BRUNY ISLAND BEER CO.
BRUNY ISLAND BEER CO.
In 2016 we started making craft beer. For Cheese Makers, we makes bloody great beer!
Locally grown ingredients and an eye towards Tasmania's seasons and sensibilities are what guides our beers down an unconventional path. Much like our cheese, our beer is an artisanal product that strives to be the best expression of the seasonally variable ingredients available in our region.
Because the development of beers is very much an ingredient-driven process, we place a lower priority on adhering to common ‘styles’ of beer. We do not strive to make the best ‘lager’ or ‘pilsner’, not only because we are not in Europe, but also because we are in Tasmania, and this is a special place and deserves special beers to call its own. The unlimited potential for creating products expressing distinctively ‘Tasmanian’ characteristics is far more exciting than trying to copy something that makes another part of the world special.
To achieve this, we use locally grown grain wherever possible, 100 per cent Tasmanian grown hops, Bruny Island honey, and Bruny Island water. We frequently experiment with non-traditional or unusual beer ingredients, such as quinoa, spelt, and native plants, for no other reason than they are grown here in Tasmania. We actively forge links up our supply chain and within our community, whether it is working closely with farmers to source to particular ingredients, or having access to freshly emptied whisky barrels to mature beer in.
In keeping with our dairy roots, a collection of decommissioned milk vats was repurposed into a 15 hectolitre brewhouse, located behind our cheesery. All our beers are open fermented, bottle conditioned and free from preservatives.
Nick’s vision for the brewery is delivered by Head Brewer Luke Rutland. True to the ethos that underpins our farming and cheesemaking, the goal in our Brewery is to create intrinsically Tasmanian flavours and explore the rare opportunity offered by a Brewery and Cheesery operating alongside each other.
Our range include half a dozen regular brews as well as several experimental and seasonal releases each year.
PALE ALES
FARM ALE
Farm Ale is a unique pale ale made with wheat, oats and hops from Tasmanian farms. Our flagship session ale is hazy golden, with a smooth bitterness and fruity hop aroma balanced by earthy cereal sweetness.
Style: Tasmanian Pale Ale - 4.8% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Bruny Island Red Wheat, Organic Oats
Hops: Ella, Cascade & Galaxy (dry hopped)
Cheese Match: 1792
CLOUDY BAY IPA
Cloudy Bay IPA is a hazy India Pale Ale (IPA) with deeply Tasmanian roots, made entirely with locally grown and malted barley, Bruny Island red wheat and Bushy Park Hops. Juicy citrus and tropical fruit hop characters dominate, with proteins from the wheat contributing an opaque haze and enhanced body.
Style: Raw Wheat IPA – 6.6% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Bruny Island Red Wheat, Munich Malt
Hops: Ella, Enigma, HPA-Exp, Galaxy (dry hopped)Cheese
Match: Raw Milk C2
HONEY PALE ALE
Honey Pale Ale has a delicate floral character from Bruny Island seasonal honey varieties, complemented by earthy cereal notes from Bruny Island raw barley and wheat. Galaxy and Cascade hops contribute fruity aromatics and a light bitterness. This beer was developed in collaboration with the local pub, Hotel Bruny.
Style: Session Ale – 5.0% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Bruny Island Red Wheat, Bruny Island Raw Barley
Hops: Cascade & Galaxy (dry hopped)
Cheese Match: Bella
REDS
LIGHTHOUSE ALE
Lighthouse Ale is a malty session red ale, with biscuity malt flavours balanced by firm bitterness. Late kettle additions of three Tasmanian aromatic hop varieties - Galaxy, Willamette and Cascade - deliver subtle fruity and floral notes.
Style: Session Red Ale – 2.8% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Munich Malt, Crystal Malt, Wheat Malt
Hops: Cascade & Galaxy
Cheese Match: Tom
DARKS
OXYMORON
Oxymoron is our signature dark pale ale - or is it a pale dark ale? Does it matter if you drink it with your eyes closed? Either way, Oxymoron straddles the gulf between pale and dark and is every bit as intriguing as it sounds, with spicy rye notes meeting pungent, fruit-driven hop aromas.
Style: Dark Pale Ale – 5.5% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Rye Malt, Munich Malt, Crystal Malt, Wheat Malt & Sinimar
Hops: Enigma, Cascade & Galaxy (dry hopped)
Cheese Match: George
BRUNY BLACK
Our dark ale ‘Bruny Black’ is an ideal accompaniment to colder weather and heartier meals. Pouring a reddish-tinged black, this beer offers ample malt-driven flavours of freshly roasted coffee, toffee, and toast intertwined with citrus, spice, and plum notes from Tasmanian-grown Cascade and Ella hops. A robust bitterness emerges late, lingering along with a drying note of roasted barley, making for a complex, yet superbly quaffable drink.
Style: Dark Ale – 5.5% a/v
Grain Bill: Malted Barley, Munich Malt, Roasted Barley, Roasted Malt
Hops: Cascade & Ella (dry hopped)
Cheese Match: Raw Milk C2
WHEY STOUT
Whey Stout is a roasty milk stout enriched with lactose from our very own cow's milk whey left over after making our Raw Milk C2 cheese. Our brewer's yeast cannot digest the lactose sugar, meaning that it stays behind in the beer and enhances the sweetness and gives the texture greater creaminess.
Style: Sweet Stout Enriched with Whey – 5.8% a/v
Grain Bill: Pale Malted Barley, Crystal Malt, Roasted Barley
Hops: Cascade
Cheese Match: Saint
