WHO IS BLAIR HAYDEN?

There are pioneers among us who have paved the way towards today’s burgeoning beer industry…This annual limited release is a tribute to these Forefathers.

This year’s Forefather is Blair Hayden, a publican and patriarch of one of the oldest pubs in Sydney. Refusing to bow to what beers should line the taps, he built a brewery so he could pour his own. 31 years later, Blair’s contributed to the independent beer revolution.

We had the pleasure of meeting the passionate and animated Blair Hayden when he was in town to brew this year’s Forefathers release alongside our co-founder Brad and our brewers Sam and Caolan.

Using the finest English Maris Otter malt, Blair and the boys brewed an English Pale Ale. With hints of citrus zest from the addition of bergamot tea, the spicy and floral hop aroma is balanced with a medium bitterness.

Get to know this lovable legend, watch our latest Forefathers video featured above.

Check out our venue listing below for where to find this year’s Forefathers beer, it will be hitting shelves and pouring through taps at select bottle shops and pubs across the country from this week.  Alternatively, you’ll be able to purchase through our online store.

SHARE A BEER WITH BLAIR…

Share a beer with the year’s Forefather at his brewery and pub, The Lord Nelson. This Thursday 24 August,  join him and some of our crew from 6pm to share a few and talk all things beer…

VENUE LISTING AND ONLINE AVAILABILITY

New South Wales Stockists

Locally – Northern Rivers

Going on tap

The Rails	Welders Dog – Armidale	Bangalow Hotel
Great Northern	Three Blue Ducks – The Farm	Salt Bar
Nimbin Hotel	Ocean Shores Tavern

Bottles

Cellar Plaza	Cellar Lawson St	Cellar Bangalow
Cellar Ballina	Mary G’s	BYO Cellars Coffs
Lennox Hotel Bottle shop	Yamba Liquor Supplies	Minnie Waters GS
Station Hotel	Welders Dog	Beach Hotel
Crabbes Creek	Federal General Store	Ocean Shores Tavern
Riverview Hotel	Murwillumbah Cellars	Taphouse Cellars Kingscliff
Cabarita Beach Hotel	Cellarbrations Pottsville	Bottlemart Pottsville
Fresh Café	Great Northern	Sun Bistro
Salt Bar

Sydney & Surrounds

Going on tap

Burwood Inn	Grain Store	The Commodore
The Longueville Hotel	The Beach Club Collaroy	Arts Bar
Public House Petersham	Quarrymans Hotel	Newtown Hotel
The Union	The Henson	The Bank
KB Hotel	Trinity Bar	Local Taphouse

Bottles

Mona Vale Hotel	Dee Why Hotel/Bayfields Bottleshop	Cromer Cellars
North Curl Curl Cellars	Beer Cartel	Porters Balgowlah
Cutty Cellars	Carrington Cellars	Camperdown Cellars Neutral Bay
Leura Cellars	Wenty North Cellars	The Commodore
Bondi Beach Cellars	Coogee Bay Hotel	Kemenys Bondi
Mascot Liquor Supply	Camperdown Cellars Darlinghurst	Porters Pyrmont
Bar Cleveland	Oak Barrel	Liquor on Oxford
The Union	The Henson	Camperdown Cellars Parramatta Road
Camperdown Cellars Kingston Road	Camperdown Cellars Leichhardt	David’s Cellars
Glebe Cellars	Unity Hall Hotel	Newtown Wine Shop
Liquor Emporium St Peters	CC Neutral Bay

ACT & Surrounds

Going on tap

Durham Castle Arms

Bottles

Liquor Legends –Hawker Drive-Thru	Local Liquor – IGA O’Connor	Page Bottler
Plonk Belconnen	Plonk Fhyswick

Queensland

Brisbane & Surrounds

Going on tap

Alliance Hotel	Archive Beer Boutique	Elephant Arms
Embassy Hotel	Grand Central Hotel	Norman Hotel
Pineapple Hotel	Port Office Hotel	Scratch
Story Bridge Hotel	Transcontinental	Triffid
Ze Pickle Fortitude Valley	PA Hotel	Fitzy’s
Grand View Hotel	Oxford Taphouse	International Hotel
Brew	Malt Traders	Barbara
Bittersuite	John Mills Himself	Brewski
Crow N Arrow

Bottles

Archive – Next Door Cellars	Camp hill Cellars – Alliance Hotel	Cellarbrations – Parklands
Cellarbrations – Story Bridge Hotel Cellars	Cellarbrations – Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel	Cellarbrations – Wises Rd
Craft Winestore	Elephant Arms	Grand Central Cellars
Harry Brown Eatons Hill	Hendra Hop & Vine	Pineapple Cellars – Holland Park
Riverbar	Wine & Beer Hamilton	Wine & Beer Teneriffe
Wine & Beer West End	Shafston Hotel	Hotel Monier
Hotel West End – Star Liquor	Montague Hotel	Greenslopes Cellars
Hawthorne Cellars	Woolloongabba Hotel	The Vine Liquor Mart
Strand Hotel Ipswich	Malt Traders South Bank	Harry Browns- PA Hotel
Wild Canary	Spiros	Black Sheep Bottleshops
Urban Cellars Group	Wine Emporium	James Street Cellars
Bowen Hills	Stafford Cellars	Bar Alto
Cardigan Bar	Sabotage	Margate
4019	Brackenridge Tavern	Mitchelton
Wavell Heights	Malt Traders	International Hotel
Grange	Cru Bar	Sixes and Sevens

