Within our own James Squire family we have the Nine Tales Original Amber Ale, a smooth, slightly nutty ale brewed with deft blend of pale & crystal malts, and Jack of Spades Porter which uses five different barley & wheat malts to create a complex toasted coffee-chocolate palate, perfect for savouring in the colder months.

When these two beers were released over 14 years ago, you would struggle to find any other examples of malt driven beers available in your local bottle shop. But how times have now changed! The emergence of the local craft beer scene has delivered a wide range of dark and malty offerings to the marketplace and this is a reflection of the growing savvy of local drinkers who now recognise the plethora of flavours the darker beers can offer. If you have not tried a Nine Tales or our delightful Jack of Spades Porter for a while, this winter is the perfect time to revisit them and enjoy their malty complexity.Following my time test of our Mad Brewers releases back in March, we have had a few queries as to why the TEN20 Commemorative Ale that we released back in 2009 was not included. Quite simple really - we could not find a single bottle remaining anywhere. Even the display bottle that adorns the mantle behind our Camperdown bar had been consumed and refilled with water! That has to be a testament to the quality of the TEN20 in its own right. However, we would still love to get our taste buds around this delightful 7.9% abv barley wine, should someone have a bottle in good condition. If any of our members have kept a one we would be happy to swap a bottle of Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe, Scribbly Gum & Stout Noir in exchange. That’s right - three bottles for one. Contact Coco at GOODBREWS if you can help us out.

Join Malt Shovel Craft Beer Specialist Tim Knight profiling our James Squire Stow Away IPA on this month’s Brewer’s Bytes click here

Cheers to you all,
Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

The Robin Hood Hotel is a unique and much-loved Eastern suburbs pub. A distinctive wedge shaped building on Bronte and Carrington Roads in the heart of Waverley, architecture students and fans of old Sydney buildings are regularly drawn to admire this attractive 1940s hotel — reminiscent of an Ocean Liner - which still maintains many Art Deco features.The Robin Hood is popular with an eclectic local crowd looking to enjoy good quality bistro food in a relaxed setting. The pubic bar is filled with comfortable leather lounges and a jukebox where local business people regularly drop in for lunch while a funky 20-something weekend crowd enjoys DJ’s until 3 am.

With the recent addition of an attractive outdoor courtyard and bar, you can enjoy the sunshine with a cold beer, or catch up with friends for a meal under the stars in the evening. The Bistro offers an extensive menu with daily specials for lunch and dinner. The pub also has a large drive in bottleshop, which offers weekly tastings, monthly specials and a large and interesting range of beer, wines and spirits.

Beer Dinner
30 May 2012
Steyne Hotel,
75 The Corso Manly,
NSW

Join Dr Chuck Hahn while he profiles the James Squire range with matching meals.
Please contact venue for bookings on 02 9977 4977

Beer Dinner
27 June 2012
Northern Star Hotel
More information in June Newsletter

April at The Generous Squire
After a 2.5 yr wait we are finally brewing on site, be the first to try the All New English Style Bitter Ale “Shaftos Reward” Officially released during our April Beer Club Meeting on the 24th April.
To be one of the first to get an exclusive invite for the launch, join the Generous Squire Beer Club via our website:
http://www.thegeneroussquire.com.au/
Shafto’s reward ‘on tap’ at The Generous Squire Pre-launch tasting for Beer Club members on Monday the 23rd from 5:30pm-7:30pmVIC

The Portland Hotel is planning on brewing up a special beer for weeklong festival which
is going to be a “Black Rye IPA”.

