Beer Dinner with Chuck Hahn
Where: Club Pine Rivers, Cnr Sparkes & Francis Rds, Bray Park, QLD, 4500
When: Tuesday 4th June
Time: 6:30 for 7pm
Cost: $75 ticket

The Maryborough Pub Fest
When: Saturday 8th June
For further info visit: http://www.worldsgreatestpubfest.com.au/

VIC

The Portland Hotel - Think Tank Feast
When: 26th May
Time: 12:00pm -4:00pm
Tickets: $65
Visit: http://www.goodbeerweek.com.au/events/view/30/Think+Tank+Feast

137 Boundary Street
West End, QLD 4101
Phone: 07 3844 6504
Email: www.theboundaryhotel.com.au

Located in the heart of trendy West End, The Boundary Hotel is an institution for young and old alike. The pub was originally built in the 1860’s and has been Boundary Street’s best and most iconic pub since. The renovations in 2011 saw it go from a simple pub with one bar, to a Brisbane hot spot featuring 3 bars, a fantastic beer garden, sports bar, and of course the traditional public bar.  Beers on offer range from XXXX Gold to Little Creatures Pale and Guinness to James Squire Orchard Crush Cider and everything in between. Lunch and dinner offerings include traditional pub grub, with affordable daily deals and the occasional exotic special to spice things up.

The Boundary’s pride and joy is the beer garden located upstairs, which features ample outdoor seating, and has something going on every night of the week. Original live music is on from Wednesday - Saturday and we offer fun events such as trivia, comedy, and queens bingo throughout the week. Sunday’s have become Brisbane’s hottest Sunday session featuring the hottest DJ’s and awesome food and drink specials.

No matter what you’re after, The Boundary Hotel has something for everyone. Whether it’s a low key drink with friends, a meal with family, a chat with the locals, or a cracking night out, you’ll find it at The Boundary.

We also have a lovely evening planned for State of Origin with 5 screens, food specials and giveaways.

Having recently joined the brewing team at Malt Shovel, it’s time to share some words on how I managed to find myself wedged between the kettles at Malt Shovel Brewery.
Reflecting back to my good ol’ university days in Perth, Western Australia as a chemistry student, I recall being taught the subtleties of partial gas pressure by a lecturer using a Guinness widget can as a working example. I considered this marriage of art and science pure genius and my interest was definitely piqued.

Soon after, the beer landscape in WA was torn open with the advent of Little Creatures Pale Ale. In a world of domestic brews named after native birds, Little Creatures represented a refreshing insight into just how good beer could taste. With the brewery residing on the picturesque Fremantle Boat Harbour and taking the spot of the infamous Crocodile Farm, us sandgropers were more than happy to exchange great tasting beer for our crocodiles.

I toiled away as an Analytical Chemist for some years, eventually moving to London on a working holiday as is the rite of passage. It was here that I truly found a passion for all things beer while working at Budweiser in their Quality Assurance team.

Sure, we made beer with rice in it, but the young team were a passionate one and every outing was a quest for awesome beer, The Earls Court Great British Beer Festival being a memorable highlight. Additionally I lived a pints throw from arguably the best beer pub in London, The White Horse in Parsons Green which also helped the cause.

Returning to Perth a few years later, I began working at the Swan Brewery in their technical department, eventually progressing to Brewing Team Leader.
While at Swan I was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands dirty at The Generous Squire Brewpub, assisting brewing craftsman Justin Fox.

When the opportunity arose for a Brewer’s position at Malt Shovel, it was a no-brainer - great beer, passionate team and vibrant Sydney (however I don’t recall seeing the traffic in the brochure….) Having been at Malt Shovel for 2 months I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, even those when that sneaky whirlpool valve gets left open!

Best and beers,
Dan

Dan Feist at the Brewery

The highlight of the matches was the New Norcia Abbey Ale matched with rich cheese cake. Prior to this, the well-behaved crowd enjoyed a structured tasting of New Norcia Wines, followed by a very inspirational address by Abbot John about New Norcia and its’ mission.

