPA RRP: $9 Availability: National Contact: www.gageroads.com.au Beard & Brau (QLD) Indian Mastiff Ale 8% ABV 500mL & Keg Style: IPA RRP: TBA Availability: Limited QLD, VIC & SA Contact: www.beardandbrau.com.au

Mansfield The Mansfield Brewing Co (VIC) Pale Ale Pale Ale. 4.9% ABV 330mL Beer from Style: Pale Ale the High Country now sold here. RRP: TBC Availability: Limited Contact: www.mansfieldbrewery.com.au The

Mansfield BREWING COMPANY

PALE ALE 330ml

4.9% alc/vol approx 1.3 standard drinks

3 Ravens Brewing Company (VIC) 3 Ravens Golden 4.5% ABV 330mL Style: Altbier RRP: $20 per six pack 3 Ravens English 4.5% ABV 330mL Style: Extra Special Bitter RRP: $20 per six pack 3 Ravens White 4.5% ABV 330mL Style: Witbier RRP: $20 per six pack RRP: $22 per six pack Availability: Dan Murphys Nationally Contact: www.3ravens.com.au

New releases Mash Brewing (WA) Illustrated Ales Series Challenger 5.8% 330mL Style: English IPA RRP: $16 per 4 pack Russel 4.5%ABV 330mL Style: American Amber Ale RRP $14.5 per 4 pack Availability: Dan Murphys Nationally Contact: www.mashbrewing.com.au Granite Belt (QLD) IRA 5.2% ABV 500mL Style: Irish Red Ale RRP: TBC Availabilty: TBC Contact: www.granitebeltbrewery.com. au Bridge Road Brewers (VIC) Aurora Borealis 2 14.9% ABV 330mL Style: Belgian Tripel RRP: 1 x 330ml: $15, 6 x330ml $90 Availability: Strictly limited Contact: www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au Longboard (NSW) Pale Ale 4.8% ABV 330mL Style: Australian Pale Ale RRP: $4.50 / 330mL Availability: TBC Contact: www.longboardbeer.com

Availability: TBC Contact: www.northdown.com.au Red Duck Microbrewery (VIC) Saison Bee Farmhouse Honey Ale 5.2% ABV 500mL Style: Honey Ale Super Nova - Single Hop IPA 7.5% ABV 500mL Style: Pale Ale Pale Rider American Ale 5.6% ABV 30L American “...if you Style: can dream it, you canPale do it”Ale ~ Walt Disney Saison 6.2% ABV 30L Style: Saison RRP: POA Autumn Availability: TBC 2014 Contact: www.northdown.com.au Beers Progress

Barossa Valley Brewing (SA)Stillwater Collab day pencilled in with Brian Strumke of CanisMajoris Imperial IPABrew 8.8% ABV Stillwater Artisanal, Baltimore, USA on Friday 23rd May. Definitely going to be an Style: Imperial IPA Artisanal brew. A real Artisanal brew. Exciting. Threesome Supa Nova Barossa IPA, Sour Chips, Ginger Frog, Hefeweizen with Riesling Groak, Saison, Saison Bee, Burton. All and Semillon addition 5% ABV in 500ml bottles, and tasting notes on the new website! Style: Hefeweizen Imperial Stout 7% ABV Supa Nova and Hop Shark launch Style: on tap Sweet Stout RRP: TBC Supa Nova will be on tap for the first time ever Availability: at the ALEHOUSE Projects South Australian HopFest #5, from March 26th. Selected there are only 3 kegs, so get in quick. Retailers Independent Also on tap at HopFest #5 for the first Contact: time is our new regular www.bvbeer.com.au HOP SHARK, a It has been a busy start to the year, March already... Since Christmas we have released these beers:

highly hopped American amber ale, that is sooo sessionable. our notes say “with

CiDer

bite of a Wobbegong, not a Great Edge Brewing Project (VIC) Cool Hops 4.6% ABVthe White, which is the whole point!” 330mL, 30L, 50L Regular Shake Up Style: Pale Lager Events CiderandCompany (NSW) From 8The to 6, Hills a few mergers a few RRP: TBC Look out for Red Duck at nifty small shufflings. New thinking and new festivals and events around Victoria. We Limited Release Apple and Pomegranate packaging has encouraged us to change Availability: TBC support small community festivals that put our regular range of ales from 8 to 6. money back into the community, and larger 6% ABV 50L Kolsch. Pale K2 and Overland have become Contact: www.northdown.com.au festivals that put a bit of money back Rider and Hoppy Amber have become Hop into Red Duck...! Style: Cider Shark. We added 1851 Golden Winter is approaching soon, so RRP: $295 +GST Ale late last year, Kaiju(VIC) Metamorphosis IPA 6.7% ABV the events season is also and Bengal, our much getting closer to Limited loved BritAvailability: styled IPA 500mL, 50L finishing. Hurry up and will be moving to get out whilst you can: Contact: www.thehillscidercompany.com.au seasonal Limited Style: IPA RRP: TBC Release, and thus will come out in 500ml bottles.

Sunday 23rd March - Lara Festival Sunday April 6th Anderson’s Mill Festival Sat + Sun May 3+4 Grampians Grape Escape

wHaT’s HOT OFF THe DOCK All the regulars will stay in 330ml bottles, so you can pick up a six-pack (or a case) of your favourite session ducks.

sTillwaTer arTisaNal ales (Usa) Cellar DOOr

6.6% ABV 24 x 355ml Style: Belgian White Ale

exisTeNT

7.4% ABV 24 x 355ml Style: Belgian Dark Ale

a saisON DarKly

8.0% ABV 12 x 375ml Style: Spiced Dark Saison

FOlKlOre

8.4% ABV 12 x 750ml Style: Foreign Stout Availability: TBC Contact: www.northdown.com.au

amagerBrygHUs (DeNmarK) NO riCe & CUrry

5.0% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: India Pale Lager

GOOD BEER WEEK

5.5% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: Black IPA

All our limiteds are now being bottled in 500mls. More to enjoy if you find one, but it does mean that there are less bottles per brew to go around.

6.0% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: IPA

New brews brewing 6.0% ABV

6.5% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: Spiced Strong Ale

The Little Braggot - blend of a ”small table beer” and a Chamomile Methgyln. About 7% av, light and enchanting.

HrPaPsO iN BlaCK KaaaD

5.5% ABV 355mL Style: Pilsner

Femme FaTale yUzU BreTT May iPa 22nd, the Royal Red Duck dinner, our only GBW metro appearance,

650mL Style:apart Brett fromIPA GABs. We don’t do many, by

choice that is. Royal Hotel, Clifton Hill JOey PePPer BelgiaN BlONDe got in first this year.

CaNaDiaN wiNTer

Coming soon: Bobcat batch#2 (by popular demand)

7.0% ABV 650mL Style:Places Belgian Blonde Aleat limited: Book tickets

https://www.goodbeerweek.com.au/ eveN mOre JesUs – imPerial sTOUT

smOKiNg sCOTsmaN

10.2% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: Scotch Ale

DOUBle BlaCK masH

12.0% ABV 12 x 500ml Style: Imperial Stout Contact: www.northdown.com.au

evil TwiN BrewiNg (DeNmarK) HiPsTer ale (Cans) – ameriCaN Pale ale 5.5% ABV 355ml Can Style: American Pale Ale

lOw liFe PilsNer

Saturday May 17 and 24th we have our ALL IN! GBW mega tastings at Red Duck. As many beers to taste as we can find, a few barrel samplings, some museum beauties, much talk about beer and gourment food from Basilio Artisan bakery.

12.0% ABV 660mL Style: Imperial Stout GABs

Igor, the humpbacked porter - an Imperial Porter with added molasses, dark, muscovado and panela sugars, as well as coffee and chocolate. Brewed using Sticklebract hops. 10% av, batch 1 being bottled soon, batch 2 going into oak for 6 months.

Saison or possibly its a Japanese Brown..

month aging in Whisky barrels, and the barrels will be filled with Loch Ness Monster for 6 months.

And new to the GABs cask bar this year, we will showcase Dereck Hales’ “Secret Squirel” Hazelnut brown ale, which was the Champion brew from last years VicBrew.

lil ‘B imPerial POrTer We will be putting on FORSAKEN a 6.1% Red

11.5% ABV 355mL Style: Imperial brewed with blackPorter rice, red rice, white rice, malts, dark malts, roast wattleseeds RRP: POA Availabilty: TBC and Nori seaweed, then fermented with a special Sake yeast. www.northdown.com.au Loch Ness Contact: being bottled soon after 6

eCUssON (FraNCe) BrUT Dry CiDre

Tiger Mountain - an intensely espresso’d ESB with Tiger Mountain coffee.

Cellar Door Open

5% ABV 750ml & 330ml Style: Cider Red Duck Cellar Door in Ballarat. We RRP: $11.95 / 750mL - $4usually / 330mL have about 30+ different beers

Also rumoured to be brewing soon: Saison #3, Sexy Thing #2, Ragnarok #2. And Poco Peco, a Colombian inspired brew with single estate coffee, and a few other ingredients, maybe guava, tamarillo and corn.

DOUx sweeT CiDre

available, to taste, drink or take away. Open Mon to Friday when we are here brewing and bottling, and open Saturdays 11 to 3.

2.5% ABV 750ml & 330ml Cider We stayStyle: open later if there are Red Duck lovers still here enjoying themselves... JUsTiN BlaBer – BerliNer weisse RRP: $11.95 / 750mL - $4 Food: / 330mL BYO or order in, we don’t mind. Sometimes its quiet, sometimes its chaos! Brew day = Open daywww.baw.com.au 4.5% 660mL Style: Berliner Weisse Contact: we never know if there will be 2, 20 or Dereck Hales, VicBrew returning Champion and mega AleStar, will be brewing at Red Duck on Saturday April 12th. Come along and enjoy a few ales and watch the show!

more... just roll with it!

and The Avoca Hotel .99ow, Irish Murphy’s Ballarat .99 The Mall Regular taps now on at

AUD$24

www.beerandbrewer.com

/ NZD$26 Tweeting @redduckbeer1

Availiable from Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

Mag 1st Bithda by planet cake y cake .

beers i chose anD why… BBQ or Hot Dog Beer I started a hot dog stand in Big White Ski Resort Canada in 2003 called Dave’s Dogs, with the slogan ‘get a dog up ya!’ They had 10 toppings, including onions marinated in honey and garlic (the secret ingredient), ketchup, mayonnaise, banana peppers, relish, bacon bits, cheese, and I think are the best in the world! My pick: James Squire Nine Tails Amber Ale 5% ABV 345mL. Collaboration Beer I brewed my first beer (800L) for the Beer & Brewer Awards & Conference (BBAC) in 2013, at St Peters Brewery (NSW), with the recipe developed by Birbeck’s Brewing (SA), from reader survey results. Collaboration beers are very popular these days amongst craft brewers. My pick: Sail & Anchor The Bloke Red Ale 6% ABV 640mL. English Beer My passion for beer started at The White Horse on Parson’s Green in London, as a cellarman. Looking after Real Ales taught me that so-called “warm beer” is full-flavoured and a real beer experience. My pick: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Strong Pale Ale 4.1% ABV 500mL. Celebration Beer The issue parties where subscribers, readers and industry could bring along friends and drink free all night were a real highlight and great atmosphere, right from our first issue party at Deus ex Machina in Camperdown (Sydney), to Wagga Wagga, Fremantle, Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland, Christchurch and many more... My pick: Coopers Thomas Cooper’s Selection Celebration Ale 5.2% ABV 355mL. Oktoberfest Bier I went to Oktobefest in Munich in 2001 and don’t remember much, and went again in 2013 and remember everything! I also was very fortunate to visit the Erdinger Brewery, and met the owner Mr Werner Brombach. My pick: Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen 5% ABV 500mL. Dinner Beer Putting together the Beer & Brewer birthday dinners were a real highlight of my time at B&B, getting all the brewers together and ensuring the guests were treated to exceptional beer and food pairings. My pick: Matilda Bay Brewer’s Briefcase 8 x 330mL. Books Beer I plan on publishing more books in the coming years, and the Beer Buyers’ Guide has come up really well. On the cover is a chalice of Westmalle Dubbel, my favourite beer in the world, which wasn’t available at Dan’s, so I went for another great Belgian Dubbel Brown Ale… My pick: Chimay Red 7% ABV 330mL.

Erdinger Brew

ery Tour 2013

xxxxx The fridge

DaviD Lipman

xxxxxxxxx Editor’s Pick Issue10 party

Wig & Pen AC T.

pubLisher, Beer & Brewer

As the Beer & Brewer team bid David Lipman a very fond farewell, we gave him one last tilt at the fridge at Dan Murphy’s. Here are David’s choices, matched to the experiences he’s had over the years... Issue 1 launch Deus ex

Issue23 dinner

rson’s

Whitehorse on Pa Green (London).

Machina (Sydney).

Greg Koch (owner Stone Brewing) with Aussie and Kiwi industry at CBC San Diego 2012.

Sail and Ancho

r WA. AC Beer at Labelling the BB (Sydney). St Peters Brewery

after Taste Winding down . of Melbourne 2013

Enjoying a quiet beer at the Issue 22 dinner, Brisbane.

Sending beer London for IBover to C 2009. Issue 1 launch Machina (Syd Deus ex ney).

Oktoberfest ata n Beer Hall, MunichSp 2013.

Issue 20 p

arty at Th

irsty Crow

(Wagga W ag

ga).

