# Woolshed Brewery



## jayse (2/11/09)

I was in the riverland for a couple gigs with a band and had planned on fitting in a tour of this brewery saturday. Firstly friday arrive in remark for the first gig at the renmark hotel and find our accomdation is upstairs so Immediatly release I will not have to drive for the rest of the day and a perfect chance to drink some swill. Anyway I find the remark hotel has the woolshed brewery amazon ale on tap and I settled in for a long session.

The beer was wonderfull, I would place it as a cross over style pale ale, an american style new wave of australian craft brewed pale ale,I would also class it as one of the most enjoyable ones I have had, the drinkabilty is very high.
Firstly it starts with a clean grainy malty aroma and you get a hint there may infact be a reasonble amount of wheat malt in there, there is also some clean fruity estery ale character. On tasting the grainy malt is again really nice and there is some light softness which you almost expected to be there from picking the wheat malt character of sorts in the aroma. This really helps with the drinkablity and I bet anyone would have trouble putting this pale ale down.
Backing up this malt character is a lovely middle/flavour hopping which is perfectly balanced and has hints of tropical fruits, the beer then finishes with perfect balance and you can't wait to drink in some more. I ended up drinking at least 10 pints which at 5.90 I thought was great value for a microbrewed beer in a mainstream hotel.

Cut to the next morning after a bit of lunch I phoned up the brewery to organize a tour for the band @ 2pm. The brewery is part of a houseboat business aboverenmark link  the  woolshed brewery web page and you can see who they brought the brewery from here with picture of a Wes hard at work.
I did not have a camera on me but if you check those 3 links you'll see plenty.

It is only a 15 min drive from renmark and easy to find, upon arriving we were greeted by Tom and his partner Sarah who treated us to firstly a tour and what must have been a couple of the most relaxing hours of beer sampling on the river ever. We left it as late as we could to get to the next gig but could have spent a lot more time there, we even joked about cancelling the gig and spending the rest of the day.
The location was amazing and the hosts were awesome and as already mentioned the beer was wonderfull and that was only the second batch brewed.
Currently the cellar door is not implace but Tom informed us that it should be up and running in around 6 months with a decked area looking out over the river.

So anyway I give it a very big thumbs up in everyway, awesome place to visit, great hosts and great beer and brewery, if your in the area it is a must see.
I can't remember what Tom said exactly about availiblity but I don't think it will be outside of the riverland so get in your car and drive.

I think we will be looking at booking in for a weekend down the track when the celler door is fully operational. As it was we had the pleasure of sampling from a awesome mobile bar/ four wheeled motor bike trailer.

As you can tell I was very impressed with everything.

Cheers
Jayse


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## Mcstretch (2/11/09)

Sounds good. Might have to make my way through there sometime. Maybe a bit of a golfing and brewery tour via the Barossa. 

There seem to be a few craftbreweries out there brewing great aussie pale/sparkling ales, really redefining the style. 

Off topic - what band do you play in?


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## jayse (2/11/09)

Mcstretch said:


> Sounds good. Might have to make my way through there sometime. Maybe a bit of a golfing and brewery tour via the Barossa.
> 
> There seem to be a few craftbreweries out there brewing great aussie pale/sparkling ales, really redefining the style.
> 
> Off topic - what band do you play in?



That was for a coverband chill, I am a one man show taking care of all the equipment and the beer drinking, i leave the actuall playing of mainstream covers to the band, i just make sure everything works and everyone in the crowd can hear it. :huh:


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## JestersDarts (3/11/10)

A link to "whats in the glass" thread of my review of the beer

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=699349

top stuff!


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## jbirbeck (3/11/10)

had the beer twice. Terrible on both occasions. :icon_vomit: 
first time, no hop flavour tasted like a bad kit beer...a really bad one. second time it was infected and tasted like it was fermented completely with a wild yeast. very cloudy. Completely unpalatable. 

With good reviews on it I'll wait to see if I see it anywhere on tap because this beer joins the list of beers I will not buy out of the bottle again. If its not available on tap outside of the Riverland I won't be drinking it. :icon_vomit:


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## JestersDarts (3/11/10)

That's strange - I've always had a good experience.
You should write to the brewery and let them know. If you did, what was the feedback?

I think theyre bottling everything by hand as their brewery grows, too.


