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How To Revive A Historic Country Hotel
258 Plays1 day ago
“I like to say we’re the only pub in the world that’s a pub, police station and morgue in the same room.”
One of the key figures in Sydney’s craft beer boom was Brad Flowers. He didn’t brew beer or run a venue, but through his distribution business he put beers from dozens of Australia’s indie brewers onto taps and into fridges, while also running some seriously ambitious events.
Brad, it’s fair to say, also enjoyed the fruits of his labour as much as anyone in and around the industry, with tales of his escapades – often in cahoots with his beer “family” – becoming the stuff of legend.
So, had you asked those who knew him to predict where he’d be in 2025, we doubt anyone would have said: “Running a historic pub in the middle of nowhere.” Yet, thanks to the most wonderful turn of events during the early months of the COVID pandemic, that’s what transpired.
James joined Brad and wife Nicole at the Overland Corner Hotel in SA’s Riverland region to hear how they ended up swapping city life for bucolic pleasures. It’s a swap they’ve managed with aplomb, turning a rundown, haunted old hotel into an award-winning destination popular with everyone from grey nomads camping on the adjacent Murray to ravers attracted by the huge events they put on in the quarry from which the stone that built the pub was hewn.
They offer great insight into building a regional hospo success story with craft beer at its heart while hinting at even greater plans for the future.
Prior to the main interview, James joins Will from Windjana Gorge for a look back at the week on Crafty, covering Kylie Lethbridge’s decision to step down as CEO of the Independent Brewers Association, the rebirth of the oldest brewery building on the mainland, the launch of an Aussie mezcal brand, the arrival on The Crafty Pint of Devilbend Farm Beer, and Will’s co-hosting of an upcoming event featuring Bendigo Brewing and Seven Sheds.
Start of segments:
- 17:06 – Grainstock 2025 Teaser 2
- 21:22 – Brad & Nicole Part 1
- 51:54 – Beer30 on Purchasing
- 60:00 – Brad & Nicole Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
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Transcript
Introduction and Catch-up
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Crafty Pint Podcast. I'm Will. I'm James. Good see you Will. How's things? I'm good. Great to see you, James. Whereabouts are coming to us from? It's a bit of a sad day today. This is our last day in the Gibb River region. um We'll be heading south and back onto bitumen in a few hours' time.
00:00:25
Speaker
On the other hand, it's the last night of 15 straight in a tent as a family, which I think the will be bring some relief to the kids. But we'll actually be in in a bed in a motel tonight. So that's quite exciting before we pick up the caravan again and um tomorrow.
Exploring the Gibb River and Windjana Gorge
00:00:39
Speaker
um But over behind us is Windjana Gorge. So what you can see over my head if you're watching on YouTube is a 300 million year old limestone reef. So I'm technically sat on the bottom of an old ocean bed.
00:00:50
Speaker
And if you go just sort of um into the middle of the gorge, there's this just one of most stunning um landscapes you'll see. um You can't swim in there because there's a lot of crocs in there. They're all freshies, but there's so many freshies they won't let you go in.
00:01:03
Speaker
um but and And talking of of freshies, even though I've been in this part of the world, I mentioned last week how um I bumped into that couple who'd toured, flown from WA to Sydney to visit all the mountain culture venues.
Encounters with Brewers in Remote Areas
00:01:13
Speaker
When I was at the start of the Gibb River Road, I was just setting up some stuff at the campsite and I heard someone yell out,
00:01:19
Speaker
Who's running Crafty Pines this week? And it was Rob Freshwater, or Freshie, who used to be one of the senior... He it was he was a brewer at Malt Shovel for years and years and years, sort of from the Chuck Harn era. He used to brew beers at the often momentmentum at the James Squire Hotel when it was the James Squire Hotel, ah when they cared about decent beer um in Melbourne.
00:01:36
Speaker
um So i bumped into him and then a couple of days ago, was it yesterday? No, it was a couple of days ago, I think, we were doing our first walk through the Windjana Gorge and I spotted a guy speaking in a German accent with a Weinstephan top on. i was like, oh, maybe he's a brewer at Weinstephan.
00:01:50
Speaker
Let's have a bit of a beer chat. But it turns out, no, he's actually a member of the Merry Mashers and Melbourne Brewers Home Brew Clubs um and was up here with his wife. So had lovely chat about the Merry Mashers and all that kind of stuff.
00:02:01
Speaker
ah Posted a photo of him yesterday onto our socials. So it just shows... um i've I'm in a pretty remote part of the world here. this is This isn't even on the main sort of Gibb River Road, and yet you're still bumping into people you have a sort of connection with from the beer industry. So that was that was a bit of fun.
00:02:18
Speaker
No, you can't go anywhere. i I'm sure you'll have the same experience in Spain or something like that as well. but Quite possibly. like I think you've done the same thing. In fact, one of the stories we're going to talk about later, bumped into in London a while ago as well.
Kylie Lethbridge's Industry Impact and Transition
00:02:31
Speaker
But before we get to that, there was some big news came in last week. think it was on the day we'd already published the podcast, wasn't it? lose track now of how we get all these things sort landing as we're either finishing, wrapping up our podcast, about to record the intro, or just after it's gone live.
00:02:47
Speaker
You no longer measure time with days just in terms of podcast recordings and tent setups. yeah We used to have sort of like that one deadline we'd always hope people would avoid, which was getting the newsletter out on a Friday. And then people would always drop the big like brewery sale news on a Friday morning.
00:03:01
Speaker
Now we have these extra deadlines through the week. So it is gets see even more convoluted. Yes, well, huge news in the industry with Kylie Lethbridge to leave the IBA in October.
00:03:14
Speaker
So, yeah, she's taken up a job as the general manager at the Australian Distillers Association. So not going too far, obviously. But, I mean, yeah, this this was a big shock to me and I'm sure to many people in the industry. i mean, Kylie, as and she joined...
00:03:30
Speaker
ah She joined in 2020. She's Victorian based, obviously. So she was there for the height of continued lockdowns and closures and all those kind of things. and youre not Not just 2020 either, but just as the national lockdown was about to kick in, it was like, you know, she she she may have missed the bushfire summer that we had to deal with in Victoria and parts New South Wales, but she landed right at the start of, you know, the probably the the worst and toughest five years for craft beer, I think.
00:03:59
Speaker
Yeah, well, she describes them as Craft Biz challenging years, which I think is cautiously optimistic, which I like. But um yeah, obviously, Kylie's been here for a a lot of the challenges um and she'll be surely missed. I'm sure I called her pretty quickly after seeing it to catch up. And um yeah, she's she obviously her phone was ah running pretty hot on Thursday when when the news came out.
00:04:22
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I think yeah despite the fact it's been a tough year and you know and for everyone in in the beer industry really, they've still pulled off, so would you know there was the there was the online streamed Indies Awards and there's a couple of Indies Awards in person, there was that you know um excellent looking brook on on The Gold Coast and then i think the advocacy that's been done by the association under Kylie's leadership. I think that's that's probably the key thing she brought, knowing how to have those conversations with other partners and other stakeholders and government bodies and whatever has but has made that that's probably been the her biggest legacy for the industry.
00:04:54
Speaker
um I think you know the fact she's moving into spirits, i mean that they'll definitely benefit from her experience. and i think you know i means she'll still be sort of around. You you get the feeling that there are there there is there are sort of moves to more closely align the Indie or the Australian sort of distilling industry and and sort of Indie beer in Australia. Certainly you know with grain stock coming up, that's all about brewing, distilling.
00:05:14
Speaker
and um and baking. So I'm sure we'll we'll still be seeing and hearing from Kylie. I'm sure we will, given our future plans. um But I guess, you know, so wishing Kylie all the best and thanks to everything she's done for the industry over the last five years. um If I don't see her before, we'll all see her at GrainStock for a a farewell um tipple or two. It's effectively a last week. Yeah. So um if if there wasn't, if you didn't already have enough reasons to go to GrainStock in October, there's another one.
00:05:41
Speaker
Yeah, and on the topic of spirits, so Will, you've been chatting someone about a story, i guess it's a little bit tangential to what we normally do you hear but very much in the world of spirits and with connections to beer.
New Ventures and Industry Collaborations
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, well, I'm not sure we've ever done a story on Mezcal before, but it kind of seemed like a good opportunity because this new mesca Australian Mezcal brand has launched and three out of four of the fan founders were at Stone & Wood for a significant amount of time. So Pat Coulson, Tom Rule and Dane Pittman, they all spent close to a decade each at Stone & Wood. And then Jack Connor is the the fourth founder who runs a bar that I've never been to on the Gold Coast, but looks incredible, Rosella's, which is particularly known for its use of...
00:06:22
Speaker
native ingredients in in cocktails and that kind of thing. But I saw these people were behind it and I thought it might be a good to time to talk about it. I don't know much about mezcal. It's obviously tequila is huge and in the world and also Australia actually drinks a lot of it.
00:06:37
Speaker
um It's got a geographical indicator. So tequila has to be from set and from a certain part of the world, Mexico. Yeah. And so they're making something with agave that's so Australian and some that's imported, although they hope it soon enough once Australian agave industry kicks off, we'll use more Australian agave, if not a hundred percent. But yeah, I just thought, you know, this is maybe a fledgling Australian industry. You've got these three industry veterans from beer. So I thought it would be a good chance to sort of talk to them about their challenges and how they're doing it and their approach and that kind of thing. And,
00:07:13
Speaker
through that, hopefully pick out a few similarities to beer or talk about, you know, maybe what's next on the horizon. And yeah, I'm i'm always fascinated by other drinks as well. So yeah I thought it would be, it was a tenuous enough like to drink to allow me to talk about something that interests me. That's not craft beer, which hopefully, um hopefully readers aren't too critical of that because we are called the crafty pint and you probably shouldn't drink a pint of mezcal, I guess.
00:07:40
Speaker
No, not not in a hurry anyway, but I remember when I went to visit Junetown just after they opened, Sailors Graves Place, they've got a wide selection of mezcals there. they They believe it's a you know wonderful drink um to pair with what they're offering down there. I'm sure there's many other brewers and breweries out there. Well, Borghigui too, they have a terrific mezcal back bar.
00:08:01
Speaker
Yeah, so there we go. There's enough justifications, Will. The article is commissioned and approved. um And um I guess, you know, Mezcal, I'm sure has a fascinating history, talking of history.
Reviving Goulburn Brewery and Event Highlights
00:08:13
Speaker
Another story you've been doing, which had a really um great reaction on socials when you published it on Monday this week um ah about the Goulburn Brewery, which i hadn't ah I wasn't aware of the backstory until I read your your lovely interview with Neil Cameron.