At Malt Shovel Brewery, we brew the New Norcia Abbey Ale about 5-6 times a year to supply kegs to the New Norcia Hotel and selected hotels across the country. The 330ml bottles in six packs are available at boutique bottle shops. It is an authentic Abbey Ale as all labelling and marketing must be approved by the monks and we donate a significant portion of the profits back to the Monastic Community (a requirement of the Belgian Beer Code). The beer style is a Belgian style strong Golden Ale at 7% ABU, brewed with Styrian hops and Belgian candy sugar, and fermented with a Belgian Abbey Ale yeast for a rich heavenly finish.

A Mad Brewers wee heavy crafted by a Wee Highlander 

 
Hamish and his McArthur colours

The froth-and-bubble / toil-and-trouble of Hamish McArthur’s mini-kit creation (depicted back in Feb newsletter) has now emerged as a fully grown brew soon to be released on tap (late April). True to Hamish’s heritage, the style of this brew originates from Scotland : a Scotch strong Ale (or Wee Heavy) that we have dubbed Wee Highlander. In light of traditionally brewed Scotch Ales this brew undergoes an extended boil which (along with the use of crystal malts) gives a high degree of caramelisation of the brew-house wort. The result is a brew that will have a deep red hue and a much more pronounced malty caramel and roasted malt flavour.

Brewhouse wort going through lauter sight-glass

The extended boil also concentrates the sugars giving a beer that is fuller bodied and higher in alcohol (6.7%), making it suitable as a ‘winter warmer’ for that fireside sip. Hops are used in moderation allowing the malt sweetness to dominate. In the brewing of this Wee Highlander we also used a small portion of peated malt to add a slight smokiness and malted oats to add depth of character.
Best served in a “thistle” glass. Enjoy in moderation.

Sample thistle glass shown - beer will be redder

All hopped up
Two of our brewing team Sam Tourle and Hamish McArthur took a trip down south a couple of weeks ago to view the latest hop harvest. Sam to update us with some details next time.

Hop plants in field prior to harvest

Up and coming brews
More brews are being conjured up and one is in our mini-kit right now! Mick O’Rance has crafted a black IPA - (still in ferment). Can’t wait to taste it!

Mick ‘testing’ the brew as it ferments away…

Also I wish to start a rumour that we’ll be doing another Hop Thief. Still in the ‘crafting’ stage our intention is to ‘steal’ as many hops as possible when we brew this one!

Catch you next time … cheers and (great) beers!

Freshy
Rob Freshwater
Senior Brewer Craft
Malt Shovel Brewery

Indian Ocean Brewhaus and Grill
Mother’s Day Buffet
8-11am on Sunday 12th May - Bookings Essential
Psychic Dinner
6-30pm Wednesday 29th May - Bookings Essential $126 p/p

The Boat
St Georges Celebrations
When: Sunday 21st of April
Free event, Blackpool performing live 2-5pm, Morris
Dancer 12-2pm, kids activities from 1pm: face painting
Arts and crafts and lots, lots more.

I have just moved over here from Western Australia where I was employed at The Swan Brewery from about 2004.

My first memory of beer was from when I was 8 years old and toured The Swan Brewery.The vivid image of shiny kettles and smell of the Brew house still remains and I have always wanted to be involved. I was lucky enough to do work experience 3 years in a row later on down the track where my thirst and passion for the industry really came about. I think the first time I enjoyed a beer was on holidays,  it was a Hahn premium (I remember this because I tried to open it without a bottle opener and snapped my tooth and had to explain how it happened to my parents who weren’t impressed …let’s just say I always carried a bottle opener from then on).

I then had a phone call from a sports agent who said someone was interested in me for my cricket ability and offered to fly me to London to play cricket for our winter. I didn’t need much persuasion, besides playing cricket I gained a part time job as a Bar manager where all of a sudden I was pouring old English ales which I had never heard of before with the pull pumps. This then grabbed my attention to get the taste of all these new flavours, I was only ever used to Australian lagers. After tasting many ales I guess you could say I wanted to explore more. I then had the opportunity to travel to the Munich Oktoberfest 5 years in a row where my thirst for beer culture really started to become an obsession. I would run around tent to tent trying as many different flavour beers as I could while my mates didn’t want to give up there great table and would stay in the one spot.