Sunshine Coast

Going on tap

Peregian Beach Hotel	Taps Mooloolaba	Corbin’s Kitchen
One Up Bar & Bistro	The Pocket Espresso	The Basement

Bottles

Sofitel Noosa	Village Bicycle	Peregian Beach Hotel
XO Cellars Noosa Fair	XO Cellars Sunshine Beach	Yandina Hotel
Salty Dog Cellars	Purple Palate Maleny	Surfair Beach Hotel

Gold Coast

Going on tap

Bine	Cambus Wallace	Harry’s Steak Bistro
Lester and Earl	Backbone Bar	ZePickle – Burleigh
Eddies Grub House

Bottles

Advancetown Bottleshop	Aloha Bar & Dining	Peregian Beach Hotel
Ferry Road Wine + Beer	Isle of Capri Wine + Beer	Not Tonight
Pacific Fair Wine + Beer	Railway Hotel	Tree Tops Tavern
Walrus Bottleshop	Social Eating House	Coolangatta Hotel
Currumbin Creek Tavern	Kirra Beach Hotel	Tugun Cellars
The Bayboozatorium	Palm Beach Cellars	Tweed Height Cellars

Victoria & Surrounds

Going on tap

Gilbert Street Hotel	Benjamin on Franklin	Mile End Hotel
Crafers Hotel	Uraidla Hotel	Big Pig Little Pig – Moorabbin
The Royston	Mr. Pauls Mornington	Great Northern
Foresters	Terminus CH	Valley Cellar Door Moonee Ponds
Bluebonnett BBQ	Beer Deluxe Albury

Bottles

Decanters By The Bay	Parkhill Cellars	Press Cellars
Grosvenor Hotel	Grape and Grain	A Point Of Difference
Highgate Cellars	161 Cellars Glen Iris	Bottlehouse
Mayerling Cellars	Pauls IGA Ringwood North	Elwood Cellarbrations
McCoppins Abbotsford	Valley Cellar Door Moonee Ponds	Newport Cellars
Randals – Geelong	Corkscrew Cellars	Strathmore Cellars
Wine Republic Fitzroy	Wine Republic Winsdor	Wine Republic Northcote
Nillumbik Cellars	Hop Supply Co.	Cellarbrations Gisbourne

Tasmania

Going on tap

Preachers	The New Sydney	The Brunswick
Saint Johns

Bottles

Cool Wine	Gas Works 9/11	St Ives 9/11
The Abbey	Shoreline	Crown Cellars Launceston
Saint Johns

South Australia

Going on tap

Gilbert Street Hotel	Benjamin on Franklin	Mile End Hotel
Crafers Hotel	Uraidla Hotel	Stirling Hotel

Bottles

Option Wines

Western Australia

***TBA

You can spot a “wood sniffer” by the way their eyes light up when they spot a piece of timber. Their rough hands run tenderly along the fibres and you can see the satisfaction when they take a big ol’ whiff. They have a grounded passion and appreciation in the potential of transforming a lump of local wood into something special…

As a part of The Way It Should Be series, our latest film follows fifth generation wood sniffer, Andy Ceglinski from sawmill to surf.

Profiling people who’ve gravitated to the Northern Rivers for a more conscious lifestyle, the series tells the stories of locals and their connection to our community, the environment and their craft…

“It seemed like such a rewarding idea to be able to mill the wood and handcraft this board then surf it…It’s a combination of all the things I love.”

Andy’s sustainable approach is not to make a heap of surfboards to sell and pocket millions of dollars. He’d rather enjoy the experience of making a quality product, and he’d be stoked if he could after it all, make a humble living from it.

For us, Andy’s story reminds us of our own. Many of our team, have chosen to move to the Northern Rivers for the life it offers, to work with purpose and be a part of this special community. This area has helped us bring to life our philosophies around what was great about village breweries, and what a conscious business should be.

“Like any good honourable business, we’re trying to do good things for the community and for the environment.”

Watch Andy’s humbling story through his approach to doing business and how he sees his responsibility as a leader in the community.

Board Designs: Joel Fitzgerald & Dana Watson.
Surfers: Joel Fitzgerald, Dana Watson, Andy Ceglinksi
Supported by: Joel Fitzgerald

When Eddie Brook, founder of Cape Byron Distillery invited us to collaborate on an experimental project, we were absolutely thrilled!  As close friends of Brookfarm, we’d been waiting patiently for any opportunity to work with the distillery, their latest project.

