When Temple’s owners, Ron and Renata Feruglio, first started dropping hints about their plans for a brewery, bar and brasserie to The Crafty Pint they claimed they would be creating a venue unlike any seen in Australia before. And with its contemporary industrial chic – concrete walls adorned with bold graphics, walls of glass that reveal the brewery, exposed foam ceilings and, above all else, dramatic stone bars embossed with bold concrete “TEMPLE” lettering and framed by metallic rays overhead – the East Brunswick brewery does just that.
Getting it up and running has been a labour of love for the couple: the launch in December 2011 came almost 18 months later than they originally intended. They weren’t the only ones desperate for it to open, either. For three years before setting out on their mission to build their temple to beer, they had established an excellent reputation for their beers in the Victorian craft beer market. Ron used to travel to other breweries around Victoria, ingredients and equipment in tow, to brew gypsy-style, with his beers regarded as among the best in Australia.
Back then, the staples were a Pale, Saison and Special Bitter. The first two were reintroduced at launch, along with a Japanese Soba Ale made with buckwheat, the Temple Brunswick Draught, and a Bicycle Beer, a relatively low alcohol affair with a refreshing touch of tartness designed for those heading home under their own steam. The Midnight IPA first piloted at an industry event in 2010 followed soon afterwards, with the Special Bitter making a return in autumn 2012. As well as the custom built Newlands brewhouse, Ron has a smaller pilot brewery that should allow many more experimental brews to appear on the in house taps.
It’s not just beer the Feruglios are keen to push, however. They invited chef Raymond Chang, formerly of Vue Du Monde and CERES, to head operations in the kitchen, where he’s been creating small brasserie dishes with a focus on fresh local produce as well as rather fancy beer food. Add knowledgeable bar staff and an upstair room intended for functions and beer education sessions to the mix and it’s easy to conclude it was well worth the wait.
Temple Beers
The Regulars
The Specials
Regulars
Temple Brunswick Draught
A beer conceived with a nod both to the local community and the good old Aussie bitter, the Temple Brunswick Draught is one that will be familiar to anyone that’s drunk a traditional Aussie beer, yet different too. The familiarity comes from the use of the old school and much unfancied in craft beer circles Pride of Ringwood hops. The difference comes from the fact that it’s used in a beer that’s clean and flavoursome and comes with a rich malt flavour drawn from ten different malts sourced from all over the world. Together they create a session beer that’s as Aussie as they come, yet with a global touch that’s a nod to the multicultural community in which the brewery sits.
Style: Bitter
Strength: 4.5%
Bitterness: 32 IBU
Temple Bicycle Beer
The second of two new permanent beers introduced at the brewery’s launch, this is a refresher of relatively low alcohol designed for, you guessed it, quaffing and still being able to cycle home. Slightly tart, thanks to the use of the American wheat yeast, it has a subtle hop aroma created by a blend of seven hops, that’s at once slightly spicy and citrusy. In typical Temple fashion, there’s an unusual ingredient, this time salt from an ancient lake found underneath the Grampians, that adds a dryness to the finish. An unusual but rewarding new addition to the Aussie beer scene.
Style: American Wheat
Strength: 4.2%
Bitterness: 21 IBU
Temple Pale Ale
The return of an old favourite, this is Temple’s faithful take on the US Pale Ale style, with plenty of floral new world hops on the nose, captured in the brewery’s hopback, and a rich, full malt flavour wrapped up with a firm bitterness.
Style: American Pale Ale
Strength: 5.1%
Bitterness: 34.5 IBU
Temple Saison
One of the beers that put Temple on the craft beer map when they were operating as gypsy brewers – making their beers on other people’s breweries. A flavoursome and complex take on a style that’s becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Saisons are traditional farmhouse beers originating in parts of France and southern Belgium. The Temple take is pale and cloudy with a light orange hue and a dense rocky head. The aroma is full of fruit and spice with a noticeable yeast character, with unmalted spelt (one of the world’s oldest cultivated grains) lending a dry note to both the aroma and flavour. The use of spices including coriander, authentic Belgian orange peel and an exotic Brazilian pepper adds a further level of complexity to a beer that’s dry, refreshing and slightly funky – and one that we’re glad is back.
Style: Saison
Strength: 6.0%
Bitterness: 25 IBU
Temple Soba Ale
A beer that first made its appearance as a specialty brew for the Shinobi Japanese Garden at Beer DeLuxe early in 2010, it became the fifth member of the Temple permanent range when the brewery opened its doors in December 2011. A tweaked recipe for the beer based on the traditional German altbier style has led to a firmer bitterness thanks to generous lashings of noble European hops. As you might expect from Temple, there’s a twist, in this case the use of Japanese buckwheat as part of the malt grain, resulting in a unique nutty, “salt cracker” character. That said, it’s ultimately a very clean, very beery beer.
Style: Altbier with Buckwheat
Strength: 4.9%
Bitterness: 31.5 IBU
Temple Extra Special Bitter
Back in their gypsy days, one of Temple’s regular tipples was the Special Bitter, as good a take on a classic English ale that you would find around Australia. Now that they’re back but bolder and shinier than ever, so is the beer. Brought out for autumn, it comes with added “Extra” with Ron and his team of brewers beefing the beer up all round. That said, they say it remains as true to British stylings as its forefather, just with “extra hops, extra malt and extra flavour”.
Available: [Temple](/beer/brewery/temple/)
Style: ESB
Strength: 4.7%
Bitterness: 39IBU
Specials
Temple / Weihenstephan UNIFIKATOR
When the head brewer from the world’s oldest existing brewery decides to pop into your brewery when it’s only been open for a few weeks to make only the second collaboration in his brewery’s history, you have every right to give the beer a name entirely in capital letters. And a name as bold as UNIFIKATOR. Because however you look at it, the fact that Temple hooked up with Frank Peifer of Weihenstephan is an incredible achievement. The beer – a strong wheat beer or weizenbock – uses the distinctive Weihenstephan yeast strain as well as some rye in the brew to add a layer or richness to the malt character. The result is a luscious, full-bodied blend of the banana and spice esters typical of the German brewery’s beers, some dark fruit notes, rich malts and a touch of chocolate before it ends both spicy and slightly sweet.
Available:
Temple
And more to follow at a series of launches soon
Style: Weizenbock
Strength: 7.0%
Temple Midnight IPA
When this beer was offered up as a single keg taster at a trade event in 2010, it was the pick of pretty much everyone in the room. One chap with about as senior a role in the Australian brewing industry described it as faultless – not something he would give up easily. More importantly, it was delicious. And now, back as the final member of the Temple permanent range, it still is. Deeply dark and with powerfully pungent piney (that’s enough “p’s” thanks) hop aromas that greet you well before the beer reaches you lips – thanks to a heavy, heavy hopping schedule throughout the brewing and conditioning process – it’s a hop lover’s dream. That said, it’s balanced beautifully by the malts (including the midnight wheat from which it takes its name), with the roastiness kept to a minimum. Rich in the mouth and smooth as you like, it’s going to make a lot of people very happy.
Available:
Temple Brewery
Style: Black IPA
Strength: 7.0%
Bitterness: 77 IBU
