R.I.P. Stan

[Lincoln2]

Here’s how I met Stan.

One day, a friend and I were in a strange part of Kyogle, in a district that is slightly seedy and threatening, on the run from our wives. Things were getting dicey re the girls so we had to duck into a front yard and hide behind a hedge of lilly pilly. We were both drinking tallies of Tooheys Old at the time.

As we were peering over the bushes the old gentleman who lived in the house walked out of the garage and said: “Hey boys, what’s going on?”
I replied that we were hiding from our women-folk who were hunting us down like wild animals.
“Come on in and have a beer”, he said.
So we went in to his garage and attached pool room. It was a brewery. Nothing fancy, just a kits and bits set-up.
We introduced ourselves and he said his name was Stan McBride.

Stan McBride was famous in Kyogle as a prolific home-brewer and home brew pioneer. He was brewing in the days of Brigalow and baker’s yeast. Nothing fancy, he would not recognise Braumeister, Sorachi Ace or 3V if it hit him in the face.
He shouted us some beers and we chewed the fat and talked about brewing and women for quite a while.

Then Blenkins showed up in his two-door Charade and drove us back to the safety of our own neighbourhood. (Blenkins doesn’t drink a lot.)

Last night, Stan went to bed and woke up dead, as we say.

Never bag your uncle, neighbour etc for lacking the sophistication we enjoy today. The old-timers were brewing beer in their sheds when you were a glint in your father’s eye. (Except for Bribie who is old.)

[SIZE=11pt]Learn, appreciate and take the time to speak brewer’s bullsh!t with a kindred spirit separated only by a few decades.[/SIZE]

 

[shaunous]

Absolutely compelling and rich Linc. What a story.


I'm hearing ya about the many fancy pants on AHB mate, they have good knowledge of brewing though, so we'll forgive them.

Let's raise a Coopers (Or a Homebrew rum in my current glass) to the legend who is Stan.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

So Stan lived on the otherside of the street, directly opposite your house. Having seen a postcard from Kyogle I can understand this.

Those old blokes just got on with the job. And they allways had tips & tricks that woukd make the younger generation spend hours on google just to see if they where FOS.

Those old guys proved you could make do. I knew an old brewer who brewed in an old willow garbage bin with a towell drapped over the top. His beer was pretty good. They learnt the hard way to just let it do its thing. They learnt to leave the beer under the house for a few months to mature.

Blokes like Stan where the pioners.

RIP bless Stan and all those who brewed before him.

 

[Snow]

I raise my glass of homebrew to Stan. RIP dude.
- Snow.