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A brewery in the NSW Riverina is brewing craft beers with native ingredients to encourage mainstream drinkers to try something new.

Just 15 kilometres outside Griffith, in the heart of the Riverina, is a tiny town called Yenda.

Surrounded by fields of rice and barley, groves of citrus and cherries, and abundant vineyards, the village of 1500 is also home to The Australian Beer Co, a small brewer that’s looking to have a big impact on the beer-drinking scene.

A joint venture between Coca-Cola Amatil and long-standing winemaking company, Casella, the Australian Beer Co was established with a mind to introducing mainstream beer drinkers to the pleasures of craft.

Founded three years ago, the brewery draws on the winemaker’s technical know-how and the soft-drink company’s near-total Australian distribution.

The nascent company’s first product was Pressman’s Cider, which was dedicated to using fresh apples grown in the Golden Valley region.

“It was about supporting local growers,” explains Australian Beer Co marketer Sam Johnstone.

“Which is why we’ve probably won a lot of awards for the cider because it’s actually made with real apples and no concentrate.”

The company quickly moved into beer, launching its Ale House Premium Draught and Ale House Summer Gold, which were only available on tap.

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“That was to support publicans on premise, more than anything,” says Johnstone.

“What we’ve noticed over many years is draught beer is the best beer.

"The best way that you can drink it is from out of a tap in a pub: it’s at its freshest.

"When draft systems are well cared for, the beer tastes fantastic.

"It was more about driving people back into pubs and giving publicans a reason to get more people in their hotels.”

Given the explosive growth of the craft beer industry in recent years, it naturally wasn’t long before Australian Beer Co began considering its own craft beer range, named, of course, after the town.

“During that time, we identified that the craft beer scene in Australia was rapidly growing, and the consumers were looking for more flavour in their beer,” Johnstone recalls.

“When we sat down with the brewers, and they designed the Yenda range of beer, the brief they came back with was they wanted all of their beers to be really malt-driven, as opposed to hop forward.

"They needed to be full-flavoured, full-bodied, and have a really clean finish.”

Emphasising the malt characteristics was a strategic decision for the company, allowing them to create approachable beers for drinkers who were more familiar with inoffensive lagers from the two largest corporate brewers.

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“What we identified, just from tasting a lot different craft beers not only from Australia, but internationally as well, is that there’s a lot of use of hops, which is great because as a brewer and a dedicated craft beer lover, I love it,” Johnstone explains.

“However, the average consumer who’s just stepping into that craft beer market can find it a bit confronting, and this could turn them off craft beer.

We wanted to make sure we delivered a range of styles and flavours that were definitely approachable.

That’s where that malt-driven and full-bodied style comes into it. That way, they come back and have another one.”

Rural requirements

The hallmark of the Yenda range is the Yenda Red Mid Ale, which with a full-bodied honey and roasted-caramel flavour, is designed to appeal to the growing mid-strength market.

It also appeals to Yenda locals.

“At the Yenda Hotel, we have our Yenda Red,” says Johnstone. “In regional areas, mid-strength beers are actually quite important. Because they live on properties, consumers have to drive to their local pub.”

Along with Yenda Red, there’s a Pale Ale, Golden Ale, and Unfilted Lager and an IPA for the more daring.

Johnstone insists that the move by CCA and Casella into craft beer isn’t about competing with smaller players in a burgeoning market, it’s about supporting the category as a whole by growing it.

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“At the moment, craft is around seven percent of total beer sales, with mainstream beer declining.

Yenda’s role in that is to drive more people into craft beer.

What we want to do is get more people drinking craft beer and drinking it more often,” Johnstone says.

“It’s a nice entry point into craft.

Then, maybe in a few more years as their palate develops, they start drinking things like Pirate Life’s double IPAs or imperial stouts from Hawkers, which are really great beers.”

Native influence

The brewers are also introducing drinkers to unfamiliar flavours closer to home.

The first release of their recently launched ‘Beyond the Black Stump’ range is brewed using local wattleseeds, with sweet hazelnut and vanilla notes, and sour undertones coming through.

Johnstone believes Australian consumers are already open to the idea of native ingredients.

“Being in Australia, we’re an isolated country," he says. 

"The last two or three decades have been about finding out what’s actually in our own backyard, what’s available, and working with it and starting to see what that can do.”

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The brewers experiment using a fifty-litre pilot brewhouse, in which they’ve been adding indigenous ingredients such as finger lime and Kakadu plum.

Because of the supply of native ingredients, the brews are by definition limited.

“When you’re working with native ingredients, they’re actually quite expensive, so when you go to produce a beer, you can’t make too much of it.

"That means you’re left with limited supply, which is good because you don’t have to get to too many people to sell your product through,” says Johnstone.

Artistic licence

This spirit of experimentation is essential to the success of the Australian Beer Co, Johnstone believes.

While the company is certainly an offshoot of two larger corporations, the forty-person business operates independently and without the interference of their larger subsidiaries, according to Johnstone.

“I’m not sure how it works with the other larger brewers’ craft arms, but I know we are independent. We control our own brands and our recipes, but we get our sales and distribution through Coca-Cola Amatil,” he says.

“In terms of the marketing, the recipe design, packaging, we do all of that. That’s Australian Beer Company.”

When it comes to the beers themselves, it’s the brewers who drive the product that goes to market.

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“Our brewers have free reign,” he says.

“With the design of the Yenda range, it was up to the brewers to design the flavour profiles and the styles of beer to take to the market and then to consumers, which is exciting from a brewer’s point of view.”

In any case, Johnstone believes that the interest in craft beer – particularly those using local ingredients and authentic practices – will continue apace.

“I don’t see why we can’t reach the levels that they’re experiencing in the US,” he says.

“I think they’re close to 20 per cent share now with craft beer.

"There’s no reason why Australia couldn’t follow that trend.”

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