Brew Day Feast
Sunday 13th May 2012
12pm
115-127 Russel St Melbourne
$50 per head, 3 banquet courses with beer matching
Celebrate beer and experience the sights and smells of the brewery while enjoying a beer feast of epic proportions. The Portland Hotel invites you to join them as they serve up 3 banquet style courses of the finest seafood, slow roasted meats and cheese matched with a delicious selection of craft brews including an exclusive taste of their latest one off Good Beer Week brew which will be launched that evening. Resident Brewer Dan Dainton will be brewing up a fresh batch just metres from the banquet tables and will be on hand to have a chat and share some insights into the life of a Brewer.
 http://www.portlandhotel.com.au/the_brewery.html

Dinner with Chuck
Wednesday 16th May 2012
7pm
115-127 Russel St, Melbourne
 $75.00 per head, 5 courses with beer matching
The Portland hotel invites you to meet the master - Dr Chuck Hahn, the founder of the Hahn, Malt Shovel and Kosciusko Breweries and one of the pioneers of the craft beer movement in Australia.
Learn about the intimate relationship between beer and food, indulging in five course feast, with each course perfectly matched with James Squire ale.
You will get to taste the beer that was specially brewed to celebrate Good Beer Week, and tour the Portland Hotel’s very own micro-brewery to learn about the ancient craft of brewing.
http://www.portlandhotel.com.au/the_brewery.html

SA

This month also sees the judging of beers at the 2012 Australian Beer Awards get underway in Melbourne. The outcome will be known on the presentation dinner on the 17th of May, so you can expect to see some nervous brewers about over the next month. We are hoping that our recent Mad Brewers release Hoppy Hefe can snare some recognition from the judges this year as it has certainly been a hit with the beer lovers.For our Perth followers the first brew of Shafto’s Reward is now happily fermenting away in the tank at the Generous Squire and on schedule for a late April launch at the bar.

For the Adelaide folk we can advise that James Squire will once more have a strong presence at the Tasting Australia key public event Feast for the Senses to be held along the banks of the Torrens in Elder Park on Sat.28th and Sun.29th of April. The full range of Squires beers will be available from two stands at the event and this year Chuck Hahn will be in attendance to give our local craft beer specialist Michael Jackson a helping hand, Click here for Ales n Tales dinner information

Malt Shovel Brewer and ex Kiwi Bruce Draper profiles James Squire Golden Ale on this month’s Brewer’s Bytes [click here]

Beer is a staple to the traveller and exposure to the mass of variety and range of styles in the world intrigued me.

I was introduced to the world of brewing by the beer maverick himself, Richard Moroney, over lazy days at the Sail and Anchor, and became his assistant brewer when he opened the Monk in Fremantle. I picked up the head brewer role at The Monk in February 2008, and that year completed a Graduate Diploma in Micro Brewing at Edith Cowan University under the watch of Western Australia’s leading beer sage Hugh Dunn. The next four years at The Monk were a great adventure, culminating in a nomination for Champion Exhibitor at the Australian International Beer Awards in 2011.

In June 2012, I decided to move away from the 6hL plant and took up the role of Brewer at The Swan Brewery in Canningvale. The 7380hL vessels are quite the change of scenery and I am currently thoroughly enjoying the challenges of brewing on such a large scale.

In tandem to this role, I am very excited about the opportunity to retain my passion for craft brewing as part of the Malt Shovel team and look forward to making some delicious seasonal brews this summer and in the years ahead.

As its name suggests, The Deck Bar is famous for its sweeping Deck that overlook Parliament House. Situated at the Top End of Mitchell Street in the Darwin CBD, The Deck Bar is away from the hustle and bustle and the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing beverage.

With a chilled and relaxed atmosphere The Deck Bar embraces the tropical lifestyle that Darwin and the Northern Territory is famous for and with a large shaded outdoor area, it is perfect for relaxing and watching the world pass by.

The bar is home to Darwin’s most comprehensive drink list, with a beer locker featuring 80 different beers from around the world, more than 20 beers on tap (including a selection of James Squire’s tap range) and an array of wines and cocktails.

