8 minute read
Legends of Brewing by Kirrily Waldhorn, Beer Diva
LEGENDS OF AUSTRALIAN BREWING
BEER DIVA KIRRILY WALDHORN, WHILE BUSY JUDGING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BEER AWARDS AND JUGGLING GABS RESPONSIBILITIES, STILL MANAGED TO PEN THIS PIECE ON LEGENDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN BREWING INDUSTRY. WHAT A LEGEND. THE BURGEONING AUSTRALIAN CRAFT BREWING SECTOR IS FULL OF THEM, SO IT ISN’T EASY TO NARROW THIS DOWN. HERE ARE A FEW MAKING INCREDIBLE BEERS WORTH RAVING ABOUT.
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How exactly is a legend in an industry defined? Does legendary status get bestowed upon those who have been around forever; a part of the furniture, is comfortable, and reliable just like a well-worn Chesterfield, leaving a big gaping hole when taken away? Or does legend relate to those big, audacious and fun to be around personalities that every industry has? Maybe the title legend needs to be earned, gained from the mutual respect of the people who operate within the boundaries of the defined industry?
Many incredible people fit into all of the above categories in the exciting, evolving, and continually revolutionary world of craft beer, making it challenging to select a handful who stand out from the crowd.
Like many alcoholic beverage industries, in beer, awards are things that pretty much every brewery strives for. Whilst they are not the driver of the everyday runnings of the business and certainly not the key decision influencing the next idea or innovation within a workplace, it would be rare to hear anyone murmur that awards don’t mean anything or, in fact, are undesirable. Over the years, we have seen breweries in their infancy catapulted into stardom through huge trade interest, taking their business to another level. They become the talk of the town, and everyone wants a piece of what made their beers stand out from the others.
Being a fast-moving industry, when asked to write about craft beers’ biggest legends, I thought to choose those behind the most significant awards in the past 12 months voted for by the beer-loving public and industry peers.
RICHARD WATKINS - BENTSPOKE
First up, and slated as one of Australia’s finest brewers, is Rich Watkins. For anyone from Canberra or who visited Canberra between the mid-’90s and mid-2010s, you would be familiar, if not a little besotted, with the Wig & Pen Tavern and Brewery, situated in Canberra House in Civic (the city centre of Canberra). Rich was the man behind the sensational and often eclectic lineup of beers for 17 years until he decided it was time to own a brewery of his own. He took over an ex-car dealership in Braddon and, with his formidable and equally talented partner, Tracy Margrain, opened Bentspoke Brewing Co in 2014. He had already picked up two Champion Australian Brewery titles at the Wig & Pen and set the stage for great things in the new
- Richard Watkins, BentSpoke.
digs. Whilst Bentspoke has won numerous awards in the past 12 months; the Australian public voted Bentspoke’s Crankshaft their all-time favourite beer for 2021 (mind you, that’s the 2nd year in a row that Crankshaft has been the fan favourite). This popular beer is based on a West Coast IPA and given the full hop treatment whilst remaining impeccably balanced, providing aromas akin to classic Seville orange marmalade. Hops are something that Rich and the team at Bentspoke are renowned for, and this beer doesn’t disappoint.
Speaking with Rich about his win, he said, “It’s always very humbling to get recognition from customers who pay for your beer. It’s always great to win awards for quality, but customer recognition is far more rewarding for Tracy, I and BentSpoke.
“The Hottest 100 has been integral to creating noise and promoting craft beer in Australia. BentSpoke has found its results since being founded in 2014 humbling. Crankshaft being on the podium for the last five years and taking the top spot the past two years has been an incredible result for a little brewery from Canberra.” Spoken by a true legend!
ED AND FI NOLLE – DOLLAR BILL
From the capital city of Canberra to gorgeous rural Ballarat, we find our next legends. That’s right, two for the price of one (and these two are such a tight-knit team it’s impossible to separate them). Ed and Fiona Nolle are not only some of the nicest, most modest and exceptional humans but also brew extraordinary and legendary ales and lagers under the Dollar Bill brand. Based out of Ballarat, they have always walked on the wild side of brewing. Specialising in barrel-aged and fruited farmhouse ales, Ed and Fi are ‘left of centre’ in the most delightful way. Again, another highly awarded brewery, at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA’s), Dollar Bill’s only newly released peach wild ale, Gold Teeth, won Champion Australian Beer. Ed had been homebrewing for nearly two decades before launching Dollar Bill. His beers (and funky ciders) have been enthusiastically embraced by those with a penchant for the wild and wonderful.