00:08:27
Speaker
Yeah, no, I missed it. It's it's great that Neil Cameron, ah obviously he's from England, has done all this work behind what looks like one of the most English breweries in Australia. So, you know, its history goes back to 1836, eventually became part of Tooth & Co. The site is still very much intact, so, you know, has a good claim. They say Australia's oldest mainland brewery, which in terms of...
00:08:48
Speaker
making beer now and history like is definitely the case. There was a long time where Tooth & Co. just sort of used it as a logistics hub kind of thing. But yeah, it was fascinating. I had no idea that recently, um you know, from the 80s, a Catholic priest took it over and was making beer from a few accounts or at least most accounts maybe. The beer wasn't very good, but we do know that it will be very good.
00:09:15
Speaker
Do you see Doug Donilon's comment on the Facebook post, ex sort of Lion and NZ Hops and various things, Guy just saying used to love going in there and drinking the Priest flat homebrew.
00:09:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think he was sort of using but potentially sort of Cooper's extract or ah brewing in that sort of way, ah which is very different from what Neil's doing there.
00:09:40
Speaker
But, you know, he's revived some of the, or been inspired by some of the our original recipes. Neil's obviously got a very esteemed background in beer. He was at the Australian brewery when they launched with craft can beer cans and he's, um,
00:09:55
Speaker
a lot of people will jump in the comments because they know Neil, of course, because he's ah been a teacher and um that they've learned to brew um thanks to him at New South Wales TAFE. So, yeah, and ah he when we were talking back and forth over email, he was actually overseas and he was like, you really, you know, if you can come up to this place to do the story, would really enjoy it.
00:10:14
Speaker
Goldman's a bit of a drive from Melbourne. So I was like, look, we'll do it over the phone now. But then once all the photos came in, And just as I was putting the story together, I was like, oh I really wish I had ah sort of found a way to make it there because it is it's a beautiful old site, um rich history, you know, right on this riverbank. It's, yeah, it looks like an incredible thing. at um It sounds like people have been waiting for it for a while. It's sold in 2021.
00:10:38
Speaker
mean twenty one So it's been a very long restoration as well. So, yeah, personally can't wait to go and check it out. Sounds great. and And another sort of slice of ah beer history to an extent, maybe more recent history, um you've got an event that you've lined up with Evan Hunter, the head brewer at Bendigo Brewing, to on the eve of this year's Bendigo on the Hop, featuring ah couple of our recent podcast guests, Willie Simpson and Catherine Stark from the recently closed Seven Sheds.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. So it sounds like Evan was listening to the Crafty Pint podcast and brewing this beer for Bendigo on the hop. And he kind of realized he was like, the beer I'm making for this festival is actually completely inspired by um Seven Sheds Kentish Ale.
00:11:22
Speaker
and So he kind of went, well, Willie and Catherine said they might come up. How about we do this event? And yeah, he's got the last bottles of the Kentish Ale. So you'll be able to try them.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah. Evans beer and the original next to each other. And we'll talk all things, um, beer history. And of course, Willie's esteemed career covering beer, uh, well before or I did.
00:11:45
Speaker
Yeah. Willie's a great raconteur. Evans ah a great guy as well. Um, you know, plenty of unique ideas about brewing. I'm sure it'll be a fascinating evening with some delicious beers. um And I guess sticking on this sort of historic theme for this week, our main guests this week are Brad and Nicole Flowers.
00:12:00
Speaker
um Many people, especially around the Sydney and New South Wales beer scene will know Brad Flowers. I think if you so look at sort of the 2010s in particular, when Craft Beer was really starting to take off in Sydney and surrounds,
00:12:12
Speaker
Brad was one of the key players um through his um distribution business. He'd signed up a whole bunch of um smaller or sort of you know fledgling craft brewers around the country. So he was supplying a lot of bars and venues, um putting a lot of events on. i think equally...
00:12:28
Speaker
He is a larger than life character who brought the party wherever he went or if there was a good party going to get to another level. um So he's he had that sort of history in the industry. But he now they now um run the Overland Corner Hotel, which is i think it's the oldest licensed in or hotel in the Riverland region in South Australia.
00:12:49
Speaker
um i'm sure if people had said you know where do you think brad flowers will be 10 years on from the the height of this the sort of the craft beer era in sydney in twenty ten s ah don't think anyone would have said running an historic pub in in the middle of nowhere in the riverland that's sort of part museum and part pub um but that's where they ended up i won't sort of spoil the story but um it's what we've written about in the past but it's It was probably my favorite story of the whole COVID era, how him and Nicole and his family actually ended up in that region, let alone buying the pub.
00:13:20
Speaker
they've done a fantastic restoration. I guess, sort of regular traffic from sort of travelers and grey nomads going through because they've got free camping on the... the Murray next door but I think over time not only they turn into a great pub pouring independent craft beer they've also recreated one of the old recipes from there they found a recipe from a porter from the early days that you can you can um try a really lovely um classic porter um but they've also started hosting some massive events and then the next sort of big one coming up which is we're running the show um this week in a couple of weeks time they've got their
00:13:54
Speaker
um wine, beer, and spirits and small goods festival on on September 30th. But they've been doing like raves for two and a half thousand people in the quarry out the back where the where the rock was hewn to build the pub 150 or 170 years ago.
00:14:08
Speaker
um So yeah, really, really fascinating um how they ended up there and and some real good insight into how you can actually bring independent craft beer to that
Reflections on Beer Festivals and Industry Evolution
00:14:18
Speaker
sort of community and win people over.
00:14:19
Speaker
um So yeah, that's up after the break. And um also we've recently added a new listing to the site, which is Devil Bend Farm Beer Code down on the Mornington Peninsula. ah While I was down there, I caught up with their head brewer, Michael Stanzel, who many will know from his time at Burnley Brewing as well. um And he learned to brew in Germany and all those things. The reason I say that is because one person in the Crafty Pint survey requested Devil Bend as a guest and I got in the car and I went straight down there to...
00:14:49
Speaker
organize that so if you want i think it was within 15 20 seconds of it landing in the inbox you know the so the the podcast i i just james you're gonna have to carry the can for the rest of the day i'm off to devil bend yeah i closed the laptop got in the car got the cameras and uh went on on the road uh that's the way we operate it crafty Yeah, so obviously the reason I say that is because the Craft Your Pint survey is still open.
00:15:15
Speaker
we yeah i think we've forgotten to mention it over the last few intros, but we'd still love your results. We're kind of getting close to a number where we'll we'll be happy with, you know, the sort of stats on it and that kind of thing. So if you're thinking about filling it out, please do. It does really help us um think about the show and plan for it. And you can request a guest and I'll i'll go anywhere. Just...
00:15:38
Speaker
Actually, my my my bosh shouldn't maybe I shouldn't say that. I'm going to get myself in trouble here I'm going to end up, I don't know, booking booking a flight to somewhere I really don't want to go to talk to one person. But, you know, within reason within reason reason, we will go anywhere. So, yeah, please fill out that um survey. And also, if you want to show some some love to the awesome people in the industry, make sure you take part now. Have you done a railings campaign? This is your chance to shout out the good beer citizens. They could do anything in the beer industry.
00:16:07
Speaker
Well, I think if you look at the response that we got from the the recent social posts celebrating Damo Martin at Dangerous Ales, our most recent Have You Done a Rallying's Good Beer Citizen winner, and Joss from Hop On Brewery Tours, and I think you know people will really appreciate the the nominations and the shout-out, as well as the...
00:16:26
Speaker
The prize from rallying, labels and stickers. um And of course, there's also the Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month um campaign running, celebrating your favourite breweries. We've had a whole flurry of nominations for that, but we'd love to get some more in but before we pick the next winners.
00:16:41
Speaker
um So you can do that at craftypint.com slash bluestone. Okay. So enjoy the chat. And, uh, if you do make sure you leave us a like subscribe or review us, uh, it really helps other people find the show. So it's really important. You can do it on any podcast platform you listen to.
00:16:57
Speaker
So enjoy the chat. Cheers. Cheers.
00:17:06
Speaker
Brewers, be sure to attend Grain Stock, an all-new industry conference and beer festival celebrating grain, brewing, distilling and baking. It's all happening from the 9th to the 11th of October at the stunning Witten Malthouse in the Riverina.
00:17:21
Speaker
Now, in the lead-up to the event, we're getting regular updates from conference organiser Stu Whitecross from Voyager Malt, who joins us right now with all the latest. Stu, how are Good, Craig. How are you?
00:17:32
Speaker
Good, mate. Thank you for joining us again. and thanks for Thanks for having us. Mate, now there's a lot of talk about this event. It's looking fantastic. One of the questions I think I'd love to cover today that brewers might be asking is how do I get there? ah Witten is, you know, it's pretty much smack bang in the middle of New South Wales. ah Tell me what you've got organised.
00:17:52
Speaker
Yeah, thanks, Craig. um and we've we've We've worked really hard to try and make this as easy and affordable as possible for brewers, distillers and bakers to um to attend. um Not only just to attend, it but to really, really enjoy themselves. We understand that it is a bit of a bit of a distance um from ah from from some of the capital cities.
00:18:11
Speaker
um But thanks to the the incredible generosity of some of our sponsors, Joe White Moultings, Barrett Burstyn and AMSAT Malt, we've been able to secure free return buses from capital cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra.
00:18:26
Speaker
And we're also encouraging any brewers in South East Queensland to fly into Canberra um to be able to grab a seat on these buses, a return seat.
00:18:37
Speaker
um And these bus trips will form part of of the tour. So it'll be a very productive trip ah out to the the Riverina here. um And it'll be stopping off at malthouses, grain processing sites, grain receivable sites,
00:18:53
Speaker
trial and breeding plots growers farms will be a very very productive trip out here oh now to get a seat on these these these buses what we're asking is for brewers to simply donate a keg um that keg will be served at the the the consumer facing festival uh held in griffith ah which will be branded up uh with uh with you breweries logo and all those kind of things um allowing the yeah the brewers to attend to actually enjoy the festival rather than being stuck behind ah on a bar pouring beers all day.
00:19:25
Speaker
um They will also get a three-day pass to to grain stock. um So that's fields, the paddock tours, ferment, our symposium and trade show here, and the final day festival.
00:19:37
Speaker
Oh, wow. So that's basically a completely free deal for brewers. Just donate a keg. It is. ah And, you know, I'm i'm kind of ah really wanting to jump on one of these buses myself. i think it's gonna be a pretty good road trip out from ah from some of these places out here to the Riverina at a fantastic ah time of the year, October, right at the start of Grain Harbour. So there'll be plenty of action to see in the paddock as well when when brewers get here.