Issue 21 5t (Balmain). h bday dinner, East Village Hot

Issue 24 D r at The Earl Leicester Hinotne of el (SA). el

www.beerandbrewer.com

THE FRIDGE Tasting xxxxxxxxx Notes Australian Beer >>

rehn Bier XsB, 5.3% aBV, 500Ml

Rehn Bier hails from the nano brewery in the Barossa Valley which prides itself on small localised production and a sales distribution channel of local farmers markets. Rehn XSB is based on the traditional English style and pours dark brown to copper in the glass. Low in carbonation, the beer is murky which can be akin to style. A nutty nose with some stewed fruit character including the scent of sultana and prunes. The palate delivers some good malt layering, medium to rich with the taste of winter, stone fruits and some late dry bitterness on the finish well balanced by rich residual English malt. Style: Extra Special Bitter. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Lamb Casserole. Website: www.rehnbier.com.au

MuDgee Brewing co, sMokey reD, 5.1% aBV, 640Ml

Brewed in the style of German Rauchbier, to impart a smoke flavour by using malted barley that has been dried over an open flame. Smokey Red uses Amarillo hops to provide the hoppiness of an IPA with smoky finish often associated with a fine whiskey. It presents a firm beige foam that leaves behind an appealing lace. An almost peaty aroma and a slightly dry, ashen finish are distinctly characteristic. A firm bitterness is lingers in the palate and blends well with the smoky notes. Style: German Rauchbier. Glass: Tulip. Food match: An array of fine cheeses, dried fruit and nuts. Website: www.mudgeebrewing.com.au

RENEW & RECEIVE 2 X BONUS CARTONS OF CRABBIE’S NEW FLAVOUR. $130.00 VALUE See page 7 in Homebrewer for details. Australian residents (excl NT) only. Tel: 1800 651 422 | www.beerandbrewer.com | Offer ends June 24, 2014.

hoPDog Beerworks horns uP rye iPa, 5.8% aBV, 330 Ml

gage roaDs Brewing co, PuMPkin ale, 5% aBV, 640Ml

Prickly Moses otway stout, 5.0% aBV, 300Ml

BriDge roaD Brewers single hoP galaXy iPa, 4.8%aBV, 330Ml

Tonnes of citrus and American hops on the nose, beer looks a big murky but we'll let the Rye off for that. A very well balanced highly drinkable body, the rye gives a slightly dry and acidic balance to the plenty of sugar left after fermentation, there's a spicy palate too that's not just the hops. Highly interesting. Style: Rye IPA. Glass: Schooner. Food Match: Spiced roast pork belly and roast vegetables. Website: www.hopdog.com.au

Otway estate brewery is in an area famous for high rainfall, rainforest surroundings and beautiful scenery, a natural wonderland. While the brewery is well regarded for a range of beers this Stout stands tall for its excellent coffee expression. Deep dark brown in appearance with good roast malt aroma and some soft coffee notes. Otway Stout offers medium body with some light malt layering. Good roasted malt is accentuated by lovely, complex coffee character and finishes soft with a lingering ice coffee espresso taste. Style: Stout. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Dark Chocolate. Website: www.otwayestate.com.au

From the west coast's Gage Roads Brewing Co, limited edition Pumpkin Ale displays all that would be expected from a pumpkin brewed beer. Using real pumpkin along with a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (traditional to this style of beer), this ale delivers a sweet, roasted pumpkin character that is full, malty and a little spicy. The nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger are very subtle yet complement and balance the sweetness from the pumpkin. An interesting seasonal brew that is rich and mouth filling. Style: American Pumpkin Ale. Glass: Pint. Food match: Pumpkin pie. Website: www.gageroads.com.au

Bridge Road brewery is based in Beechworth in NW Victoria, recognised as part of the rebellious country of the infamous Ned Kelly, well depicted by the stamped lids on the bottles and the labels on the beer. Single Hop Galaxy showcases the Australian Galaxy hop variety synonymous with its fruity character. A highly carbonated brew, pouring a cloudy, light amber in the glass. An aroma of tropical fruit with some good fresh grassy notes is present. The palate offers rich malt well balanced with heavy fruity, grassy character and has a low bitter finish. Style: India Pale. Ale. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Chicken satay. Website: www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

2 x Bonus cartons of Crabbie’s New Flavours, RRP $130.00 for 3 year renewals Bonus carton of Crabbie’s New Flavours, RRP $65.00 for 2 year renewals 8 x Bottles of Crabbie’s New Flavours, RRP $56.00 for 1 year renewals Australian rates: 3 years $79.99 | 2 years $54.99 | 1 year $29.99

the fridge Tasting Notes Australian Beer >>

redoak biTTer, 3.5% abV, 330ml

Redoak is Australia's most awarded brewery, and is well represented by the Redoak restaurant in Sydney. Having won extensive and various awards, David Hollyoak must have been quite chuffed to win World's Best Bitter, in 2009, with his Australian made example of the traditional English style. Bronze in colour with a firm white head the beer has appeal on the eye. Caramel and light, malty biscuit notes are evident on the aroma. Rich layered malt in excellent balance showcases the skill of the brewer. Soft on the finish with some nice residual, sweet, biscuity, bready malt character. Style: English Bitter. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Bangers and Mash. Website: www.redoak.com.au

Tooborac HoTel & brewery blacksmiTH's PorTer, 5.5% abV, 330ml

sail & ancHor THe bloke, 6.0% abV, 640ml

Situated in Victoria's mid west, the Tooborac Hotel is a great country hotel and brewery positioned between Heathcote and Seymour, just south of Bendigo. Blacksmith's Porter captures the heritage of its name and aptly describes this modern day dark craft. Deep brown to black in appearance with a thick tan head. A sweetish malt, soft chocolate nose lends itself to a well balanced, light malt layered beer with some soft chocolate notes and a light dry smoky finish. Style: Porter. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Smoked Kransky. Website: www.tooborachotel.com.au

Inspired by the Sail and Anchor hotel in the 80s, the nephew of Karl Strauss (America's godfather of beer) opened his own in San Diego, called the Karl Strauss brewery. This is a collaborative brew named in honour of the Bloke, Karl Strauss. Rich red in colour, with medium level carbonation, The Bloke offers little on aroma, just a hint of caramelised malt. Drinkability is high, with simple malt layering on the palate. A good entry level ale, well balanced and uncomplicated for style. A soft finish with some residual malt lingering. Style: Red Ale. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Irish Stew. Website: www.facebook.com/sailandanchor

New Zealand Beer >>

birbeck's THe mercHanT, 7.2% abV, 330ml

Brewed in South Australia, as a brewer's expression of beers relating to the era of merchant sailors, The Merchant is described as a colonial Pale Ale on the label. Cloudy, dull, pale gold in appearance, Birbeck's has a strong white head. Alcohol toffee notes are evident as are spicy herbal tips, a hint of sweet floral aroma and light yeast character. Well integrated, the beer holds its alcohol well and has good expressions of spicy, herbaceous hop character and is well supported with a strong pale malt bill. Warm and minerally on the finish with good grassiness. Style: India Pale Ale (Imperial). Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Lamb Satay. Website: www.birbeck's.com.au

endeaVour Grower's briGHT ale VinTaGe beer, 4.2% abV, 330ml

monTeiTH's double HoPPed iPa, 7.5% abV, 500ml

Endeavour brewery is based in Canyonleigh, NSW and prides itself on producing annual vintages, as expressions of the best ingredients of the season, accepting that variation occurs from one agricultural cycle to the next. Bright and spritely in colour, with good carbonation and a finely laced head. Grower's has a very fresh, clean, slightly grainy nose. The palate is sweet and light, offering a lovely expression of pale malt and some subtle sweet grainy notes. The finish is clean and expresses the soft malt exceptionally well. Style: Bright Ale. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Lemon Pepper Squid. Website: www.endeavourbeer.com

When a beer pours as this does, it's an invitation that can't be knocked back. The anticipation that this is going to pack a punch is met with a hint of hesitation if you're not an avid IPA drinker accustomed to these levels of hopping and bitterness. Bold may be understatement, but it is definitely beautiful. The dry hopping is elegantly balanced by the firm malt flavour and sweet mid palate that is held together by the warmth offered from a 7.5% alcohol beer. It rolls off the tongue, leaving a clean firm bitterness without being overly sharp or harsh. Glass: Stemmed Glass. Style: IPA Food match: Dry aged Prime Rib Eye, Grain. Website: www.monteiths.co.nz

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the fridge Tasting Notes

Imports >>

Fruli strawBErry BEEr, 4.1% aBV, 330ml

mission BrEwEry amBEr alE, 5.4% aBV, 330ml

riVErwEst stEin BEEr, 330ml, 6% aBV

rEd HorsE BEEr 7.0%aBV, 330ml

Ballast Point Big EyE india PalE alE, 7%aBV, 355ml

amBarnEgra, 4.8% aBV, 330ml

Brewed in Ghent, this traditional Belgian Beer is 70% wheat, and well balanced with fruit. A strong white head and a beautiful strawberry blush complexion make this beer almost too attractive to drink. A strawberry nose is evident and is well integrated with the malt aroma. Dry on the finish with some residual sweetness the beer is true to style and well balanced. Style: Fruit Beer. Glass: Flute. Food Match: Fruit tart. Website: www.fruli.be/#/australasia Distributor: www.wbaustralia.com.au

Brewed as a sponsorship beer for Muziklaban, band competition since 1999. Red Horse is a strong lager brewed in the Philippines by the powerhouse brewer San Miguel. A fashionable, bright gold in colour with a low foam. Sweet malt, honey and alcohol rise from the beer giving way to a clean, easy drinking palate. The beer has sweet malt, hiding the higher alcohol well and finishes with a residual stickiness and some pleasant palate warmth. Style: Lager Glass: Tulip Food Match: Honey Prawns Website: www.sanmiguelbeerinternational. com

Actually a Dusseldorf style Alt which wouldn't be considered a common style in Australia unless we opened the style wide and admitted Tooheys Old - your call. There's sweet caramel malt with a smokey toffee aroma and palate and not a huge hop character to detract â&#x20AC;&#x201C; imagine a cold pommy bonfire night with sticky parkin, cinder toffee and very muted fireworks. An analogy that will mean nothing to 20 million Australians â&#x20AC;&#x201C; good memories though. Style: Dusseldorf Alt. Glass: Half pint. Food Match: Venison sausages in a sourdough roll. Distributor: www.bravogroup.com.au

This American craft beer smacks of hops. American Columbus and Centennial varieties give the beer it's big earthy aroma, complemented by the scent of bready, toasty, oily tones. Deep gold in colour with good clarity and a strong white head. The palate is very rich with good malt layering and resinous residual hop character making the beer complex and compelling. Slightly short on the finish for such a big hopped beer, with some nice late warmth and oily malt sweetness in the after taste. If you love big hopped beers, this example exemplifies big hops well balanced. Style: American India Pale Ale. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Mixed. Grill. Distributor: www.pinnacleliquor.com

The label rather leads one to believe this is a beer made the dangerous way with red-hot rocks being thrown in the kettle. Not so. It's an Amber Lager made to be drunk from a stein. There is however a perfumed sugary nose, caramelly marshmallow palate and more than a suggestion of burnt sugar but we may have to admit this may be the remnants of auto-suggestion. A fine bead and plenty fizz leads one to assume bottle carbonation however it's not particularly clean or aromatic, with a slightly woody back palate. Style: Amber Lager. Glass: Pilsner Glass. Food Match: Pork in Hoisin sauce. Distributor: www.bravogroup.com.au

Brewed by La Zaragoza brewery in Spain, AmbarNegra is a popular Dark Lager which has been a style brewed since 1901. Deep brown in colour with a tinge of bronze and a strong tan head. AmbarNegra offers little in aroma with a slight hint of toasted malt and fruit hop evident. Easy drinking with some sweet caramalt and crystal malty character. Slightly toasty with a pleasant, sweet brown bready finish. Style: Dark Lager Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Spicy marinaded chicken wings Website: www.cervezasambar.com Distributor: www.broadwayliquor.com.au

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the fridge Tasting Notes

Cider >>

Mike's Hard LeMonade, 5.0% aBV, 330ML

nortH Coast Brewing red seaL aLe, 5.5% aBV, 355ML

keLLy BrotHers sparkLing Cider, 7.0% aBV, 330ML

kirin Fuji appLe & ginger Cider, 4.0% aBV, 500ML

CHeeky rasCaL appLe, 7.5% aLC/VoL, 330ML

rekorderLig appLe guaVa Cider, 4.0% aBV, 500ML

Established in 1999 in Canada, Mike's Hard Lemonade has been a phenomenal success. Malt beverage base, flavoured with lemon, Mike's pours cloudy in the glass with medium carbonation. Good citric notes and fresh lemon aroma. Bitter lemon on the palate with a fresh and flavoured lemon combination finishing slightly tart with some residual to balance. Style: Lemon Malt Beverage Glass: Tulip Food Match: Polenta Chicken Website: www.mikeshard.com

Produced in Australia under licence for Kirin Brewery, Japan, by Lion Australia. With distinctively Japanese cues, the anticipation of oriental characteristics don't disappoint upon opening a bottle. On pouring into the glass, a clean, vibrant and golden colour is immediately evident. A large bubbled foam slowly dissipates allowing the clean, fresh aroma of ginger to gently waft up. Unmistakable apple notes complement the ginger and neither flavour dominates in aroma or taste, blending harmoniously to deliver a clean, refreshing finish. Style: Flavoured Cider. Glass: Fine glass tumbler. Food match: range of sashimi or sushi. Website: http://www.kirincider.com.au/

