My Sydney spy, Mr Malty, rated “gypsy” brewers as the hot act of the recent Sydney Craft Beer Week (October 18–26).
These itinerant, or gypsy, brewers move from brewery to brewery taking up slack capacity, and making one-off beers, often in collaboration with the resident brewer.
For the craft beer week, a group of Sydney gypsies hosted the Gypsy Brewer Jamboree – billed as a craft beer bare-knuckle dustup, where two beers enter, one beer leaves.
The brewers gave a guiding tasting through eight beers in four tasting rounds.
Mr Malty checked out events throughout the week and apparently large numbers of enthusiasts packed the tastings – confirming the growing passion for craft beers.
Craft beer lovers attribute the gypsy beer phenomenon largely to Mikkel Borg Bjergso, creator of the now famous Mikkeller label, first produced in 2007.
Overwhelmingly, Australians drink lager rather than ale – a phenomenon changing at the margins with the growth of craft beer and, of course, through the popular but still niche ales of Coopers.
Amazingly, though, two old NSW ales battle on and can be found on tap, as we were reminded during the recent Moruya jazz festival.
Black, rich and malty Tooheys Old, first brewed in 1869, still has its followers and provides a stark flavour contrast to the taste-alike lagers served alongside it. Pubs all serve it too cold. But we weren’t game to ask for warm beer in a Moruya pub.
Kent Old Brown (original made at Tooths Kent Brewery) comes a few shades lighter than Tooheys old and a touch dryer, while still offering delicious, warming malt flavours.
That both of these niche beers survived successive changes of ownership over the decades is truly amazing.
Victoria, with 23 points, seized top spot in this year’s Australian Amateur brewing championship, narrowly beating the ACT on 22 points. Two points behind in third place came NSW (20 points), followed by Queensland (18 points), Western Australia (12 points), South Australia (12 points) and Tasmania (one point).
With a population of just 385 thousand (ABS, March 2014), ACT’s performance sparkles compared with more the more populous Victoria (5.8 million) and (NSW 7.5 million).
With eight points ACT’s Kevin Hingston won the Champion Brewer award. Hingston’s Belgian strong golden ale and weizen topped their categories, while his traditional bock and American pale ale ranked third in their classes.
The brewers at Canberra’s three commercial brew pubs – the Wig and Pen, Zierholz and BentSpoke – all came from home brewing backgrounds. The championship was judged in October at BentSpoke, Braddon.
Figures released earlier this year by Japan’s Kirin, ranks the Chinese as the world’s biggest beer drinkers. In 2012, the latest figures available, the Chinese consumed 44,201 kilolitres of beer, representing 24.1 per cent of the world’s total.
People of the United States consumed a little over half the Chinese volume at 24,186 kilolitres to claim 12.9 per cent market share. Australian drinkers ranked 24th on the list, downing 1,830 kilolitres and accounting for one per cent of the global market.
Kirin says Asia overall “has maintained the momentum of its beer consumption growth for more than 20 years” and accounted for 33.2 per cent of world consumption in 2012.
On a per-person basis, the Czech Republic ranks number one at 148.6 litres, followed by Austria (107.8), Germany (106.1) and Estonia (102.4).
China failed to appear in the top 35 countries on a per capita basis, suggesting more potential growth.
In late September Byron Bay’s Stone and Wood brewery released its fourth ale under the Mash Collective label – dedicated to beers designed largely by non-brewing creative people.
The new Heart Breaker ale combines ideas from NSW mid-north-coast chef, Clayton Donovan, guitarist and songwriter, Darren Middleton, and brewing industry graphic designer (and home brewer), Damian Kelly.
Presumably Middleton and Kelly had some say in the malts and hops (ella, Sorachi ace, centennial and mosaic) in the brew.
Clayton Donovan’s more tangible input comes directly through a lifelong appreciation of Australian bush foods, acquired from an aunt and his grandmother and now applied through his cooking. The new brew contains lemon myrtle, bush peach and pepperberry.
In Canberra, Heart Breaker is available on tap at A Baker and in bottles at Hotel Hotel, Plonk and Urban Cellars.
