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00:00:01
Building A Colourful Community Brewpub In A Craft Beer Hinterland
314 Plays3 days ago
It's time to hit the road again after hosting the GABS Hottest 100 Countdown livestream as Will and James call into Noodledoof in Victoria's west.
Founders Sam Rudolph and Alex Carr launched the brewpub and distillery with their partners in late 2019 – just before you-know-what hit – in Koroit, a small town a short drive inland from the western end of the Great Ocean Road.
In the years since, they've gone on to create a genuinely distinctive operation in a region that was pretty much barren land for local craft beer before they came along.
With Sam still making his way back from a beer festival in Melbourne on the day of our visit, we sat down with Alex to hear how the former homebrewing housemates from Adelaide ended up reuniting as brewers and distillers.
We find out how they turned a former mechanics in the town's main street into a community hub, where the unique name comes from, and why they've been determined to create a brand like little else in Australia – certainly among breweries found so far from any major cities.
Alex tells us about their mission to work with and celebrate local producers, foraging for native ingredients in the rich ecosystem of nearby Tower Hill whose Gunditjmara name, Koroitj, gives their adopted home its name, and creating unique spirits such as a wonderful potato vodka that pays homage to the Irish community that settled in the area in the mid-19th century.
The show features great insights and inspiration for those looking to build a community around a regional brewery, and the rewards that can come from sticking to your beliefs.
We also hear from Anne Gigney, founder and co-director of The Distillers Institute, ahead of March's IBD Convention in Hobart.
Prior to the chat with Alex, we reflect briefly on this year's Hottest 100 results, the eye-catching merger between Hawkers and White Bay, and our feature on globe-trotting Aussie brewer Nick Galton-Fenzi.
Start of segments:
- 10:54 – Alex Carr (part one)
- 30:16 – Ann Gigney
- 38:11 – Alex Carr (part two)
Relevant links:
- Noodledoof
- GABS H100 of 2024 Livestream
- GABS H100 of 2024: Analysis
- Hawkers & White Bay Merge
- Aussie Exports: Nick Galton-Fenzi
- Have You Done A Rallings?
- The High Country Hop
- IBD 2025
To find out more about supporting the show or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
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Transcript
Holiday Recap & Studio Work
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to the Crafty Client podcast. I'm Will. I'm James. And Will, it feels like we're spending almost all of our time on screen. Yes. So we got back from, you know, holidays and we did our podcast last week and then several hours in the studio on Saturday, which have saved a lot of fun. It feels a little bit of a come down to be back in our own slightly reworked studio today.
00:00:27
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, the gap side is 100 countdown. Thanks for everybody joined us. You'd never know with something like that. If you're gonna sort of start streaming and your mother might dream or something like that, but it was really active chat all day. It seemed like a lot of people were watching. Um, so it was.
00:00:44
Speaker
which is a really great experience as well. Yeah, no, we've had a lot of great feedback from people who watched it and sort of checked in occasionally. I think it was on the big screen, had a few um pubs and breweries and stuff around the country. um So yeah, thanks. It was yeahs fun to be involved in. And I think we were quite lucky in a way that I guess there's always interesting things to pull from these poles each year, no matter what the top level might look like. And again, you could look at this and go, oh, there's a lot of beers at the same. But luckily for us, we sort of stepped in to do this. And I think what was the most interesting pole in years in terms yeah of, you know,
00:01:14
Speaker
newcomers and just some yeah just it felt like a little bit of a ah realignment yeah definitely um new a pretty new top 10 like it was really fun to watch that unfold when there was some biz had been in the top 10 for a long time suddenly come in at sort of 13 14 you start going oh this yeah This looks quite different. um We should have gone with your idea of shooting the top 10 cans off the stuff. I'm going to bring like a potato gun or something next year and shoot it at the...
Top 10 Beer Countdown
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, yeah but as I think, you know, like as we might mentioned before, the likes of, you know, Curly Lewis and and Seeker and One Drop, a number of smaller breweries or sort of more slightly quirkier beers doing really well. We're going to relitigate that. I think the if you didn't watch the show, it's I think it's worth watching it again if you've got a bit of spare time. i think It's not just a countdown. You know, we we joined
00:02:01
Speaker
When we're up to the number thirty one it's not just a countdown of the beers it's much more of a wider discussion around the industry as it is a lot of sort of pre records and live crosses to people chatting about Trends, and you know who's done well and and various stories from the industry so you can find that on our YouTube channel or the crafty pipe podcast um There is an audio only version coming to other platforms soon, but I think watch the video but not not least because of the studio ended up in we we booked a different studio with these guys in Brunswick and then at the last minute you know for some of the technical stuff they wanted they were like oh we'll move you to a different studio and we walked in the day before into this big live sort of you know stage where they they host live events with crowds of up to 100 so maybe that's the plan for two years yes yes so that's uh yeah and thanks to stupid old studios and matt um editor as well for running everything on the day it's uh there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes it made it
00:02:51
Speaker
feel very seamless as a host particularly i've personally never done anything like that at all in my life and it was amazed it could uh it could work out well the ultimate compliment my wife texted me and going will's much better than i thought he'd be that's good i have my doubts too um Aside from me, that would have been, you know, the biggest news, the most red news, I guess we've published over the last week.
Hawker's & White Bay Merger
00:03:12
Speaker
But um another story that broke actually just on the day that we put out last week's podcast was something that we've been sort of bubbling away for a while. and Hawker's merger with White Bay, um which I guess does feel like more of a merger than some of the other sort of consolidatory moves in the beer industry over the last few years. I guess we're still waiting to see how that might play out now they've formed the social drinks group.
00:03:34
Speaker
So yeah, if you read the article, you'll see pretty obviously that the some of the founders of both those businesses will have a less hands on role. They have new CEO Judd. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. um I'm always they're saying they're going to bring in other non-beer businesses potentially they're having conversation. So it'll be interesting to see.
00:03:53
Speaker
how large it becomes, we'll have several other breweries, one or two.
Challenges for Independent Breweries
00:03:57
Speaker
um Yeah, it's really interesting. I sort of, it's hard to know how these things unfold. Obviously, a lot of it is due to market conditions and and they're very open about that, that that this is the reality. and It's so tough right now for production, independent breweries, like um for for all range of reasons that we've been covering over so many years now. Well, both of those, I mean, hawkers were producing a lot more beer than White Bay, but they're both like hawkers, no retail really, like just that sell a door effectively. um In reservoir, White Bay has got their venue, but, you know, much more skewed into production, into wholesale. And, you know, while they're at different levels, they're still in that sort of space that's been really hard hit. yeah
00:04:38
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, you you referenced Kanaki, you know, yeah won have been a sort of talking about it. I mean, there have been a lot of it or some of these mergers in America. Kanaki was one of the big ones um that's been bought by Monster Energy Drinks, Craft Brew Alliance, which is now part of ABI, which they sort of seem to buy.