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company, in Fort Bragg, California, Red Seal Ale is an American Red Ale, with lovely copper - red colouring and a full head. Caramel, US hops and some light grainy notes reach the nose. Enticing on the palate, with malt layering well balanced aside resinous hop oils adding intrigue and interest. The malt and hop character integration is excellent and makes for a complex Red Ale, with a warm, earthy, bread like, rich finish. Style: Red Ale. Glass: Tulip. Food Match: Spicy Chicken Wings. Website: www.northcoastbrewing.com Distributor: www.palaisimports.com.au

Rebello Wines on the Mornington Peninsula, are proud of their strong heritage in fruit and agriculture. With a passion for freshness, Cheeky Rascal Apple is a clean, crisp cider. Using the best in-season green apples, it opens up with well ripened apple aroma. A hint of green apple acidity is followed by a definite firm dryness and tart finish. It presents with a bright pale, almost translucent golden hue and sparkling beads of bubbles. Slightly astringent notes provide a linger finish on the palate. Style: Apple Cider. Glass: Tulip. Food match: Pulled pork burger with sweet apple chutney. Website: http://rebellowines.com.au/ cheeky_rascal_cider

Kelly Brothers cider is made in Wonga Park, Victoria, nestled in the Yarra Valley, an area more synonymous with wine than cider. A lovely, technical cider made on site utilising a rack and cloth press and fresh local fruit. Opaque in the glass, with a light spritz and shallow white head. Light apple aroma offsets the estery alcohol nose. Very, subtle in expression, with drops of apple well integrated into this dry, clean finishing cider. Style: Sparkling Apple Cider Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pork Belly Website:www.kellybrothers.com.au

With four generations of cider brewing, Swedish Rekorderlig is well positioned to offer a range of enticing ciders. The flavour of the cider certainly delivers on expectation. If you have enjoyed the exotic nature of a guava, you'll recognise the aroma as soon as the cap is removed. As the cider is poured a delicate stream of bubbles fill the glass and create a quick foaming froth. The colour is reminiscent of a ripe guava freshly sliced open to expose its distinctive pink flesh. Sweet in aroma and taste, it tingles the palate and finishes quickly. Style: Fruit cider. Glass: Flute. Food match: Tropical fruit salad or even a pork terrine. Website: www.ccamatil.com.au

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IPA

ALCOHOL FREE

Mountain Goat India Pale Ale 6.2% ABV 330mL

Gage Roads Rapid Fire IPA 6.3% ABV 640mL

Holsten 0.0% ABV 330mL

$5 Per Bottle, $17 4-Pack

$9 Per Bottle

$9.99 6-Pack

This is a hop-driven, malty ale with strong bitterness and spicy fruit aromas thanks to a good dose of Citra and Galaxy hops. It’s a tough nut, but loveable all the same. 65 IBU.

Availability: National. Contact: www.goatbeer.com.au

Brewed in collaboration with WA amateur brewing wunderkind Jeremy Sambrooks, Rapid Fire is a recreation of his winning beer from the 2013 Fremantle Beer Fest Homebrew Challenge. This is a liquid tribute to US hops: Amarillo, Centennial, Columbus, & Simcoe in almost twice the volume of any beer we’ve brewed before. All the hallmarks are here: big citrus, floral, and fruity aroma, piny resin character, and arresting bitterness that the quintessential US IPA is famous for. Availability: Early May, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, selected independents, taps Contact www.gageroads.com.au

LAGER Moa Methode 5.0% ABV 330mL Moa Methode is a natural Pilsner style lager brewed using Champagne yeast. A late throw of Pacifica and Motueka hops creates herbaceous and tropical aromas with a high bitterness, balanced by a relatively full mouth-feel. Finishing with a dry and malty spiciness, this is a great beer to pair up with seafood or chicken dishes.

$16.99 Per 4-Pack Availability: National. Contact: www.moabeer.com

Amber is a Munich style lager brewed with pale and caramel malts and German Perle hops. It has a smooth, malty, slightly caramel flavour and a rich amber colour. Abita Amber was the first beer offered by the brewery and continues to be our leading seller. Amber is Abita’s most versatile beer for pairing with food. It has been voted “best beer” in numerous New Orleans reader polls and is used frequently in recipes of great Louisiana chefs.

$19.99 Per 6-Pack Availability: Good independents and on premise from late April early May Contact: www.bidbeer.com

Availability: Woolworths. Store locator and buy online at www.holstenzero.com Contact: 1300 046 578

HOMEBREW Budejovickj Budvar 5% ABV 330mL This Czech premium lager is an honoured guest all over the world! Honoured especially due to its unchanging permanent high quality. This is achieved by the Brewery consistently observing traditional brewing procedures proven over centuries and by carefully selecting only the best quality ingredients.

$14.95 Per 6-Pack Availability: National. Contact: www.baw.com.au or Tel: (03) 8791 1400

AMBER ALE PILSNER Abita Amber 4.5% ABV 355mL

Holsten 0.0%. Refreshing pilsner flavour with an alcohol content of 0.0%. Fully imported and brewed in accordance with the German Purity Law of 1516 (www.holstenzero.com/ about/the-reinheitsgebot). Brewed using traditional Pilsner brewing methods, Holsten 0.0% is bottom fermented and generously hopped for full flavour. Bright gold in colour, with a lingering lacy white head, characteristic hop driven bitterness and a refreshingly clean finish typical of Premium Pilsner beers.

Coopers Artisan Reserve Pilsner 5.5% ABV 355mL An unpasteurised lager with the freshest taste possible. Being an authentic Pilsner, two of the four hop varieties used are Hallertau Tradition and Hallertau Hersbrucker from Bavaria, whilst the other two remain a secret. Appetisingly soft and creamy head, initial taste of freshly cut citrus, lime and orange peel, followed by the crisp, clean palate with balanced malt character.

$17.99 Per 6-Pack Availability: National. Contact: www.coopers.com.au

Little Ripper Sparkling Lager, 4.7% ABV Draught Inspired by the Vienna Pale style this beer delivers exceptional balance and crispness. The malt driven sweetness is well balanced by the late hopping process used in late fermentation. The Pacifica hop used, produces a light hoppy aroma and tropical fruit esters. We think it’s a Little Ripper, particularly for the Aussie Summer.

$14.99 Per 4-Pack Availability: Available in draught only in outlets Nationally Contact: www.matildabay.com.au

Briess CBW Liquid Malt Extract Available in liquid or dried form, Briess CBW brewer’s grade pure malt extracts are exceptionally full flavoured and consistent. The high levels of fermentability and FAN are achieved through a multiple step infusion brewing process in the state-of-the-art 500-barrel Briess brewhouse. For recipes and more information visit www.brewingwithbriess.com or talk to your favourite home brew shop.

$13.50 1.5kg Canister Availability: National. Contact: Bintani Australia, Tel: + 61 (0)3 9580 3566, www.bintani.com.au

GINGER BEER WITBIER Crabbie’s Strawberry & Lime Alcoholic Ginger Beer 4% ABV 500mL Clear, sparkling pink liquid. Sweet and refreshing, clean strawberry notes are backed up by a warming but not too spicy ginger finish with a hint of lime.

$64.99 Per Carton Availability: Nationally Dan Murphy’s and BWS. Contact: www.facebook.com/ CrabbiesAustralia

Blue Moon 5.4% ABV 355mL The flavour starts crisp and ends with a coriander and orange spiciness. The Valencia orange peel gives a subtle sweetness to the beer.

$19.00 Per 6-Pack Availability: National. Contact: CCA – 1800 11 BEER (2337)

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The International Beer Shop is Australia’s premier beer store, ranging

over 900 quality beers and ciders. Voted op eer Sh t s Be B tralia in Aus r.com tebee by Ra 12 INTERNATIONAL BEER SHOP 20 69 McCourt Street West Leederville | WA | 6007 T: (08) 9381 1202 E: shop@internationalbeershop.com.au W: www.internationalbeershop.com.au

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FIN ALIST

- Over 1000 Craft beers - 4 Tap Growler Filling Station

Beer Specialists Over 800 Beers, Open 7 Days 169-171 The Mall, Leura Tel: (02) 4784 1122 • Fax: (02) 4784 1981 sales@leuracellars.com.au • www.leuracellars.com.au www.facebook.com/LeuraCellars • @leuracellars twitter Trading hours 10am to 8pm • 7 days a week

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More than 250 beers from over 30 countries.

Every Dan Murphy’s store sells over 250 beers from at least 120 brands. These range from local favourites to exceptional Craft and premium International beers. And just like our wines and spirits, every beer in every store is backed by our Lowest Liquor Price Guarantee.

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AUSTRALIA & NZ BREWING DIRECTORY NSW

Booking dates: 01/01/2013 - 31/5/2013 Travel Dates: 01/04/2013 - 31/3/2014. Please note this price is twin share and subject to availability. Lunch includes two meals from the lunch menu. Shared Tasting handle 1 per room per stay.

Redoak Boutique Beer Café

201 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9262 3303 info@redoak.com.au www.redoak.com.au Open Mon – Sat 11am til late (lunch & dinner)

St Peters Brewery

15 May St, St Peters NSW 2044 Tel: (02) 9519 0191 Beer: Green Star Lager, Blonde, Killagh Stout and Cinnamon Girl www.stpetersbrewerysydney.com.au

Follow Matso’s beer on facebook!

Murray’s Craft Brewery

3443 Nelson Bay Road Bobs Farm NSW 2316 Tel: (02) 4982 6411 Open: 7 Days 10am - 6pm www.murraysbrewingco.com.au

Elmar’s in the Valley

The Little Brewing Company

Unit 1, 58 Uralla Road Port Macquarie NSW 2444 Tel: (02) 6581 3949 info@thelittlebrewingcompany.com.au www.thelittlebrewingcompany.com.au

Paddy’s Brewery

at the Markets Hotel, 268 Parramatta Road, Flemington NSW. Tel: (02) 9764 3500 www.paddysbrewery.com

“My favorite animal is steak.” Fran Lebowitz

Cowaramup Brewing Co.

North Treeton Road, Beer and Brewer Ad_Jan Cowaramup WA 6284 Tel: (08) 9755 5822 www.cowaramupbrewing.com.au Tours available by appointment Open 7 days a week 10am – 6pm

8731 West Swan Road Henley Brook WA 6055 Tel: (08) 9296 6354 www.elmars.com.au marketing@elmars.com.au – Sun 10am - 10pm 08.pdfWed 24/1/08 8:50:45 AM

The Monk Brewery & Kitchen

33 South Terrace Fremantle Tel: (08) 9336 7666 beer@themonk.com.au Open every day 11:30am ‘til late

Billabong Brewing Co. AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99 Availiable from Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

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1. Information on “how to enter” forms part of the terms and conditions of entry. Entry into these competitions deems acceptance of these conditions of entry. 2. Entry is open to all residents of Australia, excluding residents of the NT, aged 18 years or over. Entrants to the subscription offer must subscribe to Beer & Brewer for a minimum period of 2 years; 8 issues. Employees of the Promoter, their immediate families and agencies are not eligible to enter. 3. The promotion commences 12:01am on 25/03/14 and close at 11:59pm on 24/06/14 (“Promotional Period”). No two promotional periods can run at the same time. 4. Entry to this promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. 5. Subscription Promotion Offers. There are three (3) flavours of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer to choose from (choice of either flavour as shown on the redemption voucher provided), being CRABBIE’S STRAWBERRY & LIME ALCOHOLIC GINGER BEER 12 x 500mL carton RRP $64.99, CRABBIE’S RASPBERRY ALCOHOLIC GINGER BEER 12 x 500mL carton RRP $64.99, OR CRABBIE’S LEMON 24 x 330mL carton RRP $79.99. 3 year (12 issues) renewals receive 2 x cartons of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer. 2. New 3 year (12 issues) subscriptions receive a carton of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer. 2 year (8 issues) renewals receive a carton of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer. New 2 year (8 issues) subscriptions receive 8 x bottles of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer. 1 Year (4 Issues) renewals receive 8 x bottles of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer. Offer available only while stocks last. Qualifying subscribers will be sent a voucher one month post the issue finishing on sale, for redemption at any Dan Murphy’s store. There are no Dan Murphy’s stores

72a McCoy St, Myaree WA 6154 Tel: (08) 9317 6099 billbrew@westnet.com.au www.billabongbrewing.com.au

in Tasmania, therefore BWS redemption voucher(s) will be sent for Tasmanian residents to redeem the voucher(s). Redemption vouchers must be redeemed three months from when they are due to be sent. 6. All prizes are not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. The Promoter is neither responsible nor liable for late, lost or misdirected entries. If you have any queries you can email us at subscribe@ beerandbrewer.com or call 1800 651 422. 7. The winners will be notified by mail, phone or email using the details stipulated in the subscription or Letter to the Editor promotions. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail or for any prizes damaged in transit. 8. The Promoter is neither responsible nor liable for any change in the value of the prizes occurring during the Promotional Period. Prize values mentioned are the recommended retail value, as provided by the supplier, and are correct as at time of print for this issue. 9. The Promoter reserves the right to request the winners to provide proof of identity, age and proof of residency in Australia. Identification considered suitable for verification is at the discretion of the Promoter. 10. A box has been provided on the subscription page for the entrant to check should they wish to not receive other emails/postal mail which inform the entrant of the Promoter’s other publications, products, services and events and to promote third party goods and services of perceived interest to the entrant. 11. The Promoter is The Intermedia Group ABN 94 002 583 682, Tel: 1800 651 422, 41 Bridge Road (PO Box 55), Glebe NSW 2037 Australia. www.beerandbrewer.com.