Anyway, after all this travelling and tasting of many beers I ended up back at The Swan Brewery where I continued to work around all aspects of the Brewery still with the dream of one day working in the Brew house I visioned when I was originally shown around by Dad (Yes it was in my blood, my Dad has been involved in the brewery for some 20 odd years).

Then the opportunity to come and work at the Malt Shovel Brewery came up and didn’t think twice about jumping at this chance to work with some of the greatest and most passionate brewers Australia has to offer. I have been here for about 8 weeks now and it’s been amazing working with everyone here and I hope we continue to create great tasting beers for everyone to enjoy!!!

I don’t like to rabble on and you readers need to go and have a wonder James Squires beer as do I.

Always happy to have a chat.
Cheers for Good Beers
Josh

Josh Staines

His keen love of beer has motivated him to gain more training in the art of brewing, He has already made tremendous progress in flavour assessments of beer, and now he is learning the actual brewing processes.

His fellow instructors - Chuck Hahn and Mick O’Rance- feel he has great potential as a craft brewer.

If the Malt Shovel Brewery can have Michael Jackson as our craft beer specialist in Adelaide, we can certainly have Richard Burton as our assistant brewer at the Kosciuszko Brewery.

Richard Burton at Kosciuszko Brewery

Grafton had been flooded in the last month, and rain was threatening to force the ponies into scuba gear, but the weather was kind to us, the sun shone, and Grafton showed up in droves, ready to play…

David Page, the northern rivers Sales Executive, had been working hard to prepare for the day, with plenty of signage, handouts, and even a crusty old brewer to answer any questions and generally talk up the beers.

So, how was the stable of Squires products received? Well, this is how this particular race was called..

Most fields have a bolter, and on the day, it had to have been the Orchard Crush Cider. All who sampled it appreciated the depth of flavour that comes from brewing a proper cider (not made from concentrate) and before soon enough, the stable was empty, and cider was no more!

The dark horse on the day was the Jack of Spades Porter - mentioning the words “chocolate” and “beer” in the same sentence seemed to pique most peoples interest, and the sales of the dark beer reflected how popular it was, even with those who insisted they didn’t like darker brews.

Following on were the reliable runners in the pack - 150 Lashes Pale Ale, Sundown Lager, and The Chancer Golden Ale. Always crowd pleasers, and always a good starting point for folks who weren’t entirely sure about craft beers. I assured them they just hadn’t met the right beer, and was happy to guide them along the path to salvation.

Finally were the fire-breathing chargers - Four Wives Pilsener and Stowaway IPA. Big flavours, lots of hops, and furlongs away from the mainstream beers that many of the locals were accustomed to. However, there were many converts on the day, as evidenced by the huge numbers of the crowd sampling one or another of the Squires range.

If you have never been to a country race meeting, make the effort to get along to this great event next year. It is getting bigger and better each time, and we can guarantee you’ll enjoy the mix of the races, the music and the entertaining crowds on the day.

Grafton: Brews Blues BBQ’s Festival

Established as a hotel in 1861, Jackson’s & Co, has a rich and colourful history of entertaining people. Now, after a complete renovation and third floor extension, this historic building has recaptured its natural beauty.

Situated in historic Lydiard Street, Ballarat, Jackson’s & Co provides an ideal base to explore the CBD of Ballarat including the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Her Majesty’s Theatre and Mining Exchange. The Ballarat Central train station is a 1 minute walk away for those who wish to take the train from Melbourne.

The rich history, elegant renovations and magnificent views, along with professional and supportive service team and contemporary urban cuisine, utilising local, seasonal produce wherever possible, makes Jackson’s & Co the ultimate location for any occasion. The ground floor cafe/ restaurant provides for a casual breakfast, lunch or a more formal dinner and weddings and special occasions are catered for in the historic first floor Lawless Room (seating up to 150 guests).