Inspired by the local distillery’s dedication to rainforest regeneration and use of native botanicals during distillation,  a small crew began working closely with Eddie. Carefully planning how their idea would come to fruition, the team exchanged secrets of their crafts, initial visions while experimenting with flavours and taste testing a few breakfast gins…

Lip-puckering and thirst quenching, the kettle soured beer has added botanicals of Juniper berries, crushed coriander seeds and lemon peel… Collectively dubbed the Gin Sour, due to it’s tart, refreshing and cocktail-esque qualities, our collab Pilot Batch beer is now out of tank.

To celebrate the release of our moreish collab brew, Brookie’s Dry Gin and Stone & Wood, are holding a fundraiser “When Gin Meets Beer” Sunday 21 May at the Cape Byron Distillery. The arvo will kick off at 1pm, with the Stock Pot Kitchen firing up the BBQ and our latest Pilot Batch, Gin Sour pouring from the taps.

All ticket sales and profits from the day will be donated to those affected locally, by the recent floods through the Mullumbimby and District Neighbourhood Centre. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased via Eventbrite. So, join us in the rainforest….to celebrate the release of this unique brew and support a cause close to our hearts.

 

Our annual pilgrimage to the Hop harvest in Tassie is about honouring quality ingredients, appreciating those who grow or work with them, and championing their effect on the finished product…

Whilst we are a brewery, and beer is our thing, each year while in Tassie the Tour of the Galaxy crew takes time to explore other crafts – those with an equal passion for handcrafted practice and quality ingredients…

Year after year we are drawn back to our old friends at Lark Distillery – the home of Tasmanian single malt whiskey. Established in 1992 by the ‘godfather’ of Australian whiskey, Bill Lark, the distillery continues to use only the purest Tasmanian ingredients and traditional, time-honoured methods to produce prized whiskies…

This year’s Tour of the Galaxy crew including Stone & Wood Head Brewer, Caolan Vaughn toured Lark’s Cambridge site led by Toni and Head-Distiller, Chris. The team exchanged stories of their crafts, learning about each other’s similarities and differences, celebrating wins, and of course, trying a few of Lark’s finest!

We sat down for a chat with Chris and talked about his passion, Tasmania’s perfect climate for producing whisky, the 150 year ban on craft distillation, and the synchronicity between brewing and distilling.

Talk us through how your interest in distilling came about?

I really fell into the distillation industry. I was at Uni doing a science degree and got a job on the Lark Distillery bottling line. It didn’t take long for me to start brewing and distilling and I just fell in love with the industry, the company and the whisky making process. It’s been 10 years since I started, and I’m still so excited to get to work and make whisky.

 

Are you born and bred Tasmanian?

I’ve been here for 23 years of my 31 years…almost local.

Why is Tasmania’s unique climate the perfect conditions for whisky?

There are really two answers to this question. The first one is that Tasmania climate is a perfect for the dynamic maturation of whisky. We have constant temperature and pressure swings that force the whisky into and out of the casks wood, resulting in big flavoured whiskies. The second reason is that in Tasmania we have a fantastic culture of helping each other, whether it be the wine, beer, cider or distilling industries we all hang out and share knowledge.

What stopped people from producing whisky in Tasmania?

Craft distillation was outlawed in Tasmania in 1839 and remained that way until Lark Distillery founder and godfather to the Australian whisky industry Bill Lark had the laws changed to start Lark Distillery in 1992.

Describe the importance of hand made copper stills? 

We are so lucky to have master craftsman and Still maker Peter Bailey living in Hobart, hand making amazing Stills. Our Stills are 100% copper, which helps to remove sulphur notes that aren’t desirable in whisky.

Do you have a favourite stage of the process…Ageing the cask? Pouring the first glass?

Well you can’t go past sampling a few whiskies! But overall, I do have a real passion for fermentation and in particular sour secondary wild fermentation.

Where is your favourite place to enjoy a whisky and why?

It’s not really a place, but the answer is with friends! Whisky always tastes best when shared with good people!!!

A heads up…last year our friends from Lark Distillery may have loaned us a few sneaky barrels for one of our most exclusive limited releases yet. The barrels aren’t quite ready to be cracked yet…for that to happen it’ll need to be the thick of winter, where darker brews are required to keep the cold at bay.

 

Get along to our Murbah Open Day on 4 March and support the community’s charity of choice, The Wedgetail Retreat and Tweed Palliative Support.

As Murwillumbah’s local brewer, we can’t wait to re-open the brewery’s gates to the community…Our family friendly Open Day will run from 11-5, with entertainment, food, drinks and some fun for the kids, sorted!

We’ve lined up live tunes from Dos Loona, Holly Tapp and Tim Shou, a jumping castle and, Murbah Brewery tours running every half an hour, explaining our story, the brewing process and a few of our sustainability initiatives.

Food trucks JR Smokehouse and The Backyard Chef, two of the region’s best, will be pulling up to keep bellies full and Keith Coffee Shop and Barber will be making sure the crowd stays caffeinated…

Now lets talk about beer…. and not just any beer. We’ve brewed an exclusive Pilot Batch just for Open Day. Why is it so special? It’s an ode to the infamous ‘Murbah Swamp Beer’. A legendary local tale, where back in 2001, a semi trailer carrying pallets of beer ran off the Pacific Highway. Cartons of brews fell into the Tweed River…and the locals wasted no time in diving in to salvage what they could (some were still icey-cold). Check out the Murbah swamp beer video.