Open from 7.30am on weekdays and 11am on Saturday and Sunday, soon to change when we introduce brunch, The Deck Bar makes the best Laksa and Vietnamese Pho in Darwin. The lunch and dinner menu accommodates any taste and features Asian Tapas, Australian pub favourites and pizza. The Deck Bar will also soon introduce a James Squire Lunch, which will include a James Squire product with selected meals.

With live music five nights a week, and DJs who play well into the night, The Deck Bar is the perfect place to not only start but also end your night out in Darwin any night of the week.

The Deck Bar is home to Darwin’s best Sunday Sesh where from 3pm each Sunday the Territory’s best DJs hit the deck prior to the start of the week ahead.

The ability to cater for anyone regardless of their taste in beer, food and music The Deck Bar is perfect place to relax with a beverage, meet friends, and party whilst in the Northern Territory. 

Malt Shovel Brewer Peter Merrington profiles James Squire Pilsener
on this month’s Brewer’s Bytes click here

The Mad Brewers Test of Time: Our CHIEF BREWER revisits some recent Mad Brewers limited releases- How are they holding up?

Our Mad Brewers limited releases are well known for their flavoursome, some might say challenging taste profiles. But how do these more full-flavoured offerings stand up to the inevitable aging process that ultimately affects all beers. Unlike more perishable beverages, e.g. milk or fruit juice, beer is a fairly robust product. It does not harbour disease causing microbes and beer deterioration is through slow, but oxidation inducesd flavour loss, which will at some point render the beer flavour no longer typical of the fresh product. That is why beer is labelled with a Best Before date, and not a Use By date. The ability to retain flavour and drinkability after about 6 to 8 months post bottling, is generally beyond the less flavoursome beer styles like lightly hopped lagers and light beers. However, the bigger the initial flavour & complexity of the brew, the more it will disguise these oxidation processes.
Stouts, particularly those with higher alcohol contents, are known for their ability to hold flavour and drinkability well beyond 12 months. In crafting our Mad Brewers releases we have endeavoured to extend the flavour stability by creating flavour depth and complexity and by retaining the yeast, live within the bottle. Residual yeast in the bottle tends to scavenge the small amounts of oxygen trapped during filling and thus reduces those oxidative changes that degrade beer flavour and freshness. So how did we do? To gauge our success I revisited our recent Mad Brewers offerings & rated them at, or beyond their Best Before dates.

Raspberry Wheat Beer; 5.0 %ABV
Release Date: November 2007
Best Before: NOV 2008
Test Age: 2 years old
Our first Mad Brewers release in the now familiar 640mL bottle was a polarizing brew developed by Franklin Lucarotti, who has since moved on to the sunny plains of Adelaide in the role of Brewing Manager at the West End Brewery. Cutting edge at the time, this wheat beer featured liberal loadings of rRaspberries & just a hint of mint to substitute for the relatively low hopping. While it has long since disappeared from the bottle shops I had kept a couple safely stored in the garage & tasted the last back in December 2009. I remember how, at the launch, the fresh beer displayed just an intriguing hint of mint, yet within weeks this had completely disappeared from the flavour profile. The mint was back with vengeance when I tasted it again and the raspberry flavours had remained prominent. At a year beyond its Best Before date it had stood up remarkably well. Perhaps it was the lower pH (acidity from the wheat) of this brew, plus the presence of yeast which improved its keeping quality, but whatever, I rate it 9/10 for durability.
RATE AT LAUNCH: 7/10 RATE AT TEST: 7/10

Orchard Ale 5.0% ABV
Release Date: October 2009
Best Before: Oct 2010
Current Age: 2.3 years
MSB Brewer Andrew Morgan -Jones (no relation) was the brains behind this, our first collaboration with Small Acres Cyder. The complex brew included a sour mash & the addition of about 10% apple juice. Its flavour & aroma today is vaguely apple jam & sweet caramel, the balancing sourness of the lactic mash has sadly vanished leaving an overly sweet beer, well past its best.
RATING AT LAUNCH: 7/10 RATING NOW: 4/10