00:20:02
Speaker
Mate, well, there you go. That is a fantastic deal for any brewer who wants to get involved and jump on what I'm sure will be a pretty epic road trip to grain stock. ah Guys, check it all out at grainstock.com.au. You can hit the ah fields and ferment tab for all the details on the industry conference.
00:20:19
Speaker
And we'll be back with Stu for more grain stock updates soon. Thank you so much, Stu. Thanks, mate.
00:20:28
Speaker
Hey Beer Lovers, limited tickets are still available for the Point Break Brewery Invitational Beer Festival on Saturday the 16th of August, brought to you by the legends at Blackman's Brewery in Torquay.
00:20:40
Speaker
As my good friend Milo Longbottom reports, it's the Surf Coast social event of the season. An epic day of really good beer, great people and amazing vibes. There's a rockstar line-up of breweries hitting the red carpet, including Rocky Ridge, Garage Project, Kaiju, Banks, Schlenkerle from Germany, Bright Brewery, Hop Nation, Bridge Road Brewers and Goodland.
00:21:03
Speaker
Not to mention live music, delicious food and non-stop good times. Last year's event was a sell-out success and you'll be kicking yourself if you miss this one. Get your tickets now at blackmansbrewery.com.au a
00:21:22
Speaker
Nicole and Brad, welcome to the show and thank you for having to your little corner of South Australia. Thanks for having us on. Yeah, especially, you're not working in today, so I've dragged you down to the pub on a day off, so do appreciate it. It's not really, ah um it's not too hard dragging us down to the pub. No, no. off I have timed it really badly, though, that we're not here when the pub's open, but do have a pint of, what's a schooner of what do we have here? that's the Well, that's actually a pint in South Australia. Mm-hmm. That's the Overland Corner original porter from a 165 year old recipe that Jack from Woolshare Brewery was ah good enough to reproduce and replicate.
00:21:55
Speaker
Nice. And how did you, where where did you find the recipe? Was it just like tucked away in one of the... Yeah, i went just through a lot of research. The boys that originally built the hotel, ah the Brand brothers, they worked on the hop fields in Knights Head in Kent. So a lot of research through that. We found the original recipe. We were able to acquire the hops and the malt.
00:22:12
Speaker
And then Jack was actually able to contact the World Yeast Library and acquire the um original yeast strain. And... now we've got it on tap it's brilliant and they actually flew over ah an original hand pump too for it so yeah no lovely texture too well i think as this chat goes on we'll discover that you don't do things by halves but before we go into detail about this amazing pub with stat um i think most people don't like looking back to the covet era but i think there was of of all the beer stories that came out as i said to you before i think the story of how you guys came to be here was my absolute favorite in everything that happened in beer
00:22:47
Speaker
So do you want to sort take us back to, I guess, early 2020 and what your plans were and how you somehow ended up here? Yeah, I suppose. We look upon um COVID very fondly. It was a really good time. And it's hard to say that to a lot of people that were stuck in Sydney and Melbourne and the the capital cities. but um Yeah, Nicole and myself and our two children living in Sydney um decided that we'd sell up, buy a caravan, buy a car and go for an extended five-year trip around Australia visiting all the craft breweries. As said, don't don't do things by house, five year yeah five-year road trip. Yeah, we sort of gave ourselves five years. So it was, you know, go and visit all the craft breweries that I distribute and looked after.
00:23:23
Speaker
um Now, we'd never caravaned before in our life. yeah I'd never even towed a box trailer. Yeah. um and Nicole was in charge of purchasing the caravan and she purchased probably the largest caravan ever built in production. Was that just to test him and just so just set his skills? I just thought bigger was better but yeah now I realise it wasn't. So this thing was absolutely huge. um The street where my parents were living at the time, it took us about an hour to get out of the street just because I was driving at about four kilometres an hour. yeah They're pretty terrifying the first time you pull off. It is. And this thing was, I think it 30, how many 23. 23 feet. And then the that it was just monolithic.
00:24:04
Speaker
So anyway, we decided to go up to ah to a friend's brewery and winery in the Hunter Valley, go off grid, learn how the caravan works for a week. um During that week where we had no television reception, and phone reception or anything, that's when COVID struck. So we went to, like I like to say, we went to Coles.
00:24:21
Speaker
yeah um The only thing left was batteries and tampons and people were fighting for toilet paper. And were you thinking World War III had broken out? so yeah Yeah, we just thought Armageddon. It was like the kids were like, oh, wow, it's go but you know they're thinking it's an apocalypse.
00:24:36
Speaker
So anyway, we read the newspapers, listened the radio, thought, what's going on? um We then got a call from my best mate, Tom, who owns Woolshare Brewery. He said, listen, they knew we were just taking off on this fabulous adventure. um He'd got word that the borders were all shutting in about 20 hours.
00:24:54
Speaker
He sort of said, listen, turn the caravan around and drive straight here now. Now we'd gone from, as I said, driving a caravan along a street which took us about an hour. To cutting cross country. Country. And we're thinking, well, I've got 20 hours. So we drove across the Hay Plains at like four o'clock in the morning doing about 20 kilometres an hour. Did you share the driving? Did you get behind the wheel as well? I did. Yeah, you did. Who picks it up quickest?
00:25:20
Speaker
Oh, I think we were both just so terrified, especially on the Hay Plains where you got B-doubles going past and kangaroos. and But we knew we had a certain timeframe. We had to make it to the the border here.
00:25:31
Speaker
Anyway, we got to the border. Sure enough, police, army, all closed. um So that sort of put a little bit of fear into us. so It's amazing what you can get away with when you work in the beer industry. So after a little 10-minute conversation with the police officers, explaining where we were going, explaining what we were doing. Oh, so you missed your 20 hours? Yeah, it was shut. You didn't make it. They sort of knew Tom, knew Woolshed Brewery, knew beer, loved beer. So they let us sneak across the border. So we then were lucky enough to go and spend nine months at Woolshed Brewery, which is arguably...
00:26:06
Speaker
probably the most picturesque brewery in Australia. yeah It's not just on the river, but the fact that it's on that bend and the top of the cliffs. And it's just 100 plus year old shearing shed. The whole place, you couldn't pick a more picturesque spot. So we were lucky enough to get out of the caravan, which we'd only been in for a week, and get onto to one of Tom's luxury houseboats. And we spent nine months at the brewery. um So probably the greatest ah COVID sort of experience we could have. yeah um And on the houseboats, they have taps as well. They have beer taps. You choose which kegs you want. they do They do. But the best thing is when you're at a brewery for nine months that's shut to the public, yeah you also can just walk about 20 steps up into the bar. And just help yourself. And help yourself. And it was all closed. So we had like a little, we like to call it our own little way code. We sort of just all bunkered down and the kids were riding horses and motorbikes and swimming. Yeah.
00:27:00
Speaker
We had an absolute ball. But um what you tend to do at a brewery um when you're sort of it's shut to the public is you drink a lot. Yeah. And we tended to drink earlier and earlier each day. Yeah. And during one of those big sessions, the crazy ludicrous idea of purchasing the oldest building in the Riverland yeah and the third oldest standing structure in the state, which is the Overland Corner Hotel, came to fruition. And we sort of...
00:27:22
Speaker
whose Whose idea was it first? Well, Tom. Tom, to be honest. he He knew of the building. He knew of the history. Yeah. And he'd spent about the last 12 months trying to sow it into my brain. um And it's only now I look back and I go, I know exactly what he was trying to do. He was like, every trip we'd come up from Sydney and we'd spend two weeks on the houseboats prior,
00:27:44
Speaker
he'd say let's go have a beer out at the pub and i was always shut yeah so we'd spend about 12 months it was operating the pub wasn't it but just hit and miss whenever it was open yeah not all the time were they yeah down on weekends opening it then and they just i think they were over it and they'd let it get a little bit let it drop by the wayside so she was in in i suppose desperate need of a little love and attention yeah So anyway, we, yeah, became the proud, as we like to say, the proud custodians of the Overland Corner Hotel. It was, I think if we had to try to do that now with the kids at their age, it wouldn't worked. But being that the kids were, know, five and ten, but they were in COVID, but they had the best COVID ever. a caravan to a houseboat. From a caravan to a houseboat to a hotel. And here we are, now the proud custodians and owners of the Overland Corner Hotel.
00:28:33
Speaker
Yeah, and that was the best part of five years ago you came in? Yeah, so it was um it was pretty amazing. um But yeah, I always look back and think, Tom knew exactly what he was doing. Well, I know when we came through here last time, was it about a year after you'd opened? Yep. And we were we were almost doing a similar thing. we were on our way back to Victoria yes from the NT and then realised that Melbourne was going back into lockdown.
00:28:56
Speaker
took the decision to stay in Renmar. We stayed in Renmar for five weeks yes and then came out here. And the place we stayed for part of our trip in Renmar had the the cops there yep who were monitoring the border at the time or on the bi on the bikes. And I can tell you that at least one of the pairs of them who had one of their cabins, they liked to drink beer yeah every night. i don't think they stopped until two or three in the morning. So you probably got those guys when you were coming this way.
00:29:19
Speaker
Well, it's funny when we were living at the brewery because As the crow flies, the brewery is so close to the Victorian border. yeah And we're dealing with the police on a daily basis, but they were coming down to say, you know, and and they were finding you know abandoned cars where people were trying to escape across and swim across the river. Like like Mexico. It was. was all the ground And it was quite amazing. Yeah.
00:29:40
Speaker
It really sort of cemented our fact of there was time to leave the city. Yeah. Right. know, we loved the whole sort of country vibe. um We thought we wanted a a change for the kids. Yeah. So that sort of, yeah, it just sort of fell into into place. Yeah.
00:29:54
Speaker
And I guess um I know you said the place wasn't open that often. Yeah. Was it the sort of the building and a bit of disarray in the gardens as well? It definitely was. Because it's it's like but my kids just walked up, but you know, over there and my son's like,
00:30:07
Speaker
I remember this place, it's amazing. like And it is like the gardens are so beautiful. It's like ah the best English country pub garden, the whole history of the whole place. So what did you actually have to do to get it like as it is now? Yeah, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, I suppose. the The good part is that the bones were here. So the building itself we had didn't really have to do anything to just sort of, you know, bit of lipstick on her.
00:30:28
Speaker
The grounds needed a bit of love and attention. But yeah, like we said, a lot of people go, why was the pub built here? It's in the middle of nowhere. But this was the very first building in the entire Riverland. So, um you know, Mildura wasn't even thought of.
00:30:43
Speaker
This pub was a staging point if you were transporting cattle or sheep from South Australia and new South Wales. um But being that it was the first building, this pub was also the police station, the post office, the general store and the morgue.