Our tribute ‘Murbah Swamp Beer’ will be tapped at Open Day alongside a few of our other refreshing brews. Beers will be $5 and there is a gold coin entry fee with all profits raised donated to the Wedgetail Retreat and Tweed Palliative Support, so they can continue their amazing work helping the community.

Lock in the date, Saturday 4 March, and get along to our second brewery’s Open Day to support an epic local cause.

Watch – ‘Murbah Swamp Beer’ explained…

Often when people think about the Northern Rivers, Byron Bay’s lighthouse, beaches and iconic pubs are what they imagine. Surfing those breaks, walking up through the bush track and taking in that aspect of Australia’s most Easterly point and enjoying our beers around town is epic but what a lot of people from out of town don’t realise, is that there is so much more to this special part of the world.

We’ve asked our crew to share with you what they like to get up to, so if you find yourself in our backyard and you’ve already dropped into our brewery, here’s a couple of other ideas to help you explore the Northern Rivers of NSW, one of the greatest places on Earth!

GEORGIA BROWN 

Georgia (left) drinking Garden Ales at last year’s Laneway Festival

Georgia grew up on a macadamia farm in Lindendale, near Lismore. After finishing her degree in Environmental Management in Brisbane, she was stoked to land a job back home in the beautiful Northern Rivers. The past year she’s been working as a Production Cadet, which means she moves around the business learning the different areas of production, including logistics, engineering, sustainability and quality analysis. She is super exited to be embarking as a brewer for the next six months.

Outside of work she said that she loves attempting to surf and calls herself the Mick Fanning of Stone & Wood (joking!). She also enjoys attending weekly dance sessions at No Lights No Lycra. Her dream is for there to be a daily dance-break at the brewery.

What’s your idea of the perfect day?

A chilled Sunday would include Lismore Car Boot Markets: amazing food (favourite is a Masala Dosa from the Dosa guy (see below), second hand clothes, plants and local produce. After the markets I take my dogs to their favorite beach (7 mile) and after that, have a beer on the point.

If you had a friend in town where would you take them?

If I’m in Murwillumbah, I’d stop in for a coffee at Keith Coffee and go to the Tweed Regional Gallery – they get great exhibitions! Another great place to bring visitors is the Pinnacle Lookout in the Border Ranges National Park.

Where is your fave place to enjoy a few Stone & Wood beers?

Definitely Thursday pizza nights at the Clunes Store. Grab a beer from the bottle shop next door and soak up the atmosphere over a delicious wood fired Il Carretto pizza.

Watch Chapter 1 of The Slow Road, where we brew a beer with local winemaker Jared.

Richard Harvey is a ‘doer’… and to be honest he’s done more than many could dream of.  I sat down with him and had a beer that I’ll never forget, chatting about his exhibition, work, play, surfing, travel, life…the whole lot really, before his photography exhibition ‘Adventures of the Deep’ at our Byron brewery.

 The images that filled the brewery’s walls were a select few from Harvey’s life of adventure, each with it’s own story or collection of experiences… If they say a picture paints a thousand words, he’s got a thousand words to enhance and compliment each image.  He’s a man you could chat with for a week and still be intrigued, one with an appreciation for the right things and whose story in life reflects that….

Beginning with his roots, where’s home… where did you grow up?

 I was a Sydney boy to start with growing up in Mona Vale on the North Side. As a kid I had a surfing sponsor, I was paid $15 dollars a week and was given the use of bright orange FG Holden Ute. I used to drive the ute from Sydney through Byron, to Queensland and ended up spending most of my time in this part of the world, so I eventually moved to Gold Coast around 1969-70. Even though I travelled a lot through the 70’s, I’d still call Burleigh home. Burleigh point was my local, I’d surf the now ‘Super Crowed Bank’ in the 60-70’s when there was six to seven guys out. I’ve been in Burleigh ever since, still there today with a house up on the hill.

What got you into shaping boards?

 Right from the beginning really, when I was getting paid to surf (about 18-19 years old) and there were no waves, I’d go to the factory asking for something to do… So I started cutting shapes out of the thick, chunky blanks, with a ridiculously heavy plainer…not like these days where they come pre cut. I was shaping between travelling and before I won the ‘73 Australian title in really big waves at Margaret River.

Out of the many, what’s been your favourite board?

 When I was in France once I met this engineer, he had a contract with the government to build the balsa parts for the French fighter aircraft. The engineer was a fanatical surfer, an old bloke, that didn’t really understand surfing but had a factory in Bayonne to build boards. All the travelling surfers would drop in and build boards there. This particular Balsa wood was from trees in Madagascar, it was super light and soft and due to Balsa’s nature and long fibre characteristic it smoothes everything out, turning choppy waves into velvet. I built this board with a pintail and surfed it all over the world, included 20ft waves in Bali.

Was the board inspired by any particular wave or break?

