A fresh approach to brewing hand crafted beer in Byron Bay

this’ll be specTAPular !

January 7th, 2011

Right at the moment there are breweries around the country working up some real treats for next month’s Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular. The brainchild of the beer bar gurus at The Local Taphouses in Sydney and Melbourne, the GAB SpecTAPular is sure to be a day to remember for beer lovers.

22 of the best craft breweries in Australia are brewing away to create a special brew for this festival. The beers will be either “one offs” created especially for the event, or the pre-release of some new beers.

We are brewing up a special little brew that we will be showcasing at the event, and no, we won’t be telling you anymore about it. It’s real secret squirrel stuff!

The events will be raising funds for the Red Cross Queensland Food Appeal, so you’ll be able to drink some good beer and do some good all at the same time!

So put a big ring around the 12th of February in your diary and make sure you get along to either of The Local Taphouses in St. Kilda or Darlinghurst.

We’ll see you there!

Cheers

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the year in beer …

December 30th, 2010

It’s been a big year in little beer, and before we launch into twenty eleven, we thought we’d take this final opportunity to have a look back at the year in beer and reflect on what we’ve been doing …

Out and About…

We love life around Byron Bay, but we jump at the chance to travel around the country and meet people too. Over the last year, we’ve poured beers at the Sydney Good Food & Wine Show, The Australian Hotel Beer Festival and the Warners At The Bay Beer Festival. There was Melbourne for the Beer Expo, Perth for WA Beer Week and even New Zealand for a trip to Beervana. We saw plenty of old friends and made lots of new ones too. A good reminder that while brewing beer is one of the greatest jobs on the planet, it’s not half as much fun if you don’t get out and share it with people.

Visiting Rights…

It’s not all water, malt, hops and yeast around here. Any downtime is usually spent chasing good surf, good food or good music. If wedon’t have the time to get out and find all that good stuff, we do the next best thing and bring it to the brewery. On the music front, local singer Andrea Soler played Brews & Bar Chords this year and Xavier Rudd snuck in for a surprise set at the Sea Shepherd fundraiser.Local surfboard shapers dropped around for our first Surf Market and we even turned the brewery into a super-sized restaurant for our Three & Three Dinner. Everyone from beer writers like The Crafty Pint to the boys from Beer Deluxe and the Local Taphouse to bus loads of Thirsty Critters tour groups have showed up along the way. We’re not sure if it’s the fresh beer drawn straight from the tanks, a treat that’s becoming a bit of a tradition, but lots seem to keep coming back too.

Brew-volution…

At the end of the day (or year) it’s still all about the beer. The past 12 months have involved some big steps (putting Draught Ale in a bottle for the first time) and small tweaks (changing its name from Draught Ale to Pacific Ale) which have all played a part in the slow evolution of the brewery. We fired the rocks up again for our Stone Beer at the start of winter and then celebrated spring with a limited release of Kellerbier for the first time.

What will 2011 bring?

We like to keep things simple, but having brewed our two beers for the last two years, there’s been some talk about new brews in the new year, so stand by for a few surprises. There’ll definitely be some new merchandise to complement our popular “Secret Ingredient” t-shirt and another thing that’s guaranteed is we’ll get a new tank or two so we can spread Stone & Wood goodness even further.

Stay in touch…

We’re a pretty small team, so without the help of all the good people who stock our beer and your help in spreading the word we wouldn’t have had such a great year. So thank you for the support in 2010. There are some exciting times ahead and as always you can stay in the loop via Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Or just drop by our website now and again. Even better, come and visit the brewery sometime. You’re always welcome.

Until next year,

Cheers

Jamie, Brad and Ross

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cooking up history

December 7th, 2010

When the guys from the Discovery Channel contacted us with the idea of trying to recreate history, we thought … why not? Being part of the beer industry means we are somehow connected to one of the world’s oldest prepared beverages. A little while back (ok, about 3,000 years ago) an early form of beer was prepared using basic methods, and as part of the Discovery Channel’s upcoming show “How Beer Saved the World” they wanted us to reproduce a form of this ancient brew.

So Brad set up his pots and pans, the film crew rolled through the gates and away we went. A crazy day of “brewing” was followed by a session at one of the local pubs to see how the brew stacked up against others beers on tap (something we do every Friday really).

It was lots of fun, but you’ll have to wait a while to see the end result as the show will be aired in the US before the Super Bowl on Feb 6th.

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what’s in a name?

November 30th, 2010
Back in November 2008 when we proudly rolled out our first brew we were hell bent on keeping things simple. Brewed to no existing style, our cloudy, dry hopped ale was to be a draught only beer. We didn’t want to give it some crazy quirky critter name, we just called it what it was, an ale drawn fresh from the tank and available only on draught … so Draught Ale it was.

Over the next year and a half or so of pumping out the hoppy goodness we were constantly asked to have our Draught Ale available in bottles. Rolling out a Draught Ale in bottles seemed a bit weird but hey, we had a whole bunch of people who knew the beer as Draught Ale,  so the same beer out of the tank was put into kegs and bottles and away we went.

On another angle, ever since we launched our ale, people have continually been asking us, “what style of beer is it?”

