Follow up article from Yesterdays Age.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/epicure/comi...ge#contentSwap1
Boutique beers are appearing across Victoria, writes Willie Simpson.
CRAFT brewing is alive and well in regional Victoria, judging by what was on offer at a recent industry showcase at Federation Square. Microbreweries, boutique or craft breweries - call them what you like, there were 15 different makers on show, including a handful of the state's newest players in Red Duck, Bridge Road and Bright breweries.
"I don't like lager," says Red Duck owner-brewer Scott Wilson-Brown. "I like malt-driven ales." No surprise, then, that his range of full-flavoured ales includes a biscuity amber ale (made with "a fair whack of cara malt"), a robust, berry-ish porter (6.4 per cent A/V) and the take-no-prisoners Golden Dragon Celtic ale (7.5 per cent A/V).
Red Duck takes its name from the waddling inhabitants of Lake Purrumbete, Camperdown, close by the brewery, which is in the former stables of the historic Purrumbete Homestead (one of the oldest homesteads in the Western District). The brewery uses recycled equipment, with Wilson-Brown producing batches of about 500 litres twice a week. Red Duck ales are bottle-fermented and available in some 30 outlets, after the first beer flowed last October.
A graphic designer turned craft brewer, Wilson-Brown designs his own labels and brochures and acknowledges the help of other Victorian microbrewers while setting up his operation. With wife Vanessa and their two young children, it seems they've taken a sea change (or should that be lake change?) lifestyle away from the bustling city, and enjoy presenting their Red Duck ales at country shows and various wine and food festivals. Red Duck, phone 0407 526540, www.redduck.beer.com.au.
At 26, Ben Kraus is probably the youngest of the new breed of Victorian craft brewers and has set up business in "Dad's back shed" on the tourist trail in his hometown of Beechworth. Kraus studied winemaking at Melbourne University, and it was while working at Margaret River during vintage time that he came to appreciate the success of a couple of microbreweries in the wine tourism region.
He bought pre-loved, wooden-clad brewing equipment from a defunct microbrewery in the Coonawarra. The first beer flowed at his Bridge Road Brewers in June 2005 and a "limited special licence" allows him to sell from the cellar door five days a week.
With the cellar-door/bar open Wednesday-Sunday, Kraus and his Austrian-born partner, Maria, handle the steady stream of tourists and a few locals who enjoy the novelty of drinking beer inside a working brewery. Takeaway six-packs are the most popular, along with a tasting of their five beers (120ml samples) for $6 (the herbaceous pale ale is a standout). Their beers are available on tap in several Beechworth pubs and in Melbourne at Lambsgo Bar and Transport. Bridge Road Brewers,
phone 5728 2703,
http://bridgeroadbrewers.com.au.
The Bintara Brewery represents an oasis of amber nectar smack-bang in the middle of the Rutherglen wine district, with the brewery housed at the Tuileries complex in the old Seppelt Winery. Owner-brewer Michael Murtagh is a third-generation local who is also involved in grape-growing, vineyard consultancy and a mini-skip operation.
The brewing equipment was custom-made in Griffith and, at a 7000-litre brew-length, it is larger than the average micro. Beer came on line in November 2003 and, along with Bintara, the brewery makes Lucky Beer and O'Brien's gluten-free beer on contract.
Bintara Dark Lager is probably the most flavoursome beer in the range. Murtagh says it's made with flakes of rice, oat and barley, in addition to malted barley, and the beer has some chocolate characters with a silky mouthfeel. He describes it as a very cold-fermented dark lager in the style of the original Toohey's Old.
Bintara beers are available on tap at the brewery bar (open seven days until 6pm), and the packaged product can be bought on-site, ordered directly or from about 90 retail outlets. Murtagh is about to launch his own wine label (Vintara) and plans to relocate the microbrewery to his vineyard/winery within the next 6-12 months. Bintara Brewery, phone (02) 6032 7517,
http://bintarabrewery.com.au
It's been a long time between drinks, as they say; the original Bright Brewery last produced beer in 1916 but the name has been revived in the past 12 months and a new brewery will soon be operating in the Victorian high-country town.
The reborn Bright Brewery is the brainchild of two couples - David and Julie Cocks, and Scott Brandon and Fiona Reddaway - who moved to Bright in recent years to raise young families. The two men are trained engineers who, according to brewery marketing manager Reddaway, were always "mouthing off" about making their own beer. "Are you serious?" the women challenged, and then, both being economists, they put together a feasibility study.
For the past 12 months they've been producing their beer at the Jamieson brew-pub and selling mainly through the bar they operate in Bright, where it's proved popular with skiers and para-gliders visiting the area. Bright Hellfire Ale is a well-bittered ale with bags of chewy crystal malt character (British brew Speckled Hen is the inspiration, says Brandon), while Blowhard Pale is more in the style of a US pale ale.
The brewery building has been completed in the main street of Bright and the partners hope to get the brewing plant installed and operational by April. The second-hand microbrewery has already enjoyed a globetrotting career, having produced beer in both the US and Japan.
Reddaway says they plan to open a brewery-door bar with a large outdoor seating area and hope to attract the ski crowd en route to Mount Hotham, as well as other visitors.
It seems the original Bright Brewery won first prize for its bottled ale and stout at the 1891 Wangaratta Show, so they have a proud tradition to uphold. Bright Brewery, phone 5750 1240,
http://www.brightbrewery.com.au.
The success of the recent Victorian Microbreweries Showcase at the Atrium, Federation Square, has prompted organisers to make it a regular event, staged two or three times a year.
johnno
