The Demise Of Another Brewery

[skippy]

google it - it has Burt Reynolds in it

 

[Bribie G]

Albanians?

 

[pbrosnan]

I'd say the standard of the brewing had something to do with it but it was always going to be a risky proposition starting a brewpub in Albany. It's a pity but we just have to face the fact that with a small, scattered population we are going to have a much smaller craft brewing industry. The US is the place to go ATM for beer diversity IMHO, I'd go back tomorrow for the beer and for the huge range of things to do.
BTW Tanglehead was in the White Star wasn't it? Is the pub still going? What beers are on tap there now?

 

[pbrosnan]

a professional.

I'm curious WJ, are you doing the professional brewing in Albany?

 

[pbrosnan]

Yes, I wasnt joking.Could actually work.Money(capital) is the first hurdle, then management.The rest comes after that.Any liquidation accountants on AHB?
AHB brewery, no I dont think so unless some one can give me a good reason for it..
A private company with share holders is the way it would need to be set up.
I am sure there is enough expertise on the site to at least get a viable plan together ?
GB

Bad idea to have AHB members running the place. There'd be blood on the floor in no time, just look at the snark on this thread.

 

[pbrosnan]

: Quote Kook "It's a rural "outpost" - part farming town, part tourist town, part transit town for trucks heading from the southwest to Adelaide. It would be a great spot for a brewery if it was done right. Most people driving from Adelaide to Perth stop off there."

Its a country mile off the Adelaide route but it is a big tourist destination for local WA folk and internationals

I don't think relying on the tourist trade is going to work. You'd need to attract the locals in consistently sufficient numbers to make it a goer. Albany is too far from Perth for most people. Perthites generally think that the state stops at Margaret River hence they've been able to get a few micros going there. Also MR is heavily promoted locally, nationally and internationally as a tourist destination. In WA visitors are expected to head either to Broome or MR, once they have sampled the heady delights of Perth of course
It could be that the Albany is a better venue as it's located in the center of York Street. And the Earl always does well, take that over and you're on winner. Maybe the White Star still suffers from it's ancient reputation amongst the locals.

 

[pbrosnan]

ever seen the movie Deliverance?

There you go, that's a fairly typical Perth resident response. They don't get out much around here.

 

[RobB]

If Captain Stirling had thought it out properly, Albany would have been the capital of WA. Milder climate, closer to the best farm land and a natural harbour that shits all over Fremantle.

Perhaps it was pride that stopped him because the French were there first!

It's a nice place that gets a few tourists, but three hours to Margaret River is more attractive to travellers than five hours to Albany. If people do want to go that far south, they'll generally opt for the more touristy towns like Denmark. Being the 'capital' of the Great Southern is perhaps why it doesn't attract more tourists; it actually has to be a functioning centre of trade and commerce and not just line its streets with craft shops and ice cream boutiques. Knowing only a little about Albany and even less about running a business, I don't know if Tanglehead could have been sustained by its local population alone. Perhaps if we got the whaling industry up and running again............

 

[pbrosnan]

If Captain Stirling had thought it out properly, Albany would have been the capital of WA. Milder climate, closer to the best farm land and a natural harbour that shits all over Fremantle.

Perhaps it was pride that stopped him because the French were there first!

It's a nice place that gets a few tourists, but three hours to Margaret River is more attractive to travellers than five hours to Albany. If people do want to go that far south, they'll generally opt for the more touristy towns like Denmark. Being the 'capital' of the Great Southern is perhaps why it doesn't attract more tourists; it actually has to be a functioning centre of trade and commerce and not just line its streets with craft shops and ice cream boutiques. Knowing only a little about Albany and even less about running a business, I don't know if Tanglehead could have been sustained by its local population alone. Perhaps if we got the whaling industry up and running again............

All good points MC. On the face of it Albany seems a natural for a brewpub/micro because of the perceived tourism through put. But this as actually seasonal and thinner then people assume. When I was there a lot of the tourists were really well off cockys who had a holiday home at Emu Point or the like. Buses would come through carrying old pensioners from SA or NSW who were on their grand tour but you'd be lucky to see ten of them a week and they didn't stay long. It has changed for the better but it's still off the beaten track for most Western Australians let alone the pressed-for-time interstate or international traveler. Local support for locally brewed beer is essential to making it work in Albany.

 

[hughman666]

Put a Wedding Reception Venue together with A Micro-Brewery and you have a winner...

Snap. I was in Denmark last weekend and stopped by the new Denmark Brewing Company. it's 5 minutes drive out of town toward the wineries. they have a function centre, restaurant and also the brewery/bar. apparently everything except the brewery has been there for the past 7-8 years and the brewery's first beers were on tap australia day this year.



beer

5 brews on tap:

amber ale - generic, moderately hopped, british tasting amber ale. weighing in at around 5% it's a pleasant drop.
irish red - smooth and creamy red ale in the kilkenny style. again, this was around the 5% mark from memory, very nice indeed.
bitter - lager-styled bitter, 3.5%. had a sample taster and was ok, nothing fantastic though. good one for the skipper.
stout - didn't try it so can't comment.
cider - wife had this one, said it was fairly crisp and not sickly sweet. sub 5% strength from memory.



food

you know how a lot of micros have nice beers and reasonable food. i would say that DBC is the other way around. whilst the beers are reasonable, the food is fantastic.
not much of the typical steak sandwich, chicken burger, pizzas etc. these guys are more restaurant quality with dishes like vietnamese chicken salad, chicken balti, aged steaks etc.
the highlight of the visit was the food.

ambience

seating is either, formal table & chairs indoor, alfresco outdoor, beer garden, or couches inside by the fire, all showing off the fantastic view.
great atmosphere, kid friendly (playground outside), fantastic views. very pleasant all round...

