With its second birthday fast approaching (and a Bolivian band lined up to mark the occasion…), what was one of Australia’s tiniest breweries has started cranking beers out of a shiny new Italian brewery. Black Dog Brewery was launched in November 2011 by fourth generation winemaker James Booth at his family’s winery, Taminick Cellars, just outside Glenrowan in northeast Victoria. Back then, he was operating on a 70 litre kit; the beers making their way into the world now are the first produced on a setup that’s approximately 15 times bigger.
“It only took a few months to realise that I needed a new brewery,” says James, taking a break from the bottling line he operates with his dad. “Different bars and bottleshops were on the phone trying to suss out when they could get hold of beers and I didn’t want to send stuff only for them to find out there was no more beer [when they reordered].
“Having the venue already [the winery], the whole idea was to diversify and then go from there. We didn’t expect to get such great feedback and such hype from the off. It’s been amazing how someone tries the beer and then drops me a line to say they’ve got mates with a bar and would love to put it on. You just can’t beat word of mouth.”
With the winery enjoying a bumper vintage this year, Black Dog took a back seat for a while earlier in the year, which meant the commissioning of the Lainox brewery in a new building on the side of the old winery took a little longer than planned. But, having first used the Italian company’s tanks in the winery, he says it took no time – and only a little bit of tweaking of hop additions – to get it up and running once the switches were flicked.
First off, James is looking to restock the select bars and bottleshops he has an existing relationship with around Melbourne, as well as the restaurants and cafes around his local region in north-east Victoria. But, with the ability to fill tanks with up to 30 times the amount of beer he used to produce in a day, there will be much more Black Dog to go around.
Among those beers will be a new release, the Hellhound India Black Ale. Guests at the winery had the opportunity to sample a trial batch earlier in the year; now the first full batch is in tank, due to be bottled and kegged in the next week or two then launched at Black Dog’s second birthday party on November 30 – the one with the Bolivian band.
“I wanted to do something a bit different,” he says. “I have a mate who is Bolivian and he’s bringing his brother-in-law and a couple of mates along to place some music. We thought it would be a bit different from the Oktoberfest’s people tend to do.
“We’ve got a farm here so couple of the lambs are going into the pizza oven and we’ll be doing an authentic asado BBQ. If the weather is good, it will be outside, otherwise it will hold it in the cellar door. I’ve got a Vienna Lager that was brewed on the pilot system that will be pouring that day too.”
With the first full run of Pale Ale off the new brewery selling out in less than a couple of weeks and a long list of potential customers he was unable to service with the former brewery to work through, it looks like James will have his work cut out before the next wine vintage rolls around.
Info on the new brewery
James' Italian kit was installed by FB*PROPAK and is one of the first of its size and kind (if not the first) to be commissioned in Australia. We asked them for a little info that may be of relevance to brewers or prospective brewers looking at new gear.
âThis Italian Il Mastro Birraio (‘The Master Brewer’ in Italian) gear was imported, customised and installed by Deo Lule at FB PROPAK. Specifically created for Black Dog, it allows for flexibility in beer styles and is particularly robust. This was important for James’ desire to expand with styles and output, as well as have some certainty with reliability over the longer term.
“FB*PROPAK invests significant time with European brewhouse manufacturers, like this Lainox kit, to become ‘problem solvers’ in the brewing industry … and comes with specialised support in Australia from the likes of our own Master Brewer, Deo Lule, and Technician Jamey Algie."