A breathtaking addition to this historic building, The rooftop Terrace is the perfect location for relaxed mid-afternoon drinks and tapas or for pre-dinner canapés and drinks prior to your wedding reception in the Lawless Room. The Terrace provides views to Mount Warrenheip, the Railway Station clock tower and Soldiers Hill and beyond, and there is no other venue in Ballarat that provides such a magnificent setting for after work drinks with friends through to pre-wedding celebrations.

Jackson’s & Co offers a range of boutique beers and ciders, including James Squire range, Hoegaarden and the local and very popular gluten free beer option O’Brien’s.

A multi faceted venue over three stories, Jackson’s & Co provides a memorable service and dining experience.

Not having been to Europe since 2008 I decided that it was time to return with the view I wanted to try as many new beers as I could. What I was hoping to find was some cool microbreweries with amazing twists on old favourites. Mapping out a few key locations we booked a 3 week holiday.

We arrived in Prague on a Monday with the weather being a balmy -1. It was a battle coming from Sydney to this horrible climate but the journey was worth it. My first beer was a creamy headed Czech Budvar which was unlike any Budvar I had tasted in Australia. It was creamy like an ale but very crisp like a lager…..amazing. To top this off we were able to wander the winter markets in the main square and pick up huge chunks of roasted ham straight from the rotisserie.

Not content just to stick with this we arranged to go on a microbrewery tour of Prague. Well, let me say they know how to have a good time!!

Our lovely little tour guide took us down the dark alleys of Prague to 4 microbreweries of great repute. I was a little disappointed with the styles as they all stuck to the tried and true formula of a Lager and a Bock. There was no wacky variations just good versions. The most interesting one I saw was a brewery that allowed its boiled wort to cool naturally, open to the air before being pumped into a fermenter and pitched with yeast. I was concerned for their sake in regards to contamination but their beer seemed clean if not a little under carbonated. These sorts of things really flicked my switch and showed that they really had their processes nailed down.

Next stop on the European whirlwind was Sweden to see an old college mate. I was not full of hope for the brewing scene in Sweden as its centrally controlled alcohol purchasing body (the government) was not renowned for letting the Swedes have cheap alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised to find microbreweries popping up in Stockholm in a few places. Their beer, like all things Swedish, was done well. I had a delicious IPA which was fruity and well balanced with malt sweetness along with a Saison that had some very nice funk to it and a dryness which was well characterised. Unfortunately, in my eagerness, I forgot to write down the names but did remember to photograph the bottles for all to see.

From Sweden we went to Paris. This was a beautiful part of the trip but mainly revolved around the grape instead of the grain. So after 6 days in Paris we decided we needed to get back into the beer swing of things. This is where the real highlight of the trip was.

Not knowing too much about Bruges (it’s in Belgium) we headed there and were absolutely amazed at their love of beer and fantastic food. Arriving at Bruges we headed to the pub called Gambrinus (legendary king of Flanders and some say patron saint of beer) to be gob smacked by there some 600 beers! We were handed their beer bible and found it incredibly daunting to go through….so we started at the beginning!

Hallelujah I had my eyes opened in Belgium!!

What we loved about this place was every beer style had its own glassware. This wasn’t just some novelty but a strongly adhered to policy. Their belief being each individual glass was perfect for accentuating the particular beers qualities. With this I had a beautiful goblet of passionfruit beer. I have never really been a strong believer in fruit beers but after this I am a supporter. The sweet aroma and passionfruit flavour was a real standout of the beers I tried at this place on every one of the 3 nights we stayed there.

I can also recommend the last standing brewery in Bruges called the Half Moon brewery. They produce a beer called the Bruges Zot translates to Bruges idiot. This cloudy white beer is delicious and the brewery has won a number of awards including taking “Best Belgian and French ale” for their Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel in 2012.

With this in mind if anybody is heading to Europe who potentially loves a beer I can highly recommend going to the sleepy little town of Bruges.

So, what I have taken away from my little holiday was not that the Europeans necessarily do it better but they definitely concentrate on their traditional styles and attempt to get them perfectly. They are not necessarily better brewers…just different to us. With this in mind I was still missing some of my favourite Aussie brews by the time I got off the plane in Sydney.