Review: Stone and Wood The Mash Collective Heart Breaker 500ml $9 Wood and Stone’s fourth brew under the Mash Collective label is an amber ale, seasoned with four varities of hops and several native Australian plants and fruits. Heat Breaker unifies these diverse elements into an harmonious, full-bodied ale, cut through with tangy, spicy herbal notes and a bitter, dry finish.
Belgian plans to build a three-kilometre beer pipeline ups the ante in the age-old conundrum of keeping beer lines clean. If some pubs struggle to keep a few metres gleaming inside, how is the De Halve Maan brewery to manage three kilometres?
In late September, De Halve Maan announced plans to build the underground pipeline from its brewery within the mediaeval city of Bruges to its bottling plant on the outskirts.
The brewery expects the pipeline to deliver 6,000 litres an hour, with the beer taking 10 to 15 minutes to travel from the brewery to the bottling plant.
The brewery didn’t state the diameter of the pipe. But a 50mm pipe would hold about 6,000 litres of beer, by my estimate.
The brewery expects the pipeline to remove an estimated 500 lorries a year (about 85 per cent of truck traffic) from the narrow streets of the old city.
The Napoleone family planted orchards in the Yarra Valley in the 1940s and vineyards in 1987. In 1999 they built a winery and in 2001 released their first wines under the Punt Road label.
Owning 250-hectares of orchards no doubt helped the Napoleone family to produce apple and pear cider from 2008. Then in August this year, Joe and Michael Napoleone became brewers, too, following completion of the Napoleone Brewery and Ciderhouse at Coldstream.
In the facility (now open to the public) Behn Payten’s ciders have been joined by Ben Waymouth’s first two beers: Breakneck Porter and American Pale Ale.
In just a couple of decades the Napoleone enterprise moved decisively from primary production to vertically integrated manufacturing and sales, with a significant stake in Yarra Valley tourism.
Australian craft beers continue their expansion as consumption of mainstream beer declines.
In the five years from March 2010 to March 2014, the proportion of Australian adults drinking local craft beer in any four-week period increased from 3.5 per cent to 5.7 per cent, according to Roy Morgan Research. In the same period the proportion of adults drinking local mainstream beer fell from 36.7 per cent to 31.9 per cent.
Hand in hand with the broadening appeal of local craft beer – and surely part of the same phenomenon – is the rise of imported beer. The proportion of people 18 years and over to drink imported beer in a four-week period grew from 14 per cent to 17.3 per cent in the same five-year period.
Driving the change, says Roy Morgan, are “predominantly those under 50, with 25–34 year olds leading the way”.
Popular Clare Valley winemaker, Pikes, expects to open a brewery alongside its wine cellars in December.
Alister Pike, son of found founder Andrew Pike, says the family expects to complete the new building on schedule and already has most of the brewing equipment warehoused in Victoria.
A recently hired brewer, due to join Pikes in October, will have three existing recipes at hand when he starts. Pikes currently offers contract-brewed ale, stout and pilsener under the Pikes Oakbank label – launched by brothers Andrew and Neil in 1996.
Alister Pike says the beer is to be rebadged as “Pikes Beer Company” and the word “Oakbank” is to be removed. Oakbank is the name of a town in the Adelaide Hills where a Pike ancestor settled in the nineteenth century.
Pikes Beer Company will join two other brewers in the Clare Valley: Clare Valley Brewing Company and Knappstein, belonging to Lion.
Pikes Beer Company Sparkling Ale 330ml $4.25 In 1996 winemaking brothers Neil and Andrew Pike introduced contract-made beer under their label. Their Sparkling Ale is made by Hargreaves Hill Brewing Co, Victoria. The ale is a full-bodied, malty and fruity style. A big but not overwhelming dollop of hops offsets the malt sweetness and provides a lingering, bitter finish.
The mighty Kimberley: the dirt Gibb River Road (blue) and sealed Great Northern Highway (1).Source: Google Maps.
For a long time my wife Jill and I had wanted to visit Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region – and in July this year we did.
