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ART OF CRAFTS Mount Brewing Co’s head brewer gets creative with their award-winning craft beer. WO R DS N I CK Y A DA M S / I MAG E S C A M N E ATE + U NTITLE D S TU D I O
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wenty years ago, if you said craft beer, the mental picture would probably involve a huge drinking vessel and a handlebar moustache. Fast-forward to today and the rest of the freethinking beer-drinking world has wised up to the delights of a craft beer. Pawel, head brewer at Mount Brewing Co, has been brewing beer for more than 10 years, and when he chats about his path, it’s clear he has followed his passion. Polish by birth, growing up he spent time in Belgium, where an appreciation of craft beer is a given. As a student studying economy and finance, while his friends were spending their money partying, he was chasing beer festivals around Europe. “At this time the craft beer revolution had started in Poland, but it was expensive for a student. To drink good beer, I made my own.” A student exchange year in northern Mexico fired his passion further. “I met a lot of home brewers. This area is very influenced by the United States, and the US is at the top of the craft industry. That completely opened my mind. They have 7,000 breweries there. They’re pushing the boundaries and that’s a huge inspiration for the rest of the world.” More travel ultimately led back to Poland to finish his Masters, before heading for
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Indonesia – “I left there super thirsty and dry” – bound for New Zealand, where he had already secured a job with Mount Brewing Co. Six years later, and Pawel leads the team of Leonie (who hails from Germany), Tom from the UK and American, Drew. “I’m surrounded by amazing people – my team are quite easy-going guys, and that’s what makes me happy. I want to believe the craft industry is a mix of science, art and a little bit of chaos.” The advantage, Pawel says, of being a small brewery is that “we’re experimenting quite a lot. We have a lot of freedom for creativity. Here we have four brewers with different backgrounds and experiences, so all of us have an individual sense of taste; for me the industry is about people. When I’m drinking, I can pick the personality behind the beer.” His own signature styles? “I like dark beers, hoppy, fruit addition, barrel-aged beers.