Hamish McArthur

The Portland Hotel - St Patricks Day
Serving traditional Irish dishes and playing Irish music throughout the day. 
Live music from 5pm
When: 17th March from 5pm
Where: 125-127 Russell Street, Melbourne

The evening was a great success, with new chef Adam delivering some absolutely outstanding dishes matched perfectly to our wonderful beers. The event was sold out again, and considering it was the day before Valentine’s Day this was testament to the following Rydges and our great beers are attracting in the region. We’re already looking forward to next year.

This park is directly across the road from Banjos and the Kosciuszko Brewery.

The festival was organised under the patronage of the Polish Embassy in Australia.

The official description is as follows:
Dream Lights, the 2013 Kosciuszko Festival, celebrates the best of Aboriginal, Australian, Irish and Polish cultures, inspired by the achievements of the explorer Sir Paul Strzelecki and the majesty of the mountain he named after General Kosciuszko, a renowned champion of equal right and liberty for humankind.

We served tasting samples to everyone and there were a large number of people that attended in the hourly session each day - so a serious assessment.

“Froth and Bubble” (..actually it’s toil and trouble!)

Some may wonder how, when, and why, we come up with a new brew.

How? … unlike Merlin (…or is it Harry Potter these days?!) we don’t have a magic wand, but we do have our ‘play-toy’ mini-kit brewery. Basically ending up with a 100 litres to sip and savour, the mini-kit is left at the hands of our creative geniuses (aka brewers) to conjure up the latest & greatest!

When? …well it’s a bit hard to find the time to have “a play” when you’re busy with the big kit of the Malt Shovel Brewery, but with their passion the brewers find a way!

Why? …well…why not?! Variety is the spice if life as they say and we want our loyal consumers to experience and appreciate all the variety that different beers can offer.

Hamish McArthur stirring the pot!

Could it be another Mad Brewers special?! …mmm… by the expression on Hamish’s face the madness has already been added to the brew! And with a Scottish name like Hamish McArthur, rest assured we scared the moths off his wallet before he went to buy the ingredients!

Workaholics!

Like the convicts in James Squire’s days the brewers are still doing ‘time’ trying to get stocks up so we can then again fit in another special brew; we certainly won’t unlock the shackles from our brewers until all our faithful consumers are satisfied!

Catch you next time … cheers and (great) beers!

Freshy

Rob Freshwater
Senior Brewer Craft
Malt Shovel Brewery

As the new addition to the brewing roster at MSB, it falls to me to give a quick intro and background on myself and as to how I’ve ended up landing here.

I, like many young Aussies who came of drinking age 20 (ish) years ago, starting out drinking beer, on Friday and Saturday nights, or at the weekend BBQ.

It all changed during an overseas holiday in ‘99 - ‘00, with finances running low, it found me working at the Michelin starred “The Yorke Arms” in North Yorkshire. Here they had Black Sheep Cask Ale on the handpump. It instantly became my favourite knock off pint each night as we reset the dining room for breakfast, and it changed the way I looked at beer forever. The Black Sheep Brewery was a mere 12 miles away, (a good day off was spent “rambling” over to the brewery for a few beers and a bite to eat with some of the locals!) and the fact we had a keen cellarman, meant the beer was always in top condition.

Back in Australia, and back on the tools working as a plumber, I took up home brewing, first the kit and kilo set-up, then progressing to adding extra hop teabags, to mini mashes on the stovetop. Jumping to all grains was on the cards, but then, after a move from Hamilton Island down to The Snowy Mountains, I noticed a microbrewery, The Kosciuszko Brewing Company being installed in the local pub, The Banjo Paterson Inn. A quick bit of research revealed Chuck Hahn was involved in setting it up.

An already planned trip to see family in Sydney happened to coincide with MSB tours being run. I convinced the better half it was worth squeezing the tour in to the already tight schedule of family visits for the weekend. A few questions during the tour had me introduced to Rob Freshwater and an offer from me that if they needed anyone local to help out with anything I would love the opportunity to get involved. To my complete surprise Freshy said, “We will being needing someone local to help out, give us your phone no. and we’ll see what happens.”