Scribbly Gum Lager 6.5%ABV
Release Date: February 2011
Best Before: 21 Feb 2012
Current Age: 1 year
I remember the aroma of freshly BBQ’d bacon wafting through the brewery as the initial brews of this smoky customer passed through the kettle. Today the beer pours with a thick creamy initial head, but this collapses out to a flat tea by the time I am reaching the last third of the glass. The aroma is subdued ham off the bone, much of the smoke character having faded. Still full bodied and lacking aged detracting characters, but has mellowed & lost the exciting flavours that marked its prime. Quite drinkable still.
RATING AT LAUNCH : 8/10 RATING NOW: 6/10

Stout Noir 7% ABV
Release Date: May 2011
Best Before: 18 May 2012
Current Age : 9 months
Stout is well renowned for withstanding the ravages of time. In fact strong stouts can, much like a heavy red wine, mellow & mature with age delivering a different yet, often equally enjoyable flavour experience. The liquorice comes through equally, if not more intense than in the fresh beer. Noir continues to deliver good body and a well balanced overall palate. The stability of the head has retreated a little, but this remains a well rounded stout and a good buy - if you can find it*
RATING AT LAUNCH: 8/10 RATING NOW: 8/10

* Hint: try Glebe Liquor on Glebe Point Road where there are a few bottles still in stock

Cheers to you all,
Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

It was an early start to their day where when they were introduced to the art of brewing . They assisted Damian in all facets of the brewing process creating a batch of the well-known Knappstein Lager. The boys commented that prior to their adventure they didn’t appreciate the intricate process and technical specifications required to produce one of the country’s top award winning craft beers.

Photo - from left to right: Damian Trounce, Peter Bond, Barry Byfield, Mike Gribble

QLD
Name of Event Tales & Ales with Andrew Gowdie
Where is it being held? The Norman Hotel
Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba
What time is it starting? 6pm on Tuesday 3rd April 2012
Cost of Event? $55
Contact details for booking? To book phone 3391 5022 or email
reception.norman@indpg.com.au

Details:
Enjoy an evening treated to Brisbane’s Best Range of James Squire Beers. Each beer will be individually matched to a course created by the Norman Hotel. Hosted by Andrew Gowdie from James Squire, this promises to be a great evening filled with long tales and Great Ales. Bookings are essential as places are strictly limited.ACT
ACT Beer Fest is scheduled for 14-15 April this year http://www.canberrabeerfest.com

WA
Dr Chuck Hahn & WA Craft Beer Specialist George Stupart will be at the James Squire sample Bar at The Mandurah Crab Festival on Saturday the 17th of March from 2pm…Join us for a Beer & Cheese matching session. For more information go to http://www.mandurah.wa.gov.au/crabfest.htm

We released the cider in October 2011 to a controlled number of accounts in NSW, Victoria and W.A. only, as we tested the market and sought to secure a supply of Australian grown apples. Juicing apples are in short supply locally as the vast majority of the crop is snapped up as eating apples. The mini-explosion of the cider market in Australia has sent cider producers scrambling for apples and many have resorted to the use of imported juice concentrate and sugar to meet production needs. The use of freshly crushed apple juice is however a major point of difference for our cloudy, James Squire Orchard Crush cider and critical to the flavour profile. Although we have been committed to a slow build to date, however acceptance by consumers has been excellent.

We are now preparing to launch the cider on tap into SA for the Fringe Festival in March, followed by full national availability shortly afterwards.

The bottom line is that January has been a very busy month in the brewery and February is set to be the same. 2012 is off to a flyer.

Sorry Our Charity MSB Tour and Hoppy Hefe tasting is sold out. -But fear not, Brewers Byte is back.