00:04:55
Speaker
basically for Kona, for a bit by Kona that does really well. So you've got to kind of wonder how um how, if they bring a certain number of brands in there, I always wonder how you keep your brand identity. And when, um unfortunately,
00:05:10
Speaker
How you sort of run a business when founders move on as well or less involved i think that's something the industry hasn't really got an answer to like the the most successful breweries and often the most successful pubs are owner operated and one someone can't do that anymore.
00:05:28
Speaker
I'm not really sure what the solution is. You can sell it if it's a certain size to a new owner who might run it just as well. But for that larger scale as well, I just think it's really tricky. Well, lucky for us, we've got Mazzen from Hawkers on as our guest next week. So I'm sure he'll be able to tell us a lot more about the plans and the way they see it working. So yeah, look look forward to that. Should be a pretty ah fascinating chat with what they've been the 10 years of Hawkers as well.
Nick Garson Fensi's Beer Journey
00:05:51
Speaker
I guess something else we've written about this week, another sort of global traveller like Mazzaan obviously had his first brewery in Lebanon then came over here, we've got a Nick Garson Fensi, a pretty interesting character, we feature not Aussie exports, um first came to prominence in the WI beer scene when he launched beaten track brewery way back in 2010. In Kaguri, which is kaguli, which is in the middle I don't know where, really, it's a mining town. Mining town, famed for the classic peak temple track. um But ah yeah, since 2017, when he sold the business, he's basically been sort of cropping up all over the world, either in WA or in the Caribbean, or in Europe or in the States. Christmas Island is a pretty interesting place to move here. Yeah. Cocoa signs as well.
00:06:38
Speaker
Yes, I think Nick would make for a really fascinating future podcast guest. Yeah, if we can get him to stay in one spot long enough. Or we could go and chase him around the world. And, you know, if we can just get a bit more sponsorship and go and join him in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks, potentially.
Have You Done A Rallings Campaign
00:06:53
Speaker
um' Closest of home. We've had a really great response to our Have You Done A Rallings campaign. So I guess celebrating and good beer citizens, people who've done some pretty cool things in the local beer industry.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, um so make sure you get your nominations in, because we'll have the first one to those out in the world and tell those stories. Yeah, we'll be announcing the first, so I guess, standout stories, the first winners. um Yeah, just so anybody who goes above and beyond to help their fellow brewers or to celebrate local beer or whatever it might be. Wherever someone happens to be in the beer industry, sort of beer citizens. Good beer citizens, but within Australia. Yes. So if you want to make a nomination, jump online at craftypint.com slash rallies.
00:07:33
Speaker
get your nominations in and we'll yeah well and that's the first winner soon. umm Which
Noodle Doof's Unique Brewing Approach
00:07:38
Speaker
just leaves this week's main guest Alex Carr from Noodle Doof. Yeah so late last year on the way back from our South Australia trip we popped in to see Alex at Noodle Doof in Coroit which is a small town sort of at the end of the Great Ocean Road. Yeah you kind of get to the end of the Great Ocean Road and then go a little bit in like inland so it's yeah it's in an area that really had no craft beer you know really to speak of and before they they cropped up Yeah and Alex so runs it with Sam also known as Noodles which is where the name comes from. so does Don't give too much away. Sam couldn't join us because he was on the way back from a beer festival but we had a really great chat with Alex just about building a brewery the way they have in a small town. They really do stand out I think as a small regional brewery making very
00:08:25
Speaker
unapologetic beers and spirits for that matter using native ingredients and working closely with small farmers and sort of hobby farmers as well yeah local local producers foraging uh caroits is named after there is name for tower hill which is this um I guess, form a volcano that's been brought back over the last few decades into this really vibrant sort of, I guess, native vegetation area. They're bringing back, you know, local flora and fauna. um So yeah, doing pretty cool stuff. And what I love about it as well, which I think has echoes of and sailors grow to an extent, despite the fact they are so far from, you know, I guess.
00:09:01
Speaker
what, Melbourne or, you know, the nearest big city, they've still got the branding, the name, the colour schemes, you know, everything they do is is very much what they believe in. And it's not sort of just maybe the the easier thing about, you know, Caroitte Brewing Company or whatever. It's a very sort of non-masculine looking brewery. You know, they did they do some pretty interesting stuff. The events they do are quite sort of different as well. And I think it's, you know, and it's working for them. And it's a pretty good insights and inspirations there, I think for people either looking to run a regional brewery or looking to find something different when they're out on the road. Yeah, particularly when your name sounds like you actually run doofs in the sticks, kind of. it's ah It's a very cool approach. Yeah, well, they do they do have the doof dome. Yes, we get into. So we'll get to the chat. Before we do, make sure you like and subscribe and enjoy it.
00:09:54
Speaker
Beer music and food lovers, rejoice because tickets are on sale for the 10th annual High Country Hop Festival in Beechworth. Taste fresh hop harvest beers from Australia's best indie brewers, bridge road brewers, mountain culture, range, wildflower, love shack and kaiju, plus the high country's famed local breweries, winemakers, craft distillers and more.
00:10:17
Speaker
see Japanese good-time rockers the 5-6-7-8s in their only not-yet-sold-out Victorian show, alongside ARIA winner Kaiet and folk legend Darren Hanlon. With an inspired food line-up headlined by some of Australia's most inventive chefs and iconic Box Wars workshops for kids, it's a family-friendly day out.
00:10:37
Speaker
An unmissable beer, food and music festival for all. Saturday, March 22nd in High Country Beechworth. Tickets on sale now at thehighcountryhop.com.au. Hosted by Bridge Road Brewers.
Origins of Noodle Doof
00:10:55
Speaker
Alex, welcome to the podcast. Hi, how are you going? Thanks for having me on. Well, thanks for having us in a semi-sunny karoit. Yeah, it's been a bit of a rainy day. The skies have parted for you guys. Well, we did drive through rain for about two hours to get here. um So I guess first up, the question that I guess you've asked a lot, where's the name Noodle Doof come from? Yeah, um yeah it was one of those questions that um you know we kind of had to expect naming ourselves Noodle Doof. um Yeah, so it's just both of our nicknames essentially. Sam's Noodles and I'm Doof and yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
that's that's That's the name. And why is he Noodles and why are you Doof? Okay, so Noodles used to play footy. He's got a long noodly arms and Doof is started out as a derogatory nickname for all the silly things that I do, but um ah ended up being one of those endearing kind of, you know, I just roll with it now.
00:11:54
Speaker
We like to see it as endearing anyway. Yeah, I do. Yeah. Otherwise, I'd hate myself. So. So there was a doofus street on the way into Coroia. Double F or something like Dufus. I did. Yeah, I did see that when I first moved here. I'm surprised you didn't look for a property there. Yeah, no, no, no. It's ah on a high street. I don't know why I'm on that street. um And for the listeners who don't know Coroia, can you tell us a little bit about where we're situated?