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. entire Riverland. Yeah, i was going to ask you about it. You mentioned there was stories about this being a haunted building when you first moved in and you had some interesting experiences. Is that right? You had heard a few noises when you were doing some Renaults. We did. So you think you've got a bit of a handle on why that might be now. Yeah, so doing the research, obviously finding out a lot of history about the hotel, finding out that the morgue for the whole entire Riverland was in there. So they'd store Like just sort of, you know, over your shoulder from where we're sitting, yeah? Definitely, and which was also pretty much one room next to our bedroom when we first moved in.
00:31:25
Speaker
but And how how did you and the kids feel about this, you know, when once you found out there morgue? I slept in the caravan for the first month. Yeah. So I slept in here. Leaving the kids and the and crowd of the canaries down the coal mine, just like, us well, if you survive. It was funny. We'd read read all the reports and we'd seen all the television shows.
00:31:43
Speaker
um the The more we delved into it and they used to store 200 bodies in the morgue before they shipped them down on the paddle steamers to Adelaide. They'd actually put them into our laundry, start a fire, and they'd smoke and preserve the body. So...
00:31:57
Speaker
um I do remember when we pulled up in the caravan and I explained to Nicole what we'd done. um The children learned a few new words that morning. But Nicole and the kids stayed in the caravan. And after it, I'd sort of come in here. Come in every morning and go, you're still alive. Yeah, we'd work all day on the place. But as soon as it started to get about five o'clock, I tell you, it was like Usain Bolt, Nicole and the kids straight back to the caravan.
00:32:22
Speaker
um I decided after about the third night, this is ridiculous, I've got to sleep in here one night. So i so where will it were there noises? Definitely. Were there going to bump in the night? I think there was no furniture in here, was there? There was nothing. So it was a big dungeon. It was just this low... Yeah. And i I sort of... Things... I mean, I slept in here, as i said, on about the third night. i had...
00:32:43
Speaker
that many craft beers under my belt that I reckon I scared the ghosts with the snoring. um But, yeah, now that we've sort of spent, you know, we then lived inside for close to a year. um So, yeah, a lot of things like stereo turning on, yeah moving toys around, um you know, doors closing, you go in and you find something that you've just been talking about, like a little wooden box with a compass on it. That was probably our biggest thing.
00:33:07
Speaker
you giggling Giggling kids. So genuinely this stuff that you ah you see in in the 1980s classic horror movie era. Definitely. Yeah, 100%. And photos, still to this day, there was ah a lovely old lady that came and took a photo down the hallway yeah into the dining room.
00:33:24
Speaker
um And you could see people in the dining room eating, but in front of them was the pure silhouette of someone in like the 1700s clothing. Clear as day. So you can see the outline of someone, but you can see through them. There's a husband and wife, you know.
00:33:37
Speaker
And do reckon whoever it is, the spirits that live here, as they accepted you? Correct. They're happy to have you here? Definitely have. It's friendly. It's not scary now. No, it's Hannah. So the two children that passed away in the hotel, which is ah the picture on the wall, and then their mother, the kids are the ones. They run up and down the hallways. They open doors, giggle, slam the doors shut. I got to the point where I ah was yelling at them like a father would.
00:33:59
Speaker
And you're like, you know, shut up. And they giggle and shut the door again. and But, yeah, it's we've come to live with it. It's a bit of fun now. And next week on Paranormal Weekly. Yes, yeah. In saying that, my daughter did say because she was getting the age, you know, I mean, she'd have to go and shower in the bathrooms. yeah So we were still a pub. So we'd have to wait until the po hotel was closed. And she said, listen, I understand, but I've pretty much had enough of sleeping in ah a haunted hotel. And we thought, fair enough. yeah So we were lucky enough, we purchased the house at the top of the hill, about 100 metres away from the pub.
00:34:35
Speaker
We went moved in there and we said to her, there you we're of the ghost hotel. um Anyway, her bedroom, where her bedroom window is, There's a beautiful peppercorn tree out the front of her bedroom window.
00:34:47
Speaker
I decided to trim it all back and it's all the grave sites of all the ghosts. so Beautiful. Yeah, so they followed her up the hill. So she's like, are you me? She's the little local cemetery as well. Yeah, pretty much at her front bedroom window. It's like your own little beetle juice of the Riverland, isn't it, really? Yeah. yeah but no they've come to sort of accept it all so yeah listen the building itself just means so much to the people of the riverland yeah and that's why we and you've created a bit of a museum side of it as well if you sort of we're sat in the front bathroom watching over your back you go through you've kept you know you can sort of drink in there as well but yeah all the artifacts you found everything like you've made into like a little museum museum as well and that is that was the police station so the original police station the the first two police officers ever that died on duty
00:35:30
Speaker
in South Australia died at Overland Corner. They drowned at the river. yeah So they were sleeping in a tent. Such a happy place. Yeah, yeah. So much death. So much death. So they then created the yeah the actual police station inside the hotel. So I like to say we're the only pub in the world needs a pub, a police station and a morgue in the same room. Yeah, yeah.
00:35:51
Speaker
I could be wrong, but I don't know of any others. um So, yeah, it's it's sort of, it means a lot to the people of the Riverland because it was the first building yeah and no one, I mean, as as the towns grew, you have to have somewhere to have ah a birthday christening, a wedding, a funeral, so they all have it at the pub. There is so much history here. When we did it up as a, yeah, when it was a full-time pub again, the floodgates opened and the the people sort of came voting with their feet. it was amazing. You wonder how many amazing buildings like this have just been knocked down over the years or a...
00:36:20
Speaker
are left, still' still standing waiting for someone like you you guys to come along and put new life into them. Because it is phenomenal. You know, it has, you know, you said in terms of the building, sort of cleaning stuff up, you know, moving stuff around, putting this up, but also doing what you've done outside. But then i guess the other side of it is the the free camping on the river and stuff like that. yeah And how that's,
00:36:42
Speaker
But that's any sort of part of what's coming through. I mean, locals are coming through as well. Is that right in terms of your audience? It's definitely 50-50, isn't it? Yeah, 50% locals and tra tourists, travellers. Staying out the back midweek and then we get lot of the locals back on the weekend. I like to say, I mean,
00:36:58
Speaker
I've visited a fair few pubs in my time, um one or two, um but there's nothing like this. I mean, you know, I've been to pubs in all over Australia and this is, you know, it's like a little English tavern that was built 170 years ago. there's no tell There's no televisions, there's no tab, there's no pokies. You've got to talk to people around here, as we like to say.
00:37:17
Speaker
But it's like you're stepping back in time. um And as such, it's pretty amazing. People love that authenticity and they come and sort of, you know, spend the day and have lunch and dinner and camp out the back and we've got music. They end up staying longer than they've been. Yeah. They're just dropping on their way. We call them for a day and stay free.
00:37:35
Speaker
Yeah, that's what we do. We get that we get that quite often. only ah An older gentleman the other day said, um wait off of free camping in the car park and down on the river and he came in to me after about a week and he sort of said free camping my ass he goes I've spent I've spent my whole holiday money because I've been here for seven days he goes and he turned around and they drove back to Melbourne yeah and in terms of what you've done in terms aside from the physicality like what what have you done in terms of the offering to bring people in i mean obviously you've been around i'd know you from craft beer like yeah you've been distributing craft beer for well over a decade around australia um yeah know there was no sort compromise on that front all the taps of craft beer i think that when we first came through you did have some like great northern cans and they were still The significant proportion of sales, is that still the same? Yeah, so we've only got one non-craft, or as we say, non-independent product in the pub. yeah So it was ah a big, so Nicole and a few others thought bit crazy going 100%, you know, the amount of craft beer that I purchased, but we weren't going to...
00:38:33
Speaker
sort of, you know, give up on that. Also the food offering. um You know, we are known as the Fruit Belt here in South Australia. um Amazing local produce. So we wrote the food menu out and then we spent about six months swapping everything for locally sourced products. So it was all about the food, all about the the beer, wine and the spirits. And the wine, isn't it Yeah, so the wines are 100% local, the beers are 100% local and or independently owned. And now the spirits, you know, we've got what we call a shit shelf.
00:39:01
Speaker
which has got, you know, non non-independent. And as we find an independent product, we sort swap it and throw the empty bottle in the bin and go, never again. So that was something that a lot of people weren't sure would work. Because that's the fear, isn't it? That people come in and go...
00:39:18
Speaker
Place looks lovely, but I don't recognise anything here at all, especially if you've got, I guess, a large proportion of older customers coming in who... It still happens....can be a bit set in place. Yeah, and does still happen. We like to explain it. I suppose that's where it comes in handy, being in the industry, that I can say, I ask them firstly what they drink. They tell me, I then make a slight joke about I can go get them some river water.
00:39:41
Speaker
um But you know, you get these older older gentlemen that are so set their ways. I explain them that every craft brewery does a lager or an easy drinking beer. So i often then give them a few tastes and sure enough, 99% of the time they're converted. and i think Being what this building is, it allows us to push the boundaries a little bit more. Yeah, if you were maybe a standard in-town corner pub or whatever where you've still got the TAB, the next room, it would be a lot harder maybe do that. So we can this is ah an authentic, this is Australian owned, this is, you know, the original pub, this is what we serve. We really want to promote that.
00:40:18
Speaker
um Yeah, and it's worked really well. And then and then offering, I suppose, sort of pushing the offerings to events, a lot of events. We're doing functions and events. and Yeah, you sent me a list of some of those events the other day. like it's like I saw so you've got ah another sort of wine and food, beer festival coming up. Yep, correct.
00:40:35
Speaker
Which feels like the sort of thing you do here. Yes. It's kind of quite normal thing to do, you've also held... Drag Bingo for 500 people. Where did you fit 500 for Drag Bingo? All outside. It's funny. where We do Drag Queen Bingo. ah I suppose Nicole and I are coming from Sydney um and there's no stop to the events you can do in Sydney yeah and the events that we've attended. yeah so We thought, why couldn't we bring this to the country? yeah um We sort of thought to ourselves, there's a few events we sort of went, oh, I'm not sure if it'll work, but they all have. Drag Queen Bingo especially is just... And a rave for 2,000 people. Yeah. was that Was that put on for yourselves or was that put on? I'll point the finger at Nicole for that one.
00:41:14
Speaker
She loves her electronic dance music. Yeah, I know. was thinking maybe that was one for us and, oh, we've got 2,000 music. Yeah, yeah. So, Nicole, attached to the hotel is the quarry. The quarry is what built the hotel. So, if you can imagine a football field, 30-foot limestone cliff walls around in a box.
