Beer News - What's Brewing in the News
What's the Story
Willie Simpson, The Age Epicure, March 13, 2007
"A 160-year-old Geelong pub is leading a micro-brewery mini-revival.
MELBOURNE brew-pubs are becoming a rare and endangered species. Long-running South Melbourne operator Bell's Hotel and Brewery has lasted the distance, but pioneering outfits like the Loaded Dog in Fitzroy sunk without trace yonks ago. The Gunn Island Brewbar stopped brewing its own soon after Woolies bought the joint, and the in-house micro-brewery at Three Degrees has yet to be cranked up (it may never be).
At least the two James Squire Brewhouses - located at Docklands and in the Portland Hotel in the city - are pumping out house-brewed ales on a regular basis. And much further west, Geelong's Scottish Chiefs Tavern Brewery (opened 1845) has been re-invigorated under new brewer Damian Nippard.
This brew-pub, close to Geelong's waterfront, has had a fairly chequered history since the equipment was installed in the late 1980s. After producing a mere handful of brews, the plant lay dormant until the mid-'90s when journeyman brewer Gavin Gamble (he also brewed for Bell's Hotel) fired up the brew kettle once more. As well as knocking out a range of beers for the Scottish Chiefs pub, Gamble sold beer under his own Steampacket Brewery brand to outside venues (including the Labour In Vain bar in Fitzroy for a time).
The original micro-brewery was designed to make beer from malt extract, but Gamble modified the plant to a full brewery including - famously - installing a claw-footed bathtub as his mash tun. (He produced a similar arrangement for Bell's Hotel and there is still a photo there of owner Bill Bell lolling around in the suds without wearing much in the way of clothing!)
The bathtub has gone and so has Gamble, who left the brewing industry for a "real" job in late 2005. Nippard had worked briefly with Gamble as a part-time assistant brewer and has taken over a similar role to his predecessor - his What's Brewing Company produces house ales for the Scottish Chiefs and he also sells beer to outside venues.
Nippard comes from a strong home-brewing background. He was a foundation member of the Westgate Brewers Club and the inaugural chairman of the VicBrew organisation in the early 1990s. It's fair to say that house beers - pale ale, amber ale and porter - take a back seat to the commercial tap beers available at the Scottish Chiefs, but Nippard brews a 1200 litre batch roughly every second or third week.
"Ideally, I start at 7am and if things go OK I might finish by 6.30 or 7pm," he says. "The beers are a similar style (to previously)," he says, "but I didn't get Gavin's (Gamble) recipe book."
The relatively modern microbrewery sits next to the site of the historic Volum Brewery which ran from 1857 until 1958, when it was taken over by CUB.
What's Brewing Company - tasting notes
Pale Ale (4.5%) - Hazy amber-gold. Light grainy palate, with a dry bitterness emerging late. "It's an English-inspired pale ale but it's got American and Australian hops," brewer Damian Nippard says.
Amber Ale (5.5%) - Hazy, amber-gold. A malt-driven ale with appetising biscuity characters, chewy caramel notes and a restrained bitterness.
Porter (6.2%) - Murky dark brown-black. Malty initially (Milo notes), complex palate with chocolatey/expresso characters, a herbaceous hop bitterness, and a firm, roasty finish."
Willie Simpson, The Age Epicure, March 13, 2007
"A 160-year-old Geelong pub is leading a micro-brewery mini-revival.
MELBOURNE brew-pubs are becoming a rare and endangered species. Long-running South Melbourne operator Bell's Hotel and Brewery has lasted the distance, but pioneering outfits like the Loaded Dog in Fitzroy sunk without trace yonks ago. The Gunn Island Brewbar stopped brewing its own soon after Woolies bought the joint, and the in-house micro-brewery at Three Degrees has yet to be cranked up (it may never be).
At least the two James Squire Brewhouses - located at Docklands and in the Portland Hotel in the city - are pumping out house-brewed ales on a regular basis. And much further west, Geelong's Scottish Chiefs Tavern Brewery (opened 1845) has been re-invigorated under new brewer Damian Nippard.
This brew-pub, close to Geelong's waterfront, has had a fairly chequered history since the equipment was installed in the late 1980s. After producing a mere handful of brews, the plant lay dormant until the mid-'90s when journeyman brewer Gavin Gamble (he also brewed for Bell's Hotel) fired up the brew kettle once more. As well as knocking out a range of beers for the Scottish Chiefs pub, Gamble sold beer under his own Steampacket Brewery brand to outside venues (including the Labour In Vain bar in Fitzroy for a time).
The original micro-brewery was designed to make beer from malt extract, but Gamble modified the plant to a full brewery including - famously - installing a claw-footed bathtub as his mash tun. (He produced a similar arrangement for Bell's Hotel and there is still a photo there of owner Bill Bell lolling around in the suds without wearing much in the way of clothing!)
The bathtub has gone and so has Gamble, who left the brewing industry for a "real" job in late 2005. Nippard had worked briefly with Gamble as a part-time assistant brewer and has taken over a similar role to his predecessor - his What's Brewing Company produces house ales for the Scottish Chiefs and he also sells beer to outside venues.
Nippard comes from a strong home-brewing background. He was a foundation member of the Westgate Brewers Club and the inaugural chairman of the VicBrew organisation in the early 1990s. It's fair to say that house beers - pale ale, amber ale and porter - take a back seat to the commercial tap beers available at the Scottish Chiefs, but Nippard brews a 1200 litre batch roughly every second or third week.
"Ideally, I start at 7am and if things go OK I might finish by 6.30 or 7pm," he says. "The beers are a similar style (to previously)," he says, "but I didn't get Gavin's (Gamble) recipe book."
The relatively modern microbrewery sits next to the site of the historic Volum Brewery which ran from 1857 until 1958, when it was taken over by CUB.
What's Brewing Company - tasting notes
Pale Ale (4.5%) - Hazy amber-gold. Light grainy palate, with a dry bitterness emerging late. "It's an English-inspired pale ale but it's got American and Australian hops," brewer Damian Nippard says.
Amber Ale (5.5%) - Hazy, amber-gold. A malt-driven ale with appetising biscuity characters, chewy caramel notes and a restrained bitterness.
Porter (6.2%) - Murky dark brown-black. Malty initially (Milo notes), complex palate with chocolatey/expresso characters, a herbaceous hop bitterness, and a firm, roasty finish."
Labels: Beer News
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