So what's the go with Blue Tongue?

[Bribie G]

I followed a link in a beer story in the SMH and note that Blue Tongue have a brewery at the Hunter Resort.

Originally they came from that a way, then Coca Cola Amatil took them over and moved the whole thing to Warnervale at the new brewery that was then named "Bluetongue Brewery".

Then CUB bought them out and fairly soon closed the brewery. Surprise.

So what's the go with the Hunter Resort brewery, does anyone know? or is it a James Squire type fake setup where they brew a few token beers in ye olde copper tunnes that you can see through the plate glass viewing window while you sip on pints that were actually brewed at Tooheys (or in this case probably at Yatala?).

 

[Weizguy]

I can tell you that things were all "go ahead" with CUB on board, and that's part of the move to Warnervale (IIRC).
The closing of operations was after the SAB-Miller takeover of CUB.

Commitment to craft beer? Big Brands rule

 

[gap]

Bluetongue started out at the Hunter Resort.

They were brewed on site at the Resort before John Singleton became involved.

They were at best average then and got no better when they were bought out and brewed elsewhere.

 

[Bribie G]

I only ever had one Bluetongue and that was in Caboolture about 5 years ago when the gas serving system at the RSL failed and they only had bottled beer for a few hours.

I tried a Pilsner and it was actually very enjoyable, probably the only decent Pilsner I've had from an Australian craft brewery - as it still was back then.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Bluetongue started out at the Hunter Resort.

They were brewed on site at the Resort before John Singleton became involved.

They were at best average then and got no better when they were bought out and brewed elsewhere.

The Lager & Ginger beer was absolute ****. Infact it gives **** a bad name

The Pilsner qas remarkably nice. It qas there only beer worth drinking

 

[TheWiggman]

I recall having these on the odd occasional while in Newcastle circa '02-'06, and not being a beer aficionado I thought they were very nice. I think it was the lager I had back then, but us uni cheapskates only knew of them as 'blue tongues'. They were a refreshing change from Tooheys Red. Being brewed from that area too people drank them out of pride.
In about 2011 I think, I picked up a slab of the ginger beers for $30. Bargain! Then I tried them and felt ripped off. Watery and flavourless. That must have been when they stopped producing them because I haven't seen them anywhere since.

 

[Spiesy]

I remember my brother in law offered me a free slab of their Pilsner a few years back, left over from a party.

I politely declined.

 

[///]

Never let the truth get in the way of a mediocre story. One of the original investors/directors was a Hunter wine fella, they tried with no sucess to put in a brewery at that site, so went into a site at Cameron Park just off the highway towards Newie. Would have been there for about 4-5 years. From there Singo came in, they grew, then rolled to the CCA/Fosters deal, spent a few hundred $mill, SAB came along ... closed the brewery. AFAIK never any brewing over the Hunter due to the lack of DA ....

 

[GalBrew]

A few years ago I stayed at the winery accommodation opposite the hunter valley resort where the brewery was located. Whilst all the beer I tried there was ***** except for the pils, the brewery itself looked pretty big. There were many decent sized tanks out the back. If you check it out on google maps you can get an idea of the scale.

 

[gap]

I stayed at the Hunter Resort many years ago.
They offered a Brewery tour and tasting as part of the deal.
They Brewery was definately at the Resort.
It may have moved later.

 

[///]

May have had tanks, but not sure they ever fired it up ... i'll check with Keith @ Potters ...

 

[GalBrew]

I never saw the inside of the brewery so I can't comment on that, but out the back of the main brewery building were quite a few large tanks. This would have been in 2010-11ish.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

My ex's parents live just down the road from the original Camron Park setup.

Used to drive past it every time we visited.