00:41:32
Speaker
The moment we saw that, Nicole's little electronic dance music. But we also found a local promoter. Yes. He's a Rez and he's a great DJ from this area and from Adelaide. And he a lot of dance. So, wasn't a case of just bringing everything in, you were able do it. Yeah, yeah. No, we worked sort of with Andrew closely and we thought, let's try this. And then the first year was like, yeah, over a thousand. Then went up to 1,500 and then it just keeps growing each year. I'm sure for them and for the ravers, you know, in a warehouse, you're properly in nature in this stunning backdrop and there's resupply of craft beer. If anyone's not drinking water. No, yeah, yeah, true, yeah. But we sort of go, and we don't skimp on the production. Like, the stage is pretty amazing, visual screens right along the top of the quarry. It's amazing. We put fireworks. Yeah. We have 25 DJs all from, you know, either Adelaide or Melbourne or Sydney that fly in for it.
00:42:22
Speaker
um And yeah, it's been pretty amazing. So we're sort of- Stages. And do people travel in for the you know for the the attendees? Oh, definitely. Yeah, all over. all over it So we get a lot of, yeah well, we get both South Australia we've um with the database, you know, quite a few from Sydney and Melbourne.
00:42:37
Speaker
And now we're getting sort of requests from some DJs, intrastate, that have sort of said, you know, can we come and play too? So we're like, yeah, why not? Let's nus do it. And the police love it too. It's it's quite amazing that, you know, it's somewhere for the kids to all come, enjoy themselves. They're really well behaved because they know don't stuff up because this is only one of a few venues in the the region. So they've been amazing. We haven't had a single issue um in the three years. Because it's a...
00:43:05
Speaker
in environment where they're kind of trapped, they all need to organise how to get home. So 11 when it finishes, by 11.30, there's no one here. It's amazing. And it's that sort of part of the, what you think the appeal has become is is doing those major events, people come in and sort of see the place and tell people about it. Like, you know, do you feel you have to do that? Totally. Yeah. Very much. A direction we wanted to go. i mean, we've we've done the food, people come here to eat and drink, but I think because there's not a lot to do in the Riverland for the younger generation and even middle-aged, I guess. Is that us? Yeah.
00:43:38
Speaker
Yeah. Flinging on to middle age. it It created another event for them. So we are really focused on doing more of these. We are. We've got the food the food and the drinks um with the hotels now set. and You know, we're yeah're really well known for that.
00:43:54
Speaker
and We get people sort of travelling, caravaners. we' Got that offering that sort of pretty much set. yeah And we we always sort of, you know, want to create that. But, yeah, having that sort of, you know, flow on effect into events is something that definitely, you know, for ah for a tourism business, you've got to be thinking on your toes constantly. yeah And we've just found that that's an avenue that we've so we've got so many...
00:44:15
Speaker
wild and wonderful events planned for the next 12 to 24 months. I'll come up with an event or Nicole will come up with an idea in the middle of the night and we sort of say to each other and then after the initial, are you crazy?
00:44:28
Speaker
and Then we think about it and go... The next three steps are planned out already. Good idea. Yeah, the post has already been designed. Yeah, so it's it's we're looking forward to it the next 12 to 24 months what we've planned. Yeah.
00:44:39
Speaker
and It's interesting that you talk about sort of the the free camping and i come and have a meal. It's a pretty common thing you find if you travel from Australia. lot pubs going, oh, we've got some space out the back. But it's normally like it's just a pretty standard pub in a pretty small town. right yeah And they've just got to paddock out the back. like Whereas here, you're camping on the river. yeahp And you're coming into something like this and you might find drag queen bingo going on. Yeah, we get a lot of campers on that. So directly behind the pub, obviously we've got a big levy bank that goes right around the pub after the 56 floods and the whole pub went under.
00:45:12
Speaker
In 74, they built a levy bank around the pub to keep it safe. Wasn't one of your first TV appearances was when you got flooded not long after we were last three years? It was. It was. And I don't know if you knew about one of my best mates that I've now become friends with, but Prince William gave us a video call and FaceTimed me and we had a lovely chat.
00:45:36
Speaker
for about 40 minutes. Yeah. um And he was concerned about the pub and concerned, God bless him. But yeah, so that made international media all around the world. So a lot of people come and asking about that. But we've got directly behind the pub where you can pull up if it's just for a night. Yeah.
00:45:51
Speaker
And you want to stay there. Or if you're feeling a little bit adventurous or want to say a few days, we say go through our gate 400 metres down the road and you're on the Murray River and it's gorgeous. you know It takes you know probably five minutes to walk up hour and a half hour and a half to walk home which is a common theme that we seem to find pull people out of the yeah of the breeze so yeah no it's amazing and we're getting all mean as yourself know we travel you know the age now is it's not just the grey nomads we're getting a lot of families with kids and
00:46:24
Speaker
And they're coming and staying for a few days. And like you said, there's quite often a few of them will park out in the back, walk over the bank into the beer garden and find 500 people watching Drag Queen Vinga. And they go, wow, this is something I didn't expect in regional South Australia.
00:46:39
Speaker
and and And have you been sort of accepted by the wider sort of, you hospo, I guess, community here as well? Or are people like... those guys are coming. No, we work. Stolen our thunder. We work really closely with them all. I think that's. On purpose as well. Yeah. We go and visit them Are you almost like the first place you're hit when you're coming in from the sort of west of the Riverland anyway? Very, very true. So as they're coming from South Australia or anywhere like that, we like to say where everyone's either first point of call or their last point of call. Yeah.
00:47:06
Speaker
So we made it a conscious effort to when they pulled up, we'd actually write them an itinerary. yeah And I'd say, right, you've got kids. Here's where you want to go for a couple of breakfast, dinners, lunches.
00:47:17
Speaker
Here's the pubs, the distilleries, the wineries. So we were like the unofficial information centre. And it's just so different from coming from Sydney. You're working really closely with all of these places. Because if you think someone's coming up here to spend seven days and visit just your pub, you're kidding. As much as you'd love it. But...
00:47:38
Speaker
They want to go off with the kids. They want to go to the you know the play area and then go and have lunch here. Right, you love your coffee. Go to Aarosto's. He roasts his own coffee beans. Go to the brewery for lunch. Go to the distillery. heres Go visit this winery. yeah So yeah, we've sort of made a point of being the unofficial information centre. Yeah, well, Mike has a gutter. We weren't here long enough this trip to do Monash Adventure Park again. Oh yes.
00:47:59
Speaker
Yes. And I remember there was a strange little shop across the road. Chocolate? The best marmalade I've had in a long time. Yes. Yeah, the chocolate shop. I seem to remember all the food related stores. We turned off to come here earlier today and i'm like, we bought ah one of those spaghetti squash over there. Yes. Went to pull in and it was just an abandoned pile of dirt. Pile of dirt. They've got the new shed there that they're building. Oh, okay. So it's going You know what I'm talking about I do. I do.
00:48:24
Speaker
Yeah, so it's it's amazing. We work really closely with them all. Everyone's been fantastic. I suppose because I suppose another thing is that um these venues, either that whether it's the owner of the licensee or or the person serving you, is often also the netball coach or the soccer coach or it's your score it's your daughter's schoolteacher.
00:48:43
Speaker
So without even knowing it, you're sort of working closely with these people or you've got connections with them all right across the board. So that sort of worked really well. Yeah. That's great. And I guess before we take a break, I guess, go on to the backstory and the wider story of Brad and Nicole, you know, everything else you've done around the booze industry and other industries.
00:49:03
Speaker
um'm It's not just been, I guess, foot traffic through the door that's proving your success. You've you've had won like a ridiculous number of accolades over the years is that right as well yeah we've been really tourism related or hospital yeah really lucky just um sort of i suppose ah a bit of recognition for what you're doing so you know quite a few awards with you best destination pub and and best craft beer uh south australia sort of yeah what if travel awards and quite a few so they're always nice to get and receive it makes you think well maybe i did the right thing in pulling the kids and family out of Sydney. so yeah How did the kids go about that suddenly? yeah you know
00:49:40
Speaker
Unplanned to go, you' mate so you've known for the first few years your life, you know and they're going to be over there and we're now depositing you into this. How did that go? I think it was fine for Jax, the little one, little boy, because he was too little when he left.
00:49:54
Speaker
So he's settled here. This is home for him. Yeah. Whereas Indy, who's older and 15 now, it was a little bit harder for her. But now that she's got her group of friends and her dance friends and her netball friends, she's settled. you take Jack back to Sydney and he'd be like, this is awful horrible.
00:50:11
Speaker
Yeah, my daughter sort of goes, oh, Westfield, wow. You know, look at the shops. um But I think also, if you you think about it, it was the best time. I think if we hadn't tried to do it now, wouldn't have worked. But we did it in the middle of COVID. So all of their friends in Sydney yeah were in, you know, two-bedroom units. And when we were FaceTiming, they were in a little white room with a white wall where we're sitting on a luxury houseboat, a woolshed brewery, riding horses or motorbikes, swimming in the river. Yeah. So it was, know, the kids were, we still look at photos now, roller skating on the deck at Woolshed, drinking, you know wear hard lemonades and we're drinking beer and loving it. So it was just a really easy time to transition them into.
00:50:53
Speaker
and You know, that was the best time to do it, really. And yeah, we get back to Sydney every now and again and just go, hmm. Nicole still likes it. but Again, ooh, Westfield. Yeah, shopping.
00:51:05
Speaker
um But I'm just, yeah, just the traffic. Just the the the traffic's what got us in the end. So the um op shops and food land isn't doing it for you around, Riverland? No. We got to Anilay quite a lot. Quite a lot.
00:51:18
Speaker
Yeah, the shopping. That's probably the number one. Coming from an outsider looking in at my wife and my daughter, I think if I had to say anything that they really truly missed, shopping. So when we do go to Adelaide, we usually have to take a box trailer with us because of the amount of shopping that they've done. Yeah, is is this to assuage your guilt at having done what you've done? Yeah, Dad, can have another pair of shoes short, honey? No dramas.
00:51:40
Speaker
Nice. Excellent. Well, we'll take a short break there and then we'll come back and get chat about all the other stuff outside the Overland Corner Hotel. Awesome.
00:51:54
Speaker
G'day guys, it's Craig here again from The Crafty Pint and I'm back with Aaron Gore from Beer 30 by The Fifth Ingredient. These guys run one of the best brewery management software systems in the world. They work with breweries all over the globe and we're here to share some insights that are going to help you hopefully brew better beer, save money, do it more efficiently, all the good things.
00:52:17
Speaker
Aaron, thank you for joining me yet again. Hey, thank you so much for having me, Craig. Happy to be on. Mate, it's fantastic. You've got all this data at your fingertips. Today, I want to tap into some of that data. I want to think about how we can use that to better plan a brewery's purchasing requirements. So purchasing, procurement, whatever you want to call it.
