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Moffat Beach Brewing Company
“To brew beer commercially you have to be really passionate or
have a lot of money,” Matt says. “It’s what we really pictured as
our perfect bar.”
Brewer and Brouhaha Brewery co-owner Matt Jancauskas was
hand selected to run one of the Coast’s most hip craft ale
establishments in Maleny. The former electrical engineer was
working in London when he fell into some work at iconic London
beer house Beavertown Brewery, owned by Logan Plant, the son
of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
Just as Logan helped in revitalising London’s craft brew scene,
Matt is now bringing his somewhat celebrity status to our region.
“I just Googled brewery jobs in London,” Matt says of how he
got his start. “They were looking for a packaging manager and I
wrote my cover letter at the Hong Kong airport. They told me
applications had been closed but they’d consider me. I guess I just
proved how eager and hard-working I was.”
From there Matt progressed to the brewery team, and later as
production manager, helping to steer what was once a 400 litre
system into a 12,000 litre operation when he left after just two years.
“I’ve brewed with all the rockstars in the industry. I had a really
cool bapstism of brewery.”
But when his partner’s visa expired, it was time for the couple
to return to Australia. After some time at Australian breweries
Mountain Goat and Little Creatures, Matt, who grew up in
Yeppoon, landed work back in his beloved Queensland countryside.
“I’ve always loved Maleny and the small coastal towns of the
Sunny Coast,” he says. “My mum and dad were from Victoria
and we used to drive down there to Ferntree Gully. I just loved
the little country roads, and feeling the temperature drop. My
grandma had this huge garden and we would go and pick fresh
raspberries. So to have that same feel right near the beach, to have
that feel with the people and the food – it’s a good spot.”
Brouhaha is a thriving restaurant, bar and brewery in a
spectacular spot, and Matt says he’s not surprised by the rise of
breweries here.
“Australia is just a little behind compared to everyone else in
the craft beer movement. It’s extremely popular elsewhere. If
you can keep it fresh and local you’re supporting local business.
Logistically speaking, Australia is a really tough country to be
shipping beer to. It doesn’t make sense to be shipping beers
interstate and overseas, especially from a taste point of view.”
Brouhaha supplies its beer only to south-east Queensland customers
and has created 38 different brews. With 10 on tap at one time –
they are rotated – there’s always something new and exciting.
Matt says the idea is that people can come in and get consistent
variations, with flavours such as coffee, chocolate and not
surprisingly, raspberries. “The restaurant is very popular and
business is going really well. We’re really proud of what we do
there, using fresh local produce.”
Beaming with pride after returning from the Australian International
Beer Awards in Adelaide, Matt Blackwater (yes, yet another Matt!),
of Moffat Beach Brewing Company, says he was shocked to learn
his hoppy concoctions had taken out two silvers and a gold.
“To get a gold medal is really hard, but I was hoping to do the
best we could,” he says.
Formerly known as Blackwater Trading Company, the business
soon changed its name when Matt added his passion of creating
delicious, fresh ales to the eatery.
“I started brewing at home because our venue has always
specialised in craft beer,” he says. “I started to brew back then as
a way to educate my customers. I completely overtook the garage
and then I think my wife wanted the garage back and so she let me
put a brewery in here at work and it went from there.”
One of the award-winning ales is the popular Josh Porter Pale Ale,
which pays homage to Matt’s good mate who was killed in a Black
Hawk helicopter off Fiji.
“I was in the army for a number of years. He was a good mate
and a lot of guys were killed in Afghanistan – and they are all
remembered. Josh did a tour of Afghanistan and for me it’s not
forgetting the sacrifice he made for his country and his family.”
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