 Not a wave but the material…this board was inspired by the wood.  Balsa is the queen of all woods, it’s soft, it’s light, its easy to work with and it smoothes everything out… sort of like driving in a Rolls Royce.

What boards do you enjoy shaping most?

 I tend to shape one offs…custom type boards. Stuff that you don’t get in the normal surf shops. Boards that reflect the person and waves who I’m shaping for….

Twenty years ago, did you expect to see so many kids surfing single, twin fin and retro shaped boards?

 What happened with surfboards is that we were building all these types of boards and the media had so much pull, that when Simon [Anderson] won  Bells on a thruster everyone went out and bought or shaped one. But after a while people have started to realise these really thin and knifey type boards were really hard to ride and maybe not so enjoyable, so in an effort to get more waves people started to discover and change there choices. Surfers went in all directions, discovering alaia boards an all different shapes purely for the love of surfing and the enjoyment, not any other reason.

 For me it’s all about connecting, regardless of what board you’re on, connecting to the wave or the energy. The person riding a wave is connecting to the energy of the universe, connecting to the tides, the wind, the sun, the weather patterns and the spinning of the planet.. I guess that’s why it’s so addictive. People can get to caught up in the gear, the look and feel of their boards rather than the simple act of connecting with the wave. As long as the board connects you to that energy, then you’re really surfing…

Talking about the exhibition… what spurred the 1975 trip to California where the ‘Adventures in the Deep’ photos were taken?

 When I was about 26 I was in Bali with the guys making the surf films Tubular Swells and Free Ride, they were going to Mexico next to shoot a place called Scorpion Bay and needed a film editor… so I was invited to help edit this next sequence. We were in California en route to Mexico and heard about these kids skating in a pool, so we thought we’d go check it out and film it.

How old were the kids skating?

 The kids were fairly young, they didn’t have cars yet, probably late teens…early 20s.

What camera did you use to shoot El Rio’s pool?

 I had a Nikon. I’m a Nikon man and have been since…forever. Most of us old blokes used Nikon, due to the lens quality. Nikons always had good lenses with real clarity.

Thoughts on travelling pre technology, not as a new age ‘hipster ‘ trend but as a reality?

 Cultures were separated, through the communication revolution we’re all now connected. Back then you could be in Morocco…so isolated without a clue what was going on anywhere else. It was good though because wherever you’d go every town/place was an individual community, culture and experience rather than the same jeans and tee look. It was raw,  real and different, bombarding the senses, especially in the real extreme places.

 As a shaper and a photographer describe the value of something that is ‘handcrafted’?

 The hand of man is the most valuable commodity in any product. Because the hand of man has a personality connected to it. Any product created by hand has the energy, character and the care of whoever made it. The more precise, the more articulate and the more knowledge they put into a product, the better it will be. When someone picks it up or uses that something they can feel that energy, that personality, which commercialised “flat” products don’t have.

 When we work with surfboards its all about the feel. It’s about the hands, your eyes… where you see a sense of acceleration in the curves or movement in its shape. We analyse people, the waves and apply our knowledge to create something that has a personality suited to the person and the waves they’re surfing.  A sympathy for all the pieces needed to fit together and…connect.

For you how does ‘The Way it Should Be’ resonate… in terms of life, work and as a philosophy?

 It’s about feeling good and making others feel good. When I build surfboards that are suited to the person and they’re happy, I come home I don’t kick the cat, I’ve got a smile on my face…life’s good.  It’s about pleasure, enjoying life, applying that to everything you do and passing that on.  We all float through life bouncing off  various experiences, holding on and pursing those that we enjoy and letting go of those we don’t…

 A beer is something to enjoy… where’s you favourite place to do so?

 At home, you can totally relax. When you’ve got a nice view and a nice house, I guess that’s where I like to enjoy a beer most.

Richard is still shaping boards today, working out of a factory in Miami. He’s someone that I, could listen to for hours on end, a humble hero and a true inspiration. If you’re on the Gold Coast pay him a visit…even if he’s busy shaping in a cloud of fibreglass he’ll definitely have the time of day for you.

Photo Courtesy- Richard Harvey, Grant Dwyer and Dick Hoole

Words – Bronte Stephens

We sat down with the three boys from Skegss to talk about the band, life in the Bay, beers and ‘fried chicken’ before they launched their EP at our Byron brewery last Friday.

To give you a bit of a back story, the three boys Benny, Johnny and Tobes are from small coastal towns and for the past couple of years have been living the good life in Byron. Tobes balances the Skegss and makes pretty radical surf films, Johnny continues on the path of being a legend in between Byron and Forster and Benny’s making art amongst surfing and other ventures.

Just over a year ago lead singer Benny worked at Stone & Wood, charging around the brewery on the forklift, racking kegs, working on our bottling line, feeding the crew donuts and helping out the brewers…Now he’s standing on our pallet-stage playing rock ‘n’ roll…

It’s not just any kind of rock ‘n’ roll though. The boys have labeled their band as ‘the worst band ever’ to remove expectations ‘in general and technically’ yet they’ve managed to capture the minds, hearts and dancing bodies of salty haired frothers right up and down the East coast (and beyond). If the band’s ‘a joke’, their music speaks incredibly well to the youth of today… The trio might think ‘that it’s getting funnier’ but perhaps they’re just too humble to realise they’re driving a mini ‘Skegss’ movement.