00:12:20
Speaker
Yeah, so Coroitte is, um so yeah, if you don't know where we are, we're at the end of the Gradation Roads. They're in between Warrnambool and Port Ferry. um It's a sort of an Irish settlement. We're on the only um on the back of a volcanic crater called Tower Hill or Coroitte, which Coroitte got its name from. So Coroitte just means, I think I'm saying that properly, um means volcano in the in the local language. so um Yeah, the nearest place people would know would be what Port Ferry's maybe 10, 15 k's away, Warrnambool not too far away. Yeah, so we're pretty much bang in the middle. So yeah, Warrnambool 15 minute drive, um Port Ferry 15 minute drive. So yeah, it's a pretty good spot. We pick up a lot of tourists, you know, um that come to the area. It's not too far. We do get that overflow of locals that come from Warrnambool and Port Ferry up up to visit us. And we also get
00:13:18
Speaker
you know, the karate locals as well, which is, which is good. so And what brought you here because you're from SA originally. is Yeah, yeah. So um Sam, um he was, he was a decent footy player, you know, um he played for SNFL for for Glenelg for a few years there. And then a lot of those you know, rural teams like to pick up a decent player so they picked him up as a coach and coach and player and he played for Port Ferry for for a fair few years there. um So he moved to the area first and then our wives are ah cousins so
00:13:56
Speaker
Yeah, I was. But you for you're not each other's cousins. Yeah, no, we're not each other's. Yeah. Yeah. and Anyway. um So, yeah, we um we've known each other for years. we We used to live in a share house back in Adelaide, back when we were in our early 20s and did a bit of rudimentary home brewing back then because, you know, the old Cooper's kits and and some ginger beers and something, nothing any good. That was for sure. um Yeah. so He moved down here and then, um yeah, I ended up following um about five years ago, so yeah. Was it something about the area or what what sort of pulled you? Yeah, so um I mean, we we were living in Melbourne at the time. I was i was working at Hellgate Brewery in Woodend and we were coming down a lot for um family events and then Sam and I just started home brewing a bit together.
00:14:54
Speaker
because he was keen to get into oil grain brewing. So um we set up a little oil grain brew kit in his laundry and we were just brewing fun beers for um family events and stuff like that. And he was sort of picking up a bit of oil grain brewing. And and then um the president at the time of the footy club was, you know, mates with Sam as well. And he was sort of keen to to get us oh to get get us started with a brewery. So he offered to help us get up on our feet and gave us a little bit of money to get started. and
00:15:30
Speaker
We just roll with it. Here we are. Yeah, so he's... Yeah, well he's no longer... I yeah, yeah. I don't even watch AFL, so, um you know, but... yeah you you you tire account you know yeah Yeah, back in the day, I couldn't do it much anymore with a herniated disc, but, you know, that's brewing for you.
00:15:52
Speaker
And so to help you in terms of like finding the location or was, what was this, where we sat now, what was this form like? Yeah, so we were scouting in Port Ferry just because, you know, it's a tourist town. um The water quality there is terrible. I don't think anyone in Port Ferry would be offended by that.
00:16:12
Speaker
um It's it's really the water board. It's oh, yeah, you know when and water maybe might but yeah So this is off the always artisanal basin. So the water quality is amazing um Which makes it a bit easier. You don't have to um have our own a whole different plant just to process your water um and then yeah, we just this place just popped up and um I mean back then it was it was a fair steal in terms of property value. Well had it incredibly looks structurally like the perfect like building to put a brew pub inside you room for your brewery in the back and a beer garden and and a kitchen and then like you know a size of all yeah at the front so it's pretty much perfect yeah so it was a old mechanics garage um if you look at some of the posts you can still see the handprints up on the post there
00:17:00
Speaker
um signs up on the de beams. Yeah, there's still a bit of few remnants around. And then yeah, I think a cabinet maker was in here after him. It was it was literally a dusty old shower when we we got in here. So a fair bit of work's gone into making it, you know, habitable.
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah. And all and all done yourselves. I mean, you'd have been able to do a bit of the sparky work, given your previous career. Yeah. so Sam bring just his long arms to put stuff up high. He definitely helped with his long arms. he He did up a lot of bolts and whatever else in the brewery there. um But yeah, just um the Brian, our other partners is a builder as well. So he helped fit the place out, did the amazing um ceilings. yeah so yeah so we It was a bit of a team effort. Everyone pitched in and um yeah we got it all all ready to roll. How would you describe like craft beer's penetration of this wider region before you came in?
Introducing Craft Beer Diversity
00:18:02
Speaker
right So I'd say we were in a bit of a dearth down here. There wasn't a lot going on in terms of craft beer, especially, probably even craft beer from externally coming into this area was not.
00:18:20
Speaker
seen a lot at all when we first started down this way. And Warneville is not a small town. No, no. yeah it's their population It's a reasonable size. And he looked at some a lot of the other regional Victorian cities that had already started to adopt, um you know, better beer, ah craft beer. But yeah, some reason, I think There's a little bit of conservatism and stuff and and like, like, liking to hold on to tradition down this way. um But over time, you know, people start to see, you know, um you know, what you can't deny quality. And I think, you know, if you're going to come and do something different, it has to be
00:19:07
Speaker
of a certain quality, otherwise you're not going to get people to get behind it. So yeah, we, we just sort of really thought if we did some, some solid beer, um, you know, people couldn't deny it, you know, you know, you still get the odd people, you know, coming in and asking for a, you know,
00:19:25
Speaker
whatever draft and you know you give them one of our hellas or or a southwest best or something which is a mid-strength lager and and they can't really deny it and they're like they have it and they're like oh yeah this is this is good yeah um you know so you're all both standing over them yeah looking menacing and to be honest like the people that i actually like is like the people that don't like beer at all yeah and you give them something and you be like, oh, what are you normally like? And then, you know, if you can convert someone, not convert them, but if you can get someone that doesn't like beer to like it, you know, you're doing a good job, in my opinion. um And you said it was a conservative area, but you haven't been like conservative with the beers. It feels like you will, yeah more or less anything, you know.
00:20:11
Speaker
you know, just keeping it to a tight core range of sort of accessible styles. Wasn't it even that first summer or the second summer where one of your like fruit sours went off and became the number one beer amongst your locals or something you were like, okay, we're not expecting this. i did Yeah, I think it was one of our, um I think it might've been the second summer.