You can join Malt Shovel (Mad) Brewers Rob Freshwater and Dayton Coffey to get a heads up on our new brew as they profile Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe limited release on Brewer’s Bytes click here

Our CHIEF BREWER Road Tests the BEER MACHINE click here

By the way, the photo above is our annual Christmas BBQ for the Malt Shovel Team. Was a great afternoon had by all!

Cheers to you all,
Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

MALT SHOVEL MAD BREWERS
SUMMER 2012 LIMITED RELEASE
HOPPY HEFE

Oh those Lazy days of the hot Australian summer. It can mean only one thing…. you guessed it, another limited release beer from those crazy Malt Shovel Mad Brewers. Having focussed their energy on brewing plenty of the finest James Squire beers for the Christmas and New Year festivities, come February it’s time to have a little fun with our summer release. At my urging, this year they have turned their attention to the wheat beer style, but typically it is not a classic wheat style that will be offered up by our Mad Brewers team.

Brewers Rob Freshwater and Dayton Coffey have combined to craft a wheat beer with serious attitude. The name says it all. Hefeweizen, is a traditional German wheat beer style, “hefe” being a prefix meaning yeast (some yeast retained).
Our Hoppy Hefe however, is a cloudy wheat beer brewed with an outrageous late hop addition creating a strong fruity -citrus hop aroma. While also taking some inspiration for extremes from those “beardy-weirdy” American hop-head brewers, our team, as usual, were not content to follow the plan and stick to using only U.S. hops, nor to use traditional German wheat yeast.
So get ready for a beer with a difference.

The result of their labours is a 7% alcohol by volume mongrel of a wheat beer with no claim to nationality, but one that will happily back pack its way around Australia this summer, while stocks last.

Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe is presented in its usual 12 x 640ml bottle, per case format and will be available in selected good liquor stores nationally from 14 February 2012, for a limited time only. It will also be available on tap at the James Squire Brewhouses and Brewbars plus a number of selected bar accounts in each state.

The 640ml bottle is the perfect size to share with a friend over a meal and our brewers recommend you try this beer with a spicy Gumbo, a spicy Seafood Paella or for the more timid, perhaps with Chilli Mud Crabs.

Recommended retail price is $79.99 per case and $9.99 per bottle.

Only 8,700 cases have been bottled so make sure you get some straight away.

Yours Hoppily,

Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

The American take on this is the American Wheat Ale (can be filtered or unfiltered) and American Wheat Wine (can be up to 12%). These styles differ from their German heritage in that the yeast strains used are more typically ale-like and don’t impart the clove and banana characteristics; similarly hop flavour and bitterness may also be present (Americans being the hop-heads they are!) but generally only at low to moderate levels.

Our Mad Brewers’ take on these styles is the Hoppy Hefe. Hoppy in that we have really dialed up the hops - 2/3rds of which are added post fermentation (dry-hopped). While the beer is coarsely filtered (we had to… otherwise you would be ‘eating’ hops rather than drinking beer!) it still retains a haze from the presence of yeast left over from fermentation (Hefe).

Brewed with 45% wheat malt to give added crispness to the finish, Hoppy Hefe also utilises some crystal malt to add depth of flavour and colour. The malt body and alcoholic warmth (7%) on the palate help to balance the heavy handed use of hops (Citra and Motueka verities) which themselves provide a robust and distinctively citrusy (grapefruit-like) character. At 7% and 640mls a bottle, share with a friend!

Like the previous Mad Brewers it is only a limited release so grab some while you can (before we MAD brewers finish the lot!)

Cheers and beers
Freshy and Dayton (and the rest of the ‘Mad’ team!)

