Chris Shanahan: Oops, by gum, another Canberra brewer

Clonakilla winemaker Tim Kirk once told me the quickest way to humility was through humiliation (according to St Augustine). And so, eating humble pie, this column belatedly introduces the Tortured Gum Brewery of Hume.

The brewer launched in 2013, a year before BentSpoke, two years before Pact Beer Co and three years ahead of Capital Brewing Co’s arrival this month. Somewhere along the line Tortured Gum morphed out of what used to be U-brew it, a brew-your-own franchise that once occupied the same site.

Tortured Gum Brewery offers 150 recipes for customers to brew on site and also sells its own keg and bottle beers into Canberra pubs, clubs, restaurants, bars and one retail outlet.

Owner Craig McAuliffe says the business is currently split about 60:40 between private and commercial brewing, but the mix is moving steadily to the commercial side.

Tortured Gum’s commercial brews include Black Mountain Porter, Capital Pale Ale, Duntroon Pilsner, Majura Brown Ale, South of the Border Mexican style, and Zingiber (an alcoholic ginger beer).

Pact Beer Co 100 Acres IPA (Australia) 330ml 6-pack 5.95
Pact’s Kevin Hingston launched his new IPA this month in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Based on a recipe that made Hingston Australia’s home-brew champion, the new brew provides rich, malty flavours with assertive but well balanced aromas, flavours and bitterness of centennial, citra, cascade and simcoe hops.

Boon Marriage Parfait Gueze 2012 (Belgium) 375ml $11.90
Gueze beer takes the palate on a challenging dry, sour, thrilling trip. Be in no rush though as Marriage Parfait carries at eight per cent alcohol. The beer combines mainly old, wild-ferment lambic beer, with a smaller amount of young lambic containing sugar and living yeast, which produce the secondary ferment in bottle.