00:20:32
Speaker
stone fruit sand it was like a I can't even remember now we've done that many different beers but yeah it sort of blew me away so I thought you know this it might take a long time for people to get behind this stuff but um I think with anything if you're doing and You know, doing it well. People can't deny it. They taste it and they go, I like this. And I guess that's what happens. But yeah. It's got to give them the opportunity to actually have something different. Yeah, to try something. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's not that scary after all. Yeah, well, that's if you can get rid of the fear and make people feel comfortable as well. So, I mean, I feel like what we really try and do as a brewery and a venue is make all types of people comfortable. Well, even the branding is very, like it's not.
00:21:20
Speaker
It's not beer. It's not like, it's not masculine. It's just the complete opposite, the color scheme and everything. Yeah. And I think maybe sometimes that can probably make, you know, super masculine people uncomfortable. Why are you selling pink t-shirts? Yeah, I don't know. But that's, I mean, I feel like, you know, that kind of culture, you know, there's people are comfortable everywhere. There's a lot of people that aren't comfortable everywhere so if you can blank someone like that can be slightly minutely uncomfortable for a second that's fine i think probably you a way of addressing the balance yeah it's fine um but yeah we we sort of just do what we like
00:22:02
Speaker
doing and we just find things that we enjoy. And and um I think over the years, we've really started connecting with local producers and trying to find stuff that's grown down this way and and integrate um other people doing interesting things into our products. And yeah, that kind of has worked really well as well. so Was there much else in Coroia itself in terms of where people could go for a feed or for a drink? like Yeah, well, there's the two pubs, like you got the Irish pub on the corner, Mickey Burke's and then the commercial down the end. um And then, you know, well, well established, you know, I think there was more pubs than that. There would have been probably six pubs in Coroid at one point, I don't know. In the country of Australia. has thirty I know about two or three others that are not around anymore. So i'm I'm sure there was more. And there was
00:22:54
Speaker
I think it was down here was one of the only areas that had, um, prohibition. Um, and, um, there was a lot of, uh, bootleggers and clandestine stills. And I think there was even one next door, like a, and that, you know, back, back through the prohibition era. Yeah. And how did you go with the pubs when you opened here? Do they see us competition or do they see you as yeah different enough from not to worry about it?
00:23:17
Speaker
I think there was that feeling, to be honest, I think even across the whole community, there's there was a little bit of what is this and what are they trying to do. But I'd say the majority of that feeling is dissolved. um And I feel like You know, we provide a space for like, for the community to use and to be in. And we have so many community focused events that are run out of this place. And, um, I feel like that just, you can't, people can't deny it. If you're there showing up for your community, um, they're going to turn up for you as well. So like, you just sort of.
00:23:57
Speaker
you know um you just hang around long and enough and you know yeah yeah Marie will be along with uh there's a little note for you yeah it's one of those small country i mean i'm originally from a ah little country town um west coast south australia um tumbi bayway um and it's similar there you know like unless you're a couple of generations in you know local kind of thing but um You know, most of that goes away if you if you hang around and you you just end up showing up for people. Yeah, I was going to ask, do you feel it held you back a little bit? You know, Sam's been imported into town. You've come later. Yeah, like you are did have deep roots here.
00:24:35
Speaker
Um, yeah, I mean, potentially slightly, but I feel like, um, Coroia as well, it's one of those towns that's growing. There's lots of young families moving in. There's stuff happening. Um, I feel like there's, you know, um, it's, yeah, it's not, not a real big, big issue for us. Yeah. yeah And did you, and have you done anything in particular to win over the locals? um um I guess tourists are going to pass through or they're not. I'm guessing you're getting support from the local tourism board, but did you sort of go,
00:25:04
Speaker
is it ah is it events or is it certain beers like you know to yeah well i feel like um the the biggest thing that we've learned that um has won over the locals is is running events and that the events are focused towards what they want and need and and not often providing something slightly different that they wouldn't be able to find uh in other venues as well so i think that's really worked um so yeah um sam and um sam and i's wives have been in charge of events and and the marketing for the last year. They're both stepping away at the moment because, well, B's got a new job and Claire's about to have another um another baby, so number three for me, so good luck. um um So yeah, we're getting some other people in the business to take over that, but they've done a great job over the last year at driving people. Were you talking about events? we're We're not talking beer events here. oh No, not really. No. So we we have like, what do we have? We had a fashion parade for the local op shop. So that's the charity op shop, the cancer charity op shop. um We had, a yeah, oh Emma Stenthouse. She's a great indigenous artist and she did a
00:26:14
Speaker
women's weaving workshop. Oh, we had some local bands, Disgruntled Civil Servants, so that was a bit like a punk gig kind of thing. You know, like, not every member of the community is going to like every single event, but we kind of do, you know, like, yeah, from a punk gig to an op shop, like, you know,
00:26:34
Speaker
It's a big contrast, yeah but, um, you know, you kind of have to provide something for everyone. And I feel like we do that with our products as well. You kind of, you kind of cover your bases, um, um, but also do things that you're passionate and you enjoy as well, or other people are passionate into. Yeah. I mean, we'll come back in and talk about the products a bit more after the break, but in terms of,
00:26:55
Speaker
Did you have a vision for like, this is what we want to do. And this is what we think we're going to have to do to be successful where we are. And has that stayed the same or have you sort of, has the direction or the ethos of the brewery evolved over the five plus years you've been going?
00:27:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think going in ah kind of like was a bit of a whirlwind. We were open for three months and then shut and everyone knows what happened there. um And then, yeah, we went through all that, you know, subsequent trouble over the over over those two years. So two out of the five years we were significantly stilted. um And then The three years after that we've just been finding our feet and then I feel like oh probably only in the last year or so we've really started to figure out what works for our venue. um You know how we can be that tourist draw card and also be there as a venue for the locals because they're gonna they're gonna keep you open yeah the whole year.
00:27:58
Speaker
Whereas, you know, over, over summer, no worries. But yeah, through winter, you know, that's not gonna keep you going. And also external sales are starting to pick up a bit more. But even just driving that local external sales as well, not trying to push too wide and far and and say i mean have you had success penetrating it?
00:28:21
Speaker
into all the local towns and, well, I guess the city's nearish by. Are you getting a bit of acceptance there? I know you do beers for a couple of, you know, pretty key venues around here.
00:28:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think um we're starting to get there. we've We've never really focused on sales, we've let them come to us. yeah So we've kind of like been a product led sales approach, whereas we we hope we're doing a good enough job that people are coming to us to buy our stuff. um But now we're starting to push a bit more um like get on the ground a bit more. we We literally just didn't have the time to do sales or the money to employ anyone to do it. um But yeah, we're starting to get there now. um And um I think we're starting to get some like we got our first pub venue in in Warrnambool pouring on tap. Maybe like
00:29:12
Speaker
a month ago. Yeah. So it's taken a long time. It's taken a long time. Lots of great bars and restaurants and people championing our products. But like, you know, those traditional venues like pubs has been been hard hard to crack into. Yeah. And that pub you've got into, does it have other craft beer on as well? Or are they going, we'll give you guys a go because you're local or? They have had other craft beer on and before. Yeah. But it's great to at least, you know, get get one in Warrnambool now and um Yeah, hopefully we can keep pushing along in that direction. um Not that I want to take over every pub, but I think we'd like to be in a lot more local venues and and you know start pushing a little bit. but
00:29:55
Speaker
We don't really want to take over the world. I don't think that's going to be our intention. We kind of want to stick to what we um like doing and and not grow just for the sake of growth, I guess. Fantastic. Well,
IBD 2025 Convention Preview
00:30:08
Speaker
we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back after this. Cheers. Cheers.