NSW
Collaroy Beach Club, Collaroy
Local Tap House, Darlinghurst
Northern Star, Hamilton
South’s Leagues Club, Merewether
Burwood Hotel, Merewether
Marlborough Hotel, Newtown
30 Knots, Grand Hotel, Sydney
Yardhouse, Sydney
Penrith Panthers, Penrith
Hotel Delany, Newcastle
Manning Bar, Sydney
Arc@UNSW, Sydney
Hero of Waterloo,The Rocks
Fortune of War, The Rocks
Pyrmont Bridge Hotel, Sydney
Docks Hotel, Sydney
Tipple, Surry Hills
Greengate Hotel, Kilara
Parkview, Erskineville

ACT
All Bar Nun, O’Connor
Edgars Inn, Ainslie
Phoenix, Canberra
ANU, Canberra
George Harcourt Nichols, ACT

QLD
Norman Hotel, Buranda
Boundary Hotel, West End
The Fox, Sth Brisbane
Platform Bar, Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Zi-Bar, Brisbane
Board Walk Tavern, Hope Island, Gold Coast
The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba

SA
The Elephant, Adelaide
Highway Inn Hotel, Plympton
Colonist Tavern, Norwood
Cumberland Arms, Adelaide CBD
Wellington Hotel, North Adelaide
Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton
Holdfast Hotel, South Glenelg
The Dublin, Glenelg

TAS
The Squires Bounty, Hobart
New Sydney Hotel, Hobart
Cock n Bull, Launceston

VIC
The Portland Hotel, Melbourne
Transport, Melbourne
Leftbank, Melbourne
The Plough Hotel, Myrniong
Lily Blacks, Melbourne
Royal Mail Hotel on Spencer
The Steampacket Hotel, Williamstown
The Great Northern Hotel, Carlton
Public Inn, Castlemaine
Newmarket Hotel, St Kilda
Bayden Powell Hotel, Collingwood
The Fox, Collingwood
Lincoln Hotel, Carlton
Montague Hotel, Sth Melbourne
The Local Taphouse, St Kilda
Barkers, Hawthorn
Collins Quarter, Melbourne
Beer De Luxe, Melbourne
Woolshed Pub @ Central Pier, Docklands

WA
The Norfolk, Fremantle
5 Bar, Mount Lawley
The Garden, Leederville
The Grosvenor, East Perth
Settler’s Tavern, Margaret River
The Pour House, Dunsborough
The Sail & Anchor, Fremantle

On Sunday 11th March Towradgi Beach Hotel hosts Wollongong’s only Beer, Food and Wine Festival.
Featuring over 85 stalls, taste your way through the site map of Wineries, Breweries, Gourmet and international Food and Local Produce.
With Guest speakers throughout the day, and cooking classes for the kids - There is something for everyone at this FREE Event.

10am - 4pm
Towradgi Beach Hotel 
170 Pioneer Road, Towradgi 2518 
www.towradgibeachhotel.comau

www.sirenbar.com.au 

Featuring unique modern Australian cuisine and a diverse cocktail and wine menus, Siren offers the perfect night out with family and friends, close to home.
Siren Bar has a diverse selection of boutique beers on tap, including, James Squire Golden, Ale, Pilsner, Pale Ale and Australian Lagar as well as over 30 different premium bottled beers.
Monday night features a pizza + two James Squire beers for only $20

Siren Bar features a stunning interior including custom designed wine tower and restaurant area with raised wooden stage and open booth seating surrounded by large bi-fold windows. The open fireplace is situated in the main bar area and is perfect to sit beside whilst enjoying tapas and a glass of wine.

The large North facing deck has comfy lounge areas, heaters and even a private bigscreen TV and portable bar which provides a relaxed and ambient atmosphere suitable for any type of occasion or private function.

Open 7 days for breakfast, lunch & dinner, Siren Bar caters for private events, corporate or casual lunches, birthdays, engagement parties, wakes, girls night in, boys night out or any function that deserves a celebration.

With great beer, excellent food and service, live music every weekend and a comfortable place to chill out…the Siren is calling!

While the more seasoned home brewers will be into full blown mash brewing including grinding their own malts etc the Beer Machine is a great little starter kit which is a step up from using the traditional 20 or 30 litre plastic fermenters common in home brewing.

