salt spring 17

SALT CELLAR
HOME BREWS
WORDS MIKE BENNIE PHOTO KRISTA EPPELSTUN
IF YOU CAST YOURSELF back just a couple
of years, the Sunshine Coast was near vacant of
craft beers and independent brewing. Step into
the inner districts of any capital city in Australia
and the brewing culture was exploding; it felt
like a new team of brewers was surfacing each
week. While Queensland’s laidback lifestyle,
and love of gluggable, neutral flavoured beers is
well-versed, something had to give.
Fast forward to the latter half of 2017 and there are around 10 craft
breweries in full swing on the Sunshine Coast, with a couple more
in the works. In an almost defiant move to shove Queensland’s
most popular beer XXXX into the background, these independent
breweries work in a positivity-bound community of open-minded,
enthusiastic brewers producing a kaleidoscopic array of styles.
Rather than relying on a simple, core range of beers, Matt Jancauskas
from Maleny’s Brouhaha is widely experimenting, and, importantly,
using a raft of local produce in the production of his beers. “We’re
big on variety, big on freshness, big on keeping it local. In our first
year we made 48 different beers, yet only four tanks. A feat to do
so, but we love batch splitting – making a batch of beer, make 3000
litres and then split into two different beers.”
Matt uses fresh local raspberries for his raspberry saison and for
sours he uses Maleny Dairy yoghurt. “That makes the backbone of
our sour beers,” he says. “For our Finger Lime IPA we went out to
a local farmer, got finger limes off him and squeezed them into the
beers.”
The emphasis with Brouhaha is on local and fresh – this is
reflected in the food menu that accompanies the brewery’s beers.
“Our spent grain goes to Maleny Wagyu, then we buy back the
whole animal and use it nose to tail,” Matt says. This overarching
philosophy of local, seasonal and holistic is writ large for
Brouhaha.
BREWERY FOCUS:
MATT HEPBURN FROM YOUR MATES BREWING CO
Your Mates is a gypsy brewing operation that created a huge
buzz when a Pozible campaign came in with some $32,575 to
assist in the funding of a permanent brewery and canning line.
Matt Hepburn is a delightful character, a breezy larrikin eking out
smashable, sessionable beers with his partner Christen McGarry.
“It’s coming up to two years in brewing,” says Matt. “Typically
Queenslanders have enjoyed beer in volume; typically stuff that
they were used to. We saw some interest in diversifying the beer
offering on the Sunshine Coast, loved the stuff ourselves, so we
quit our jobs, and just launched into it.”
Asked about the reception his beer has had, Matt says, “A lot of
people have been supportive in bars and restaurants, supporting
local, so have seen how our beers have a bit more flavour, and
are willing to pay an extra dollar to drink a nice-tasting, local
beer.”
It seems most brewers on the Sunshine Coast are also pretty
keen to help each other out. “We don’t really see anyone else
as competition; everyone else has their own style,” Matt says.
“As independent brewers, the more drinking the stuff the better.
“We’ve had a lot of help from a variety of breweries; that’s just
the kind of industry [it is].”
While XXXX and Great Northern have made an indelible mark
on most Queenslanders, there’s hope beyond the big players.
“We’ve gone for quality in terms of base ingredients. We brew
just a few really good beers. We want to create a perfect beer,
really, but we want people to keep going back to them. I think a
lot of people on the Sunshine Coast have taken this approach –
quality upgrade and sessionability.
“The Pozible campaign went better than expected and helped
crystallise Your Mates’ opportunities. The likelihood of finding a
permanent brewing facility is close, too. Products are where we
want them, we’ve doubled our capacity, we’ve sold out again. So
[we’ve] come to the stage where we’re looking to take it to the
next level.”
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