00:30:17
Speaker
G'day guys Craig here and I'm thrilled to be joined by Anne Gigney who is the co-founder and director of the Distillers Institute in Tasmania and also the director of the Tasmania Whiskey Academy. is Have I got that right Anne? Yeah that is right my friend.
00:30:33
Speaker
Fantastic. Well, thank you for joining us. You're also on the committee. This is what we're talking about of IBD 2025, a bi-annual conference, ah the must attend conference for anyone in brewing and distilling. This year held in March in the home of whiskey Hobart in Tasmania. um And maybe let's start there. Like I think the event was last held in Adelaide two years ago, now coming of course to Hobart. What's what's been the impetus behind that?
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah, so happy days, happy days coming to Tasmania where you can get your hands in the earth and see where, I guess, the ah home of, no, traditional, let's call it the traditional home of whisky is.
00:31:15
Speaker
um Yes certainly ah i'd I'd been on the board of the IBD for a couple of years and they were talking about the next location for the for the convention ands go let's speak tesy let's speak tessy let's speak tassy and and thankfully you know we were able to make that come to life and for me that's kind of exciting because what it means is we not only get to talk about a brewing because everybody loves a beer But we also again get to talk about um Tasmania and our spirits down here. So um but lots of people kind of worked to make that happen and but certainly very exciting to be in Tassie. Yeah, fantastic. and And I understand so it's the 3rd to the 7th of March. It's pretty much a week in.
00:32:00
Speaker
in Tassie, you've got a full conference program, but just sticking with it as the local distilleries as well, will there be opportunities for visitors to, I guess, go out and see the the breadth and depth of the local industry?
00:32:13
Speaker
Well certainly during the event itself um you've got your ah pre and post event tours. They're heading out to Green Banks Distillery and to um ah the Lark Distillery. So this is the Lark Distillery now at the Sheena State out at Pontville. Both astounding distilleries.
00:32:35
Speaker
Green Banks is a ah newer brand. It's going to be one of the biggest whisky producers around, soon if it's not there already. um And the Lark distillery, of course, everybody knows the Lark story and and the amazing Bill Lark contribution to that. So Look, both of them are going to be amazing. Certainly the tours themselves. um And then during the week, we have two complete days, the Wednesday and the Thursday of the event, which have got distilling streams um and speakers from, I guess, from all over and from a range of different backgrounds for that.
00:33:17
Speaker
Tell me about some of those speakers. So if I'm a ah distiller and I understand people do come to this event from all over the world, i what what would they expect? What are they looking forward to? what What would be your top picks for who they should be listening out for?
00:33:34
Speaker
You know, that's an impossible, that is an important one to answer. um I can tell you who a couple of the ones that I guess ah at forefront of my mind, one of the great things about the convention is that we get people from industry um who have done really cool things, speaking about the the technical experiences or the technical knowledge that they have. So we are having some folks out from Starwood ah talking about um some of their work and I think with a focus on sustainability and supply chain.
00:34:11
Speaker
um guys from four pillars, I think also talking about their experience in that same space and, um gosh, a fellow from the rum industry ah talking about, I guess, some of the technical aspects of rum production. So there's there's quite a lot there for for everything, art sorry for everybody.
00:34:36
Speaker
um the like no Does it go beyond the technical as well? I mean, if you're a marketer, if you're in the kind of, I guess, the softer sides the of the business, like, are you going to find content that will be helpful there as well?
00:34:53
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. One of the presentations is um on the premiumization of product. ah So you know really, what does it what does that market look like um as compared to a you know a market where you're just selling on price? Is there an opportunity in premiumization? That kind of thing. So that'll be that'll be interesting to listen to. I think the other thing is we are going out to a couple of technical tools to distilleries as well. So this is a new component to um to the convention compared to what we've done in the past.
00:35:26
Speaker
That is on Wednesday afternoon and there will be two or three distilleries that we go out to. ah The two we've we've locked in is Maguire and Cove, which is going to be, oh, I think Patrick has literally turned on the lights this week. So that will be looking at a scale distillery, very, very big um location. The other one is Sullivan's Cove, um of course, which Patrick had something to do with in the past as well. ah So we're going out to Sullivan's Cove to have a look at their operation.
00:35:56
Speaker
And they'll be talking about how they've been able to scale their distillery from something which is smaller and boutique to now being a much bigger production. Yeah, wonderful. um And Anne, just to to bring it on home, so we've got the IBD 2025 registrations available now at www.ibd2025.com.au. What's the final call for every distiller out there or anyone interested in the distilling industry? Why should they hop on a plane, get down to Hobart and experience this amazing event?
00:36:33
Speaker
Well, I can think of so many so many reasons. I mean, I haven't haven't talked about what it's what the vibe is like at the convention. So if you've not been to the IBD convention before, um there's quite a number of social functions. The Tuesday nights fiesta is just going to be nuts bag. It's going to be so fun. There's going to be all sorts of stuff going on. There's an opportunity certainly for distillers to do pause at various stages over the over the few days. um The other thing is distillers and brewers are like you know either best mates or you know brothers with another mother kind of deal. like I think that um there is this wonderful opportunity to see what the brewers are doing and see what the distillers are doing and see whether the guys can actually do some either some cool stuff together or learn from each other.
00:37:21
Speaker
So I don't think there's quite enough of that going on. So Tassie's going to be awesome. March is the perfect time of year to get down here. And um I mean, we've got so many great brewers, so many great distillers. The vibe of the actual convention is awesome. So really, you've got to be here. It's actually going to be really awesome fun.
00:37:41
Speaker
Wonderful, you can't miss it. Well, Anne, thank you so much for that little preview. I think the Crafty pint team will be down there reporting from the from the convention, which will be very exciting. And we look forward to seeing ah brewers, distillers, anyone who's interested in Hobart come along to the event. Thank you so much, Anne. Oh, thank you so much. I look forward to having an outfit with whiskey, maybe, or something like that with you. Absolutely. Cheers, Anne. Thank you. Bye bye.
