Rebellion Brewing belongs to a couple of beer drinking coeliac sufferers – John O’Brien and Andrew Laver. Dissatisfied with the quality of gluten-free beers (all imports at the time) they decided to make their own. In 2005 they launched O’Brien Gluten Free Premium Lager, brewed under contract at the Bintara Brewery, Rutherglen. Two years later … Continue reading O’Brien gluten-free beers
Engineer John O’Brien loves a beer. But in 1998, after being diagnosed with coeliac disease, he faced a dry future unless he could find a gluten-free beer. Gluten’s not a problem for most people. But for Australia’s 30 thousand diagnosed Coeliacs its consumption can be debilitating as it inhibits the small intestine’s ability to absorb … Continue reading Coeliacs turn to gluten-free brewing
Local brew for Canberra watering hole Popular Civic watering hole King O’Malley’s recently joined forces with Fyshwick brewer, Christoph Zierholz, to create The King’s Pale Ale for sale exclusively through O’Malley’s. O’Malley’s owner, Peter Barclay, and three staff, Mark Piesley, Dan Kelly and Jacka Hicks worked with Zierholz on the recipe and brewing. With typical … Continue reading Zierholz – brewer by appointment to the King
On August 17 Kirin Brewing Company’s Australian arm, Lion, completed the sale of Mitchelton Winery to Gerry and Andrew Ryan. The sale brings the winery back under private control after 18 years of corporate ownership – Petaluma Group from 1994, then Lion Nathan (now Lion) from 2001. Mitchelton’s the winery that never quite fitted in … Continue reading Jayco founder buys Mitchelton winery
When IGA Ainslie’s Manuel Xyrakis moved his liquor section out of the supermarket to a separate store nearby, industry colleagues told him he was mad. Every supermarket in Canberra sells liquor, they said. You will lose sales. But he didn’t. Sales increased by 10 per cent. He knew the risks – mainly of losing impulse … Continue reading Staying independent in Ainslie
In July 2009 wine retailer Jim Murphy and Canberra lawyer Michael Phelps bought the Schobers vineyard – one of three prime Clare Valley sites offered by Constellation Wines Australia in a mass clearance of its Australian wine assets. In October 2008 Constellation had announced the coming sale of three large wineries – Langton in Western … Continue reading Canberra’s Jim Murphy and Michael Phelps buy historic Clare vineyard
From the comfort of Google maps, Western Australia’s southwest looks a doddle. A nice little green chunk in Australia’s bottom western corner, criss-crossed by decent roads, with wineries sprinkled, albeit sparsely, across almost the entire landscape. Close up, though, it’s a large swathe of country – three hours drive from Perth to Margaret River, via … Continue reading Exploring the great south west
Propagandists in the French wine industry portray Australia as one big, hot, homogenous country pumping out vast quantities of “industrial” wine. While our export success with bright, fresh, affordable varietals – largely at the expense of French producers – might be partly to blame for this perception, it’s as far from the truth as a … Continue reading Extraordinary diversity in Oz wines
Is Australia ready for high quality regional varietal wines in tetra paks? We’ll know soon enough following this month’s launch of One Planet Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008. They’re billed as “the green pour” and the marketing focuses on a zero carbon dioxide output across the product lifecycle. But the … Continue reading Time could be right for tetra pak wine
In 1385 Tuscany’s Antinori family commenced winemaking, Giovanni di Bicci de Medici, founder of the famous dynasty, turned 25 and Columbus hadn’t been born, let alone set sail. And given the squabbles on the peninsula, the notion of a unified Italy might’ve been less imaginable to a fourteenth century Florentine than a fabulous new world … Continue reading Antinori comes to Canberra