Q&A WITH STOCKADE BREW CO

Tyson McGeoch
Nov 14, 2017
6 min read

1. WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR BEER?

What isn’t? Everything from our brainstorming sessions to come up with the next great idea to the finished product. We have a pretty unique history in the craft beer scene which actually plays to our favour. We have the opportunity to create a super consistent core range of beers as well as amazing, never-done-before, one-off limited edition beers in our amazing brewing facility in Smeaton Grange and we get to do them as both kegs AND packaged products - meaning you can buy them in independent bottle shops as well as pubs, clubs and bars. Each of our beers have a unique story behind them; the recipe/style, the name and the art associated. Each of our beers can stand on their own, but collectively they make us who we are, Stockade.

2. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE BEER?

The answer to this is different for every team player at SBC. A collective answer may tend to lean towards 8Bit IPA though.

3. HOW HAS THE RANGE OF BEERS CHANGED OVER TIME? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIRST BEER AND THE LATEST BEER?

Our core range has remained ultra consistent and looks to continue that way. We have just introduced a new member of the core range family, “Hop Splicer” which is a wickedly sessionable XPA, tinged with a touch of grapefruit. As far as our limiteds are concerned though, every single one of these have been completely different to the others. We’ve never done the same beer twice! We’re all about the journey involved with expanding our tastes and consequently the tastes of our followers. We want to show people that indie beer is the most creative, interesting, flavoursome option that’s in a constant state of evolution. We’re always looking to try something new, to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. Our very first beer off the line was Chop Shop, a sessionable Pale Ale which packs a decent hop punch and presents an up-front tropical aroma. Our latest beer is a collaboration brew we did with Brazilian brewery Dadiva. Called “Two Bridges”, it’s a Passionfruit Session IPA bursting with tropical fruit flavour and a lick of citrus from a careful combination of hops and a hefty dose of passionfruit. At first pour you can expect a bright coloured beer with full-on passionfruit on the nose. We’re passionate about exploring the world of beer, and we’ve been super lucky to work on a couple of awesome collaboration brews this in 2017 with Full Moon BrewWorks (Thailand’s premiere Craft Brewery) where together we created “Puppet Master” ThaIPA, an IPA dosed with a touch of lemongrass and kaffir lime. We also worked closely with the Speak Easy group before the launch of their latest venue, “Mjolner” in Sydney - a norse-inspired bar/restaurant, to create “Odin’s Raven” - a Juniper Witbier. Because we love to keep things interesting, we have plenty more planned for 2018 too!

4. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT AS A BINTANI FESTIVAL BEER? HOW DO YOU CREATE SOMETHING FOR A FESTIVAL?

Festivals and events are a great opportunity for us to get involved in the community and to meet a wide range of people, talking to and showing them what we’re so passionate about - beer! A lot of the time, we’ll bring a mix of our core and limited release beers to a festival. When brewing a festival beer, our aim is to usually just create something as unique a possible. Like all of our beers, the idea for our festival beer came from our wonderfully creative and talented brewery team. This particular beer (which shall remain un-named for the time being) actually came from a brainstorming session between our NSW state manager Ed Clarke and senior brewer Nick Phillips. The pair came up with the beer style and recipe and then workshopped it with our creative team at Stockade HQ, who came up with the name and design brief, ready for crowd-sourcing the design which, we believe, represents the style perfectly! You can expect that our festival beer will be a classic style with a summer twist.

5. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BEERS YOU'LL BE SERVING AT BREWERS FEAST? (Final tap list TBC).

8bit IPA

Alc/Vol (ABV): 6.5% IBUs: 65

Tasting Notes: 8BiT has aggressive hop aromas and caramel malt flavours. The big bitterness delivered with a high hop flavour is balanced by a sweet malt character. This IPA presents citrus and floral aromas on the nose and is a refresher all year round.

Food Pairings: This IPA is the beer to serve with crispy skin dishes such as chicken or pork. Throw in some spices and caramelised onions for the perfect combination. If you like your curries, this will also compliment Thai, Indian or Malay dishes.