Essentially the machine is a 10 litre keg made from hard foodgrade plastic which splits in half horizontally for easy cleaning. When assembling for a brew a soft plastic rectangular seal mates the two halves & slide on clamp hold the unit together. This is one weak point as getting a secure seal is essential given the vessel will be under pressure. I found the seal quite a fiddle to get right & the instructions recommend you test the unit under pressure before adding your brew to avoid a disaster. The Beer Machine is fitted with its own temperature & pressure gauges and a simple sanitary relief valve to vent CO2 in a controlled fashion during high ferment. The biggest advantage is that it allows you to pour your own draught beer direct from the keg after carbonating with via a fitting which takes soda bulbs (sparklets). These retail for about $15 for a pack of 10 & you will use about 4 per brew depending on how quickly you consume the fruits of your brewing labour.

As every budding home brewer knows the laborious bottle washing & crowning is one of the major frustrations of modern day home brewing, but setting yourself up for draft dispense generally requires quite a bit of cost and a bit more technical know how than the casual home brewer will possess.

This unit makes it simple & will fit neatly into the shelf of a fairly standard bar fridge (400mm Deep x 230mm Wide x 330mm High (including tap), if your partner allows it!

The manufacturer supplies a Beer Mix powder in a limited range of beer styles. The powder is a dehydrated wort, containing both the malt extract & hop ingredients and the packet includes a separate sachet of brewing yeast. You could substitute a standard can of your favourite home brew malt extract, but you need to get your sums right or you’ll end up with a pretty powerful brew due to the reduced 10 litre batch size. Another use is to gently fill the unit with your favourite bottled beer & re-carbonate to enjoy it on tap.

The Beer Machine is now available through Target stores around the country.

All in all this is a cleverly designed unit and worth consideration if you are about to embark into the world of brewing your own.

Cheers to you all,
Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

Our January newsletter as usual is our first opportunity to share some inside information about our planned Mad Brewers summer release which will hit the market in mid February. This years offering will wet the appetite of those dedicated hop-heads amongst you. Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe is a crazy hybrid of the strong U.S. Wheat beer style and the more hop subdued traditional cloudy (hefe) German wheat style. Birthed in our famous Malt Shovel mini brew kit under the guidance of Rob Freshwater & Dayton Coffey this brew has liberal lashings of American & New Zealand hops, added late into the boil, and then been super- charged with a further dry hopping into the fermenter. Those wheat beer lovers familiar with bananas and clove spiciness in a wheat beer can expect to be confronted instead with a wheaty brew Inspired by the extremes of those American hop-head craft brewers. Under the Mad Brewers reign the classic German hefeweizen style that the Americans transformed into their American Wheat Ale has now been reborn with an added belt of happiness… or I mean Hoppiness. Brewed with 45% wheat malt and finished with glorious amounts of Citrus and Moteuka hops, this 7% ABV challenging, yet refreshing wheat ale should be sipped and savoured . . .with a friend.

Our February newsletter will give you the full detail on venues which will be stocking this year’s release and treat you to a Brewers Byte Youtube tasting with Freshie & Dayton.
As usual this beer will be available, both in the standard 640ml Mad Brewers bottle, and on tap in our James Squire Brewbars and around the country at selected Malt Shovel friendly outlets.

February LaunchThis is your chance to visit the Malt Shovel Brewery at Camperdown & meet the Brewers.

We will be assembling our whole James Squire team to introduce you to our Hoppy Hefe and a further surprise or two. 8th February from 6pm-8pm. This is a one in a lifetime opportunity and tickets are strictly limited.

This event will be by confirmed booking only and limited to MSB members only, with a maximum of 3 guests per member. The tours will include a free sampling of a selection the James Squire family matched to a delicious finger food. Cost of the tour & food is $30 per person. All proceeds will be donated to charity. Please Note: Adults only to attend and please wear covered footwear as we will be touring the brewery plant.