Bootleg Brewery

Puzey Road, Wilyabrup Margaret River WA 6285 Tel: (08) 9755 6300 brewery@bootlegbrewery.com.au www.bootlegbrewery.com.au

Colonial Brewing Company

Osmington Road, Margaret River WA Tel: (08) 9758 8177 thirsty@colonialbrewingco.com.au www.colonialbrewingco.com.au

AUSTRALIA & NZ BREWING DIRECTORY Vic

INDUSTRY NEWS Visit the Brewery and sample from our big range of 11 ales. Located in the heart of Beechworth, Victoria. For distribution/enquiries phone (03) 57 282703 Sweetwater Brewing Company

Holgate Brewhouse

Brewery-Restaurant-Accom. 79 High St, Woodend VIC 3442 Tel: (03) 5427 2510 www.holgatebrewhouse.com Open: 7 Days from 12noon to late

211 Kiewa Valley Hwy, TAWONGA SOUTH VIC 3698 Tel: (03) 5754 1881 info@sweetwaterbrewing.com.au www.sweetwaterbrewing.com.au Open: Fri – Sun 1pm – 6pm

80 North Street, Richmond Tel: (03) 9428 1180 www.goatbeer.com.au Tours: Wed 5-8pm. Open: Fri 5-12am

Qld BrewBake

White Rabbit Brewery Mountain Goat Brewery

www.microbrewing.com.au

316 Maroondah Hwy Healesville Vic 3777 Tel: (03) 9562 6516 www.whiterabbitbeer.com.au Open: Thurs-Mon 12-5pm

Red Bay Brewery

Located at The Big Pineapple 76 Nambour Connection Rd Woombye QLD 4559 Tel: 0499 993 045 info@brewbake.com.au www.brewbake.com.au

7/77 Shore St West Cleveland Qld 4163 mybeer@redbaybrewery.com.au Open Tue to Friday 11am –7 pm Sat 8am – 4pm

The Sunshine Coast Brewery

Burleigh Brewing Company

17A Ern Harley Drive Burleigh Heads QLD 4220 Brewhouse Bar open every Friday 5.00pm-8.30pm (Live music, free popcorn). First Friday of the Month, Brewhouse Bash (BBQ, live music, free entry). Tour & craft beer appreciation session first Saturday of every month 2pm-4pm. www.burleighbrewing.com.au

Southern Bay Brewing Co.

80 Point Henry Road, Moolap VIC 3224 Call us : (03) 5248 5710 info@SouthernBay.com.au www.SouthernBay.com.au

CIDER DIRECTORY NSW Australian Brewery

350 Annangrove Road Rouse Hill, NSW 2155 Tel: (02) 9679 4555 brewer@australianbrewery.com.au www.australianbrewery.com.au Cellar door open: 10am – 10pm daily.

Batlow Premium Cider

74 Forest Rd Batlow NSW 2730 Mob: 0434 020 653 rich@batlowcider.com.au www.batlowcider.com.au

WA Matso’s Broome Brewery PO Box 1547 Broome WA 6725 Tel: (08) 9195 5267 sales@matsos.com.au www.matsos.com.au

SA The Hills Cider Company

10 Greenhill Road, Wayville SA Tel: 1800 793 331 info@thehillscidercompany.com.au www.thehillscidercompany.com.au

Granite Belt Brewery

146 Glenlyon Drive Stanthorpe Qld 4380 Tel: (07) 4681 1370 www.granitebeltbrewery.com.au Open 7 days from 10am

Units 4-6, 13 Endeavour Drive, Kunda Park. Qld 4556 Tel: (07) 5476 6666 admin@sunshinecoastbrewery.com Cellar door sales available Mon to Fri 10am to 3pm Bar open for Lunch: Wed – Sat 12 - 2pm.

Moa Brewing Company

Jacksons Road, RD3 Blenheim, Marlborough Tel: +64 3 572 5146 Visitors Welcome Open 11am – 5pm or late, 7 days www.moabeer.com

Tas Willie Smith’s Organic Cider

22 Lollara Rd Grove Tas Tel: (03) 6266 4339 hello@williesmiths.com.au www.williesmiths.com.au

Vic Napoleone & Co Cider

10 St Huberts Road Coldstream Vic Tel: (03) 9739 0666 info@napoleonecider.com.au www.napoleonecider.com.au

$39.95 WAS $59.95 (SAVING $20) AVAILABLE AT LEADING BOOKSTORES, NEWSAGENTS, BREWERIES, BOTTLESHOPS, WWW.BREWERIESOFAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

BUSINESS DIRECTORY DISTRIBUTORS

Distributors, Associations, For Sale, Positions Vacant, Where to Buy, Equipment and Suppliers

INSURANCE

Beach Avenue Wholesalers

Brewery Insurance Specialists

Northdown

38-42 Ordish Road, Dandenong South Vic 3175 Tel: (03) 8791 1400 sales@baw.com.au Beers: Schofferhofer, Erdinger, Clausthaler, Old Mout, Budvar, Underberg

Mobile: +61 432 829 921 adam@northdown.com.au www.northdown.com.au Beers: Baird Beer (Japan), Beer Here (Denmark), Croucher (NZ), Moylans (USA)

We have developed an insurance program that is tailored specifically for breweries. It can also be extended to cover food and drink service, brewery tours and other additional activities if required.

Australian Trade Partners

Please contact us for a free review of your brewery insurance and an alternative quote.

8 Lapis St, Underwood QLD 4119 Ph: 07 3386 0755 atpbris@internode.on.net Beers: Shepherd Neame

Phone - 1300 306 571 Email - brewery@midlandinsurance.com.au Web - www.midlandinsurance.com.au

Beer Importers & Distributors

Unit 5/20-28 Ricketty Street Mascot NSW 2020 Ph: 02 9667 3755 info@bidbeer.com www.bidbeer.com www.facebook.com/ BeerImportersDistributors Beers: Abita, Warsteiner, Greene King, Chimay, Duvel

Coca Cola Amatil

Coca Cola Place Level 14, 40 Mount St North Sydney NSW 2060 Ph: 1800 11 BEER (2337) Beers & Ciders: Alehoue, Arvo, Blue Moon, Coors, Pressmans, Rekordelig

PACKAGING

O-I Asia Pacific

CONTRACT BREWING

BevTech

Gage Roads Brewing Co

Beer / Cider / Other Alcoholic Beverages / Non Alcoholic Beverages Glass bottling line, Product & Liquid Development, Keg filler, HACCP Certified, Great pricing – delivered into WA or East Coast Tel: (08) 9331 2300 donald@gageroads.com.au Mobile: 0423 548 748

YOUR BEER IS OUR BUSINESS Contract Brewing, Filling & Packaging – Bottles or Kegs ALL Beverage Types www.SouthernBay.com.au info@SouthernBay.com.au Call Us: 1300 766 219

MICROBREWERY CONSULTING Beverage & Brewing Consulting

MICROBREWERY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Microbrewery Consulting, Facility Design, Equipment Solutions, Licensing & Regulations Support, Recipe Development Australia +61 422 517 210 | International +372 5454 4538 info@beverageandbrewingconsultng.com www.beverageandbrewingconsulting.com

Spare parts, service, new and second hand German-made bottling equipment. Agents for Renner labelling, Leibinger bottling equipment. P: 03 5427 4874, E: b_tech10@bigpond.com F: 03 5427 4924, M: 0400 136529 / 0402 066157

Portinox Kegs

Australia: Tel: (02) 4021 1079 nnl@nnlbrewery.com.au Spain: Tel: +34 958 40 60 00 sales@portinox.com

Harrington’s Breweries Christchurch New Zealand Grand champion brewery 2012 Contract brewing Contract manufacturing Contract bottling HACCP Enquiries carl@harringtonsbreweries.co.nz

AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99 Availiable from Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

MICROBREWERY COURSES

36 Burwood Rd Hawthorn Vic 3122 Tel: +61 1800 643 165 Fax: +61 1800 626 986 salesaust@ap.o-i.com Product: Glass bottles

CONTRACT CIDER MAKING

MK Beverage Solutions

Let us bring your product idea to life Beverage concept development and design. Fruit sourcing and quality contract making. Custom packaging and storage services. Mobile: 0434 086 081. Email: james@mkbeveragesolutions. com.au www.mkbeveragesolutions.com.au

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Distributors, Associations, For Sale, Positions Vacant, Where to Buy, Equipment and Suppliers

MALT, HOPS, YEAST

EQUIPMENT

Keg Lines Keg Washer / Filler Beer Filler – Glass & Cans Flash or Tunnel Pasteurisers Warming Tunnels CIP Systems

Bintani Australia Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 sales@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au Malt: Simpsons, Joe White, Global Malt, Best Malz, Briess Yeast: Fermentis Hops: Hop Products Australia, Charles Faram European Hops, Hop Union US Hops Enzymes and brewing aids

Meheen Manufacturing Filling & Carbonating Technologies www.meheen.com

CRYER MALT

Cryer Malt

Inline Labeling Pressure Sensitive Labelers www.labeling.net

Ph: Aus 1800-119-622 Fx: Aus (03) 9923-6412 david@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.

Australia +61 427 007 800 New Zealand +64 274 874 783 andrew@breowan.com

Micah Rees Ph: 0413 207 175 corebrewing@gmail.com www.corebrewingconcepts.com.au

The Beverage Food Group

Importer & Distributor for all food and beverage making equipment & supplies. 24 – 26 National Boulevard, Campbellfield VIC 3061 Tel: (03) 9924 4000 info@thebeveragefoodgroup.com www.thebeveragefoodgroup.com

Tel: +64 3 544 8989 Fax: +64 3 544 6007 nzhops@nzhops.co.nz www.nzhops.co.nz

Wyeast Laboratories, Inc.

Proud agents for

Core Brewing Concepts

NZ Hops

www.hbm.com.au sales@hbm.com.au P: +61 2 8814 3100

PO Box 146 Odell, OR 97044, USA Tel: +1 541-354-1335 Fax: +1 541-354-3449 sales@wyeastlab.com For Australia & NZ Dealers see: www.wyeastlab.com

KEG LEASING AND SALES Kegco Australia

1800 682 347 www.kegco.com.au Kegco New Zealand: 0800 453 426 www.kegco.co.nz Keg leasing and sales, tracking software, one way use, keg caps and neck labels.

Hopco Pty Ltd

Ph: +61 03 62435960 Fax: +61 03 62435397 hopco@bigpond.net.au www.hopco.com.au Supply of Hops and Hop Products Agents for Handtmann Filtration and Beer Stabilisation Equipment

DME Brewing Services

Keg Lease

Bintani Australia Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 kegs@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au

Canada dejongm@dme.pe.ca www.facebook.com/dmebrewing Aust/NZ Agent: brian@ contractbrewing.com

Supplying, installing and engineering breweries and packaging lines since 1968.

Ready Keg

Bintani Australia Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 kegs@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au

Brewers Association proudly presents:

World Beer Cup

2014

The most prestigious beer competition in the world

WorldBeerCup.org Beer and Brewer is a proud Endorser of World Beer Cup 2014

World Beer Cup Gala Reception & Awards Ceremony

AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99 Availiable from Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

Winners Announced Saturday, April 11, 2014 Craft Brewers Conference Denver, Colorado, USA Registration Information: WorldBeerCup.org events@brewersassociation.org

fbpropak.com | info@fbpropak.com | 03 9924-4050

@fb_propak

The World Beer Cup is presented by the Brewers Association www.BrewersAssociation.org

TIPS, RECIPES & How-Tos FoR BREwING YoUR owN AT HoME

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TEST YoUR PALATE

everything you need to know about becoming a beer judge

MEET THE BREwERS

Bill hoedemaker (Sail & Anchor) Andy Stewart (endeavour Vintage)

CLone reCiPeS for

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Homebrew Ed’s Letter

contents to 4 letters the eDitor

You share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

hen we thought of Autumn this issue we decided to really do Autumn. We’ve got Red, Amber, Brown, and a Spiced Belgian IPA. All great beer styles to brew and enjoy as the weather cools and we move indoors. Given Amber Ales are synonymous with Autumn, it’s our feature style this issue and we have both Endeavour and Sail & Anchor breweries who have been kind enough to take part in our Meet the Brewer series. Flip the mag over in Beer & Brewer for Style Notes written by Australian brewing royalty, Chuck Hahn. A man who has definitely played his part in the renaissance of craft brewing in Australia, starting with his Amber Ale. We also get a first-hand look in to the intense world of beer tasting and what it takes to become an accredited beer judge (BJCP). It’s as serious as a school exam, but your content is beer. Not a bad arrangement. Our ingredient profile this issue has been inspired by our love of smoke malts at the moment, which featured in some of our fav beers from 2013. Drew Beechum tells us how to smoke the malts and how to best use them Sit back, enjoy the read and get brewing! Cheers, Chris Thomas Editor, Homebrewer

5 comPetition results

See who is brewing winning beers and where.

Q&a

reciPes for the season

John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff answer their most common question about recipe development.

Hazelnut Brown Ale, American Brown Ale and Belgian Spiced IPA (Beer & Brewer Conference Beer).

meet the Brewer

Bill Hoedemaker, Brewmaster for Sail & Anchor Craft Beer (WA).

the 11 meet Brewer

Andy Stewart from Endeavour Vintage Beer (NSW), shares his award winning Reserve Amber Ale recipe.

homeBrew cluB

We profile the club and a member of Brisbane club BABBS - one of Australia’s longest standing and largest homebrew clubs.

14 ingreDient Profile

Drew Beechum tells us how to smoke the malts and how to best use them.

Beer JuDging

what’s new

Peter Lowndes shares his experience with getting accredited as a BJCP beer judge. We profile some of the latest gear to hit the homebrewer market.

contributors

Drew Beechum

Drew Beechum has been brewing and experimenting for over a decade in Los Angeles. He consults, teaches and speaks on beer and brewing. He wrote the Everything Homebrewing Book and writes regularly for Zymurgy and Beer Advocate. He also represents homebrewers on the AHA Governing Committee. See page 14.

