We reckon drinking beer is one of life’s simple pleasures and when we heard that the fifth annual Life’s Simple Pleasures Photography Competition was about to fire up we had to get on board. Entries are now open and this years theme is based on a quote from Winston Churchill … “All the great things are simple”. 

Hey we’re with you on that big W! 

The competition is hosted by the Brunswick Heads Chamber of Commerce and entry forms are available online at www.brunswickheads.org.au . So start snapping because entries close on the 7th of August.

The Guys from Pig ‘n’ Whistle (great pubs with great beers) in Brisvegas were on tour this week, here’s some of the gang with Brad at the Brewery….a couple of tasters, a brewery tour, a mini pub crawl and back to the big smoke, not a bad way to spend a day.

It was great to see Stone & Wood Draught Ale on tap amongst a great line up of beers at The Local Taphouse SpecTAPular today. A big thanks to the taphouse boys for giving us the opportunity to have our beer available at two great bars (Sydney & Melbourne). If you want great beer, head to the The Local Taphouse … they are beer temples!

We have taken delivery of our latest toy….a packaging line. So that means that we will have a new beer in bottles in just a short while, stay tuned.

Every now and then a pub comes along that transforms a town….The Beach Hotel is one of those places. Positioned on Bay St overlooking the Pacific Ocean ‘The Beach’ is a must see for anyone coming to town. Great food, great music, great view and great beer.

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to take you on a pub crawl of a few of the pubs pouring Stone & Wood Draught Ale. 1st cab off the rank is the Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay, built in 1939 this hotel still retains its original character and charm and is one of the greatest band venues in the area.

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A lot of people have asked us why we decided on Byron Bay as the place to set up our brewery and our answer has always been “why not?” … for a whole bunch or reasons the Northern New South Wales coastline and hinterland is a special part of the world. Add to that a strong community that embraces diversity and creativity and you have the ideal spot for the home of Stone & Wood.

It’s been a big year for us and to see our beer being enjoyed in the local pubs has made it all worthwhile, but it’s only the start … we’re looking forward to an even bigger year in 2009. Thanks for dropping in …

Cheers,

Brad, Ross and Jamie

There were a lot of comments, ideas and suggestions about what we should brew which was great to see.

(see ready, set, brew …)

We’ve now put the brewery through its paces and its doing everything we hoped it would. It’s a grunty little brewhouse, and it brews up a real storm. After fine tuning a few brews we are now only days away from having our first beer ready… you can smell the hops and excitement in the air …

This brewing game isnt all beer and skittles…..we wanted an easy identifer for our kegs, so we decided that they needed painting……400 kegs and a whole weekend later..! It’s about time we filled them.

In between all the ‘hard work’ of brewing at the moment we thought we would refresh ourselves with a sneaky little wave at The Pass at lunch time today……and so did world #2 Bede Durbidge below…anyway back to the tasting room.