We flew out of a frosty Canberra morning and arrived in Darwin’s friendly dry-season heat at lunchtime. We collected our Apollo four-wheel-drive camper, stocked up on food and wine at the nearest Woolies store, then camped the night in a Stuart Highway trailer park ready to begin our journey south to Katherine, then west to Kununurra, Western Australia, the following morning.
Darwin, Northern Territory, to Kununurra, Western Australia. Source: Google Maps.
Having enjoyed the independence of a Northern Territory trip in a similar vehicle two years ago, we had opted to drive and camp through the Kimberley, too. We initially held some misgivings about the Gibb River Road and the infamous Kalumburu and Mitchell Falls roads.
But our misgivings faded after talking to a workmate David Evans-Smith. He’d driven and camped through the area with his family a few years earlier. He assured me even the rough Mitchell Falls road, “isn’t technically difficult”. And so it proved – though the road takes a mighty toll on vehicles, as we found out first hand.
A driving tour of the Kimberley normally takes in the roughly 1,000km from Broome in the west, via Derby, to Kununurra in the east. Two roads traverse the region east-west: the sealed Great Northern Hightway (Highway 1) and, to its north, the mainly dirt Gibb River Road.
The sealed Great Northern Highway (Highway 1) trends east and slightly south from Broome before cutting north to Wyndham, with an east-bound turn-off to the Victoria Highway (now Highway 1) to Kununurra. The total distance is 1043 kilometres.
The Gibb River Road (to the north of the Great Northern Highway) begins at Derby (220km west of Broome, sealed road) and joins the Victoria Highway 45km west of Kununurra. The total Broome-Kununurra distance by this route is 917km, but about 550km of it is dirt. It’s a stony but fairly good road, with bone-shaking corrugations in sections (depending on where the grader happens to be).
A comprehensive four-wheel-drive road tour of the Kimberley logically begins and ends in Broome – driving along the Gibb River Road in one direction and the Great Northern Highway in the other.
The Gibb River Road provides access to spectacular gorges along the entire route as well as to the Mitchell Falls and Kulumburu, on the coast. The Great Northern Highway, on the other hand, passes the access road to one of the Kimberley’s most spectacular attractions, the Bungle Bungle Ranges, part of Purnululu National Park.
We originally planned to explore the Kimberley on this circuit. However, we changed our minds when Apollo offered a substantially lower hire rate for picking up our vehicle in Darwin and leaving it in Broome.
The 900km Darwin-Kununurra drive is actually 100km shorter than the Broome-Kununurra drive. However, coming into the Kimberley from the Kununurra end, meant a return 700-km drive from Kununurra to the Bungles and back again before we could head west on the Gibb River Road.
And what a lovely, scenic drive it was – uncrowded and easy on the 250km sealed Great Northern Highway road south to the Bungles turn-off, then rough as guts on the 53km access road. For two nights we enjoyed the serenity of Walardi campground in the south of the park.
Piccaninny Creek, Bungle Bungle Ranges, Purnululu National Park. Photo Chris Shanahan
During the days we drove to the walks – Piccaninny Creek and Cathedral Gorge in the south and Echidna Chasm in the north; and enjoyed a chopper ride over the unique sandstone domes of the south. We needed another night and day, really, but we cut and ran back to Kununurra. The 700km Kununurra-Bungles-Kununurra drive included about 200km of dirt driving to access the park and drive around within it.
Bungle Bungles sandstone domes from the air. Photo Jill Shanahan
There’s plenty to see around Kununurra, the centre of the massive Ord River scheme. We took time to boat the 50km from the town’s diversion dam up Lake Kununurra to the wall of the Argyle Dam, holding back about 1000 square kilometres of water.
Water from the lake drives a hydro electricity plant and, with Lake Kununurra, irrigates about 150 square kilometres of farmland on the Ord flood plains. These are awesome to view. And we found one farmer, Spike Dessert, distilling outstanding rum and whiskey from the local sugar cane and corn (see Kimberley bookends below).
Ord River flood plain, watered by the vast Argyle Dam. Photo Chris Shanahan
From Kununurra, we headed west to the Gibb River Road. By this time we’d already driven about 300km of dirt, crossed many streams and learned to hate unrelenting corrugations, like those of the Bungles’ access road.