 

[Pete2501]

Nice. I'll have to check that one out next time I'm done there.

 

[mjfs]

Hey.... I stopped off at this place on monday while i was in Albany, its about 5-10mins west of Denmark. Great Views. Me and my partner were the only ones there when it opened. They had a few beers and a cider on tap.

I tried the red ale and the stout, both great beers. I really enjoyed the stout, it was creamy, smooth, lots of chocolate and a hint of coffee at 5%(at least i think so, managed to pick a cold while down there so the taste buds could be deceiving me). The food was great, highly recommend the lamb pie yum!!!

I spoke the brewer, he was the one serving us, he said he was hoping to move the brewery onto the premises by the end of the year. Will definitely be visiting this place again, glad the other half has family down that way.


Also went to the whitestar in Albany, they still had tanglehead beers on tap so im not sure what the deal is there. Also tried a Albany Ale Works pale ale at the earl of spencer, not a bad drop, i couldn't find out much about the brewer though.

 

[mika]

I thought Albany Aleworks was WhistlingJack from this forum ? Unless I'm getting my wires crossed, haven't heard from him in a while. If it is WJ, it was my understanding he's got a license as a production brewery only, thus not allowed to flog his own beers, hence why you'll only find them at the pubs.

 

[drew9242]

mika= Yea i think you got your wires crossed. The brewer is not WJ. I'm not 100% sure about the liscence, but he does lurk around on the forum, so he might be able to clear it up for you.

mjfs= Ohh and tangleheads is still brewering beer for the white star. The brewrey stayed there and they change the name of the pub. All the beer producing licenses were under tangleheads name, so i guess it was easier to keep it under that name.

 

[Shed101]

mika= Yea i think you got your wires crossed. The brewer is not WJ. I'm not 100% sure about the liscence, but he does lurk around on the forum, so he might be able to clear it up for you.

mjfs= Ohh and tangleheads is still brewering beer for the white star. The brewrey stayed there and they change the name of the pub. All the beer producing licenses were under tangleheads name, so i guess it was easier to keep it under that name.

I thought White Star was an old name from a ship or something? Has been the name of the place for a long time by the looks of it...

I was there at the back end of 2009 and they had a decent enough IPA (I think) on ... well whatever it was it was enough to drive back to where we were staying and walk 5kms into town to just check 5 or 6 times that it was actually good

Hops 'growing' in the beer garden and plenty of locals there on a sunny Friday afternoon and decent enough live music in the evening.

On the saturday we went to a pretty good little farmers market. Albany came across as a nice place.

It's inevitable that in a relatively isolated location like Albany there will be compromises is you're going to sell enough beer to stay open.

So presumably somebody took the White Star and Tanglewood on :blink: Good on them. Even if the beer isn't absolutely first class, I never ever drink in pubs that sell ordinary beers ... would rather have a bad pint of microwbrewed beer for the 'experience' than an ordinary pint of fizzy golden froth.

 

[drew9242]

I thought White Star was an old name from a ship or something? Has been the name of the place for a long time by the looks of it...

I was there at the back end of 2009 and they had a decent enough IPA (I think) on ... well whatever it was it was enough to drive back to where we were staying and walk 5kms into town to just check 5 or 6 times that it was actually good

Hops 'growing' in the beer garden and plenty of locals there on a sunny Friday afternoon and decent enough live music in the evening.

On the saturday we went to a pretty good little farmers market. Albany came across as a nice place.

It's inevitable that in a relatively isolated location like Albany there will be compromises is you're going to sell enough beer to stay open.

So presumably somebody took the White Star and Tanglewood on :blink: Good on them. Even if the beer isn't absolutely first class, I never ever drink in pubs that sell ordinary beers ... would rather have a bad pint of microwbrewed beer for the 'experience' than an ordinary pint of fizzy golden froth.

The owner of the building used to run the white star before leasing it to tangleheads as pub and brewery. Then tangleheads went broke and the lease holder got the gear and lisence, and now calls the pub the white star and the brewery tangleheads. I'm pretty sure that's the way it was.

Good to hear you enjoyed your stay here. It is a great place to live, but shhh don't tell to many people.

 

[RobB]

Finally made it back to Albany after three decades and I had a couple of Tanglehead's beers last night.

Both the kristalweizen and oatmeal stout were very good. Their pilsner is the beer which has attracted the most criticism, but this had blown dry, so someone must be enjoying it! The White Star appears to be a James Squire pub, so maybe they have been able to inject some experience to iron out the kinks.