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## drsmurto (3/11/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> had the beer twice. Terrible on both occasions. :icon_vomit:
> first time, no hop flavour tasted like a bad kit beer...a really bad one. second time it was infected and tasted like it was fermented completely with a wild yeast. very cloudy. Completely unpalatable.
> 
> With good reviews on it I'll wait to see if I see it anywhere on tap because this beer joins the list of beers I will not buy out of the bottle again. If its not available on tap outside of the Riverland I won't be drinking it. :icon_vomit:



Was given a bottle of it recently and had a few mouthfuls and tipped it. 

Made JSGA seem hoppy.


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## jbirbeck (3/11/10)

JestersDarts said:


> That's strange - I've always had a good experience.
> You should write to the brewery and let them know. If you did, what was the feedback?
> 
> I think theyre bottling everything by hand as their brewery grows, too.



had planned to but needed the tastes from the beer to dissipate lest I used too many profanities in my description of it negating any respectability the feedback may have.


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## jayse (3/11/10)

It is most certainly a bottling problem then as I can assure you this beer is great and brewed flawlessly, unfortunate to be reading this but I'll pass it on.


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## bconnery (3/11/10)

jayse said:


> It is most certainly a bottling problem then as I can assure you this beer is great and brewed flawlessly, unfortunate to be reading this but I'll pass it on.



It frustrates and saddens me the number of times I personally, and others I have read of, can apply this sentence to Australian microbreweries. 

I know it has been discussed before but clearly the issue continues. 

So many good beers and breweries are being let down by their bottled versions as they get wider distribution. 

With regards to this beer particularly I enjoyed the bottle I received via a beer club so perhaps it was a freshness and storage related issue...


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## Fents (3/11/10)

Bottle Oxidisation is a big commercial brewers nightmare imo. Unless your bottling is all done under a closed environment (i.e $100K bottling line) its hard not to let a bit of oxygen in.


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## jbirbeck (3/11/10)

bconnery said:


> It frustrates and saddens me the number of times I personally, and others I have read of, can apply this sentence to Australian microbreweries.
> 
> I know it has been discussed before but clearly the issue continues.
> 
> ...



With my first tester of it I would agree it was a freshness/storage issue, the second one was a clear infection and would suggest it was before bottling. 

Wholeheartedly agree that there are good beers being let down by their bottled versions and I can't always get to the tap or the source to try or drink the beer as I'd like.


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## Murcluf (3/11/10)

bconnery said:


> It frustrates and saddens me the number of times I personally, and others I have read of, can apply this sentence to Australian microbreweries.
> 
> I know it has been discussed before but clearly the issue continues.
> 
> ...


I have to toally agree with you on this. After 2 years of hearing BYB brag about how good Hargrave Hills ESB was that he tasted at the last ANHC and then again this year off the tap at Mrs Parmas I grabbed a bottle of it at the Markets on Sunday before flying out. I was so dissappointed with the sample I tried last night that I almost sinked it. It was bitty, flat and harsh to drink I felt very let down by it unfortunately. Might have to limit my tasting of beers from tap only aka ANHC style.


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## jimi (3/11/10)

bconnery said:


> It frustrates and saddens me the number of times I personally, and others I have read of, can apply this sentence to Australian microbreweries.
> 
> I know it has been discussed before but clearly the issue continues.
> 
> ...



I'd include our imports too! Bottled beer just isn't handled well/carefully enough in OZ. With the exception of the bottles I've bought from the local micros from their premise, I haven't bought any commercial beer for years. It was a PITA because the good beers I'd fallen in love with would require me to buy half a dozen crap versions before savouring a good one. 
6-7 yr ago Dan Murphy in Hornsby plaza got me hooked on Fullers ESB from the first bottle, afterward the next 6 or so others I bought were woeful!! Drove a man to Brew ... 'spose that turned out ok though :icon_chickcheers:


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## stueywhytcross (3/11/10)

jayse said:


> I was in the riverland for a couple gigs with a band and had planned on fitting in a tour of this brewery saturday. Firstly friday arrive in remark for the first gig at the renmark hotel and find our accomdation is upstairs so Immediatly release I will not have to drive for the rest of the day and a perfect chance to drink some swill. Anyway I find the remark hotel has the woolshed brewery amazon ale on tap and I settled in for a long session.
> 
> The beer was wonderfull, I would place it as a cross over style pale ale, an american style new wave of australian craft brewed pale ale,I would also class it as one of the most enjoyable ones I have had, the drinkabilty is very high.
> Firstly it starts with a clean grainy malty aroma and you get a hint there may infact be a reasonble amount of wheat malt in there, there is also some clean fruity estery ale character. On tasting the grainy malt is again really nice and there is some light softness which you almost expected to be there from picking the wheat malt character of sorts in the aroma. This really helps with the drinkablity and I bet anyone would have trouble putting this pale ale down.
> ...