Ever-changing landscapes, dust and corrugations lay ahead and by now we felt some excitement about the coming climb up to the Mitchell Falls. Because of its remoteness and ability to break cars, the falls remain forbidden territory for many hire vehicles, which now cross the Gibb River Road in good numbers.
Before we left Canberra we sought Apollo’s permission to drive to the falls, and they obliged. However, we stayed overnight at El Questro station, the nearest gorge county to Kununurra. Here we explored Emma Gorge and relaxed in the Zebedee Hot Springs, before fleeing the large crowds.
Emma Gorge, Gibb River Road, near El Questro Station. Photo Chris Shanahan.Pentecost River crossing, looking east to the Cockburn Ranges. Perhaps the most photographed point of the Gibb River Road. This is just a little to the west of El Questro Station. Photo Chris Shanahan.
After a peaceful overnight at Ellenbrae Station the following day, we headed further west before turning north, about 300km from Kununurra, onto the Kulumburu Road for the 250km drive up to Mitchell Falls.
Ancient boab tree, Ellenbrae Station, Gibb River Road, Western Australia. Photo Chris Shanahan.
We rested, showered, enjoyed a cold one and camped overnight at the very hospitable Drysdale Station, about 60km north of the Gibb River Road. Early next morning we bounced north on the Kalumburu Road’s endless corrugations. About 105km later we turned left onto the Mitchell Plateau Road. After about eight, narrow, rocky kilometres (second gear territory), we crossed the pristine King Edward River and followed a wider but terribly corrugated road through the marvellous livistona palms.
King Edward River crossing Mitchell Falls Road. Photo Jill Shanahan.
About 40km short of the falls, we offered help to a carload of American scientists. They waved us on. But 200 metres later our car died and the Americans came to our aid. A bracket securing our battery had broken free from one of its moorings to fuse itself onto the positive terminal. The short circuit drained the battery, fatally as it turned out.
A few metres of nylon rope re-anchored the battery, thanks to the American scientists. Six people pushed the vehicle to a successful clutch start, and a tense hour and a half drive to the campground followed, with a near-dead battery. Warning lights flared intermittently on the dash, but thankfully these turned out to be a false – a result of the battery damage.
Despite the best efforts over the next few days of park ranger, John Hayward, the battery not only failed to recharge, but exploded, spewing acid, when we attached jumper leads. However, Hayward manufactured a new battery support bracket from a tent peg, which we stowed optimistically for the time we’d find a new battery.
We ditched the dead battery and after creating a circuit without it, unsuccessfully attempted a clutch start sans battery.
By this time, Nathan, a RAAF aeronautic electrician camped nearby, had joined the rescue effort. He established a trickle of electricity from the fridge battery to the Toyota’s computer, just enough to switch on the dash lights. The diesel clutch started instantly at the next effort, allowing us to drive the 190km back to Drysdale station, with no battery and hoping we wouldn’t stall on the way. We didn’t.
Our three nights at Mitchell Falls proved a highlight as we walked all over this beautiful, remote region. With other campers, we attended John Hayward’s night time presentation on the area during the wet season, ancient rock-art sites in the vicinity and his notable work with academics from the universities of New England and Wollongong.
Hayward discovers new sites during his wet-season explorations, then works with the university teams and local Indigenous people on excavations and attempts to determine the age of rock art.
Mitchell Falls in the dry season. Photo David Evans-SmithMitchell Falls in the wet season. Photo Mitchell River National Park Ranger, John Hayward.
After our four and half hour, battery-free drive from the falls, we installed a new battery and rested overnight at Drysdale Station. Next day we moved on to the beautiful, serene campground of Charnley River Station, 42km north of the Gibb. We explored the property’s gorges for two days and listened to the dingo chorus at night.
We moved westward again, then headed south from the Gibb River Road to Tunnel Creek – scrambling through a 750-metre, watery tunnel through a craggy limestone reef, dating from the Devonian period. We spent our last night on the Gibb River road at Windjana Gorge, another limestone formation of the Devonian era, a short but corrugated drive north of Tunnel Creek.