Recently back from a successful trip in the US, they’ve hit the ground running in OZ… As a late announcement to the Splendour in the Grass line-up, they then signed with Ratbag Records and began cruising up and down the coast playing in a number of small towns, ‘mini-big festivals’ like Sounds of the Suburbs whilst also finalising  ‘50 Push Up’s For a Dollar’ their first E.P. It’s looking better than ever for this group of new age ‘90’s punk anti homies but rap loving’ Skegss.

What does Skegss mean?

They reckon everyone asks so if your interested, check out one of their Youtube interviews.

Where will they be in ten years?

Tobes mentioned he might be dead (you’d hope not)… Johnny will still be playing the drums, taking it easy and living in a small coastal town. Benny according to the others will be playing in a ‘super hot’ band but he confides he might be working back at Stone & Wood or living the simple life in home-town Forster.  They all agreed though that they’ll be having fun, hopefully playing music with the addition of a couple of kilos from enjoying a beer or two.

Where’s there favourite place to have a beer?

In the Lillipilli district of Byron on Tobes’ balcony ‘where the magic happens’, at The Rails in town or anywhere because they all share a love for beers…

So cheers to these three legends and thanks for having a beer with us! Their advice…Keep ‘doing what you do’ and having fun even if the rest of the world starts to take you seriously.

*A bunch of photos from the launch all thanks to Life Without Andy…

WORKING WITH A LOCAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TO UPCYCLE OUR WASTE

This year’s Stone Beer that’s bubbling away in the tanks, waiting for when the days are short and the nights are cold, was brewed with eleven different malts. That’s a whole of lot of 25kg grain bags (which is always the case when we use specialty malt for our brews).

For us, it’s always been a question of how we can re-use these bags, rather than send them to landfill. We usually give them to local environmental organisations to assist them in cleaning up the local beaches or to collect plastics from businesses so that they can properly recycle it. We even took to the sewing machine to make cushions with them!

For us, this is how we roll as a business, working continually towards reducing our foot print. This falls under Green Feet, our company wide sustainability initiative that strives not only to reduce, reuse and recycle but also exploring innovative practices by reimagining the ecology of brewing.

Earlier this year, we met Lisa Flower from Waste to Resource who worked with our Sustainability Coordinator to install a baling unit at our Murwillumbah Brewery. The unit compresses cardboard and plastic waste from the packaging line into 75kg bales to be recycled. Compressing this waste means less truck movements and our plastic is now recycled and not contributing to landfill.

Through meeting Lisa, we connected with a local not for profit group call Sort Recycling that she also works with. This social enterprise, based all over Australia, provides skills and training through practical Work for the Dole activities around Australia. Each community-based facility recycles waste close to its source and returns its value directly back to that community.

Through recycling computers, bikes, timber and plastics right through to habitat protection. The organisation creates new jobs, training and economic opportunities for disadvantaged individuals and families.

“We work on-the-ground, in remote, regional and urban communities around Australia. We canvass donations of obsolete computers and other eWaste, wooden pallets, discarded bikes and other things with wheels and plastic items from local households and businesses. We show participants how to fabricate new products from them and then they sell the products in both real and online retail environments.”

The centre based in Murwillumbah has been taking our grain bags and up-cycling them into bags and bunting for us to use at the brewery. This has given a handful of participants the opportunity to develop skills in design and also sewing. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Sort to come up with ways to not only recycle but upcycle our ‘waste’ into products that are useful for our communities.

For more info about Sort Recycling, check our Murwillumbah’s page https://www.facebook.com/sortmurbah

Our Sustainability Coordinator Tom (third from left) and our Engineering Manager Nick (end right) with the team from the Murwillumbah Sort Recycling Centre – cheers for having us guys!

Gifted with a kilo of Galaxy, a Brissy home brewer concocts eight beers inspired by the recent Tour De France and throws a party to raise money for charity…

As the last hops were being plucked from the bines down at Bushy Park in Tassie, as a part of our Ingrained Community Program,we were bidding in HPA’s ‘Premiere Crop of the Hops’ Charity Auction. With 100% of the proceeds going towards fighting depression and men’s health with beyondblue, the auction raised $10,000. We came away with 10 kilos of the freshest Galaxy hops and decided to give it away to home brewers to pack some punch into their next brew.

For the chance to win a kilo of it, we asked home brewers to describe how they would continue the fundraising love for a charity of their choice and do their own ‘Karma Keg‘. One of the winners, Daniel Angus and his brewing partner Michael, well and truly took this to the next level, holding their own version of our Karma Keg last weekend called ‘Tour De Keg’.