As independently minded brewers we don’t want to be limited to brewing beers from an existing style register. There is nothing stopping brewers from developing new approaches, and using new ingredients to create new styles of beer that don’t fit the strict criteria of traditional beer styles. That’s the mindset that drives our approach to brewing, and is what led us to develop our ale.

After a couple of years of living and brewing in this little town and watching people enjoying our Draught Ale here and afar, we are convinced that it has developed its own style, its own special place in the small beer world. So we have changed the name of our Draught Ale but the beer remains the same.

Our ale deserves a name that speaks to where it is created, its home, a name that helps it establish its own place and its own beer style. The answer has been staring us in the face all along. It’s now called Stone & Wood Pacific Ale.

Inspired by our home on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and brewed using all Australian barley, wheat and Galaxy hops, Pacific Ale is cloudy and golden with a big fruity aroma and a refreshing finish.

So when someone asks us “what style of beer is it?”, we will simply say it’s a Pacific Ale.

The change won’t happen overnight, but it will progressively roll out as we change our packaging materials etc over the coming months.

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show ‘n’ shine at the brewery

November 17th, 2010

Come along to the Surf Market at our brewery, a show ‘n’ shine featuring local surfboards, surf photography, fins and artworks. There’ll also be music, short films, fresh beer, a BBQ and an auction for a huge hamper full of goodies with allprofits going to Troy Jackson, a local surfer who is currently in need of some help for a serious health issue.

Featuring craft by Rhythmsticks, Zed, Vouch, Emery and Skerry, and introducing the girls from Tallow. There will also be surf photography by John Milek and other random stuff like the surf / art diary from Happy Days.

If you dig a bit of surf culture, come and hang out. If you dig locally brewed beer, come and hang out. If you feel like raising a bit of money for a great cause, come and hang out. Everyone’s welcome.

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Draught Ale taps into Top 20

November 12th, 2010

We can’t believe it was a year ago that Pale Lager slipped into The Weekend Australian’s Top 20 Beers, and now our Draught Ale has made the cut in this years list. Each year long time suds scribe Peter Lalor pulls together a list of his Top 20 beers to sit alongside James Halliday’s Top 100 wines.  We are stoked that both of our beers have been in such great company over last two years since we started brewing in Byron Bay in November 2008.

There were beers from seventeen different breweries in this year’s list which is up from last year when brews from just eleven breweries featured. Based on those numbers it looks like there is a growing number of brewers out there brewing a wider range of good craft beers.

Whilst it’s great that there are more and more good beers being brewed by more and more breweries, we really have to thank the growing number of pub / bar operators and retailers (both big and small) out there who are really making it all worth while by supporting the craft brewers and showcasing good beer to the ever-swelling number of beer drinkers who have a thirst for and appreciation of good beer.

As we said last year … we’ll keep focussing on brewing good beer as long as you keep drinking it …deal?

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keeping things fresh

October 25th, 2010

We like to keep things fresh, so we’ve brewed a limited release of Kellerbier for spring. Kellerbier is a German style of lager that isn’t filtered or pasteurised. Unlike filtered lagers, Kellerbier has a distinctly cloudy appearance because it contains its original brewing yeast held in suspension. The term literally translates to “cellar beer”. As an added twist our Kellerbier is dry hopped in the tank to give it a punchy hop aroma. Traditionally, Kellerbier is enjoyed from freshly tapped kegs during the warmer months of spring. With only a small number of kegs headed out the doors later this month, you’ll find it at all good beer bars and pubs around Byron, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, but only for a limited time.

Keep an eye on our where to get it page for updates on where and when it will be pouring.

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brews go down at the rocks

October 5th, 2010

The Australian Hotel down in the Rocks in Sydney is doing it again with the sixth annual Australian Hotel Beer Festival kicking into gear  across the weekend of the 16th and 17th of October. As we celebrate the arrival of good beer drinking weather this spring, this festival is a “must go” for any beer lover in Sydney. We are making the trip down the coast, for what will be a huge weekend, to see all the craft beer people over a weekend of good brews. If you are heading down to the Rocks, be sure to drop in and say hi. Cheers!

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under the bridge

September 21st, 2010

Roll on down and join us at that famous Brisbane watering hole, The Story Bridge Hotel next Wednesday the 29th September for what promises to be a great night of beer and food. Executive Chef, Jason Walker has pulled together an awesome menu to match a selection of brews from Stone & Wood and fellow brewers Little Creatures. Brad will be on hand to talk about the beers and how they work alongside Jason’s specially prepared dishes. Tickets are $70 per head and can be booked by calling the Story Bridge Hotel on 3391 2266. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

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dinner a winner

September 17th, 2010

Judging by the feedback, our first Three & Three Dinner was a hit. As you can see, the brewery was lit up like a Christmas tree on the night, which was fitting, because it seemed like the holiday season had come early with so much good food, good beer and good friends, along with gifts for everyone – commemorative bottles of beer, hampers from the Byron Bay Coffee Company and Brookfarm plus a beach cruiser push bike from Sunrise Cycles! The team at Seaweed Cuisine lived up to their reputation too with beautiful dishes matched with each of the beers. Interestingly, lots of people reckon the mystery beer was their favourite – a treat that will remain a mystery for everyone except those here on the night. As well as a special beer, we also made a short video about Byron and a few of the local producers for everyone. Check it out here.

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