Peter lownDes

Peter Lowndes has worked in the homebrewing industry for several years and has written on beer, among other topics, for various publications. Since completing the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), he now classifies beer drinking as educational, as well as medicinal and therapeutical. See page 16.

John Palmer

John Palmer is the author of How To Brew and has been brewing for about 18 years. He is a metallurgical engineer by trade, and the co-host of the Brewing Network podcast Brew Strong with his good friend Jamil Zainasheff. See page 6.

Jamil Zainasheff

Jamil Zainasheff is the Style Profile columnist for Brew Your Own magazine and author of Brewing Classic Styles. He hosts two shows on The Brewing Network; Can You Brew It? and Brew Strong, is an accredited BJCP judge, and an award-winning homebrewer. See page 6.

www.beerandbrewer.com

TIPS , RecI PeS

your shout

aT HOM e YOUR OWN FOR bReW ING

2013 ISSUE 27 SUMMER (NZ $11.95) PRICE $9.95

COLLABORATIVE

BREW

RECIPES

21 INSIDE!

Letters/Feedback

Feedback Join us online at

& HOW-TOs

BREW THESE STYLES: - CHRISTMAS WIT - BLACK IPA - FRUIT WHEAT - NELSON’S LIGHT ALE - GERMAN WEISSBIER - MO RYE MILD

Christmas Wit: is born. A new style for Put one on now the big day!

NT INGRedIe PROFILe!

a Find out about ient, traditional ingred ing which is becomRye new world –

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COST IPA - HOPPORTUNITY) (NZ) - HOPDOG (NSW ALE ALL HALLOWED - LOBETHAL (SA) ALE CHRISTMAS ALE WORKS (US) - LOS ANGELESROGG ENBIER GAMS-BART JAMIL PLUS! JOHN & 16_actual cover

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(NSW) Tim Thomas r Works HopDogBee ull (SA) Alistair Turnb us Lobethal Bierha

PROFILE

 STOCKIST PROFI

22/11/2013

11:59:31 AM

www.facebook.com/beerandbrewer,

www.twitter.com/beerandbrewer, or on our forums at www.beerandbrewer.com/forum and tell us your thoughts! We’ll publish the best letters and posts right here and send you a prize. MY COFFEE BREW

Dear Editor I thought I would relate a recent good brewing experience I had. I was making a coffee oatmeal stout and wanted to do a cold extract of coffee to get the coffee flavour in. Everything I’ve read says it is best to get fresh roasted coffee for best flavour, so I went down to a local coffee roaster in the Swan Valley, Fiori, to get some beans. I explained that I was after some coffee for a beer I was making and the guys were stoked. We sat down and talked about flavours and techniques for getting the most out of the

Each letter printed this issue has won a copy of the Beer Buyer’s Guide Australia & New Zealand, valued at $24.99, and jam-packed with everything you could ever need to know about beer. The Editor’s Choice letter below has also scored a copy of Keith M. Deutsher’s remarkable and comprehensive Breweries of Australia: A History, valued at $39.95.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

A CHRISTMAS ODYSSEY

To Chris, Congratulations on being involved in such a dynamic and supportive industry such as the beer industry. It is filled with many passionate people, who all share a common goal, to brew and experience better beer. A benefit to all of us. Let me point out, that I am not a Homebrewer, nor am I likely to pick up the pastime in the near future, but I always read the Homebrew section of your magazine, to see what new styles and ingredients people are playing with. I believe that there are lots of people out there who can produce quality product that needs to be consumed, so why should I compete with that when I can just sample the spoils. But I am a beer lover (beer geek) who likes to follow the

trends and style of the industry, and I was fortunate enough recently to have been in the right place at the right time. I was travelling down to Melbourne from South West Victoria and called into the Odyssey Tavern, just outside Geelong, and sampled the Christmas Wit that was on tap. The beer was served up with a slice of Christmas cake and after a brief chat with the gent behind the bar, he explained that the ingredients of that Christmas Cake were in fact the same ingredients in the beer! Being a beer lover, I am often intrigued by the northern hemisphere Christmas beers, and find them more suited to Christmas in July than in between overs of the Christmas Day backyard cricket game. The beer was light, with subtle hints of Christmas fruit cake and a lovely spritzy Belgian yeast finish that left a pleasant aftertaste that screamed ‘Drink More’!. A truly cracking beer.

I then sat and wondered why we don’t see more of this style of beer in Oz. Not long after that I received my copy of Beer & Brewer in the mail, and low and behold, an article on the very same Christmas Wit I had the pleasure of sampling not long before. So please accept my gratitude and congratulations on producing a product that was well timed and well worth the effort. Please don’t stop at just one collaboration with the lads from Odyssey. Hope to see more. Yours in Beer Roger Middleton Thanks for your words Roger and I’m glad you got the chance to have a taste. I’ve also had plenty of positive feedback from people who have brewed the beer themselves using the recipe from our last issue. Hopefully this isn’t the last of our collaborative brews and special thanks to the boys at Odyssey!

AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99

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Availiable from Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerbuyersguide.com.au

Your shout beans. They recommended an Ethiopian single source, Yirggycheffe, that Epic use in one of their beers. The guys were really helpful and gave me a small bag of the beans for free as they were really interested to see how it would go (I did buy a kilo of beans for more traditional use as well). I cold extracted 100g of ground beans in 1L of water for 24hr in the fridge and after filtering added this to 23L of an oatmeal stout base. The base had a big chocolate note to it, but after bottle conditioning, the coffee has smoothed right out. The coffee flavour is pretty big, but the cold extraction has reduced the astringency. The input from the coffee roasters was great and if you are ever over in WA and in the Swan Valley (Feral is up the road) you should stop in at Fiori as well. Cheers Rob

Thanks for your email Rob and your brew is of special interest as we’ve got a real curiosity in a version of the beer you allude to – Epic’s Coffee & Fig Imperial Stout. We’ve been trying to get this recipe from Epic since May last year! As soon as the stars align, I think it’ll happen. Fingers crossed we have something next issue for anyone making stouts over winter.

COMPETITION RESULTS Balmoral sHow

his was the second year of the Homebrew competition at the Balmoral Show in Western Victoria. The judges reported that the quality of beers was even higher than last year, with an IPA, double bock and velvet stout amongst the best beers of show. Jason Eats and Mick Morrow shared the aggregate honours for the event

Cider 1st Marg Smith 2nd Marg Smith Lager 1st Jason Eats 2nd Howie Harris Pale Ale 1st Peter Thomas 2nd Stuart Wakely

Dark Ale 1st Mick Morrow 2nd Mick Morrow Porter/Stout 1st Jason Eats 2nd Mick Morrow

Competition Results

tyrenDarra sHow

he Homebrew competition at the Tyrendarra Show in Victoria was again a huge success, with over 100 entries. In searing heat, the judges had their thirst quenched and pallet tested across several categories. The standout beer of the day was again a beer brewed by last year’s reigning champion, Liam McNaughton. Fortunately for locals he has now left the region, giving other brewers a chance.

Cider 1st Malcolm Alexander 2nd Malcolm Alexander Ginger Beer 1st Wayne Nunn 2nd Mick Morrow wheat 1st Stuart Wakely 2nd Greg Ward Fruit 1st Greg Ward 2nd Mick Morrow lager 1st Mick Morrow 2nd Stuart Husband light Coloured ales 1st Liam McNaughton 2nd Peter Thomas Dark Coloured ales 1st Mick Morrow 2nd Tom Pethybridge porter/stout 1st William Cox Union 2nd Tom Pethybridge Champion Beer of show: Liam McNaughton Champion Brewer of show: Mick Morrow Pale Ale first & second at the Balmoral show.

GeelonG Beer Festival – HomeBrew Competition

n its second year the Geelong Beer Festival organisers recognised the interest in homebrewing and the quality that is being produced with its first homebrew competition. The panel carefully assessed 45 entries from as far afield as NSW and Tasmania. The competition was judged by BJCP qualified judge and 2012 Champion brewer of Vic Brew, Dereck Hales, together with Tom Champion, the Brewery Manager at Little Creatures Geelong and BJCP qualified judge, Andrew (Shandy) Gargan. They tasted for several hours before announcing the winners to a suitably refreshed crowd on the main stage. James Rimmer (who coincidentally was our Homebrewer member profile back in issue 21) took out both Champion Brewer and Champion Beer. His prize is that he will brew a commercial quantity of his beer with Odyssey Brewery (Vic), which will be available at next year’s show. lager: James Rimmer (Dark Lager) wheat Beer: James Rimmer (Dunkel Weizen) Dark Beer: James Rimmer(Russian Imperial Stout) ale: Adrian De Leiros (Golden Ale) ipa: Stewart Smith other: James Guthridge (Belgian Strong) Champion brewer: James Rimmer Champion Beer: James Rimmer (Dark Lager)

Cheers from the judges at the Geelong Beer Festival.

$39.95 WAS $59.95 (SAVING $20) AVAILABLE AT LEADING BOOKSTORES, NEWSAGENTS, BREWERIES, BOTTLESHOPS, www.beerandbrewer.com 5 WWW.BREWERIESOFAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

HOMEBREW Q&A

hop vines pre-

harvest.

Q&A

inAsheff John PAlmer and JAmil ZA s estion rew qu ur ho@bemerandeb answer yo /forum r.com rewe andb .beer brewer.com or post on www e email it to homebrew if you have a question pleas

Champions of brewing your own beer, Jamil Zainasheff and John palmer share some tips on developing your own reCipes.

: i have been trying to develop my own reCipes with left over ingredients but have generally missed the mark. i feel like i Can do this when Cooking but brewing is far less forgiving! what adviCe have you got for developing your own beer reCipes?

: this is a good question and one that i myself asked when i was getting started. the short answer is that it is simply a matter of experience. but let me explain; you compared it to cooking, and it really is just another type of cooking, such as baking, or grilling. there are

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techniques and ingredients that are particular to brewing beer just as there are to baking cakes or making a good stir-fry. not to get too lost in the metaphor, but i like to compare beer recipes to making sandwiches. we have all been making sandwiches most of our lives, whether it is peanut butter, ham and cheese or vegemite. we know the limits on additives and condiments when we make sandwiches, don’t we? it is a matter of experience to know that you don’t combine peanut butter and mustard, and that while a little horseradish on a roast beef sandwich is nice, too much ruins it. it is the same with beer recipes. you need to think of a beer recipe like you would a sandwich recipe. the base malt is the bread, it is the main ingredient. the specialty malts are your fillings, and the hops are the condiments, etc. the important thing to realize is that you don’t want to have an unbalanced sandwich, i.e., wafer-thin bread and a kilo of meat and cheese, or peanut butter and banana with lots of horseradish. You need to think about how the flavours combine and compliment one another as well. In some cases, strongly flavoured meats and cheeses need a strongly flavoured bread to support them. in other cases, a less-stronglyflavoured bread is appropriate so that you can provide some contrast to a unique ingredient. if you combine a bit of everything in the refrigerator, do you have a Club sandwich, an italian submarine sandwich, or a mess? everyone likes to think outside the box, but when you do, it really helps understand the box so that you know precisely how far out you are from it. in this respect, beer styles are your friend. obviously, beer styles are like sandwich styles. you need to understand what the signature characteristics of each malt are, and which styles they are associated with. For example, if you put some leftover roasted barley in what

is otherwise a belgian dubbel recipe, it is no longer a belgian dubbel. with the right additions and proportions, you can transform that recipe into a belgian dark strong recipe, or a Foreign extra stout. if you don’t make the additions with a specific goal or style in mind, you can end up missing both targets, and that is what often happens when new brewers experiment with recipe creation. the proportions are very important as well. Good brewers know that base malt is called base malt for a very good reason – it is most of the beer. specialty malts should only be added in small amounts. if you look at Jamil’s winning recipes in the book, brewing Classic styles, you will see that in most cases the specialty malts constitute only about 10% of the grain bill. a few richer (or very light) styles will have up to 20% of specialty malts or adjuncts, but usually the base malt dominates the recipe. Keep it simple; discretion is the better part of flavour. as a us brewer, i am used to thinking of beer recipes in terms of 5 gallon batches, and half pound or quarter pound specialty malt additions. to put this in real units, it would be a 20 litre batch with 250 gram or 125 gram specialty malt additions. use the 250 gram additions for signature flavours, like roasted barley in a stout, or caramel 60L malt in an amber ale or other sweet malty style. use the 125 gram additions for accent flavours, such as black malt in a Porter, or melanoidin malt in a traditional bock. yes, you can add a little of this and a little of that to make it “interesting”, but take a step back and look at the big picture: is the overall beer still in style or has it transformed from a horse of a different colour into a chimera? to summarize: think of brewing like cooking, use your experience with sandwiches to guide you when creating your own recipes for a particular style, and keep your changes and additions simple.

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homebrew

RecIpe 1

Recipes

– extRact

hazelnut BRown ale by andrew childs

rown Ales are a very underrated style. This style is full of caramel and biscuity flavours topped off with hints of chocolate. The addition of hazelnut blends together well with lovely Nutella type flavours, while the yeast used leaves great residual sweetness making it a perfect beer for autumn. Cheers!

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1059 FG: 1016 IBU: 38 ABV: Approx 5.6% Volume: 19 litres IngRedIents 2 tins of Black Rock Pale Malt Extract 150g Dextrose 400g Bairds Pale Crystal 200g Bairds Dark Crystal 250g Brown Malt 300g Pale Chocolate Malt 20g Pacific Jade hops 25g Pacifca hops 0.3g Copperfloc 2 packets of Mangrove Jacks M03 Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast 2 bottles of Still Spirits Top Shelf Hazelnut liquor (add more or less depending on how pronounced you want the hazelnut flavour to be). Method 1. In nine litres of water steep all the grains in 75oC water for 25 mins.