Ed and Fi are incredibly passionate about the Australian beer industry and were thrilled with their win. Here’s what they had to say, “Being awarded the AIBA champion Australian beer in 2021 was a huge surprise and not expected. The sacrifices made and the passion that drives us for something we believe in meant the absolute world. Despite having limited stock quantities of the winning beer and almost every other product we produce, the love, media attention and publicity we received helped us grow and reach new markets.
“Receiving the award for champion Australian fruit beer and overall champion Australian beer was justification for sourcing quality ingredients and recognition for the patience required to produce this style. We can’t wait to see the future of Australian beer.”
Hopefully, with everything crossed, they will finally be able to open their cellar door where they can spend some quality time with a limited number of guests to sip on some sensational beers.
CASEY WAGNER – WESTSIDE ALEWORKS
Another homebrewer turned commercial brewer turned legend is Casey Wagner. He founded Westside Aleworks in the heart of South Melbourne. Hailing from the USA, Casey is a lover of big, bold and bodacious American varieties of humulus lupulus or, as we fondly refer to them, hops. Since opening
in 2016, Casey has taken Westside Aleworks forward in leaps and bounds, expanding at every opportunity and even starting a fantastic barrel program. It was February 2022 when Casey put his hand up to enter Westside Aleworks in the NZ Hops Great Brew Challenge. Participating breweries receive a specific hop variety to brew and package before being judged by industry professionals. Casey went up against some of the biggest guns in the industry and ended up taking out the inaugural winning beer prize. The win was even more remarkable because Casey had never previously brewed with the particular hop, MoutereTM. The judges were incredibly impressed with his hop-forward ‘House of Learned Doctors’ DIPA (Double IPA) and voted it the overall champion. Casey told us, “We really enjoyed learning about NZ Hops and the MoutereTM hop variety and of course, we were thrilled to be involved in the challenge and ultimately, take out the win!”
STEVEN RUSSELL – BLASTA BREWING
For anyone who has followed craft beer over the years, you would know that wheat beers were once the absolute talk of the town. Be it the banana-esque Germanstyle Hefeweizens or the fragrant Belgian Witbiers, most breweries at the time had a wheat beer of some sort as part of their offering. And then, almost overnight, these beers, which could be somewhat polarising, felt like they just disappeared as the more hop-focused, hop-forward styles came to the fore. So, it was an enormous surprise for everyone who had tuned in to the 2021 Indies virtual awards that a German Hefeweizen took out the gong for the Champion Beer. The beer came from WA, from the Burswood based brewery that only officially opened its doors in 2018. The brewery was Blasta Brewing Co, and the beer, well, of course, was the Blastaweizen, a perfect example of the yeast-driven, 50% wheat, aromas of banana and clove style of beer that we all know and love.
The legend behind this beer, and the team at Blasta Brewery, who earned the brewery the title of Champion WA Brewery at the 2021 Indies, is native Scotsman Steve Russell. The name Blasta is Gaelic for delicious, and the beers certainly live up to its moniker. Like so many others, Steve was a passionate homebrewer who wanted to take his craft to the next level. Steve and the brewery are also incredibly communityfocused and have given so much back to various charitable causes, including local schools, the Cancer Council and Youth Focus. Now, that’s legendary! Steve believes that wheat beers deserve a place within the Australian beer offering, particularly as their wonderful refreshability and zippiness are perfect for our warm climate. We say a big yes to that, Steve.
Of course, there are many other legends in the Australian beer industry; in fact, I would go so far as to say the industry itself is pretty legendary. The innovation, the dedication, passion and the sheer hard work of those who work the breweries day in and day out, pumping out incredible beers poured through taps or sold from fridges, makes every one of our brewers absolute legends. Make sure you say a big cheers next time you bump into one of them. It will certainly go a long way and make them feel pretty legendary. KW
– Ed and Fi Nolle
