The Stone & Wood story is the closest you’ll come to a fairy tale in the world of Australian brewing. It’s the story of three friends who’d done rather well for themselves in the world of big league brewing and decided to head off and do it for themselves in one of the country’s most beautiful spots. And it’s a story that has got off to a flying start, with their two core beers already proving popular across Australia and one being spoken of as the new classic Aussie ale.
The three friends are Brad Rogers, Jamie Cook and Ross Jurisich,
who worked together at Matilda Bay, CUB’s craft beer arm, having come through the ranks at Foster’s. During that time, Brad tweaked old recipes and introduced a number of impressive limited release beers at the Garage brewery before the trio decided to up sticks to Byron Bay and start their own brewery in 2008. As they state on their website: “Our dream was to quit ‘working for the man’, shed the corporate garbage and get back to basics.”
They kicked off with two core beers, a Pale Lager created in a subtle Germanic style, and a Draught Ale inspired by the beers made by European microbreweries that were designed to be drunk fresh within a few kilometres of the brewery. The latter – which uses all Australian ingredients and is the best example yet of the qualities of the Galaxy hop – proved so popular when a few kegs were sent further afield that it had to be packaged too to meet drinkers' demands. As a result, at the end of 2010 it was renamed Pacific Ale given it had left its draught roots well behind. Occasional limited releases, such as the Stone Beer made using hot stones in an ancient technique and an unfiltered kellerbier (which The Crafty Pint once got to dry hop!), supplement these, with a new beer rumoured to be in the pipeline for 2011.
As for the brewery itself, you’ll find it tucked away on a small artsy industrial estate just outside Byron itself, combining hi-tech gear with a bit of lo-tech, homespun creativity and one of the best brewing minds in Australia. There’s no official opening hours, no tour times and no onsite bar (although they do hold occasional fundraisers at the brewery), but if you make the trek and let them know you’re coming, chances are you’ll get to sample the legendary Stone & Wood hospitality. If they’re not around, head to pretty much any bar in the area to taste their simply delightful beers at their best.
Stone & Wood (NSW) Beers
The Specials
Regulars
Stone & Wood Pacific Ale
The beer formerly known as Draught Ale is rapidly becoming an Aussie classic. A beer made in Byron Bay that is exactly what you’d want after a hot day enjoying Byron Bay, it uses all Aussie malts and the Australian Galaxy hop from start to finish to create a refreshing quaffer with few equals. Originally designed to be served on tap within close range of the brewery (hence the original name) it couldn’t be contained, with word spreading far and wide and the brewers caving in to popular demand. Awash with passionfruit, citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavours, with just a hint of bitterness and some zest from the addition of wheat, it’s a cloudy, unfiltered joy of a beer.
Style: Australian Ale
Strength: 4.4%
Stone & Wood Pale Lager
The first beer released by Stone & Wood is their recreation of the pale lagers favoured by German brewers, inspired by days enjoying steins in Munich’s beer gardens. Using imported German grain and noble European hops, the former lends it honeyed and biscuity characteristics, the latter a subtle bitterness. Another refreshing quaffer borne of its surroundings.
Style: Pale Lager
Strength: 4.7%
Stone & Wood Jasper
Anyone paying close attention to goings on at Stone & Wood for the past couple of years, if asked to choose what style of beer they might next add to their roster, may well have plumped for a red-hued ale. Their beer for last year’s inaugural Great Australasian Beer Spectapular was the Red Relief Ale, while they’ve been tweaking their annual Stone Beer release year-on-year too. And so it is, with the Jasper – inspired by the colour of the earth of the hinterland that borders their Byron Bay home – joining the Pacific and Lager as a year-round release. Quite how they found time to introduce it given the ever-surging demand for their Pacific and constant expansion is a small wonder; that it’s a beer boasting balance and repeat drinkability isn’t. It’s the brewery’s trademark and the Jasper, which they describe as something of a German Alt, American Amber, British Brown Ale hybrid, blends some sweet and toasty caramel and chocolate malt flavours with some subtle, earthy and gently spicy old world hop characters in a beer you’d picture yourself knocking back by the pint in a welcoming boozer. Perhaps that’s why they’ve put it in 500ml bottles instead of stubbies…
Available: [Find it here](http://www.stoneandwood.com.au/availability.html)
Style: Amber Ale
Strength: 4.7%
Specials
Stone & Wood Stone Beer (2011)
Given the runaway success of their Pacific Ale, the Stone & Wood team has little time to do anything but brew batch after batch of it these days (well, when not surfing or hanging out at the beach, anyway). But they do like to find time for their annual Stone Beer brew, the beer that involves head brewer Brad Rogers pulling out the rocks he’s been lugging around since his days brewing in Fiji, superheating them over a fire and using them in the brewing process. It’s a recreation of an ancient brewing technique and one that allows them to mess around a little with the recipe year on year. For while this year’s Stone Beer, launched at a pair of festivals in Byron and Melbourne, clocks in at the same ABV as last year’s, it’s a somewhat different beast. A slightly deeper red than last year’s, it also boasts a heavier body and flavour, with the sweeter caramels of 2010 replaced by darker toffees in a beer with greater bitterness and a hint of smokiness. In fact, despite coming out of one of the sunniest spots in the world, it wouldn’t be out of place being served over a bar in Scotland.
Available:
The Local Taphouse St Kilda
Beer DeLuxe
Royston
Courthouse Hotel
Josie Bones
Purvis Beer Richmond
Purvis Beer
Blackhearts & Sparrows
McCoppins
Valley Cellar Door
Style: Stone Beer
Strength: 5.3%
Stone & Wood Red Relief
Originally under construction for The Local Taphouse’s Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular – and intended as a prototype for a potential third permanent member of the brewery’s lineup – this beer became a fundraising tool when the floods hit Queensland early in 2011. Given it’s a red beer and it was hoping to raise around $20,000 for the Flood Relief appeal, the name came easy. As for the beer, it’s a darker beast than anything (except perhaps their occasional Stone Beer release) to come out of the Byron Bay brewery, with nutty malts leading the way. And, as with everything Brad and co have put it, it’s well balanced, beautifully clean and demands you go back for more.
Style: Red Ale
Strength: 4.7%