The idea was an adaptation from an event him and his mates threw last October, called Octokeg, where they filled eight kegs and threw a massive party with proceeds going to Plan International. Armed with a kilo of Galaxy and coinciding with the Tour de France, they brewed eight tour inspired beers and planned the unveiling last Saturday with all money raised going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Dan has been a home brewer for 10 years, starting off kit brewing but then moving to all-grain brewing about 5 years ago.

“I have a passion for hoppy American style Ales, but try to mix it up as often as I can,” he said.

“[Having the Galaxy] encouraged me to try to reinvent some classic styles. The saison with Galaxy worked particularly well, with the tartness from the French saison yeast mixing well with the passionfruit of the Galaxy. I’ll be brewing that one again!”

Just some of the beers brewed included the The Gutiérrez Gluten-free Pale Ale, the KOM Red Ale, Stage 5 Saison and a Richie Porte Port Porter.

“The American Red Ale proved to be the most popular early in the night, and was replaced by the Robust Porter which given the cold night went even faster, particularly given that my wife Kath had made a chocolate cake to pair with it.”

With 80-100 friends and family packing into Dan’s backyard, by 1:30am (nice effort) the donations jar was brimming and we are told the crew raised $1105.70!

Good on you guys, we’re stoked to see that the fundraising love was passed forward and even more so that some great beers were able to be born and shared with the addition of that special little hop Galaxy!

The smell of the fresh green Galaxy Hops hits before you reach the Bushy Park gates. Before the long vertical vines hanging from the trellises lining the fields that disappear into the distance are visible, you’re welcomed by a punchy, zesty aroma that lifts you above the previous evening’s haze.

Ah Galaxy, she’s a late bloomer. She matures after the other varieties cultivated by Hop Products Australia have been harvested and sent on their way but as we pull in, we can see she’s ready. Evenly strung along the wires like threads on a loom, her now tightly formed hop cones are waiting, as if in line, for harvest. Our Brewers Brad and Nic were in heaven.

“I was overwhelmed by each bine carrying almost enough finger sized Galaxy cones for a batch of Pacific ale,” Nic reminisces.

Coming to Tassie to see the protagonist of our Pacific Ale, is like a pilgrimage. This hop has become the most internationally recognized Australian variety and is responsible for giving our most popular beer its distinctive aromatic tropical fruit and citrus flavour.

Once upon a time, these same fields were planted with only bittering varieties but over the past 5 years, with small-scale brewers decidedly wanting to produce more than crisp, dry lagers, HPA are investing in providing new cultivars to produce top quality hops that bring new flavours to quality beers. Of this year’s crops, over 40% are new proprietary flavour and aroma hops and HPA predict that this will rise to 80% within a few years. This is something that makes us weak at the knees!

Following the tractors, headlights still on in the early morning light, carrying the bouncing bundles of bines towards HPA’s processing facility, Tim Lord – Managing Director and Owen Johnston – Sales and Marketing Manager walk us through the process that the hop cones take, being stripped from the bine, sorted from the foreign matter and laid in the kiln.

For our Brewers, this is like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Hooks trailing bines, conveyers whisking the cones on and upward, through and around in a controlled flurry surround them and all the while that botanical fresh smell abounds.

The Galaxy hop is an ingredient they work with every day and yet when they open a new bag to add into the kettle or dry hop into the fermenter, they don’t tire of the smell and never wish to decline at least a taste.  Nic was hoping the smell of the fresh hops would stay in his clothes for the trip back across the Tasman.

So with this 2014 release, the Brewers just couldn’t resist creating something a little special and with good timing for this week’s Brewsvegas in Brisbane. The lads have brewed a fresh hopped New Season Pacific Ale. Because the driving force of flavour in Pacific Ale is the late dry hopping in the fermenter, we are able to supplement and complement that with a very late “wet hopping” by dunking a few massive bulging bags of freshly picked Galaxy hop cones into the tank giving them a good 24 hours or so to give the beer an extra fruity resinous wack!

For us, producing these two limited releases isn’t about creating something better, it’s about creating something different. Creating something that embodies our philosophy of making the most of ingredients that are fresh today and keeping it simple.

If you’d like to taste the Galaxy hops in action, buy Pacific Ale online.

Of course, Tassie is a long way from the warm waters of Byron and so it only made sense to catch up with a few friends, share a couple of beers and enjoy the great local food and also throw in a bit of culture….

To the guys at Moo Brew, thanks for showing us around and for taking us down into the underbelly of the art world at MONA.

Hobart and its surrounds are buzzing with venues and wineries offering great food, impressive tap line-ups and world class wine. With our tight schedule, deciding what we would have to miss was difficult.

And to Bill and Chris from Lark Distillery, it is always a pleasure seeing other passionate people putting the same kind of priority on quality and embracing the handcrafted element of producing their product. The tasting of your whiskeys is worth savouring, even if it was 10am in the morning…..

 

Stone & Wood x McTavish – The craft of brewing and shaping

We’ve taken a different approach to the traditional brew to style model. We make handcrafted beer in a part of the world where people enjoy having a beer when relaxing after catching a wave, catching a band at the pub or just catching up with friends. We shape our beers to compliment these local conditions.