I'm off for a holiday on a houseboat over new years in Renmark with a few other home brewers and their partners. Already emailed Tom and Sarah and organised a brewery tour. Looking forward to docking the boat upstream at woolshed brewery and tasting some of their beers!
I noticed one of their houseboats they hireout actually comes with a kegerator!


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## JestersDarts (4/11/10)

disco stu said:


> I'm off for a holiday on a houseboat over new years in Renmark with a few other home brewers and their partners. Already emailed Tom and Sarah and organised a brewery tour. Looking forward to docking the boat upstream at woolshed brewery and tasting some of their beers!
> I noticed one of their houseboats they hireout actually comes with a kegerator!



I'll be in Renmark for NYE as well - are you attending the "time machine" street party?! it sounds like fun!


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## Back Yard Brewer (4/11/10)

jayse said:


> I ended up drinking at least 10 pints which at 5.90 I thought was great value for a microbrewed beer in a mainstream hotel.
> 
> Cheers
> Jayse




Considering the cost of pints (imperials) in Melbourne last week, yes that is almost a steal!! Have heard a fair bit about the Woolshed Brewery in recent times and it is one I would like to visit in the near future. One of the forum users on here visited them sometime back and by all accounts they were very hospitable.


BYB


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## Back Yard Brewer (4/11/10)

Murcluf said:


> I have to toally agree with you on this. After 2 years of hearing BYB brag about how good Hargrave Hills ESB was that he tasted at the last ANHC and then again this year off the tap at Mrs Parmas I grabbed a bottle of it at the Markets on Sunday before flying out. I was so dissappointed with the sample I tried last night that I almost sinked it. It was bitty, flat and harsh to drink I felt very let down by it unfortunately. Might have to limit my tasting of beers from tap only aka ANHC style.



  

That is sad news, glad I savored the flavour on tap!

BYB


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## jayse (5/11/10)

I pointed out this thread to those involved, possibly won't have a reply here but the issue has been brought to their attention and I have no doubt will be rectified.


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## rotten (5/11/10)

JestersDarts said:


> I'll be in Renmark for NYE as well - are you attending the "time machine" street party?! it sounds like fun!




You are talking about Renmark aren't you? :icon_cheers:


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## pbrosnan (6/11/10)

jayse said:


> I can assure you this beer is great and brewed flawlessly


Then it is a great beer, sometimes you are ahead of the game. I reckon that some of the US beers would challenge the palate around here.


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## mjbondie (19/1/11)

disco stu said:


> I'm off for a holiday on a houseboat over new years in Renmark with a few other home brewers and their partners. Already emailed Tom and Sarah and organised a brewery tour. Looking forward to docking the boat upstream at woolshed brewery and tasting some of their beers!
> I noticed one of their houseboats they hireout actually comes with a kegerator!




Disco how was the houseboat? Also I remember you saying you have competition between the other home brewers on the houseboat, great idea. I'd be interested to know who won the American Pale Ale competition, who won?


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## Hulk Hogan (28/1/11)

Bondo said:


> Disco how was the houseboat? Also I remember you saying you have competition between the other home brewers on the houseboat, great idea. I'd be interested to know who won the American Pale Ale competition, who won?



There was word on the grape vine that the winner of the Pale Ale comp won under very controversial circumstances!... However there was one clean cut winner of the ESB comp


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## rotten (3/6/11)

G'day, this thread may be getting old but the brewery isn't. Was lucky enough to get a tour of the brewery this arvo and sample a glass straight from the barrell as it were. Pretty damn good if I do say so myself. :beerbang: 

I had a few in renmark while out for tea a few nights back, from the brewery today, and now sipping away at a sixer purchased before I left. The tap poured version was cloudier, while the brewery glass was much brighter, most likely just temp related (IMHO and all that). On my third stubbie now and still going back for more.

I can't describe beers, I liked it and that's all that matters really.

Thanks again guys, look forward to tasting future creations.

Cheers :icon_cheers:


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