RecIpe 2 – all gRaIn

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1063 FG: 1019 IBU: 38 ABV: Approx 5.8% Volume: 23 litres

Method 1. Mash at 68oC (for a very full body). 2. Sparge and bring to a boil. 3. Boil for 90 mins adding Pacific Jade hops at 60 mins. 4. Add Copperfloc at 15mins. IngRedIents 5. Add 10g of Pacifica hops at 5kg Bairds Maris Otter 10 mins. 500g Weyermann Munich Malt 6. Add 15g of Pacifica hops at 400g Bairds Pale Crystal flameout. 200g Bairds Dark Crystal 7. Immediately cool your wort 250g Brown Malt to 20oC as you transfer to the 300g Pale Chocolate Malt fermenter and pitch both packets 20g Pacific Jade hops of Mangrove Jack’s M03 25g Pacifca hops Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast. 0.3g of Copperfloc 8. Ferment at 19oC for ten days. 2 packets of Mangrove Jacks 9. Once active fermentation M03 Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast is complete rack to a second 2 bottles of Still Spirits Top Shelf fermenter add the Still Spirits Hazelnut liquor (add more or less Top Shelf Hazelnut liquor depending on how pronounced essence to taste. you want the hazelnut flavour 10. Leave to blend in with the to be). beer for 7 days. 11. Bottle or keg as usual.

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2. Remove grain and bring to a boil then add dextrose. 3. Boil for 90 mins. 4. Add Pacific Jade at 60 mins. 5. Add Copperfloc and both tins of Pale Malt Extract with 15 mins left. 6. At 10 mins add 10g of Pacifica hops. 7. At the end of the boil add 15g of Pacifica hops. 8. Cool to 20oC as you transfer to the fermenter and pitch 2 packets of Mangrove Jack’s M03 Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast. 9. Ferment at 20oC for 7 days. 10. Ferment at 19oC for 10 days. 11. Once active fermentation is complete rack to a second fermenter add the Still Spirits Top Shelf Hazelnut liquor essence to taste. 12. Leave to blend in with the beer for 7 days. 13. Bottle or keg as usual.

RecIpe 3

– concentRate Expected Brew Figures OG: 1063 FG: 1019 IBU: 30 ABV: Approx 5.8% Volume: 19 litres

Method 1. Add 6 Litres of boiling water into a sanitised fermenter. 2. Stir and mix the Mangrove Jack’s Craft Series Chocolate (or Nut) Brown Ale pouch as well as the can of Black Rock light malt extract into boiling water. IngRedIents 3. Add cold water up to 19L – the Mangrove Jack’s Craft Series colder the better to bring the temp Chocolate Brown Ale or Nut down. Brown Ale Pouch 2.2kg Black Rock unhopped light Malt 4. Add to icebath to bring the temp down to 20oC. Extract 1.7kg 2 times Mangrove Jacks M03 5. Sprinkle on the 2 packets Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast (one Mangrove Jack’s M03 New Castle pack comes with the Mangrove Dark Ale Yeast. Jacks Brown Ale pack, so just buy 6. Ferment at 19oC for 10 days. an extra one) 7. Once active fermentation 2 bottles of Still Spirits Top is complete rack to a second Shelf Hazelnut liquor (add fermenter add the Still Spirits Top more or less depending on Shelf Hazelnut liquor essence how pronounced you want the to taste. hazelnut flavour to be). 8. Leave to blend in with the beer for 7 days. 9. Bottle or keg as usual.

homebrew

Saint BirBeck’S –

recipes

Beer & Brewer conference Brew

After reading about the Beer & Brewer 2013 Conference Beer in our last issue, we have been inundated with requests for the recipe. So here it is.

aint Birbeck Spiced Belgian IPA was created with Birbeck’s Brewing (SA) in conjunction with St Peter’s Brewery (NSW). The recipe was developed following a Beer & Brewer reader survey into favourite beer styles and characteristics. The beer was a hit on the night, but for those who weren’t there to enjoy it (like me) you’ll have to brew your own.

reciPe 4

SPiceD BelGian iPa – all Grain Expected Brew Figures OG: 1060 FG: 1014 IBU: 40.8 ABV: 6.1% Volume: 23 litres inGreDientS 15.85kg BB Ale (3.0 SRM) 420g Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L (60.0 SRM) 130g Caramalt (15.0 SRM) 8g Wai-iti [2.80%AA] 9g Galaxy [15.00%AA] 9g Stella [16.00%AA] 8g Motueka [7.30%AA] 9g Summer Saaz [5.6 %AA] 9g Topaz [16.50%AA] 8g Nelson Sauvin [12.50%AA] 9g Cascade [5.50%AA] 2.3g Cardamon

ol’ Brown DoG Paul 'PB2' Burge provides a perfect Autumn Brown Ale, packed full of coffee and chocolate flavours.

his recipe makes a slightly hoppy version of the American Brown Ale style (category 10.C. of the BJCP guidelines). It’s approachable, friendly and always nice to revisit – a bit like that Ol’ Brown Dog down the street…. This recipe makes a slightly hoppy version of the American Brown Ale style (category 10.C. of the BJCP guidelines). The end result is a rich dark Brown Ale displaying a creamy beige head, rich coffee and chocolate aromas combined with citrus undertones. Voluminous dark malt flavours fill the mouth with coffee, chocolate and sweet toffee, combined with zesty marmalade. It finishes up with medium hop bitterness. Keeping within the style guidelines, you might like to lighten the colour by swapping out the Amber Malt with Light Malt and/or reduce the hopping levels.

11.5g Pepper Medley (Secondary 3.0 days) Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale (1388) yeast Note: If you don’t have access to all of these hops you might just choose two or three – Cascade, Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin would be your best bet. MethoD 1. Pop the Wyeast pack as per instructions and let it expand for a few hours. 2. Mash the grain at 66oC for one hour. 3. Mix all of the hops together in a container. 4. Boil the wort for an hour

adding 3.5g of the hop mix every five minutes until ten minutes after the boil is complete. 5. Add the cardamom five minutes before the boil finishes. 6. Chill the wort and ferment at 20oC until fermentation is complete. 7. Rack into secondary fermenter, adding the Pepper Medley for 3 days. 8. Bottle or keg as normal.

reciPe 5

ale aMerican Brown ith GrainS – concentrate w Expected Brew Figures OG: 1051 FG: 1010-1014 IBU: 38 ABV: 5.7% Volume: 23 litres inGreDientS 1.7kg Dark Ale Brew Kit 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Amber Malt 500g Light Dry Malt 300g Crystal Malt Grain 50g Cascade Hop Pellets 25g Centennial Hop Pellets 1 x 11g Danstar BRY-97 (or other American Ale yeast of your choice such as Safale US-05) MethoD 1. Place the Crystal Malt Grain in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and crack it using a rolling pin.

2. In a good sized pot (around eight litres), mix with two litres of hot water (not boiling) and let steep for about 1hr. 3. Remove the grain, then add three litres of water and 500g of Light Dry Malt and bring to the boil. 4. Add 25g of Cascade Hops and boil for ten minutes then remove from the heat, add another 25g of Cascade Hops and let sit for about five minutes. 5. Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel. 6. Add the Dark Ale kit and Amber Malt, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 20 litre mark and stir thoroughly. 7. Check the brew temperature and top up to the 23 litre mark with warm or cold water

(refrigerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 20oC. 8. Sprinkle the dry yeast or stir in liquid yeast, fit the lid and aim to ferment at 20oC. 9. On day four, add the Centennial Hops (we recommend using a hop bag or wrapping the hops in an unscented mesh cleaning cloth, pulled straight from the wrapper). 10. Fermentation has finished once the specific gravity is stable over two days. It should finish in the range of 1010 – 1014. 11. Bottle the brew with a priming rate of 8g per litre (2 carbonation drops per 750ml bottle). 12. Allow to condition for at least two weeks in the bottle. To take advantage of the fresh hop characters, drink this brew early.

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homebrew Meet the Brewer

BiLL HoeDeMaker

BrewMaster, saiL & ancHor craft Beer (wa) David Lipman chats with Bill Hoedemaker who enlightens us on his early forays into homebrewing and life as a craftbrewer with the exciting new releases from Sail & Anchor. WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU OR THE BREWERY/ BRAND?

Sail & Anchor’s Bill Hoedemaker

We’ve really enjoyed brewing our seasonal beers (Devil Dodger, Jack Tar, & Changing Tides). Our recent collaboration with US brewer Karl Strauss was a real blast, too. We’re going to keep doing more of that sort of exciting stuff.

ANY ADVICE FOR HOMEBREWERS?

Keep experimenting. I still like to peruse the homebrew forums and I’m always amazed by the sheer creativity of some of those guys. That’s really exciting. Other than that, I read a recent interview with Nail’s John Stallwood in which he gave some great advice: start kegging as soon as you can. Cleaning bottles is a chore!

WHAT STARTED YOUR LOVE OF BEER & BREWING?

My parents are Dutch, so I was always going to love beer. I was about 16 when I first took up brewing after stumbling across one of Dad’s old homebrew kits in a dusty corner of our shed. I wasn’t old enough to buy beer, so I guess my passion started as soon as I realized I could brew it myself, and at a better price (my friends’ passion for my brewing started at about the same time, funnily enough). Back then I used to joke that I was brewing as much Cooper’s Sparkling as they were.

WHAT EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION DID YOU UNDERTAKE TO BECOME A BREWER? Plenty of experimentation and trial by fire. I brewed as often as I could and always shared the results with my mates (there are no better critics). When my local rugby club asked me to stop bringing my beer to games because it was killing their bar take, I knew I’d gotten reasonably good. It wasn’t until I decided to

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take up brewing fulltime that I embarked on more formal education.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING AND MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT BEING A CRAFTBREWER?

Walking into a pub and ordering a round of your own beers never gets old. Not many people get the opportunity to share their passion with others in such a direct way. I think the most challenging thing is maintaining your passion day to day. Brewing is nowhere near as glamorous as it might sound. It’s long hours, it’s hot and sweaty, and we spend what sometimes feels like 90% of our time cleaning!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR AMBER ALE RECIPE DEVELOPMENT AND THE TARGET DRINKERS.

We wanted something that was a bit more malt forward in our portfolio and Boa’s Bind Amber gave us that. Having said that, like most brewers we love hops so there’s a decent amount of the American classics in there to help lift the aroma. The target drinker is anyone and everyone who is looking for a sessionable, well-balanced, malt-driven beer.

andY stewart

HOMEBREW cloning

Head Brewer endeaVoUr VintaGe Beer (nsw) david lipman chats with andy stewart on using his winemaking experience to brew his award winning vintage beer – Reserve Amber Ale. WHAT STARTED YOUR LOVE OF BEER & BREWING?

What real Australian doesn’t love beer? Its ingrained in us from birth I think. I come from a farming background with a family that has been heavily involved in grains for generations. Knowing that malting barley was top grade for crops made me think a little bit more about what goes into beer and how it is made from a young age. Home brew kit next and the seed was planted….

WHAT EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION DID YOU UNDERTAKE TO BECOME A BREWER? I don’t have any formal education or qualifications in brewing. I studied applied Science (viticulture) and spent 10 years growing and making wine which gave me a grounding in brewing. Most wines take a lot of good beer!

WHAT IS THE BEST THING AND MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT BEING A CRAFTBREWER? Best thing is making beer with real flavour and knowing exactly what it is made from. The industry body itself is also greatthe people have real passion. The most

challenging thing (at the moment) is the market. It is absolutely dominated by commercial, big brand breweries.

Andy Stewart

WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU OR THE BREWERY/BRAND?

recipe 6

More beer styles. We have got a good grounding now with our Reserve and Growers Ranges meaning we can be a little more adventurous with seasonals and 1 off beers.

ale endeaVoUr amBer - all Grain recipe

ANY ADVICE FOR HOMEBREWERS? Keep brewing and tweaking recipes and ingredients.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR AMBER ALE RECIPE DEVELOPMENT AND THE TARGET DRINKERS

Our Reserve Amber Ale recipe changes every year depending on both the barley and hop harvest. We have tried to maintain a “house style” but varied ingredients and recipes since our inception in 2010. Every year we try and make the beer better and look for more balance between malt, hops, bitterness and ABV and to take advantage of how the variation in growing conditions affect the beer. Hence my comment above - I get to tweak every year!

out back.