00:52:38
Speaker
um Let's dig into it. Mate, I'd love to set the scene, first of all, talking about purchasing and and procurement. What does that mean for a brewery? What are they buying in? And and how are most breweries kind of doing that today?
00:52:53
Speaker
Well, I mean, they're they're buying in all sorts of things. So, you know, beer doesn't appear out of the ether. Obviously, you got grain, you got hops, you have all your sort of flavorings, adjuncts, chemicals, merchandise. You know, it's a very complicated operation. There's a lot that goes into it. But for the average brewery, we actually have a very technical term for what the average brewery is doing with when it comes to raw materials.
00:53:15
Speaker
They're guessing. And that's really what it comes down to. You know, for for a lot of breweries, they're really figuring out what they're going to brew... you know, weeks, maybe even days before they actually brew it.
00:53:26
Speaker
If you've ever been in the average brew house, they got the big whiteboard. I'm reasonably certain that prehistoric man, when they first discovered beer, discovered the whiteboard first and used that initially. But that that really is about as far out as they're looking. and and And that's a shame because that really is such a huge impact on the business, just being able to make sure that not only are you buying the right stuff, but you're buying it at the right times and the right quantities to make sure that you're not flipping yourself upside down right out of the gate.
00:53:54
Speaker
Yeah, and and at the right price as well, I guess. Mate, that system, so that that guesswork, planning on the fly, I guess what are the the risks associated with that? Like how can that harm your business in a way?
00:54:09
Speaker
Well, it's no secret to anybody who's been in the beer industry that our cash cycle is frankly upside down right from the get-go. You're laying out a lot of money for raw materials before you've ever put anything in the tank. you have the fermentation time, let's say 21 days to get that back. And then you either got to put it out in the market yourself across the bar, you know, in local self-distribution, or you have to sell it to a wholesaler who's probably on 30 or 45 day terms themselves.
00:54:34
Speaker
That means that anything that you can do to keep the amount of raw materials you have to buy as low as possible, that's really reducing your risk. Because the moment that you're actually outlaying for any sort of inputs, you're making a bet.
00:54:46
Speaker
And that bet is that you're going to be able to get a return on that investment or at the very least break even before that beer codes out. And you're actually making a bigger bet on top of that, that this is the best possible place to put the that money, best possible place to park that cash.
00:55:02
Speaker
And in an industry that's already pretty cash starved, an industry that already needs to make as much as they can just to keep the lights on them and be able to create more beer, the thing that we all love, anything that you can do to be as efficient as possible also helps you really do right by your people and do right by your business and get back to the things that really made you passionate about it in the first place.
00:55:23
Speaker
Yeah. and And I think you're absolutely right. Cash flow is is the number one thing here. It's such a long tail of from manufacturer to business. to sell to sales to then reing recouping that income. um So say a brewery gets on board with beer 30, they've implemented this system across the board.
00:55:42
Speaker
You can use that system to track all your inputs, outputs and so on. um what How does the, I guess, how can data play a role here? Like what can beer 30 do to really tighten up that whole process?
00:55:55
Speaker
Absolutely. So there's a few things that beer 30 or whatever, brewery management software you happen to be using can can really do to help your business. The first is just going to be giving you your actual cogs. That's your cost of goods sold.
00:56:09
Speaker
You know, it's kind of the silent killer of breweries and something that I've seen time and time again is that breweries aren't controlling their costs. You might actually be losing money on the beer that goes out the door without even realizing it.
00:56:21
Speaker
It's no secret right now. And, you know, it's pretty obvious from the sound of my voice that I'm an American. There's a little bit going on in world trade right now. We do own Some, all the onus of it, but ah you know, that really has made it so that raw material inputs, especially grain, aluminum, hops coming from the States have been all over the place, up, down, left, right, and sideways. So being able to really have a good insight into not only what you've paid historically, but what every purchase that you've made of those raw materials cost you and how that's changed over time, how that's varying, how that's trending.
00:56:56
Speaker
That is your first step towards knowing when and how you need to make a change, whether it's in suppliers or recipe formulation, or even just emphasizing certain beers that might not be so dependent on things that might have a bigger or more variable more risky is another way of looking at a cost component.
00:57:13
Speaker
So that's step one. you know Step two is really being able to have an understanding of all of your inventory that you have so that you understand you don't have couple of 11 pound bags of hops chucked in the back of a freezer in the lab that you completely forgot about.
00:57:27
Speaker
The more you're able to actually track your inventory, that lets you keep your actual inventory counts low and it keeps your inventory risk low and makes it so you have have less of a cash flow, less of an inventory flow, just to make sure that you always have what you need when it does come time to brew.
00:57:42
Speaker
And then lastly, just having a real understanding of what all that builds into when it comes to your finished goods. You know, beer has a lot of complex inputs and That can change over time, that can change lot to lot, that can change batch to batch.
00:57:55
Speaker
The more you're able to compare those changes over time, the more you're able to understand the difference between a beer that's at least making you money and one that might be actually costing you money, even if your customers are loving every pint of it.
00:58:08
Speaker
That's the difference between brewery that's thriving in the current climate. And, well, we we have a term for the other one as well, and that's unfortunately a former brewery. Yeah, and I guess there's also a forecasting element there as well, Aaron, where you know particularly with um hop suppliers and and contracting ahead, I guess using that that system, you can really map out your production schedules for the year ahead and figure out you know how how much of each item do I need to order and when do I need to order it to get those best prices?
00:58:41
Speaker
That's absolutely something that we're able to facilitate as well. we actually have two different systems for that. So we actually have a demand planning tool, which will take your sales forecast and your production forecast, which you should be doing as far out as you have a reasonable knowledge.
00:58:54
Speaker
I actually call the bullseye method where you start with what you know, and it might be broad, it might be fuzzy, but you still want to get that down. And then as things get a little more sure, You start narrowing in that focus until you're actually ready to commit it to whatever scheduling tool or to that whiteboard as it may be.
00:59:11
Speaker
That allows you to understand when you're going to be brewing. That allows you to understand on the sales forecasting side how much you need to brew. We also have a material resource planning tool, an m MRP tool that takes that information and then takes a look at all of your raw materials and says, hey, if we have to brew this amount.
00:59:28
Speaker
to make sure that we always have inventory and stock for this level of sales order that we're expecting and forecasting. When are we going to need to order based on the lead times, based on the current inventory for everything that we have in our inventory?
00:59:43
Speaker
And that's key because you really do want to keep your days on hand to finish goods inventory as low as possible. And you want to keep your raw materials inventory as low as possible. That's the only way to make sure that you don't have to sit on an arbitrarily large amount of just petty cash and just, you know, backup money in case things don't happen to go the way you hope they do.
01:00:04
Speaker
I love it. Well, there you go, guys. Turn your purchasing and proc procurement from a headache into an asset for your business. Talk to the team at Beer30. Aaron, what's the best way like that people can get in touch?
01:00:17
Speaker
Best way to reach out is to hit me up personally at Aaron.Gore. That's A-A-R-O-N.G-O-R-E at thefiftingredient.com, or if you want something simpler, you can hit us up at pints at thefiftingredient.com. Check us out online as well.
01:00:34
Speaker
Our website has all the information you need, including a live chat function. If you ever do need to get in touch with somebody and just have a few questions before you go ahead and commit to a full demo. We're happy to answer them. We're happy to work for you and with you.
01:00:46
Speaker
And thank you, Craig, for having us on. No worries, Aaron, and thank you for joining us. Thank you for those insights, and we'll be back with more in future episodes. Cheers, Aaron. Cheers, mate.
01:01:00
Speaker
Okay, we're sat here in the Oberlin Court Hotel. We're heading back in time in a sort hospice sense, but heading back in time in a Brad and Nicole sense. How did you guys first meet? We met in a nightclub in Manly,
01:01:14
Speaker
In New South Wales. 2000? Year 2000? The Ivanhoe? The Ivanhoe Hotel, 24-hour. Yep. ye Very classy establishment. um Yeah, I remember. 24-hour establishment always are. They are. They are 24-hour establishment. I went down there with a few mates.
01:01:30
Speaker
I went down there with a few girls. And we got talking that night. ah We went back to Nicole's place that she was renting, obviously as a young person, which happened also be a four-storey mansion that she was sharing with three or four flight attendants. Flight Wow. From Corners. Yeah,
01:01:52
Speaker
So Nicole actually had to go away very early the next morning for a work trip to, I believe, New Zealand. It was New Zealand, yes. You were a flight attendant or you were working in skincare? No, I was working in skincare, yes. Yeah. So Nicole said, you know, we were sort of just sitting on the couch with all the friends we're all drinking and she said, I've got to go.
01:02:08
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, over the course of the next five or six hours, taxis started pulling up and flight attendants started getting out from their flights. And I was like... what? This is a house full of flight attendants and they're all bringing booze off the plane. And just constantly sort of rotating in an hour all day. Yeah, so Nicole came back after I think seven days from her trip to New Zealand, a work trip.
01:02:30
Speaker
and You were still there? Yes. No. You were still there. Found me there. She walked through the house and went, like froze and what are you doing? I went, why would I leave? It's a four-story mansion on the beach. yeah I can surf all day, drink all night and yeah, the rest is history. What were you doing? You weren't in craft beer at the time. that's what No, no. i try what do i you were You were managing... was a bar. Yeah, it was a a nightclub bar. I seriously did...
01:02:54
Speaker
yeah You were in hospital. but I was in hospital, but that side of it. Yeah. So, yeah, that's how it all started. The rest is history. Did it did any of the other flight attendants at any point say, excuse me, who are you? Well, they'd all get out of the out of a taxi and they'd usually have a 1.25 of vodka or so that they'd take duty free. Yeah, yeah. And they'd all come in and oh I'd explain. I'd met Nicole and...
01:03:14
Speaker
And sure enough, we'd have a drink and then the party would start again. So it was just, yeah, young and, yeah, having fun. It was great. Amazing place. But, yeah. Yeah. beautiful and And when did this sort of craft beer side of the thing enter your lives then?
01:03:28
Speaker
Yeah, so um I actually was looking at that stage. We were thinking about whether we or not we set up a ah bar ourselves. You know, I knew wanted to do something in the craft beer industry. You were doing wine as well. Yeah, i was i was. I was working with... Sales...
01:03:44
Speaker
Yeah, for for Tempest too. So Brian and Faye McGuigan and the McGuigan Wine Brand and Lisa McGuigan. And I was doing sales and and a bit of marketing for those guys and sort of some bar work and and really in that industry and looking at whether or not we set up our own bar or how we do it. And then I don't know how the contact started, but um Dave and Karen from Red Hill, hill yes yeah and they contacted me and said, listen, we've got your details for a friend.