For booking ring Coco at Malt Shovel Brewery on 02 8594 0200.

If you are from interstate and lucky enough to be in Sydney on this date please mention this when booking with Coco & we will do our best to accommodate you, but be swift as these tours are very popular & will book out fast.

New Office puts Malt Shovel on the Front Foot

Our regular followers will be well aware of the renovations taking place at the Camperdown site over the last 18 months, and these culminated in the official opening of our new Administration Office on 16th December. The completion of the new building has seen the re-location of our administration staff into the 1st floor level of the 188 Parramatta Road frontage to the site, while the ground floor now becomes the entry point for all visitors to the brewery. This area will subsequently be developed into a consumer connection point. At the moment we are still considering the best way to achieve this whether it might be via a visitor centre, a James Squire Shop, or some form of interactive craft beer experience. In the interim it has certainly delivered an increased awareness of the presence of the Malt Shovel Brewery as the home of James Squire beers. Despite our presence on Pyrmont Bridge Road since 2002, I am always surprised by how few of the residents in Sydney’s inner west are aware of our location. Courtesy of our new illuminated Squires signage and the prominent positioning of a sparkling copper kettle in front window thousands of motorists on their daily journey will now be well aware of the home of James Squire beers.

Photo of exterior & launch click here

Cheers for now
Tony Jones
Chief Brewer

A few things have conspired against me of late which have threatened my usual enjoyment of January. Firstly, one which affects all of us, La Nina, bringing rain and more rain. Secondly I have no summer holiday planned this year as this is a very busy time of year for any Malt Shovel Brewer, made busier by the loss of a couple of brewers who have chosen to take some leave. Thirdly I had an unfortunate car accident a few weeks ago which has left me carless but fortunately, physically fine. As they say, when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade, so I’m strangely enjoying riding my bike around town, and enjoying both crafting and sampling our great beers. To be able to put my sweat and effort into crafting beers that I’m proud of is a luxury that I’m very much appreciating at the moment.

Speaking of looking around town, a look through a craft beer fridge in a bottle shop these days can be quite overwhelming as I noticed recently at Camperdown Cellars, the nearest bottle shop to the brewery. Not only local craft beers pack the display fridges, but also imports. There are countless brands and products with creative labels all looking to appeal to me! Exploring new products is a treat but it’s funny how you always return to a classic, if you did particularly like it. I have found that over the years with James Squire Pilsener. This authentic Pilsener is a previous World Beer Cup winner in the Pilsener category, and in my opinion nothing has changed. The full bodied malty flavour and generous Saaz hop content continue to make this beer an absolute classic. In summer, I love nothing more than a womp in the ocean in the late afternoon, followed by a cold James Squire Pilsener, which is a great appetiser, and accompaniment to a seafood meal, even a spicy one at that. James Squire Pilsener oozes authenticity and character, with perfect balance, and will always be a beer I return to sample even whilst exploring the wider world of beers.

So for the month of January, a beach holiday beckons but is not to be, although there’s plenty to look forward to. It’s festival time in Sydney, a chance to enjoy extended daylight hours and absorb the entertainment of the world’s artistic talents. The touring Indian cricket team will make life hard for the Australian cricket team, the work experience “kid” is having a ball at the brewery, and we continue to experiment and innovate producing mini brews on our pilot brew kit. A Mad Brewers summer release is looming and there will be more limited releases on the horizon.

So expect some big flavour and a hop hits!The Portland Hotel will be launching brew #227 (yet to be named) on the Tuesday the 10th January @ 7pm. If you’d like to come along to the launch for a free tasting, get on the James Squire Brewhouse/Portland Hotel Facebook page and RSVP to the event. Spots are limited.

Chuck in front of the Kosciuszko Brewery at Banjo Patterson Inn, Jindabyne.

Chuck and Mick O’Rance celebrating the big award from the Royal Queensland Show.