Alex's Brewing Journey
00:38:12
Speaker
And we're back. Alex, ah you touched on it before, but you talked about working at Holgate. Do you want to tell us how you got into brewing? Yeah, yeah. um Well, I sort of got into brewing through... I started distilling first, actually. yeah I was an industrial electrician working on like ah yeah working on automation stuff. and just wanted to build a little automated, you know, still set up. And then I kind of wanted to make whiskey. So I'm all going to figure out how to brew beer and then go to the old grain brewing. And then, um yeah, sort of took it from there and did the course at Regency Park TAFE, that little um IDB prep course with Stephen Nelson.
00:38:56
Speaker
his His name's been coming up a lot. from asa but yeah A lot of people went through his course there. um yeah So a lot of ah the people from the group that I went to, I think Tom from mismatch and who else is there? Tony from suburban and stuff were all in my group. yeah So if you've gone on to do some things, which is kind of cool.
00:39:17
Speaker
So Chris Brady from from um Holgate, um he's some of his friends, or my sister-in-law is sort of friends with him and my brother-in-law, so um I was wanting a job brewing and um wanted to quit my real job and join the circus and you know go from earning good money to not so good money but you know doing what I love doing so yeah Chris managed to get me an interview with Paul and the rest was kind of history I sort of started there and I worked there for three and a bit years almost four years yeah and great place to learn how to brew yeah I mean the amount of
00:40:02
Speaker
Brewers that have been through there to go on and do amazing things and and even what what Holgate's done over the past 20 years, I think in terms of the quality of beers that they put out. um You know.
00:40:17
Speaker
they It's pretty solid brew in my opinion. and And was that during the big growth phase? Like before they put the German brew house in when you were still really working a smaller kit or? Yes, I started when the smaller kit was there and then um when the the browcon was um coming um yeah having my industrial electrician background Paul was keen to get me um trained up and often and sort all that out so I went over to Germany with Chris um to to get all that sorted and then Paul actually sent his junior brewer away with his yeah yeah yeah yeah and I was gonna do all the um install and uh what I did help out with the install but then um yeah so um Claire got a job down down here as a dietitian and um
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, so it was sort of made the move down down here, probably only a few months after that. So um I was actually commuting back because I felt kind of terrible for for um you know going to Germany and then and then leaving. So I was driving back and helping commission and install a lot of the um automation wiring stuff for Paul, trying to um yeah pay my dues there, I guess. But yeah, I still love love Holgate. and um Was that quite an inspiring trip to Germany? So I'm thinking in now the TAP lineup, while we're sat here, you've got a dark lager, tellers, heffa-vice. Yeah, well, I think it sort of, I went from probably not respecting traditional styles as much as I did to really changing my mind just from that one trip to the honest. It opened my eyes.
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah, up to those traditional styles and how great they can be. So yeah, I think that probably did help. And also spending then it with someone like Chris who, yeah, he he knows, he loves his traditional styles as well and and knows them well. So um it's good to hang out and talk beer. and drink hellas lager on the um on the on the river of a small Bavarian town while we're eating some delicious I don't know what it was fried fish I think it was yeah big pork if something yeah no pork knuckle we did try a bit of that but yeah
00:42:33
Speaker
um Yeah, no, it was a good little trip, yeah but yeah. and And in terms of and with Sam coming, I know you said you brewed at home
Noodle Doof's Spirits Expansion
00:42:41
Speaker
with Sam. Yeah, yeah. That was his his first commercial experience under you here. Yes, yes. Which doesn't say under as business partners, but yeah. Well, it is an interesting dynamic because it was, yeah, it's it's been one we've had to figure out over the years because, you know, we're equal business partners, but he's kind of, yeah, I've sort of trained him up in there, I guess.
00:43:01
Speaker
And Sam, you know, he's he's a he's a great brewer in his own right now and and can handle his own in there. And yeah, it's one of those things that takes a long time to really get to the ins and outs of brewing. So um there's always something to learn. yeah yeah And in terms of the and the booze you produce, obviously brewery from the start, but it wasn't too long before you sort of branched into spirits with gin, but now there's a whole bunch of other spirits and the cures on the lineup and etc and I guess even just the flavours you like to play with as well.
00:43:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah oh we originally opened with the intention of being a brewery and distiller at the same time. But obviously the steel was still getting commissioned and then ah Corona hit and then we ended up making hand sanitizer instead of gin, which I think a lot of people did. And I ah just recouped all that costs and all that, you know all the investment of all the products to make that. yeah Even though we were selling at exorbitant prices,
00:43:59
Speaker
like I've still got some stuff out the back that we haven't used. and but Anyway, um but yeah, we've gone on to make gin. We've got three different types of gin now. um We use a lot of local botanicals. We get some stuff out of the crater in Tower Hill and and a few forage things around and then um some some great liqueurs as well. So we've got a wattle seed and coffee liqueur, Australian native citrus liqueur, which is almost like a ah native lemon cello.
00:44:29
Speaker
And what's the ingredients are in there? And it's got a finger lime, blood lime and and desert lime. And it tastes like a lemon cello, but nothing like a lemon cello. It's kind of like i to get some it's kind of pretty special. um Yeah. And and and then we've got a strawberry liqueur, which we get like um the best strawberries you'll ever eat. So are you going out that way?
00:44:54
Speaker
uh yeah yeah up the coast um so there's volcano produce and they have the best strawberries you ever taste um but they they've got seconds and third strawberries they can't sell and we use a lot of them here so i'm trying to figure out what else to do with them because he's getting like a couple of hundred kilos every two weeks so i'm like i don't know what to do i did say to will on the way here alex is going to tell you about the best strawberries in the world at some point they are yeah i Yeah, my wife brought home a punnet yesterday and um put them on only um table in the in the lounge room and um gave them to my daughter and I. And I turned around to do something else. I turned back and she's eaten all of them. They're gone. And she normally leaves the tops, like, you know, the white bit. There's no white bit on these. The whole way, like super juicy red strawberries. um
00:45:48
Speaker
It's just the volcanic soil, so um it's pretty special. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So I know when I saw you recently, you had a first batch of a potato vodka or kochin that you'd made. Yep. um I guess it's an Irish Air. Do you want to tell us how that came about? Yeah. So um we actually get the potatoes from um a local potato farmer, Johan. He he um grows them around the corner from the brewery.
00:46:11
Speaker
um He gets about half a tonne or a box of potatoes a season that are kind of unsalable or literally will go to rot on the paddock and we thought um why not turn them into into vodka and um It's not the most straightforward process. Like, we first time we put it through our brew house, um like gummed up a heap of, it was terrible, yeah, yeah. um it was Literally mashed potato. Mashed potato. um but But this is skins and stuff were were a big issue. um and And it caused havoc. But, um you know, we've tweaked how we've done it. And this year was a lot easier. I've got out a potato peeler now, like a commercial one. So you'd already done a batch previous year, had you?