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1055 FG: 1015 IBU: ~ 25 ABV: ~ 5.2% Volume: 23 litres inGredients Malts 5kg Pale Malt 100g Crystal 400g Medium Crystal 100g Dark Crystal 100g Chocolate Malt Safale US-05 Yeast Hops 15g Topaz

metHod 1. Mash (assuming 70% efficiency). 2. Mash in at 65oC-45 minutes. 3. Raise to 73oC-30 minutes. 4. Raise to 78oC. 5. Boil (assuming 35% utilisation at 60 min and 15% at 5 minutes). 6. Boil 5g Hop addition at 60 minutes. 7. Boil 10g hop addition at 5 minutes.

endeaVoUr trUe VintaGe amBer ale – Clone Recipes by

recipe 7

- concentrate Expected Brew Figures OG: 1055 FG: 1015 IBU: ~ 25 ABV: ~ 5.2% Volume: 23 litres inGredients Malts I x Cooper English Bitter Kit 2Kg Briess Dry Sparkling Amber malt extract 10g Motueka Hops You can use the yeast from under the Coopers lid or for a better result use a Nottingham or S04 dry yeast

metHod 1. Bring 2.5 litres of water to the boil and steep the 10 grams of Motueka for 5 minutes. 2. Remove the hops and dissolve the contents of the kit and the malt extract in the hot water. 3. Add to your fermenter and top up with cold water to 23 litres. 4. Arrange temperatures using hot/ cold water so you end up with a temperature of 19 or 20oC. 5. Pitch the yeast and ferment until the gravity is around 1015 and stable for consecutive days. Then bottle and enjoy!

recipe 8

ains

- extract witH Gr Expected Brew Figures OG: 1055 FG: 1015 IBU: ~ 25 ABV: ~ 5.2% Volume: 23 litres inGredients 3kg Briess DME Golden Light US 400g JWM Crystal 120 100g JWM Caramalt 100g JWM Crystal 275 100g JWM Chocolate Malt 10g Magnum Hops (13.5% AA)

15g Motueka Hops (6.7% AA)

Nottingham or S04 dry yeast or one of the British liquid yeasts like Wyeast 1098

metHod 1. If using a liquid yeast pop a couple of hours before you begin so it has time to expand. 2. Steep the grains in 2 litres of water at 75oC for 30 minutes and drain. 3. Rinse with another 2 litres at the same temperature. 4. Dump all the liquid into a boiling pot, add 500g of malt extract and then make up to about 5 litres. Bring to the boil 5. Add the10g ofMagnum Hops and 5g of the Motueka Hops when it reaches the boil and boil for 60 mins. 6. Ten minutes before the end of the boil add the rest of the malt extract. 7. Five minutes before the end of the boil add the remaining 10g of Motueka Hops. 8. At the end of the boil put a lid on the boiler and cool to about to 20oC. Add this to your fermenter and make the volume up to 23 litres. Arrange it so you end up with the temperature about 19 or 20oC. 9. Pitch yeast and ferment until the gravity is around 1015 and stable for consecutive days. Then bottle. Enjoy!

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homebrew Club Profile

BABBs

ville (left) with ber Ernie Mel Life Members d Founding mem an rs te Brew Mas oberts. other former urie Brace and Harry R La

The Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers is one of Australia’s longest standing and largest homebrew clubs. Club President, Kristian Domagala, shares some of their history and achievements with Homebrewer.

risbane Amateur Beer Brewers (BABBs) was established in 1977, five years after home brewing became legal in Australia. The inaugural meeting was led by first Brewmaster, Ernie Melville, and recorded an attendance of 21 people. The membership base has varied over time, but has been relatively strong at 60-70 members in recent years, making BABBs the largest club devoted to brewing in Queensland. In 2012, club members took out first place

Several former and current members have made the leap to professional brewing at various local breweries including Bacchus Brewing, Brisbane Brewhouse, Fortitude &Noisy Minor Brewing, and Green Beacon Brewing Co. The club has close ties with some of these breweries, as well as local craft beer bars, and has awarded a number of members the chance to brew their winning recipes on commercial systems.

The cluB hAs close Ties wiTh some of These Breweries, As well As locAl crAfT Beer BArs...” in five out of the eighteen categories at the Australian Amateur Brewing Championship (AABC) in Melbourne, setting Queensland up to take out the Champion State title for the first time since the state began competing. Whilst 2013 wasn’t quite as fruitful for BABBs at the national competition, members held on to the Champion Club title at the Queensland Amateur Brewing Championship (QABC) for another year. A key focus of BABBs is educating brewers about the art and science behind brewing. This is done through judge coaching, talks from guest speakers, flavour profiling, equipment demonstrations, and access to the club’s extensive literature library. The club also conducts regular informal experiments, such as the popular ‘Yeast Experiment’ where brewers ferment the same batch of wort with different yeast strains. There is also the ongoing ‘Wild Brew Project’, which involves fermenting a beer with cultured wild yeast and bacteria in a barrel throughout the year. A portion of the beer is drawn off for the annual break up meeting, then the barrel is topped up with fresh beer to start over again. Mini-competitions are held regularly throughout the year and focus on a particular category of beer. These meetings are a great opportunity for members and visitors to get involved in the judging process and receive feedback on their beers, allowing them to tune recipes for the major competitions.

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Archive Beer Boutique has hosted the club’s annual Mash Paddle competition beers on tap for the last three years, and BABBs is excited to be teaming up with Bacchus Brewing Co and Newstead Brewing Co this year to have even more members’ beers on tap in Brisbane. Meetings are generally held on the fourth Thursday of the month at the Lynndon Bowls Club, Holland Park West. Visitors from any level of brewing experience are always welcome and encouraged to bring along their beers for sampling. For more information email info@ babbrewers.com, or visit the babbrewers.com website. Mash Paddle Brew Day.

BABBs Group.

HOMEBREW

MeMber profile DaviD Clarke

Profile

David Clarke is not just a key member of the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers club, he is also pivotal to amateur brewing in Queensland, by Kris Domagala.

avid Clarke started brewing 10 years ago and has been a valued member of Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers (BABBs) since 2007. He initially brewed using kits, but only two days after his first meeting at BABBs he brewed his first all-grain beer. Since then he has chalked up 150 batches on his 3-vessel system. David has served on the club committee, and has played an invaluable role in getting fellow members qualified as BJCP judges. He has also served as State Chief Steward, organising entries and judges, running the competition, and performing the vital follow-up work of making sure Queensland has been fully represented at the national competition for the last two years. David’s hard work has paid off with two consecutive Champion State victories. His own brewing achievements include Club Champion Brewer for the last two years, and Reserve Champion Brewer at the state and national competition in 2012 – the Reserve Champion Beer was for his English Barley Wine. David has had a number of his recipes commercially brewed under the Toybox Brewery name. These have been tapped for various dinners, tap takeovers and festivals including Queensland Beer Week, Good Beer Week (Victoria) and Armakeggon. The inaugural Craft Beer Rising day saw his Peppa Pig (Peppered Ham Pale Ale) and Hop Control Centre (IIPA) on tap at Newstead Brewing Co, Tippler’s Tap and Scratch Bar. David is always up for a chat about all things beer and can often be seen out and about supporting the local brewing scene.

the reCipe

David Clarke’s ToyboxTripel took first place in the Belgian Strong Ale Category at the 2012 Australian Amateur Brewing Championships and third place at the Queensland Amateur Brewing Championships in the same year.

brewer’s CoMMents

A dangerously drinkable Belgian, perfectly suited to a session or matched with food. Very simple recipe and I believe it’s easy to replicate if attention is paid to the fermentation for the first 2-3 days. The esters should be evident, but restrained. If kept at 10°C it should preserve the condition of the beer, even after one year – which was its age when judged at the AABC.

JuDges’ CoMMents

Clean, Sweet Pils type malt – soft, low hops but present, subtle phenols and lemon, pears, apricot, low peppery phenols, fairly subtle and clean overall but everything in place, appealing pale gold appearance, light haze, thin head, but foamy and good retention, very nice lace, soft smooth malt, sweet, honey, low spicy hop presence, nice soft esters, coconut pepper phenols, baked apple, spicy, some soft alcohol, some fruit lemon, orange, beautifully balanced, body spot on – some weight but not heavy, nice creamy mouth feel, integrated, medium – high carbonation, bang on for style, slight fusel note in finish. A really enjoyable beer showing good complexity and balance, very drinkable and well crafted. score: 125.5/150

David Clarke.

reciPe 9

TOYBOX TriPeL – ALL GrAin

MethoD

Brew Figures Og: 1085 Fg: 1016 ABV: 9.2% iBu: 33 Volume: 22 litres

ingreDients

6 kg Bohemium Pilsner Malt (85%) 100g Aromatic Malt (1%) 1 kg Sucrose (14%) 8g Calcium Sulphate (see notes on water treatment) 45g Styrian Goldings Hops (5.0%AA) 30g Styrian Goldings Hops (3.4%AA) 30g Saaz Hops (4.5%AA) ½ tsp Irish Kettlefloc 1 tsp Yeast nutrient Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale yeast Note: Pre–boiled Brisbane town water to remove chlorine, 8g Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) in mash to bring Calcium to approx 100ppm, no boil additions.

1. Pop Wyeast pack and keep at about 22oC as per packet instructions. 2. Mash grains with 15 litres water. Conversion for 60 mins @ 66oC; Mash out for 10 mins @ 76oC. 3. Boil for 75 mins, adding 45g Styrian Goldings pellets (5.0%AA) and 15g Styrian Goldings pellets (3.4%AA) at 60 mins. 4. Add 15g Styrian Goldings (3.4%AA), 30 g Saaz Pellets (4.5%AA) and Kettlefloc at 15 mins. 5. Add 1 tsp Yeast nutrient at 10 mins. 6. Hot cube to cool. 7. Pitch yeast at 18oC and hold temperature for 2-3 days, then allow to rise up to 22°C. 8. Bulk prime with sucrose to 3 Volumes CO2 and bottle.

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homebrew Ingredient Profile

Smoke em on Down Our American correspondent and homebrewing aficionado, drew Beechum, tells how to get some smoke into your beers. He even teaches you to smoke your own grains!

’ve always argued that there are several stages of taste development for homebrewers – “I love Stouts!” leads to “I love Hops!” which morphs into “Bring me Sour and Funky!” From there, there’s only one place to go and that’s the smokehouse. It’s hard to argue with the tantalizing aroma and flavour of a well-made smoke beer. Spicy hard wood smoke calls out to me. It puts my mind into a happy spot of remembering an old BBQ joint with walls infused with decades of tantalizing smoked meat. So I may just be inclined to like smoke flavours. Smoke has been, along with incidental funkiness, a near constant of our beer drinking history. Until indirect malt drying became widespread in the late 1700’s, freshly sprouted wet barley malt was dried over direct fires of wood, peat, grass and other burnable materials. Smoke particles cling to wet materials, so try as they might the malt was going to be smoky. Various producers figured out how to make less smoky malts, but there was always a background note. When brewing, consider this your warning – smoke is powerful stuff. It doesn’t take much and it doesn’t age out. Once I sat on a smoky Wee Heavy for 5 years, hoping, praying that smoke would fade. Stuff was still as smoky as a brush fire the day I poured it out.

German Smoke

We’ll start with the classics – the Rauchbiers of Germany. These beers, mostly from the Bavarian city of Bamberg, are the last remnants of humanity’s experience with beer since antiquity. Today’s Rauchbiers are made with rauchmalt aka Beechwood smoked malt. Beechwood is a fine smoking wood used for centuries in Europe in meat and beer production. Weyermann makes an outstanding Pilsner based rauchmalt that can be used as 100% of the malt bill for a truly potent Westphalian ham experience. Personally I prefer to use it at the 40-50% mark and crank up the Munich for a beer with more malt sweetness to stand up to the acrid twang of heavy smoke.

PoliSh Smoke

There’s an antique forgotten style called “Gratzer” being dug up from lost Polish brewing practices. Imagine a low gravity (1.030 max) beer that is highly hopped (roughly 75g per 20 litres. Now for the kicker – the beer is 100% smoked wheat malt. Until recently that was a problem with no commercial source of smoked wheat malt, but now Weyermann makes oak smoked malt. Just make sure you use some rice hulls in the mix to ensure cleaner lautering.

ScottiSh Smoke?

Of all the smoky things to drink out there – the first one is Scotch Whisky. Thanks to that fact, brewers have naturally conflated the peaty smoky nature of Scotch with the idea of Scottish ales. Hence, you’ll see a ton of “Scotch Ales” with a heaping helping of Peated Malt. When brewing with peated malt go gentle! Keep your total to under 100 grams per 20 litres – you can experiment from there if you want more.

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recIPe 10

ked mIld

cherrywood Smo exPected Brew FIgureS

OG: 1039 FG: 1009 IBU: 11 ABV: 3.9% Volume: 20 litres

IngredIentS 2kg Maris Otter Malt 1kg Cherrywood Smoked Malt 250g Crystal 60L 250g Munich Malt 100g Carafa II Special (Dehusked) 10g Challenger (7.5%AA) Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley

Note: If you can’t find Cherrywood Smoked malt, either substitute Weyermann Rauch malt or make your own. Use half as much of the homemade stuff, replacing the other half kilo with Maris Otter method 1. Strike the grains at 67oC for 60 minutes. 2. Bring wort to the boil and add the Challenger for 60 mins. 3. Pitch yeast and ferment at 18oC for 7-10 days or until fermentation subsides.

recIPe 11

e clock

rauch around th exPected Brew FIgureS

OG: 1063 FG: 1010 IBU: 20 ABV: 6.7% Volume: 20 litres

IngredIentS 2kg German Pilsner Malt 2kg Beechwood Smoked Malt 2kg Munich Malt 10g Magnum (14.0%AA) Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager / WLP820 Oktoberfest/ Munich Lager

method 1. Strike the grains at 67oC for 60 minutes. 2. Bring wort to the boil and add the Magnum for 60 mins. 3. Pitch yeast and ferment at 10oC for 10-14 days 4. Increase the wort temperature to 18oC for 1 day and then crash back to 10oC. Slowly (by 0.5oC / day) lower the temperature to 1oC and hold there for 14 days before packaging. If you can’t lager, substitute a clean German ale yeast like Wyeast 1007 and ferment it at 15.5oC for 2 weeks.

homebrew Ingredient Profile

Make Your own SMoke

Just about any hardwood can be used to smoke malt. Soft woods, like pine, should be avoided due to their resin content. It makes for bad smoke and bad smoke makes for terrible malt. To smoke your own malt, take your favourite malt and lightly spritz it with water. Place the malt in a lightly perforated tray, then place in a smoker with soaked chunks of hardwood on the fire. If you can,

expose it to cold smoke (20-40oC) for an hour or two. A friend of mine hot smokes his for 10 minutes with a few takeaways trays to act as wood reservoir and malt holder. He uses his propane burner to heat the wood. Regardless of the method used, allow your malt to rest for at least 2 weeks in paper bags to off gas anything nasty before using. Start sparingly – homemade malt will be even more potent!