I’ve spent the past 3+ years working as assistant brewer to Chuck at Kosciuszko Brewing Company. It didn’t take long to realise that a hard day brewing was better than any day plumbing. I particularly like brewing the seasonal beers we brew for taps sales at Banjo’s, such as Pumpkin Ale, Mountain Wheat , Raspberry Tart Ale, or our winter warmer, the dark Bock at 7.5% ABV, brewed to be enjoyed after a hard day on the slopes.

I put my head back into the books and completed the Graduate Certificate in Brewing with Ballarat University, and then Chuck mentioned there was an opening at MSB if I was interested in a full time role, so here I am.

A big thanks to Freshy for taking my phone no.!! Of course to Chuck for all your help, generosity of brewing information that you so willingly passed on, and advice over the past few years. And especially to my partner Nicole, who with our 20 month old son, and also being 35 weeks pregnant with our 2nd child, happily helped pack up and move a 3 bedroom house 500K’s north over the Christmas period so I could follow my dream.

By the time this gets posted, I should be enjoying a short break from the brewery, putting the feet up celebrating our new arrival with a couple of my favourite ales … but more likely elbow deep in dirty nappies, lacking sleep and flat out helping with the washing, cooking and cleaning!

A frothy farewell until next time,

Mick.

Craft Beer Specialist Tim Knight was joined by Jindabyne local Mick O’Rance to make sure as many blues fans as possible got to enjoy the wonderful Kosciuszko Pale Ale. Mick is our resident brewer at the Kosciuszko Brewery at Banjo Paterson Inn, Jindabyne as well as recently making the move to Sydney to assist our brewing team there who are struggling to keep up with demand for our James Squire beers.

Over the three days of the Blues Festival Mick and Tim conducted several tastings as well as running around to all the great restaurants, bars and lodges making sure they had plenty of fresh Kosci for the thirsty masses. Thredbo in summer is truly a special place, and there is an embarrassment of great restaurants and bars where you can enjoy wonderful food after a day of hiking and listening to blues, all washed down with a delicious Kosciuszko Pale Ale of course.

Whilst we struggled to get much hiking in due to our official duties (yes, enjoying a beer with everyone at the end of the day is considered a ‘duty’) as you can see from the below photo, Tim did manage to get one hike in.

Keep 22-24 March in your diaries, as we’re back to Thredbo to do it all again, this time for the Country Music Festival. Master Brewer Chuck Hahn has already booked his place, promising a boot-scoot and an autograph to anyone who mentions this article!

As a regional event it’s noticeable that most of the people attending are not everyday craft drinkers and for many it’s their first experience with craft beer. The great thing about this is that we get to be part of what will be some peoples’ ‘ah ha’ moment when they discover there is more to beer than they even knew. A welcome addition this year was the educational tent and a highlight for us was the massive attendance at the James Squire and King Island Dairy beer and cheese master class. Before the session people waited patiently to enter and they were rewarded with a welcoming plate of 3 King Island Cheeses and a Belgian chocolate dessert. Chuck Hahn thrived on the crowds excitement and delivered an entertaining master class matching the Chancer Golden Ale, Nine Tales Amber Ale, Stow Away IPA and Jack of Spades Porter to the various King Island products. The crowd left more than happy with the experience and a wealth of new knowledge about both beer and cheese.

As the gate was closed on another successful festival, event organisers would be pleased with the attendance and breweries happy to engage with so many new consumers.

Towradgi Beach Hotel Beer, Food and Wine Festival

When: Sunday 10th February
Time: 11am - 5pm
For more information please visit: http://www.towradgibeachhotel.com.au/WhatOn

Rydges, Port Macquarie Beer Dinner, featuring Chuck Hahn

At Knappstein we love our Reserve Lager, but we thought it was about time we mixed things up a little. So every now and again the Knappstein Brewer (aka Damo) and the Knappstein Winemaker (aka Glenn) are going to knock their heads together to come up with a drop that bridges the great beer and wine divide.