00:46:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know this is the first batch that you tried the other day, yeah. um But yeah, it's really special. It's um it's come out really nice. A little aromatic, like more aromatic than you might expect from a straight vodka. Yeah, so it it's not completely neutral. It has a bit of flavor. um It's still really nice and sweet and easy to drink, but it's almost, um you know, if you have it on ice and sip it instead of a a shot, um It's actually, it's pretty special stuff. So it's just a hard thing to try and explain to people that, you know, this is a, you know, vodka that you're not just wanting to, you know, cover up or dispose of the Sprite. Yeah. yeah that Yeah. So it's a, it's a, it's a bit of a harder sell in terms of the story and and how it presents as well in the bottle. um I think, ah you know, all kind of works together. So yeah.
00:47:49
Speaker
What about the native ingredients? like You talked about that and foraging and all that. Where did that come from? um all we We've worked directly with Warngundidge. They're in an indigenous corporation that works out of Warrnambool.
Celebrating Regional Flavors
00:48:05
Speaker
They've got a um little plant nursery. So they um propagate thousands and thousands of native plants a year um and sell them commercially. And they also sell um native botanicals.
00:48:19
Speaker
um And then we've worked directly with them and saw some stuff that grows around our area and and it's been great to get some knowledge off of them about what what grows around us and what would work. So they just bring in stuff and um we've even been out and and had a forage around and found some stuff as well. So um it's been pretty fun to learn um about all the stuff that ah grows and around us that we can use. And do you go forage, like wild foraging for stuff as well for some of the? Yeah, I do. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no.
00:48:54
Speaker
No. Okay. No, apparently not. Like okay Australia's foraging laws are um really backwards. Okay. let's let's cat You can really, you can really check it all in. Nah, it's fine.
00:49:10
Speaker
No one cares. No one cares. I thought that Pete was interesting. Yeah, I mean, I haven't done that, but yeah, it's just thought about using... I might throw you a question. When we were chatting not long ago, you were talking about some local Pete.
00:49:25
Speaker
Yeah, pet local theory, you want to play with that me sounds to me like, whatever you learn and is around here, your mind starts worrying going, oh, we could use that with that and create this thing. And it's yeah all about new flavors that may be celebrating the region as well. Yeah, yeah I try and find um but we try and both sam andar try and find connections with a lot of different local producers and if we hear of something happening here or there, or usually it will lead to us you know experimenting. boo yeah Yeah, can we put it in something?
00:49:59
Speaker
um And sometimes it's like we just can't find spots for some of it because I'm like, well, there's a truffle farmer now down the road. And I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to use that. um But we might use in the kitchen or we might do something else. um But even like we're using a lot of wattle seed at the moment. And um there's a ah local wattle seed farmer started up like last year. and And she came in with all this wattle seed and So there's people that just rock up with, um, you know, they've even got, we even get messages all the time, just from locals. It's like, I've got all this produce. Do you want it for something? And I'm like, sure. We get like 150 kilos of rhubarb just from the local community every year for a rhubarb beer. Is that good? Or sort of becomes a handful at some point. It's a panda bama every year. And, um, and they same same Sam's always really keen to do the rhubarb beer.
00:50:56
Speaker
And then he will help for like half of the prep and then the rest of it he somehow somehow just disappears. He'll probably deny that but um it felt like that last two years where I'm just like just forever processing this rhubarb and I'm swearing to never do it again. but um You know, he's one of your local producers. Well, is that right? He's been growing stuff on his farm. Yeah. Yeah. music Yeah. So, Sam, some we're hoping to really push that forward over the next few years and and bring that into our business a bit more, because Sam's got a great little
00:51:31
Speaker
you know, a bit of property down the road. um And he's got a sort of horticulture background as well. um So yeah, we've grown hops. So we do the fresh hop beer every year with hops from his farm. He's also got a heap of berries and some native stuff growing down there as well. So um yeah, there's a lot of stuff that we're keen to play around with. I think native year juniper we we're getting going again soon. So the bubiella.
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah, so boobiella is like a native juniper plant. Do you use that in your gens already? Something we're working on now. Yeah. And then local Indigenous artist Emma Stenhouse has done like some amazing stuff recently. I think she but she she's done a lot a lot of um sort of higher profile artworks recently with the jaco or like some heat really big ah yeah some netball team or something i don't know um but anyway she's she's keen to help us out with a little label for that right so um yeah we're looking forward to just just trying to find those connections with people
00:52:40
Speaker
Um, yeah, even Ben from the volcano, who's doing the strawberry stuff. Uh, I'm going to try and get him to grow some sugar beets for us to turn into some rum. So, um, yeah, just some, there's lots of ideas, whether they happen. I don't know. but Sure. yeah We'll get to what we can get to, um you know, with three kids, I might be a bit tired of doing with other things. We'll see. And in terms of connections, I know you like to be present at a number of events, but also you work with the farmers markets. How significant is that for you as a business or is it just for fun? Is it to reach new people?
00:53:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think the markets are important um for us, especially over summer. um Great way to drive tourists up to the venue. um And also, yeah, you just do meet a lot of the local producers down there and come up with ideas and and get connections with other um um you know, those producers as well, um just just, yeah, sort of does help that um connection with with, yeah, other people doing interesting things. Yeah, I think something is the bigger festivals. Well, I know Sam's not here today, because he's been over doing the beer festival in Melbourne.
Festival Participation & Creative Marketing
00:53:49
Speaker
Yeah. um But you guys, you'll travel to those, you'll do stuff over in SA, you know, is that and I know, I have to ask about
00:53:56
Speaker
The Doof Tent. The Doof Dome, sorry. Doof Dome. Gonna write this book, made an appearance at a few festivals. What's the story there? Oh, my brother's sort of into like techno and he's a pretty handy DJ. And we were driving up to the farm tour for HPA would have been two years ago. And um Sam and I, just too many hours in the car with a heap of hops and we're like, oh, if we get this giant igloo tent and then put in um like, you know, techno and DJs and strobe lights and we'll have a doof dome.
00:54:32
Speaker
Anyway, we actually did it because we don't like money. It didn't cost that much, but you know, it was probably a bit excessive for an activation. Was that just the one you did? Was it beer and barbecue? yeah has it hasn't been back then I did use it for the... um the ah Mount Gambier beer and barbecue, cause it was like 40 plus degrees. So I ended up getting one of those spray rings. And so I just took the tent and had a misting, misting ring in there. So people were just sitting in there. and No techno, just misting. Just a quiet place. And do you think it's important to sort of, I guess, make that noise and and excitement? You know, you do have a presence in Melbourne and bottle shops and things like that. Do you think it's a good way to really cut through? Yeah. People further afield.
