Sydney bus tour – part one

By Sam Highley, Editor

The Canberra Brewers Sydney bus tour kicked off early on the morning of Saturday May 15. Collective thoughts of suffering the wrath of our illustrious leader, Dicko, had club members all over Canberra struggling out of bed, long before even the keenest Passer domesticus had uttered a single waft of wind from their avian backsides.

The time was 7am, eyes were bleary, and Richard Watkins, brewmaster and all-round fantastic supporter of the club, opened the doors of the Wig & Pen early for us. Not only did this provide a suitable meeting place, but also the first stop on the brewery tour. Mindful of the early hour and the potential of 16-hours of beer consumption ahead, most of us kicked the day off with a light English or Belgian ale.

 
Paul (Paulanski), Tom (Dicko) and Owen (Owy) enjoy the first beer of the day
at the Wig and Pen, Canberra

Matt (Toppy), Richard (Semaphore) and Paul (Phaesler) at the Wig and Pen
 

It was all aboard the bus at 7:30, and before long we were making our way up Northbourne Avenue, and spirits were high. I do believe that the first sexist and completely inappropriate joke was told before we'd even departed the borders of Stanhopistan (that's the ACT for outsiders). Bloody hell it was funny though. Something about a penguin eating ice-cream?

 
Beer on a bus. Almost as frightening as snakes on a plane.
 

Photographic records tell me that the first keg was tapped at around 7:55am, which was mightily restrained of everyone. Dan's not-so-common imperial California Common was up first, and between the sixteen of us, it didn't last long. A quick stop at McDonald's Goulburn allowed much needed relief to offload the first hour's intake, though Dicko kept muttering something about "not breaking the seal", and he was noticeably absent from the dunny queue.

 
Dan pours the first beer of the day, and that damn bus clock proves what a bunch
of alcoholics we all are.
 

We carried on up the Hume Highway, and if it weren't for the distinct lack of toilet-stop opportunities after Pheasants Nest, i'm sure we'd have finished Dicko's keg of Porter, and my keg of Table Saison. A quick lap of the Sydney CBD thanks to some somewhat dodgy GPS directions, and we touched down in Camperdown for the first Sydney stop of the tour: Malt Shovel Brewery.

 
Malt Shovel Brewery Manager Rob Freshwater pours the beers while
we all listen intently.
 

And then Dicko had a go at pouring beers, as Rob looks on nervously.
 

 
Rob takes the Canberra Brewers through all aspects of the brewing process
at Malt Shovel.

The Malt Shovel Brewery, in Camperdown, Sydney, sits in the building that was once the Hahn Brewery, before the eventual 'merger' of Hahn with Lion-Nathan, and Chuck Hahn's elevation to Chief Brewer for the Lion Nathan Group. Nowadays the brewery creates mostly James Squire product—brewing about 25% of the James Squire range—with the occasional Mad Brewer's release thrown in. The majority of the James Squire seasonal releases are also produced at the Malt Shovel, with the exception of the most recently released 'Malt Runner', which was produced in Adelaide due to recent upgrades at the Malt Shovel Brewery.

 
Admiring the bottling line at the Malt Shovel Brewery.
 

 
The Malt Shovel pilot-brewing unit. Many a brewer would love one of these
in the garage.

Rob Freshwater, Brewery Manager at Malt Shovel, was very generous and gracious in opening the brewery up for us for a tour, and he spent the best part of two hours showing us around all facets of the brewery. The members asked a myriad of questions, many of them probing for insight into how they could transfer large-scale ideas into much smaller-scale brewing. Rob openly admitted that it was refreshing to be able to discuss beer and brewing with such an appreciative crowd, and we were definitely appreciative!

 
So much Sundown Lager and Porter.
 

Owen (Owy) sampling Sundown Lager straight from the conditioning tank.
 

Quite a few of the brewers were disappointed that we weren't able to sample the latest seasonal release, Malt Runner, due to lack of availability. However, Rob was more than happy to share samples of the Golden and Amber Ale's, and, most spectacularly, Sundown Lager straight from the conditioning tank! The tour finished with the awarding of an honorary Canberra Brewer's polo-shirt to Rob, and a promise that he'd wear it next time he brewed.

 
Rob Freshwater with his Canberra Brewers shirt.
 

That's all for part one. Shortly in part two, i'll run through our tours of Redoak, Schwartz, The Local Taphouse, Lord Nelson and Harts.