So this time its all about something different. And new. And very tasty!
Recently being away in Australia has given me the chance to try some beers I have never seen before (not many Oz beers make it over here to the UK, and NO, Fosters is not Australian. Its just plain goddamn awful!). But of all those I have tried, nothing beat Stone & Wood Brewery.
Sitting randomly in an Industrial Estate about 15 minutes bike ride North of Byron Bay, this amazing little brewery is growing bigger by the minute. We had booked onto a brewery tour, and were greeted by your stereotypical Australian; long sun bleached hair, lazy twang to his accent. We got a schooner (not quite a pint, not quite a half pint. but who cares, its beer!) of Garden Ale each, their lowest percentage beer to ease into the drinking afternoon. Very sessionable beer with a good citrus fruit aroma and an easy bitter finish. Well, that’s what I got but apparently my companion thought, “it tastes like beer”. True words.
So the tour begins. We wander around the brewery hearing all about the brewing process, and by god its technical. My only other experience of ‘brewing beer’ involved a £20 brew your own kit for a friends birthday, that inevitably led to drinking it way too early; it tasted like dishwater, and definitely cleaned out the pipes the next day! This brewery did things that bit more different though. Due to the process, waste products were plentiful. But cleverly, these guys had managed a way to support local farms and business by recycling 95% of their waste. So apparently drinking beer can be a good thing eh!
After the tour, we then got to sample more of what they had to offer. Jasper Ale, a slightly spicy, richly malted red ale was something to wake up the taste buds, Pacific Ale a strong fruity aroma and refreshing finish, and to finish off, Green Coast, a slightly yeasty but subtly soft flavoured ale. And due to my companion plainly not being the biggest beer fan (bless them for coming with me!) I got double of everything. So for £10, and learning a bit of stuff about beer, all in all it was cracking afternoon!
Even the urinals were cool!
If you ever find yourself in Byron Bay, and people, if you haven’t been get your flights booked PRONTO, then search these guys out. They deserve every success.