A small-batch ‘Vintage Brew’, we say.

The product is all the things that you know and love from the Reserve Lager; the lychee, the passionfruit and that crisp citrus finish, but with more. This beer has been cold matured at 4˚C and wine barrel-aged for 3 weeks in barrel, introducing some stylish oak spice and vanillin notes to the nose. The palate (if you ask the winemaker….) has an increased sweetness and weight coming from the oak integration. As for the brewer, he says the creamy vanilla edge on the palate gives the beer drinkability. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, this product offers a unique twist on a classic beer & wine mash up.

Well it’s been pretty full-on here over the past few months with the team madly brewing as much as they can (‘mad’ being an apt description for our brewers here -hence Mad Brewers releases!). 2013 has started and as you all return to work after your holidays and enjoyably and responsibly consume James Squire beers you can be assured that the team here has been busy replenishing stocks. I’m sure a busy and industrious year awaits us all!

So long and thanks!
A few of our key players here have moved on in recent weeks and will be sorely missed… 

Coco Cullen

The bubbly Katherine (”Coco”) Cullen - previously from the receptionist desk in head office, Coco was the friendly warm face that greeted everyone as they “signed-in” to reception before venturing off to whatever meeting. Likewise when Coco joined us just under 2 years ago she was at our reception desk although her admin-office role here was a very diverse one and she provided invaluable support for the sales guys as well as all things admin (including this web-site). Coco remains part of Lion moving into a Sales Activation role.

Dayton (”Daytona”) Coffey

 - for some inexplicable reason Dayton has taken up a brewer’s position in Yankee land at the micro-brewery New Holland Brewing near Lake Michigan. Inexplicable because he starts there in a couple of weeks and is moving from a +25C climate to a -25C climate! Dayton joined us several years ago from the West End Brewery in Adelaide, and his knowledge & QC experience proved invaluable for us. At least Dayton will still be able practice his “drifting” driving skills on the frozen lake!

Bruce (the”D”) Draper
Those of you who have frequented our web-site and blogs would have come across some great prose and wisdom from the D. Always passionate about the beers we are brewing (and in Bruce’s’ case that’s an understatement!) and always a team player. Previously from kiwi land a few years ago (…did he turn off the lights when he left?) Bruce will be missed by his fellow colleagues.

Dan (”the man”) Dainton
 ‘Poached’ by Paul Holgate and his team up at Woodend just north of Melbourne, Dan was our part-time brewer at the Portland Hotel in Melbourne. Those of you who enjoyed the house-brewed beers at the Portland over the past 15 months can salute Dan for his undoubted creativity and passion for all beer that is flavoursome.

New kids on-the-block!
Of course the rest of the team can’t do all the work by themselves so we welcome Tracy Williamson and Mick O’Rance to the team, and no doubt they’ll be telling you something about themselves in future newsletters and blogs.

Mad Brewers??
Last newsletter I let loose the rumour that another Mad Brewers release was on the horizon…..alas as it happens, and despite the team doing the ‘hard yards’ building stocks pre Xmas, our faithful consumers enjoyed more than expected of James Squire and the guys are still hard at it trying to get stock back into the system. Never say never and there will be more Mad Brewers again soon…..also I did hear another whisper about some more James Squire Hop Thief??

Catch you next time …cheers and (great) beers!

Freshy
Rob Freshwater
Senior Brewer Craft
Malt Shovel Brewery

Goodbye City:  After only about 5 hours driving north west we forget the city that we’ve left behind. Surrounded by plains and hills the towns fly by, Singleton, Scone and Muswellbrook, then Tamworth hits us like an oasis. With no appointments until the morning we head for an evening refreshment and meal at the Tamworth Hotel. The 6 of us have the saloon bar to ourselves and sample some fine fruits of our labour. The bar is memorable for its classic retrospective look and feel.

