A visit to Stone & Wood Brewery, Byron Bay
October 28, 2009
Last week Thirsty Critters was commissioned to take our first ‘custom tour’ beyond the bounds of our usual itinerary. Instead of heading up to MT, we proceeded directly to Byron Bay to visit the gents down at Stone & Wood Brewery.
My guests for the day were a contingent of staff from the Platform Bar, being taken on what I believe is called a ‘famil’ in the tourist trade – a day out to familiarise oneself with the product one is selling behind the bar! And apparently the Platform Bar sells a LOT of Stone & Wood behind the bar.
We were greeted most warmly upon arrival by Ross & Brad, who even had a BBQ breakfast waiting for us upon arrival!
Stone & Wood's Brad helps some guests to a BBQ breakfast
Waiting as well was an icebox full of their staple lager, Pale Lager, and a minikeg full of their flagship ale, Draught Ale. All guests wasted no time familiarising themselves with both varieties of beer – except your humble driver, of course.
Stone & Wood is plonked in the industrial estate opposite Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, in a single shed containing the entire brewing and bottling plant. The entire setup is little over a year old, with gleaming new stainless steel brewing plant from Canada, a bottler salvaged from a defunct WA brewery, and a marvellous communal wooden table to drink beer around, created from a massive packing crate.
Brad talks beer to the guests around the communal Stone & Wood table
Ross gave us an introduction to the story behind Stone & Wood – basically, after long careers at Matilda Bay Brewery, it was time to go it alone, and Byron Bay seemed as good a place as any to start a brewery. Approximately three years later their first Draught Ale was ready to be delivered to local pubs. The Draught Ale was specifically crafted with local drinkers in mind, coming in from a surf and settling down to some live local music. And it certainly met their expectations, and mine – I clearly remember finding Stone & Wood at the Beach Hotel for the first time and being highly, highly impressed.
Brad – who was the brewer who formulated pretty much every Matilda Bay line up to Fat Yak – then gave us a short tour of the brewery, and then sat us down for the highlight of the tour – an advance tasting of their new Stone Beer:
Brad serves up a special preview tasting of Stone Beer
It’s quite unlike any beer I’ve tasted before – a deep reddish colour, full of complex maltiness but ultimately highly drinkable. There’ll be a keg on tap at the Platform Bar soon, and 500ml bottles of it in the shop out the back.
In all, it was a fantastic insight into the workings of an independent brewery, and it couldn’t be run by two nicer guys. Keep your eye out for Stone & Wood near you, it’s a quality drop made by quality brewers in the most quality part of the world!
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