01:04:12
Speaker
we know you know a lot of bars and clubs and bottle shops and nightclubs and all that in in Sydney would you possibly look at maybe helping us launch down there in Sydney and I thought well you know I'm selling the wine to all of these bottle shops I said listen I'm getting paid by these guys so maybe I look at doing it more on a commission basis And we started from there and and then I do remember Karen and David sort of um had obviously contacted a few other of their counterparts in the beer industry. So I think within a week I'd been contacted by John at Nail. Just happened, didn't it? Yeah. Very embarrassed from Feral.
01:04:49
Speaker
So when are we talking sort of mid-late sort noughties kind of thing? Oh, yeah. It would have been, yeah, sort of 2009. Yeah, so by the time that two or three year period where everything started happening, yeah. So I sort of, you know, I still remember this day. So you hadn't been involved in distro or anything like that? Nothing at all. You were just known as someone knew a lot of stuff. An alcoholic. Yes, mostly.
01:05:12
Speaker
but professional alcoholic but it was i ah still remember john flew in um and uh and a few others flew in and i sort of just kept picking up breweries over the course of you know we're talking within two months and they were all talking to each other each other going right yeah in contact so all of a sudden i had 40 to 50 breweries um so you know a bridge road and ferrule um we had everyone I was sort of distributing everyone all throughout New South Wales and then into Queensland, bit into Tasmania.
01:05:44
Speaker
I had Cavalier, Two Birds. So we sort of then then Prickly Moses. So we sort of that's how it organically happened. um I sort of fell into it. Was this when you were still doing sports marketing as well? Because a fun... No, that was before that was that was a yeah Yeah, that's how how that formulated. It was a funny story. i'll get to that. but Yeah, then I sort of teamed up with, I suppose, Heath from Cavalier at the time and Danielle from Two Birds. There was Steve from Feral and who can forget Luke Scott from Prickly Moses. So all the very level-headed, sensible characters. Yes. yeah So we used to call it our family trip. So back then...
01:06:22
Speaker
It seemed like every single weekend there was a beer festival. um You know, that was the the start of it. So we'd call our family trips and we'd all go on a family trip and we'd go to ah a region and do a big beer festival. um Yeah, very level-headed bunch, that crew.
01:06:38
Speaker
um and And that sort of tour, it was like a travelling circus that went right around Australia. and would Did you have the kids at this stage? No. Okay. No, You weren't there since then? No, not at the start. I mean, 2009. 2009, yeah. So, yeah. yeah So yeah, that sort of it' sort of snowballed from there and then I suppose like to say the new wave then came through and we had, you Hot Nation and and sort of some of the newer guys that were starting out and yeah, it just grew and grew and grew, which was pretty amazing. um The lifestyle, getting to travel, um really sort of being consumed by the industry and and it was at its peak, sort of when it exploded. yeah It was pretty amazing to see where it came from to where it was going.
01:07:19
Speaker
But I don't think you looked at it as work. No. You loved it. Yeah. It was doing what he loved. yeah Yeah. Yeah. And were you still working? was still working, yeah. So do you so you were travelling, Fambu. was travelling as well. Yeah. Yeah, it was with a lot of lot of travel. We did a lot of travel together.
01:07:34
Speaker
And that's where I think it started. Even with the kids, I'd go away for a business trip and Nicole would come because she could tycoon her business. She was running a big international skincare company. Yeah. wherever I'd go, she had work yeah um that she could go and do. Yeah, vice versa. Nicole had to fly somewhere around Australia or even internationally and she'd have to go to Fiji. I'd go, right, well, I'm coming and I'll start selling beer into Fiji. ATO's going, surely these guys have to pay for something at some point. Yeah, it was a bit like that.
01:08:02
Speaker
So then the kids came along and we we just tacked them on. So it was like that's and that's how it came about the caravan. It was just that we've always travelled with the kids. um So, yeah, the craft beer sort of overtook everything. but it was I was was doing sports advertising and promotion before that. um and that was I was bitten by a spider. um That wasn't much after we met.
01:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, 2001. I wanted to get him out of the bar managing the nightclub because he was coming home so late. You know, it's not trying to be responsible. And you're working in ah pretty much nine to five. Exactly, yeah. So I um wrote him up a resume, didn't tell him, and I applied for the job for him. Yeah. Yeah. So they called him. While he was in hospital.
01:08:45
Speaker
Yeah, well pretty much. Yeah, they they called me up and said, we handle the scrolling digital signage you see around the pictures of every pretty much every sport in the world. yeah And this English company that owned the actual machines and then the Australian company that had sourced those machines,
01:09:03
Speaker
And they were trying to get it into the AFL and the cricket, soccer, everything, football, rugby league. So they asked me to come down for an interview, but I thought it was to win a signed jersey. So I turned up in, and I turned up in thongs, board shorts and a T-shirt. And I walked into this beautiful office overlooking the harbour.
01:09:21
Speaker
and Where's my signed jersey? Yeah, and and the janet the gentleman was there and he was, you know, in his very expensive suit. And we had a bit of a chat in his office. And... bit longer chat and then as you do, he said, you want to go down the the road and go to the bar? and I said, yeah, yes. We went down the pub and had a few beers and then we came back to the office and he he sort of for sort of, yeah, he said, listen, you're great at what you do. You can talk underwater, but what would make you think that you're perfect for this job?
01:09:48
Speaker
And I said, what job? And he went, I still don't. Oh, we were half shot. We'd be in the pub drinking a beer and he's pulled out my resume and And I said, what?
01:10:00
Speaker
And I said, I didn't send him a resume. And he said, well, who did? And then I looked at the number on the top and I realized it was Nicole's work number. And I said, my wife sent you this. And he said, why?
01:10:12
Speaker
And I said, how much are you paying? And he told me, I went, that's exactly bloody why. So he to his credit, he said, start Monday. So I walked in. I didn't have a suit. I don't think i even owned college shirt. yeah And then we went about securing the rights for the scrolling signage and all the sports in Australia.
01:10:29
Speaker
And, yeah, so that's how it all, that stemmed and then, yeah, into the craft beer industry. So easily you got him out of booze. I did. And then he went straight back in. Yeah. Yeah. But it's been, yeah, a wild old ride. Yeah. yeah And in terms of sort I guess we touched upon it with the family trips. Yep. I wouldn't say it was, you obviously it was only a staging post in the flower story within beer, but there was that... What year was it? Was it the last Sydney Craft Beer Week or whatever? It was before. And there was a hashtag fucking flowers? Yeah, hashtag fucking flowers. So what was that all about? And I guess how did we get to the point where there was enough reason for a flowers-related hashtag at a beer festival? Well, it's funny, as Nicole says, I didn't really look at it as a career or as a job. It was more my passion. So I had craft brewers from all over Australia coming in for their yearly trip to Sydney that would want to catch up and talk about sales and go through the... Can I interject? Yeah, sure.
01:11:32
Speaker
the The hashtag is because when Brad has had enough, he just goes. He'll leave. Oh, you're a ghoster. Oh, I don't ghost. I just leave. I don't even talk about it. I just walk out. So they'll be halfway through their night and one of them, like Luke and that, will be going, where's Brad?
01:11:47
Speaker
ah Gone. He's gone. i that so So it's not that he's got them into trouble. It's more that he's left them. I've just left them in trouble. for But I think it's fair to say at the same time, though, that certainly within the new South Wales scene, like what you were doing in terms of representing...
01:12:00
Speaker
those breweries and having that enthusiasm and putting in those events on really helped build the the craft beer scene in Sydney. Like, you know, yeah which I think is still a struggle venue wise these days, you know, yeah're like 10, 15 years on.
01:12:14
Speaker
But, you know, you'd have been going into bars and venues and going, hey, you need to be putting these beers on. Like, right it wasn't you weren't just trying to sell the beer in. no you were part You were part of that person.
01:12:25
Speaker
yeah had One of those key figures really building it. yeah you had to You had to sell it. Like, I still remember. ah the first event that Ferrell had sort of done outside of WA, you know, and I had to pretty much lie, beg, borrow and steal to Brendan about getting the beer over. He was flying into, so i think he was flying overseas and he'd run me and he said, listen, I've i've planned, if you want to organise and order a little bit of beer yeah ah while I'm away, just call Bailey in the office and we'll sort it and we'll send over. I think he thought maybe 10 to 15 cartons. Yeah.
01:12:55
Speaker
I planned and I ordered pallets and pallets and pallets of kegs um and they shipped it over, cold freighted it, and he rung me from overseas and went, this is, no, I meant a few cartons of beer, mate.
01:13:07
Speaker
So he flew back, but it was about putting these events on and going, listen, you've got a world-class event brewery like Feral. ye We've got 20 taps. Unheard Let's just do it.
01:13:18
Speaker
Unheard of.
Craft Beer and Regional Tourism Opportunities
01:13:19
Speaker
Anywhere in Australia, let alone in New South Wales. And then we'd have sort of 400 to 500 people turn up to a venue to go, this is a one-off. So it was about sort of creating that, this is the start. you know and excitinging It was really exciting. Yeah. so you know And it got to mask, you know, ah you like you got to drink at seven o'clock in the morning. It was brilliant. And I suppose, I mean, jumping ahead a bit from there, I mean,
01:13:43
Speaker
Lots of things happen in in between times. You know, you know COVID may change in a certain way in terms of income for a lot of breweries was kind of a good thing, but then maybe, it you know, it's had sort of a egg you know less than positive sort of impact afterwards. yeah And then we've had the cost of living crisis the last few years. So things have very much changed. I mean...
01:14:01
Speaker
how do you feel you you look back you know having a central figure is such an exciting period yep looking ahead do you think you know there's anything like that again or yeah you know you know yeah yeah having been you know you're a veteran yeah been ah yeah no listen it was definitely exciting um there's a lot of challenges now for the industry you can see it but it's all swings and roundabouts with everything so I think you'll see the ones that sort of really rise to the forefront of the ones that have got the the plans in place.
01:14:29
Speaker
They've got the good beer to start with, like we were discussing earlier. So you got to start with a good base, which is great beer. You know, if you don't have great beer, all the marketing in the world is not going to do anything. So if you've got great beer to start with, you're already one step ahead of the curve. And then you look at a good, solid marketing plan.
01:14:46
Speaker
There's always going to be a dollar to spend on beer, like we found it here. you know You've got an outback country pub in the middle of nowhere and you're trying to sell a weird, sour, like some of the beers we've got that we sell and Nicole sort of goes... And these are all still the brands that you're representing? Yeah, so this yeah we still buy beers from them. um and But yeah, people will always trial beers. So you've got to have a good base mark and then you can sort of step upwards.