Smoked recIPeS by GraIn & GraPe The all grain recipes to the left represent a degree of difficulty for extract or partial mash brewers simply due to the quantity of grain used. This mash could not be called mini. For this reason I’ve suggested recipes with a reduced grain bill. If you are up for a larger mash, feel free to substitute more smoked malt in place of the Maris Otter in the case of the Mild, or Pilsner in the case of the Rauch. Either way you will achieve a distinctive smoked flavour.

recIPe 12

Smoked mIld raInS – extract wIth G method 1. Steep malt in two litres of water at 66oC for 45 minutes. 2. Remove grain and sparge with 2 litres of water at 75oC. InGredIentS 3. Add seven litres of water, bring 1.5 Kg Briess Golden Light LME to boil, add DME and hops and 500g Briess Sparkling Amber boil for 50 minutes. DME 4. Add LME and boil for 500g Briess Cherrywood Smoked 10 minutes. Malt 5. Pour into fermenter. Top with 50g Weyermann Carafa Special 2 chilled boiled water, check temp 10g Challenger (8.1%AA) is 20oC and pitch yeast. Safale S04 or Wyeast 1275 exPected Brew FIGureS OG: 1039 FG: 1009 IBU: 11 ABV: 3.9% Volume: 20 litres

"Bamberg, the spiritual home of Rauch beers".

recIPe 13

e clock rauch around th raInS – extract wIth G exPected Brew FIGureS OG: 1063 FG: 1010 IBU:20 ABV: 6.7% Volume: 20 litres

Smoking the malt German style.

InGredIentS 1.9Kg Briess Pilsen Light DME 1.5 Kg Briess Munich LME 500g Best Rauch Malt 9g Magnum; Safale 34/70 or Wyeast 2308

method 1. Steep malt in two litres of water at 66oC for 45 minutes; 2. Remove grain and sparge with 2 litres of water at 75 degrees; 3. Add seven litres of water, bring to boil, add LME and hops and boil for 50 minutes; 4. Add DME and boil for 10 minutes. 5. Pour into fermenter. Top with cooled boiled water, check temp is 10-14 degrees and pitch yeast.

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HOMEBREW Beer Judging

Sober aS a J dge If you had to sit an exam on anything, drinking beer would have to be top of the list. But getting accredited is no easy task, just ask Peter Lowndes who shares his experience with Homebrewer. Sober aS a beer Judge

There were moments while studying to become a beer judge that I had to have faith that this whole beer judging venture had merit. How do you adjudicate upon something as contingent as beer, a beverage that is besieged by personal tastes, diverse styles and daff allegiances? Assemble a group of beer drinkers and their preferences are likely to be as diverse as the football teams they follow. Beer seemed less appraisable than wine, not characterised by that same level of scrutiny wine receives. Rather than being a topic of conversation as wine tends to be, beer has traditionally invited a less prissy, somewhat laconic discourse.

What was there to be said about beer beyond the obvious; than it was thirst quenching, fizzy, and amber coloured? Quite a lot as it turns out. I had always enjoyed (nay loved) beer but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the half of it until I enrolled to become a beer judge and learnt to distinguish between a Pilsner and a Kolsch. I soon discovered that beer could be just as diverse and intriguing as wine, if not more so. My own beer consumption was perhaps a familiar tale to readers. For years, I consumed what was available in this country, none the wiser about all the other beers that existed out there in the wonderful world of beer. I drank local, ignorant to all that was global. Then along came the beer renaissance and the realisation I need not adhere to the notion

that beer was a one dimensional product. My beer journey moved into home brewing, enabling me to produce the styles of beer I had started to consume, but at a minimal cost. The beer judging course seemed an ideal way to learn more about styles and improve and refine my own beer making. And besides, it was a chance to taste some exotic beers. The process of becoming a beer judge involved participating in a beer class held each week at Temple Brewery. Bringing the classroom to the pub for some serious palate training, analysis and tastings, we sampled Belgians one week, Bocks the next and so on into the seventy-odd distinct styles and sub styles.

Vicbrew Judging LtoR Brett McClusky, Alex Lovelock & Peter Lowndes.

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HOMEBREW Beer Judging

How is a beer judged?

Beer judging itself begins with a category and culminates in an appraisal on how well a beer fits into its allotted category. Anybody can pass Facebook-style judgement upon a beer, but judging beer is not about likes and dislikes. It has more to do with assessing a beer against its category. This is quantified through taste, smell and sight. So a German wheat beer should exhibit a prominent thick mousy head and pale straw colour. If it doesn’t, then it fails the appearance aspect in the criteria section. Aroma is the next component to assess in a beer. As with smelling wine, we get our noses in the glass to best analyse its bouquet. Quick

Flavour is the next and most important criteria in assessing a beer, accounting for 20 of the 50 judging points. The selection of malt, hops and yeast are what determine the flavour of a beer. Those flavours are unique to each beer and allow us to distinguish between styles. So an American hop has no place in a German pilsner, just as English yeast is not used in a German lager. While brewers do not always follow these guidelines, they are there to lend structure and rank to the multiple styles of beer, as well as to aid judging. When tasting, it is suggested we assess flavour by manoeuvring the beer around

wHat is tHe bjCP?

Beer judging in Australia is based on the American BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) system and most judging is in BJCP sanctioned amateur competitions held by various homebrew clubs. Founded in 1985, the BJCP’s purpose is to promote beer literacy, the appreciation of real beer and also to recognise beer tasting and evaluation skills. There are several rankings in the BJCP, from Apprentice through to Grand Master. At the end of the four month course one can opt to join the ranks by sitting the tasting exam; a blind tasting of six beers. I say blind because you have no style guidelines to assist (as you do in competition) and judge the beers with the

Judging for Bayside Brewers Competition at Hickinbothan Brewery.

sniffs work best, the class is advised. A bit of swirling of the glass to release some of the volatile aromatics transpires before tasting. Some beers possess minimal aroma whereas others pack big punchy hop bouquets.

the mouth so that it is in contact with the palate, tongue, and teeth. This was where I encountered aspirating, the swirling of the liquid around the palate through a flicking of the tongue. Aspirating may seem a little

in wine judging swallowing is not required, in beer tasting it is deemed neCessary.” Fortunately somebody has compiled a Beer Flavour Wheel, so that cooked vegetable aroma (DMS) or prominent citrus bouquet can be gauged. Aspiring beer judges need to familiarise themselves with such aromas and flavours that present in beer. When asked if any of us was familiar with the skunked aroma, there was but one student who could claim to have encountered the funk of the skunk; but then he was Canadian. Skunk (or light-struck) occurs in beers that opt to use clear or green bottles and have been affected by UV light.

pretentious in your local pub, but is common practice in competitions. Whereas in wine judging swallowing is not required, in beer tasting it is deemed necessary to appraise the bitterness of a beer, since bitterness varies between styles. The term balance is often stressed in flavour assessments and getting the bitterness of the hops and flavour from the malt in appropriate amounts for the style is key. Here’s an example from the style guidelines for Munich Dunkel; Hop bitterness is moderately low but perceptible, with the balance tipped firmly towards maltiness.

skills we have acquired, told only the category as each beer is plonked in a glass before us. The beers are expected to be assessed technically, impartially commented upon and then scored out of 50, just as one judges in competition. One beer we were presented was spiked with vinegar, but we were forewarned that there may be some chicanery involved. My first-time experience was somewhat daunting, since passing judgement upon the creation of a dozen or so entries requires sober evaluation. Here was I, judging the creations of my fellow brewers with the level of gravitas a magistrate bestows upon those entering his court. Homebrewers enter a beer so as to receive the feedback that comes from the judging process. It is an imperative that the judges offer helpful comments or advice with their assessment. Time constraints dictate that there is little opportunity to linger more than ten minutes on each beer. Practice makes perfect of course and so it is with beer tasting; the more beer one samples the more one hones their palate. It was the beer guru Michael Jackson who suggested, “Not to drink more beer, but to drink more beers.” A beer judge, it could be said, adjures quantity in the quest for quality.

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HOMEBREW What’s new

part tWO

What’s NeW iN hOmebreW? Part II of What’s New in Homebrew takes a further look into some new products on the market to make our brewing easier and better.

s explored in Issue 26 of Homebrewer, there are always new homebrew accessories and ingredients being released. With so many amazing craft beers on the market, there are more homebrewers looking to brew a wider variety of styles. Here’s just a few of the things that are new out there…

W e n s ’ t a h W the Fastrack

Many homebrew sheds sport one of the least attractive items ever designed – the orange bottle tree. While appearance is hardly something that worries most homebrewers and the tree is a great way to dry your bottles, it is a bit of a space hog. The FastRack bottle racking system does the same job, just using less space. The bottles fit upside down in the rack and any excess fluid drains into the tray at the bottom. The racks can be stacked on top of each other in a tower which holds remarkably stable. Each rack takes 24 stubbies and when they’re dry a slab box can be put on top, then flipped so that the dry stubbies are stored in the box and the rack can be used again! The racks accommodate bottles of all shapes and styles. www.fastrack.com.au orders@thefastrack.com.au

Yeast

extracts

We all know that yeast has an enormous impact on the aroma and flavour of a beer. And for some time now it has not been enough to pop the top off the can of concentrate and open the foil pack of yeast for your brew. Better yeasts have been around for some time, but the selection is getting more extensive every year. Homebrew retailers are responding by stocking a wider variety of dry and liquid yeasts. Both Fermentis and Mangrove Jacks have dry yeasts to suit beer styles from the UK, wider Europe and of course the US. The popularity of liquid yeasts is also on the rise, with Wyeast and Whitelabs offering yeasts for all beer styles.

Extract brewing is a great step up from concentrate brewing as you have more control over the hop profile and overall flavour. Most importantly you can make truly great beers with extract, and it’s in half the time it takes to brew all-grain. The range is always growing – where we used to get by with light, amber and dark, there are now extracts of most grains. Two Briess liquid malt extracts which have recently joined the Australian and New Zealand market are Rye and Porter. These enable you to extend your brewing repertoire and are now more readily available. • If you’re looking to use the Briess Rye Malt Extract, check out Recipes 17 or 18 from Issue 26.

Flipping the FastRack.

FastRack in action.

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HOMEBREW DIRECTORY WA

NSW ASQUITH

WOONONA

Asquith Home Brewing

Northern Brew

353 Pacific Highway Asquith NSW 2077 Tel/Fax: 61 2 9476 2022 ahbrewer@bigpond.net.au Open: M-F: 10am-6pm, Sat: 10am-4pm, www.asquithhomebrewing.com.au

KIRRAWEE

BAYSWATER

341 Princes Hwy, Woonona NSW 2515 Ph/Fax: (02) 4284 6000 northernbrew@tpg.com.au www.northernbrew.com.au Open: Tues – Fri 9.30am – 5.30pm, Sat 9.30am – 3pm Closed Public Holidays

Kirrawee Home Brew

Brewmart Homebrew Supplies 21 John Street Bayswater Phone (08) 9370 2484 Fax (08) 9370 3101 www.brewmart.com.au

HOMEBREW KITS

18 Flora Street, Kirrawee NSW 2232 Tel: (02) 9521 1091 Open: Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat 9-1

BIBRA LAKE

TWOC Brewing Supplies

2/40 Port Pirie St, WA 6163 Tel: (08) 9418 8938 twoc@iinet.net.au www.homebru.com.au Open Mon to Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 9.30am - 4pm

DISTRIBUTORS

Vic www.blackrock.co.nz

BALLARAT

YARRAVILLE

Ballarat Home Brew Centre

Coopers DIY Beer Kit

SPEIDEL BRAUMEISTER NOW AVAIL. IN 20, 50, 200L

RRP $85 Available in all BIG W stores Tel: 1300 654 455 (+61) diybeer@coopers.com.au www.diybeer.com.au

NZ For all your Beer, Wine and Spirit Supplies and Equipment, Also Bread making Ingredients.

MAIL ORDERS WELCOME 1/314 Ripon Street South, Ballarat, VIC 3350 Phone/Fax (03) 5333 5825 Mon – Fri : 9:00am – 6:00pm Saturday : 9.00am – 1:00pm www.ballarathomebrew.com.au sales@ballarathomebrew.com.au

Order online. 5/280 Whitehall Street Yarraville VIC 3013 Ph (03) 9687 0061 Fax (03) 9687 1958 www.grainandgrape.com.au

NZ AUCKLAND Brewers Coop Home Make It

The specialists in homemade food and beverage making. Clayton Store - Tel: (03) 9574 8222 4/158 Wellington Road, Clayton Reservoir Store – Tel: (03) 9460 2777 265 Spring Street, Reservoir Shop online www.homemakeit.com info@homemakeit.com.au

Shop 9, 2 Harris Road Mt Wellington, Auckland Tel: +64 9 525 2448 brewerscoop@gmail.com www.brewerscoop.co.nz

Brewshop Home Brew Beer Supplies www.brewshop.co.nz

Imake Ltd

Australia - 1/138 Buchanan Rd, Banyo QLD 4014. Tel: (07) 3630 8400 New Zealand - 328 Rosedale Road, Albany, North Shore City, Auckland. Tel: (09) 4151206 www.imake.pro