Co-Founder and Head Brewer Brad Rogers of Stone & Wood used the feeling of coming straight out of the water on a Summer’s day, with boardies still dripping, running across the hot sand, past the sunbakers, over the grassy knoll and straight into the beer garden to grab a beer that would satisfy that insatiable thirst to create our Pacific Ale…

Brewing as a craft takes a connection to the community, applied skill, experience, creativity and knowledge. Likewise, so does shaping a surfboard.

Godfather of surfing and pioneer Bob McTavish, founded McTavish back in 1962.  Still surfing everyday, his connection to the industry, the local area and innate understanding of how to shape a board for a certain break and ability have ensured his surfboards have remained the benchmark.

While both enjoy creating things, the real connection between the craft of brewing and shaping is the shared passion for using them.

Thank you to Bob McTavish and the McTavish team www.mctavish.com.au
Film: Rest Your Eyes Production www.restyoureyesproduction.com

Kitted out in a white coat, matching hair net and gum boots the size of submarines I entered into the cold chamber where the magic behind the award winning Salumi Australia products are made.  The stuff of dreams or nightmares (depending on your perspective of seeing pork as part of a pig rather than just portioned in Styrofoam), the craft of creating these products has a lot more to do with following old traditions, sourcing the best locally, and having a great team.

Putting down the cutting knife, Founder Massimiliano Scalas (or better known as Massimo) and co-owner Michael Dlask took five minutes to talk about the local area, Massimo’s grandmother and developing Salumi’s premium Australian produced small goods…

What made you start Salumi Australia?

MS – I couldn’t find anything in the market that was very good or that I liked, there was a lot of product but the quality wasn’t there, so I thought why not give it a go. We used some recipes from my Grandmother and went from there.

Where do you source your pork?

MD – Our pork is 100% local Australian Pork originating from growers such as Bangalow Sweet Pork Co and Byron Bay Pork Co

Why do you use locally sourced pork?

MD – To support the local economy and the local farmers, and to reduce the food miles. The pigs we use are some of the best in the world and they are hormone and antibiotic free with no artificial flavourings added.

What makes you come into work each day?

MS – Many people enjoy what we make and it’s a challenge. We get really good feedback from Italians and also Australians.

We also have a great team that make it nice to come to work each morning.

How do you develop new products?

MD – We have a tasting room where we have a meeting every week, go through the products we already have and make sure they’re at a consistent level, if not better. And then we brainstorm new products that either come down through Massimiliano’s family through generations or look at new ones like crocodile and camel.

We listen to people we meet like our friends Shaun and Tessa from Mt Warning Spring Water, they have an interest within the area and the local indigenous people and they recognized a market for crocodile.

Why do you continue to use traditional techniques?

MS – This is what we used to do back in Sardinia. We want the consumer to taste the true flavors of the meat. It’s the best way to develop the flavours, like a good wine…

MD – The more salt, preservatives and additives you put in the product, it takes away from the meat.

It’s about creating the old school flavor with quite a new school facility – creating the hills of Italy in these little rooms. The climate in Australia isn’t good for aging meat so everything needs to be temperature and humidity controlled to achieve that traditional flavor.

We love your products and you guys are quite partial to our beers, if someone was looking to have both together what would you suggest Michael?

The Bottarga Di Muggine which is dried, pressed and salted mullet roe balanced with the fruity flavor of Pacific Ale.

 

Stone & Wood’s Lager (my favourite) with its subtle hops and full malt would go nicely with our Salsiccia Sarda Piccante – a Sardinian style dry sausage with a course grind and mild chilli.

Our Bresaola  – air dried and aged beef cured with juniper berries and bay leaves would wash down well with 500ml of the spicy and bitter Jasper Ale.

 

To check out where you can buy Salumi products from, as well as more information on their products, head to www.salumi.com.au 

When it comes to the local watering hole, we’re at a time where we’re spoilt for choice. Just like the storms that have been battering the east coast (some may have thought Byron had received a dusting of snow from the deluge of hail we received over the weekend), NSW is spattered with a great array of pubs. From those with million dollar views, to the quirky, modern and textbook traditional, you don’t have to go far to find a locale that has a good vibe and a selection of cold beers.

Last night’s SMH Pub Food Guide Awards recognized those in NSW that they feel have it all goin’ on:  food, service, ambience and vibe. Among them, were some of our supporters who proudly pour our humble little beer from their shiny tap, flying the Stone & Wood flag high.

To all the pubs who received a gong last night and especially these great ones who support us below – congratulations and keep up the great work!

Three Schooners

The Burwood Inn, Merewether

East Village Hotel, East Balmain

Two Schooners

Bangalow Hotel, Bangalow

One Schooner

The Longueville Hotel, Lane Cove

The Oaks Hotel, Neutral Bay

Royal Albert Hotel, Surry Hills

Lennox Hotel, Lennox Heads

Eltham Hotel, Eltham

Best Newcomer

The Henson, Marrickville

Best Steak

The Oaks, Neutral Bay

Feature: The Henson

Top to bottom: SMH Good Pub Food Guide 2014, East Village Balmain, The Royal Albert Hotel