00:55:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the thing. like um We're kind of like, we are sort of down out the way and and and often do our own thing and don't make a lot of noise about a lot of stuff that we do. But then every now and then it's nice to sort of pop your head up and go, hey, we're over here. Look at us every now and then. And I think um yeah being a regional venue and and all and brewery distillery sort of out the way you can kind of get you know lost in the in the crowd but I think what we're trying to do is just do what we love doing
00:55:56
Speaker
And then we do like being a bit rowdy here and there and and and making making a scene. So if people can take notice of us every now and then, we will sort of figure out ways to do that. yes so think that's um yeah I think one of those things we don't want to just be you know down here by ourselves and not have anyone else involved. like We want other people to look at what we're doing and go, oh, that looks cool. um I think over the years, I've sort of realized a bit more that a bit more happy to sort of run our own race. You know, I think we're we're both pretty happy to do what we do. And I think that's probably always been the case a little bit of just doing what we love doing. And people kind of go, Oh, that's cool. I like that. You know, so if you can just do what you like doing and other people take notice, then I think that's kind of cool.
00:56:47
Speaker
Talk about running your own race. would would you like Do you think there's room for more breweries in in this wider area? Because there's still not much around? Or are you you know youre happy to have this is yeah as your area? I'm not opposed to other breweries joining. I mean, there's Middle Islands in Warrnambool. They're um contract brewing at the moment. I'm not sure what their plans are. yeah um We get along great with them and you know anyone else coming into the fold. um you know like It probably would would help the area more than hinder it. I think we've we've definitely got some good ah foundations now. you know weve We've laid down ah a fair bit of time and effort and I think the community is is behind us. and
00:57:32
Speaker
Um, looking at other areas, like I don't think it's, I think if you're putting out quality, the, the breweries that are doing the quality and, and really, um, it doesn't, it doesn't matter if you get a million competitors, you know, if you're, you know, and, and also sometimes it's nice to have a few friends around someone else to talk about beer with, I don't know, like it'd be good. Melbourne breweries, when they run out of an ingredient, they can sort of pop down the road and sort it out. Yeah. You're in a bit of trouble here. Exactly. I have to figure it out. There's no friends. Cool. Well, we might finish off and, you know, we like to ask a few questions to, to cap off the episode. If there was one thing you could go back in time and tell yourself what you started Noodle Doof, what would it be?
Brewing Industry Challenges & Advice
00:58:21
Speaker
That's a surprisingly common first answer. I'm sure it is. It's really,
00:58:26
Speaker
It's really bloody hard um ah running a business. and and Especially the five years that you've come into it. Yeah, it's not an easy thing. um ah The only way is up. Yeah, I think the advice, I don't know, I think it would be just just don't get bogged down in in in the you know in the in the stuff that's hard and and really just focus on um Yeah, the the the good stuff and and it does, it's going to be hard for a few years and you just get through it and and um maybe pause every now and then look at it and go, wow, look at yeah what we've achieved. Yeah, because you do forget to look at what you've done and I think I do that a lot.
00:59:07
Speaker
It's all too hard and then you realise that there's a million people in the community that you know just would would hate to see the place not be around and and also you know a lot of people have a lot of good experiences here and and and also even just they enjoy trying our beers or spirits or whatever. So, you know, you got ah got to look externally. It's hard to look at yourself and and give yourself praise. so If the mics have picked up any background noises, because while we've been recording this, a very different groups of people have walked in by very different age groups, yeah families of different ages and all that kind of thing, which really cuts across that.
00:59:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty representative of of what we are like. We get all different types of people in here. There's no one demographic, um you know, like and I think ah think that's the thing with regional venues, you have to cater for a wider audience. Like if you're in the city, um you can go, all right, we're just gonna be a craft beer venue that the look looks after craft beer people.
01:00:11
Speaker
it just doesn't fly in the regional area. So if you're gonna do something like start a craft brewery, like look at what people want and and try and give give people what they want, but also do what you really love as well. Otherwise you're not going to kind not gonna keep keep doing it. Yeah. if I feel like he's answered the present question i vote for the advice for other people already. Yeah, I remembered that question from reading it before and I didn't realize I just started answering it. Yeah, no, it's perfect. Premonition, I'll say. So if you have a read, If you're starting a regional brewery, just be aware of the wider picture. Yeah, I think that's the the biggest piece of advice. yeah um Yeah, I'm actually, you know, telepathic. I was ready reading the the um the question off the screen. a And do you have any hope or grand vision or dream for craft beer in the future? I think for us, I think Australia is like starting to, I mean, as much as we've had this sort of
01:01:06
Speaker
Like it's been a tumultuous, tumultuous, tumul I'm not very good at pronunciation. um year for oh Yeah, for craft beer, a couple of years probably. I feel like there's gonna be this like finding of our feet as as an industry. And I feel like um just the quality of, you know, products and, and um just finding a little bit of identity there. I think there is an identity already, but I feel like it's in in the past, it's just been focused on what America is doing, to be honest, and I feel like we can be a lot more than that. We can actually try and come up with some
01:01:51
Speaker
I mean, there's probably no ritual ideas in craft, yeah but you never know. We could just kind of focus on what we do and do it well and and um start looking at each other for inspiration instead of looking abroad. and um Anyway, yeah, I don't know. this I don't know if that answered the question, but sure.
01:02:12
Speaker
It definitely does. No, that's great. Well, thank you so much. I know it's ah your wife's birthday today and she's, you know, heavily pregnant with your third child. So I appreciate you making fun. I think I've missed her birthday party, but anyway. I wish you took her to yoga. Yeah, I took her to yoga this morning. All right, Alex. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks. Cheers.
01:02:36
Speaker
Shout out to brewers, distillers, and beverage industry professionals. Don't be the one who misses out on one of the year's biggest industry events. IBD 2025, it's the 38th Bionel Convention run by the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers, and it's taking over Australia's distillery capital Hobart from the 3rd to the 7th of March. Over the course of this convention, you'll be immersed in the latest trends, knowledge, technical expertise,
01:03:04
Speaker
presented by expert speakers from around the world. There's going to be plenty of social opportunities too, including the chance to experience the Tasmanian Hop Harvest while it's happening, as well as visits to leading local distilleries. IBD 2025, it's the perfect opportunity to connect face-to-face with old friends and colleagues and create new friendships among members of our brewing and distilling community, also while building your own knowledge and expertise.
01:03:30
Speaker
registrations are open now at ibd2025.com.au. The Crafty Pint Podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman. You can get all your beer related news and reviews on the Crafty Pint website craftypint.com and can stay up to date on future podcast episodes via our socials.
01:03:52
Speaker
We wouldn't be able to produce the podcast or the website, events, or festivals we run without the support of the beer industry, whether that's suppliers, bars, breweries, or bottle shops. If you'd like to support the show or partner with the Crafty Pine in other ways, please reach out to Craig by the details in the show notes. And if you're a beer lover who'd like to support what we do, you can join our exclusive club for beer lovers, the Crafty Cabal. Visit craftycabal.com for more. And until next time, drink good beer.