Barley breeders: How easily we lose touch with a vital industry that is any brewer’s lifeblood - barley growing. Farmers have a choice in planting crops and without attractive prices and crop yields they’d plant something else. Barley breeders are therefore continually experimenting with barley varieties chosen for their yield and disease resistance and applicability to various regions. Different states use different naming systems for their barley varieties. Queensland varieties for example are named after cricketers; Grimmet and Mallet come to mind. SA have a nautical theme; Schooner and Sloop, and then there’s Commander from NSW, widely grown but falling over when fully grown making it hard to harvest. Watch this space for new varieties with even better qualities….

Barley
 

Barley Growers : Every season barley growers face new scenarios. Sometimes wet at the start, then dry at the end, sometimes the opposite, or maybe the perfect season once or twice in a lifetime. Meeting malting grade barley specifications is difficult but the rewards are potentially there in higher prices. Moisture, protein and nitrogen levels, beta glucan content, friability and kernel size are just a few of them…These growers are salt of the earth and their generosity in showing us around was beyond the call. After five minutes one grower had offered a colleague’s family a place to stay.

Viterra Maltings: Viterra (producers of Joe White Malt) have a significant maltings plant in Tamworth, producing pale malt for both export and local use. During a very interesting tour of the facility we noticed a dozen jumbos (1 tonne bags) of pale malt packaged ready for delivery to the Malt Shovel Brewery in Sydney! Most of the pale malt produced here is shipped in bulk but we are one of the few clients who request delivery in bags.

Malting process: The malting process is one in which barley is modified to a state which makes the sugars in the grain accessible to the brewer. Raw barley is not a great brewing material but when modified (known then as malt), critical enzymes in the grain become available which can break down the complex sugars into fermentable sugars in the brewing process. The malting process is a three step process consisting of steeping, germination and kilning, taking roughly 7 days. During steeping barley is steeped in warm water to slowly and evenly raise its moisture content to around 45% taking around 24 hours. The grain is then spread out on a floor to allow the grains to germinate under controlled conditions for about 5 days in order to synthesize enzymes and modify the barley. The grains are then oven-dried (kilned) to stop the germination process and to reduce the moisture content again. Malt is now ready for brewing.

Filling the Steep

Germination (Saladin Box)

By Hamish Macarthur, Bruce Draper, Peter Merrington

Thredbo Blues Festival
Tim Knight will be hosting some Kosciuszko Pale Ale tastings with an opportunity to enjoy your favourite blues at the same time - what more could you want?
Friday 18th - Sunday 20th January
Visit: www.thredbo.com.au/thredboblues

WAThe Generous Squire
Wheatbelt White now on Tap along with the award winning Shafto’s Reward.

Our Four ‘Wives’ Pilsener tells the stories of James Squire’s thirst for variety in the more ‘personal’ aspects of his life. It is this aspect of Squire’s character that the designers focused on for the development of the Newcastle brew bar. The 6th of December is for celebrating the opening of ‘The Squire’s Maiden’. Newcastle is fast developing a vibrant craft beer culture and we know the Squire’s Maiden will be a great place for lovers, charmers, bachelors and philanderers to come and enjoy all James Squire has to offer.

So if you’re in Adelaide or Newcastle be sure to seek out these venues and enjoy a glass of James Squire.

Rumour mongering

I have heard along the grapevine that those Mad Brewers are out and about again, plotting/planning some new bedevilled beverage to challenge your taste-buds. I’m not one for rumours (…yeah, sure!) so am waiting for the facts… More about this next time!

 All hands-on-deck, readying for “Deck the Hall”!

Well… Santa and his reindeer (actually local ‘roos drag his sleigh around Aussie!) are not far away so I hope you’ve all been good boys and girls so that your wish-list of the festive season’s celebratory beverages (AKA James Squire) get delivered along with the usual ‘shirt & socks’.

The brewing team here at Malt Shovel have certainly been working extremely hard in ensuring that Santa has plenty in the back of his sleigh to deliver to you!

The whole James Squire team hope you have a happy festive season enjoying the fruits or their labour!

Catch you next time …cheers and Xmas beers!
Freshy
Rob Freshwater
Senior Brewer Craft
Malt Shovel Brewery