01:15:14
Speaker
But I think the industry is going through some challenges. I think um you'll see the evolution of things like Sydney Craft Beer. We're really excited with what Pete from Sweeney's is doing. He's going to take it to another forefront of where it needs to go.
01:15:26
Speaker
And then you'll get beat breweries jumping on board and, know, the excitement with what DJs obviously do with mountain culture and sort of, you know, amalgamating with other breweries. But, yeah, it's it's pretty exciting times. yeah I look at it from afar now. um Have you managed to maintain contact with, you know? Yeah, I still get in contact with a lot of them. We still chat. um Obviously, the boys are big shed too, obviously being closer. Yeah.
01:15:49
Speaker
um But yeah, it's quite funny. ah Sometimes we were only over in Perth, I think two weeks ago, um and i sort of wanted to catch up to them all, but I thought, no, it's a family trip. I better not because I might not make it home.
01:16:02
Speaker
So I've promised that I'll go over and see John and, you know, really exciting with what John's doing with Feral and yeah acquiring that again. I think that's super exciting for the industry. um So yeah, it's it's going to be really interesting and fun times ahead. Challenges, but yeah, still fun.
01:16:17
Speaker
but And I guess, you know, if we were to try try and offer some sort of, you know, positive thing to hang on for the beer industry, ah you've made this work here with craft beer. like what What sort of, you know, carrots can you offer to other regional, you know, venue operators to go, this is a positive thing, you know, you should do. like How can CraftBee be part of like a positive offering? Yeah, well, maybe listen, travel travel and tourism is a big thing, and that's all stemmed from COVID. i think a lot of people that used to go, I suppose, we'll go on our annual trip, we'll go to Bali or Thailand, a lot of them are saying, we'll stay local, and we'll travel Australia. So as you've got more people from the the capital cities and that traveling regionally and remotely around Australia,
01:17:01
Speaker
they're not as, I suppose, blindsided by the offerings that you might have. So yeah, I mean, dip your toe in the water. You don't have to go, you know, all balls to the wall like we did, but that was because I know the industry backwards. but I guess it can become a talking point or point a point of difference. Like, yeah you know, if there's enough people out there who do appreciate something nicer, like my mate who we're meeting a few days time, he's like,
01:17:23
Speaker
Thank God for the bigger brands that he can get because I've not been able find any craft beer. And he can't be the only person travelling through the NT looking for craft beer. Like the Prairie Hotel, Paratilna Brew Project. They've got their own. People will go there like the Wood do here going, oh,
01:17:41
Speaker
I just want to go to... People get excited when they see the choice you've got here. They do. I can only imagine all the travellers everywhere if there was a little bit of choice other than just the standard. Yeah, and you don't have to you don't have to go these crazy sows. You can simply go to your local craft brewery or these regional ones. yeah And and go to get a wool shed hazel pale.
01:18:00
Speaker
Absolutely. But a lot of these breweries too. I mean, we all know about B.O.B. products and branded own and and sort of doing that. But why not go and get a lager or a pale ale or something similar? And work in unison with these guys and put your own tap on and just have it as, like the Prairie we've done, but you've got a country regional hotel and it's their own beer. Yes, they've teamed up in collaboration with a brewery, that but people would love to experience that.
01:18:27
Speaker
And I think if you explain to people now...
Educating and Expanding Craft Beer Audience
01:18:30
Speaker
And that's like it's like done a full reverse. um I now am explaining to older clientele about the fact that there's no Australian breweries large scale that is 100% Australian owned, except Cougars.
01:18:42
Speaker
And we explain this, and I say this 100 times a day. They're shocked. They have no idea. So guy that's been drinking VB, Tooie's Great Northern, Iron Jack, all of these for, you know, yeah they have no idea. They think it's 100% Australian owned. So it's explaining that to them, and straightaway you've won them over.
01:18:59
Speaker
And I suppose if you think of the tourism travellers hat on, when you go somewhere, you want to learn about the local history, you want to experience the local stuff. If you come through the Riverland, you want to eat some local Mendes. You do. Yeah, yeah. You know what mean? Yeah.
01:19:13
Speaker
yeah It almost seems a no-brainer to go, well, who's my local brewery or who's someone near nearby? Let's work with them and then tell their story and become part of it. yeah Definitely. And we explained to the guys because they – you do. A lot of the old clientele think of craft beer and they they think of the weird and wonderful beers that have been created, which gets a lot of the publicity.
01:19:32
Speaker
But I explained to I said, yeah, they're very well known for their, you know, Bats Pubes IPA or their Squid Ink Mandarin Sour. Don't give much. many ideas away. And they go, what? Yeah, yeah, squid ink, mandarin IP. Oh, wow. But I go, listen, whatever you drink, go into your local craft brewery or as you're travelling around Australia and say, I drink VB or I drink Tuis or I drink Great Northern and tell them that you want an easy and they'll give you a lager. They'll give you a summer ale. They'll give you something that you can sort of try and taste. And we get a lot of them here. I say, here's the taps. No one's here to not like you and not i want to piss you off. No. No, no small brewers there going, I hate normal people. Yeah, I hate... And I'm making this beer... To piss you off. To make them angry. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it's quite amazing. They'll go, oh, I don't like this hoppy bullshit. And you go, it's not hoppy, try this. yeah And they try our lot they try Woolshed's Lager and they think, oh, wow.
01:20:25
Speaker
I thought you meant, oh, then that's not, I'll be trying this. Yeah, trip ah yeah, yeah. So it's, um yeah, it's a learning curve still for for me after, you know, 20 plus years in the industry. I find it's it's really exciting stepping back and now teaching the older.
01:20:39
Speaker
And as much as you're teaching the older clientele, it's about those 18-year-olds coming through now, especially in regional New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland. These are the guys that are sort of being targeted heavily by the likes of Great Northern and sort of so forth. So,
01:20:55
Speaker
we find it a two-edged sword. we We're sort of trying to educate the young ones whilst we're trying to educate the the older clientele. Yeah, no, great. having some sort of brought it back to the and Overland Corner Hotel, to wrap things up, what is what does the future look like now that you are, you know, dyed-in-the-wool Riverland locals over five years?
01:21:18
Speaker
What's next for the Overland? Well, you don't get you don't really get called local here until it's about 50 years. of but So we're still blow-ins. No, no, we're still blow-ins. um But, yes, is we... going to the same same but more yeah oh i like that oh was what's the more yeah just more dance parties yeah yeah more wild raves in the bush some cages hanging off there well see she was looking at professional dancers listen the event side i'd love to really push we like i said we've got this um this wine beer and spirit festival yeah i really want to increase that to be a car i want to do a craft beer one in the bush like yeah you really get all the
01:21:56
Speaker
the brewers in. So who do you get beer-wise for that? So Walshed will be involved in What's a Cowie, which is a good mate of ours. They're down aren't they? Yeah, down the peninsula. yeah And then um talking with Jason at Big Shed and all that, just with timing, hopefully. But yeah, try to increase that.
01:22:13
Speaker
But then, yeah, just just giving people more and more events, doing bigger biggest style events. This sounds in the quarries two stages. We're hoping to increase that next year to three stages um and then looking at taking it down even as Nicole looks at me and what?
01:22:30
Speaker
um Increasing it down into the river, even. So sort of, you know, have it as ah a bit of a burning man and go, right, we're going to do it you know, build but a bit like what Willie Smith did with their building that huge, you know, burning man effigy and plenty of ideas. You want two nights and camping, don't you? That's what he's kind of heading towards. Yeah. a bit more There's nothing like it. And we we do...
01:22:53
Speaker
And we'll probably do a ah music style event for families too. That's our big one. So we've got the the electronic dance music one, which is all ages. Don't get me wrong, from 18 to we had some 60-year-olds, 70-year-olds here. um We'll do a rock one, which is going to be alternative rock, country and punk.
01:23:11
Speaker
That's in Australia. But I'd love to do a family-friendly one where everyone can bring caravans, a bit like Monday Monday, but on a smaller scale. That'd be great. There was one outside Melbourne few years called Lost Lands that did it at Werribee Mansion in the grounds there. And it was designed, it was based on, can never remember the name, based on the family friendly version of Brandon Blocks Festival back in the UK. I can't remember the name of it now, even though my sister goes every year.
01:23:36
Speaker
And it was great. like you know yeah the The music might have been a little bit vanilla for my taste, yeah but you could take the kids down exactly to have the festival experience. The main band the main stage is finished at half 9, 10 or whatever. yeah perfect There was loads of circus stuff on. And it was great because you could still hang out with your mates and have the kids there, yeah you know not to run away from the family to go and party or whatever. yeah And I think, but they so they stopped after two or three years, whether it was, you know, it wasn't financially worth it for them, you know, in Melbourne, you know, great or whatever. yeah But I think there's definitely an audience for that. You know, as people who've grown up through that festival era, the last 30, 40 years globally get a bit older, yeah you know, it's like, oh,
01:24:14
Speaker
Can we still go without the kids? You don't you don't want to take your kids to certain other festivals? Yes, that's correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, what I'm saying in short is do it we'll
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:24:21
Speaker
be back. Yeah, do it. yeah yeah Yeah, definitely. And our kids are now at the age of our daughter is 15.
01:24:26
Speaker
um Going on 16. Going on 16. But, you know, we just recently sort of... um had them looked after by Nanny and Pa and we took off down to Adelaide to watch Fatboy Slim, one of the wineries.
01:24:39
Speaker
But my daughter was like, come on, short. when i can't Come one on. yeah yeah And you're like, see, there's got to be something there. Like you said, you still want to go with the kids, you want to have a drink, and still have a party with your mates, but you've got your kids in tow. so That's probably the big focus, or i'm putting on something like that.
01:24:53
Speaker
Well, you're certainly not lacking for ideas. That that that goes without saying. No, it's all so good to have a chat with you guys. Thank you for, like I said, apologies again for coming on day when you're not open. It's great to chat. ah we We could chat for hours and hours. Maybe we'll do like a part two in a few years' time once you've got the other festivals going. Well, you mentioned that you wanted to catch up and do part two at Sydney Beer Week.
01:25:15
Speaker
ah disin Yeah, just you and I, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. A week-long interview without cameras or microphones. Yes, or GPS trackers. jps trackers So, no, always a pleasure, mate. Always a pleasure. Thanks so much for having us. Cheers. Thank you
01:25:35
Speaker
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01:25:49
Speaker
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01:26:05
Speaker
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01:26:19
Speaker
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01:26:35
Speaker
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