Windjana Gorge, western Gibb River Road. Photo Jill Shanahan.
From there we headed to Broome, via Derby, taking in the local sights, riding a hovercraft to the famed dinosaur footprints and visiting brewer Marcus Muller at Matso’s brewery (see inset).
Town Beach, Roebuck Bay, Broome. Photo Chris Shanahan.
We spent just 24 days on the road from Darwin to Broome, travelling about 4,000 kilometres – about 2,000 of it on dirt. Our sturdy Toyota Hilux, or Hilux Hilton, proved to be the ultimate downsizing exercise – moving from a five-bedroom Canberra home to a mobile bedsitter.
For three weeks we slept comfortably and ate and drank well from a 32-litre fridge – where two 500-litre behemoths seem often not big enough for our extended family.
We met so many people all ages from all over the world. But we particularly enjoyed our encounters with young Australian families, travelling the country and taking their kids out of school for three, six and even nine months.
Our only regret: not allowing more time. There was so much we didn’t see on the Gibb River Road. Nor did we travel north from Broome to Cape Leveque, as we’d originally hoped, or south to Fitzroy Crossing, or Wolf Creek crater.
We concluded that any able bodied person can do this trip. You need a four-wheel drive, principally for its high clearance and sturdy suspension. But you don’t need any particular driving experience. The car does all the hard work. However, if you do venture to more remote places, a severe breakdown could become extremely time consuming and very expense.
Our travel guides were few but excellent: Birgit Bradtke’s comprehensive Destination Kimberley and Hema Maps’ The Kimberley Atlas and Guide. Both are available online.
Kimberley bookends
We book-ended our east-to-west Kimberley drive with visits to Kununurra distillery, the Hoochery, and Broome landmark, Matson’s Brewery.
Spike Dessert: distilling Ord River rum and whiskey. Photo: Chris Shanahan 9 July 2014
Hoochery owner, Spike Dessert, moved to the Ord River area from the USA in 1972, bought land in 1985 and cultivated seed crops from 1986. Thirteen years later, inspired by South Australian cellar door winery operations, Dessert established a distillery and cellar door facility. The complex, which also serves food and caters for functions, soon became one of Kununurra’s major tourist attractions.
“I liked the cellar door concept”, says Dessert, “but obviously you couldn’t make wine at Kununurra”. Instead, he built his own still, based on research of USA hill distillers, to make rum and whiskey from local sugar cane and corn.
About 1,000 kilometres to the west, in Broome, Martin and Kim Pierson-Jones’s Matso’s Brewery, offers ocean views, decent food and beers made for the tropics. Matso’s hugely popular ginger beer (in fact, a blend of wine, ginger essence and water) joins a quirky drinks list that includes mango, chilli and lychee beers. However, brewer Marcus Muller makes several delicious, traditional lagers and ales in addition to these sweeter tropical thirst quenchers.
Matso’s brewer, Marcus Muller. Photo Chris Shanahan
Our vehicle
Our ‘Hilux Hilton’ camped at Ellenbrae Station, Gibb River Road. Photo Chris Shanahan.
You can tour the Kimberley in complete luxury, flying in from Broome or Kununurra or from a cruise ship on the coast. Accommodation ranges from luxury lodges to basic bush camping, sometimes with showers, always with composting toilets. Where there are no showers, croc-free fresh-water swimming holes do the job.
We took the fly-in, self-drive approach and selected our Apollo Adventure Camper after considering the many other four-wheel drive options. We simply liked what it offered for two people: a sturdy turbo-diesel Toyota Hilux ute with a camping unit on the back.
The camper, with its pop-top, comprised a comfy, large double bed, a 32-litre fridge with its own battery, crockery, cutlery, sink, 60-litre water storage and ample cupboard space for clothing and food storage.
A panel with a two-burner gas cooker folded down from the outside. This and a couple of outdoor chairs and a fold-up table, allowed us to cook and eat outside – which is extremely pleasant during the tropical dry season. The inside we used only for storage, changing, sleeping and night time reading.
