The departure lounge at LAX airport in Los Angeles may not seem the most likely setting for the birthplace of an Australian brewery, but it was while awaiting a flight back from last year’s Craft Brewers Conference in the US that the seeds were sown for Two Birds Brewing’s “Nest”. Brewery co-founder Jayne Lewis' husband was filling his time scanning property websites in Australia when an industrial unit in Melbourne’s west caught his eye. A little over 12 months later and that unit is now home to one of Australia’s newest and shiniest breweries and will soon open the doors of its brewery bar to the public.
They were opened temporarily during Good Beer Week for Two Birds' Brewer’s Blend, at which point it was very much a work in progress. Today, the six taps are in place and pouring, all the walls that had to be removed have been removed and those that needed to be erected have been erected, the kitchen is almost ready to go and the fermenters are full of beer. Much of the work has been done by Jayne’s husband, Dr Louis Bucci, who has quit his career as a geologist to become the latest male bird in the team – and even has a part of the brewery named in his honour; as you enter the brewery itself, you cross Bucci’s Landing, so called as as it took him so long to buildâ¦
“The area is so ready,” says Jayne of Melbourne’s west. The brewery is located in Spotswood, close to the West Gate Bridge and only a few hundred metres from the excellent Junction Beer Hall that has been bringing great beer to the area for a couple of years now. “We are getting a lot of people coming through the door asking if we’re open yet.”
The Nest
As a local – Lewis and Louis live just a few kilometres away – the intention from the earliest days of Two Birds, when it started out with beers brewed under contract (bottles and WA kegs will still come out of Gage Roads for now), was always to open a brewery in the area if possible.
“The brewery has become a pretty big focus for us, and the local area always was,” says Jayne.
The building that houses the brewery used to be home to Goetz & Sons, a toolmaker that, amongst its range, built tools for the manufacture of steel beer cans. Today, that business may have departed but one of the other new tenants is a business selling barbecues, suggesting that Two Birds have found a suitable spot to be brewing and selling beer.
The first brews went through the 18 hectolitre system last week, under the guidance of brewing legend Brian Watson, who has set up many breweries across Australia and New Zealand and today is part of Good George in Hamilton. He oversaw three brews on consecutive days and, according to Jayne, “it was, touch wood, so fuckin' easy!
“Even Brian was pretty chuffed with it all.”
The final piece in the jigsaw – other than the outstanding building work – is their licence to open as a venue. It’s imminent, with a date of July 3 pencilled in for the first public opening. When the opening does take place, not only will there be several of Jayne’s beers pouring (Golden, Sunset, Taco, Sesame Snap Chat and “one other special”) plus a guest tap, but there will be food designed by the chefs at Rockwell & Sons.
“There will be no fried chicken and no double patty smash. We’ve got a whole new lineup of things that [Rockwell head chef] Casey is doing here,” says Jayne, before adding while swooning: “The chilli dogs are sooooo good.”
“Given that we are in the western suburbs, it will be wonderful with the demographic here to show them that food with beer doesn’t have to just be a Parma,” says Louis.
As for future beer releases, the Two Birds mantra of “drinkable and balanced” will remain central to their ethos but there is also talk of some more “crazy and out there stuff”. The new beers will be concocted in partnership with Wilson Hede, who was snapped up to be Jayne’s assistant brewer from 3 Ravens, where he played a role in developing and tweaking some of the beers that helped the Thornbury brewery collect the Champion Small Australian Brewery title last month.
Jayne and “rock star” assistant Wilson
“We have been chatting for ages,” says Jayne. “When he was still at Beer DeLuxe he wanted to get into brewing. We had a chat then about how he might get into the industry and then he went and did the things I suggested. It meant he was a natural choice when I was looking for a brewer.”
As for the emotions surrounding finally taking control of her own brewery after a career that has taken in the likes of Little Creatures, Mountain Goat and Matilda Bay, they are understandably high. Louis couldn’t be prouder, while it could be some months before the smile leaves Jayne’s face.
“It’s so, so good. Last week I couldn’t punch the smile off my face,” she says.
“I find myself walking around going, ‘I’m here, just making beer in my own brewery…’
“Tuesday was pretty great. Wednesday was pretty great. Thursday was pretty great,” she adds. “Then Friday was our third birthday.”
What’s not to like?
Two Birds' Nest is at 136 Hall Street, Spotswood. It opens to the public for the first time at 4pm on July 10.
