We have been pumping out Draught Ale through the taps of the local pubs for nearly a year and a half now and the cloudy brew has also been appearing in pubs as far away as Tasmania and Melbourne. After lots of requests we have decided to answer the calls from far and wide and are rolling out Draught Ale in bottles so you can enjoy it when you’re not at the pub. The important thing for us was to stay pure to the principle of drawing the beer fresh from the storage tank into the bottle without filtering or pastuerising it.  We leave the yeast in Draught Ale because we believe it adds something special to the flavour of the beer. Over the last year or so we’ve noticed that the yeast tends to drop to the bottom of the kegs so we ask the guys at the pubs to roll the kegs around every day to rouse the yeast and keep it in suspension so they are always serving it with an even cloud of yeast. Over the last couple of months whilst we have been drinking our trial bottling runs of Draught Ale we have noticed the same thing happening in the bottles. The yeast drops to the bottom of the bottle over time so we recommend you give the bottle a gentle roll or tip it upside down before opening it to rouse the yeast.  Keep an eye on the Where to Get It page of our website to see where you can grab Draught Ale bottles … and give ‘em a roll

Stone & Wood Draught Ale is called “Draught” because  we draw it straight from the storage tank at the brewery.  When we sample it out of the tank it tastes so fresh and alive with a big fruity aroma. Drawing it from the tank and straight into a keg without filtering or pastuerising it means that the beer that is served on tap at the pub is in the same condition as it is when we try it from the tank at the brewery … simply fresh.  It’s a great sight to see people grabbing frothing schooners of Draught Ale at the pub … it’s like an extension of the brewery.

There have been some very thirsty people in town recently so it’s been a busy start to the year.  We have also been working away on a new project which we are hoping to reveal within a few weeks. It’s not huge news, but for all those people out there who have been biting at our heals asking for it, it will be a good thing as their patient waiting will soon be over. Meanwhile Australia Day came and went this week, and we just love the way this country takes the day off to celebrate what we do the rest of the year … “kicking back enjoying a beer and a barbeque and hanging out with some friends” … gotta luv this country! Cheers

We were absolutely blown away to find out that our Pale Lager made it into the Top 20 Beers in the Weekend Australian. For some time now James Halliday’s Top 100 Wines have been accompanied by a Top 20 Beers as selected this year by renowned beer writer Peter Lalor. To see our Pale Lager sneak into the mix in its first year is just fantastic.  We are still pinching ourselves that we are one of only eleven breweries to have beers in the list, and there are some great breweries amongst them. Its great to get some recognition like this but its even better to see people enjoying drinking our beer at the local bars and restaurants and now as far away as WA.

Anyway we’ll keep working hard to brew it and you just keep drinking it … deal?

We just had a huge weekend in Brisbane at the Good Food & Wine Show. It was fantastic to be able to introduce our beers to so many people, and to get such great feedback. We met lots of good people too, so thanks for dropping in and saying hi.

A few lucky people even got to try the Stone Beer too!

There’s been a fair bit of interest in our Stone Beer, and we are happy to report that bottle conditioning is all done and we are ready to label and pack the batch next week. So you should be able to find it at good bottle shops in a couple of weeks or you can pre-order by dropping us an email.

Here’s a couple of videos that give you a bit of an idea about how we made our Stone Beer.

In the these times of globalisation and mass marketing it’s great to see that there are pub operators out there willing to support the small local breweries. These pubs or bars are keen to put a range of beers on tap that highlight the real diversity of beer and showcase some of the great local brews that are being produced by the many craft breweries around the country. We have our beer on tap in a number of these great pubs and bars, such as the Grand Central, the Pig & Whistle and the QA in Brisbane, the Pink Poodle on the Gold Coast, The Local Taphouse in Sydney and The Royston in Melbourne just to name a few. There are many more, and you can check out the where to get it page to find them … Here’s cheers to these great watering holes …!

Last weekend we put Pale Lager into kegs and hooked them up at The Rails and The Northern in Byron. All those people who have been drinking bottles of Pale Lager can now get it fresh off the tap whilst you are in town. This weekend Pale Lager also debuts on tap at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda as part of their annual SpecTapular celebrations. The Darlinghurst Taphouse will also feature it when they crank up their event next weekend. So our lager is on the loose … watch out for it at a bar near you … Prost!

What a huge week it has been for us! A couple of new arrivals at Stone & Wood and a night of celebration as we launch our first batch of Stone Beer. A lot of people have been hanging out to get the low down on why we called the brewery Stone & Wood; well the wait is over.

Firing up our Stone Beer

After a few years of thinking about it we recently put all the theory and trials aside and brewed our first batch of Stone Beer. As a tribute to the brewers of the Middle Ages we brewed it by adding wood fired stones to the kettle to rouse the boil and intensify the malt characters of the brew.

Long before the wizardry of steam was invented, brewers used stone and wood to brew their daily beer. They built a fire to heat large stones until they were hot enough to be added to their wooden vats to create a boiling brew. Apart from the obvious heating effects, the brewing stones also caramelised the brew to create subtle but rich toffee like flavours.

We have a perfectly good boiler, but it is those intense malt flavours from caramelising the wort that we have gone to great lengths to create. To add further complexity we then added the sticky cooled stones to the fermenter to let the yeast have a real treat feeding on the “wort candy” during fermentation.

Stone & Wood Stone Beer has a deep red hue and a rich caramel malt character balanced with firm hop bitterness.

Stand by for a video of the Stone Beer brew day on our website soon …

Welcome Scotty

It was another big moment for us this week as we welcomed Scott Hargrave as a new member to the Stone & Wood team. After many years of award winning home brewing in Canberra, Scott fled to warmer climes to be the brewer at the Sunshine Coast Brewery where he picked up a number of gongs at this year’s Australian International Beer Awards.

We have been lucky enough to lure him south to Byron Bay to work with us, and he’s already become part of the family as we spent the week bottle conditioning, hand labeling and also racking a short run of Stone Beer in preparation for our brews & bar chords night.

Mick, Michael & the Box

In what was an unforgettable night at the brewery, we held our first brews & bar chords night to celebrate the launch of the Stone Beer. Providing the well crafted tunes to perfectly balance our brews was Mick Thomas supported by Michael Barclay and his Box. Having the brewery full of family, friends and some avid Mick fans was pretty special. Mick is a home brewer and beer lover and the night was his first chance to play a gig in a brewery.

It all just made for a cracking night …

The warmth of the sun is starting to kick in here in Byron Bay and there is a real buzz building in the local villages. The stirrings of Spring are a sign that the hard work of brewing beer for the growing thirst of the locals and visitors is just around the corner. But when the tanks are full and the brews are bubbling away doing their thing, there’s time to slip down the road and soak up the relaxed vibe in the town or at the beach. Meanwhile those brews just seem to be chilling out and working away at their own pace … brewing in Byron time …

Cheers