Surf Coast Suds

August 21, 2014, by Crafty Pint

Surf Coast Suds

On a recent trip to the Great Ocean Road, a post-beach drink at the Wye Beach Hotel threw up some pleasant surprises. On tap was a choice that included Mountain Goat, Prickly Moses, Southern Bay and Forrest Brewery with far more options in the fridge. And if the owners plan to keep supporting their local breweries, they’ll soon be able to add another to the list following the opening of Blackman’s Brewery in Torquay.

The brewery, bar and restaurant that welcomed its first guests through the door earlier this month has been opened by brewer Renn Blackman and his partner Jess Guidice (pictured above) on the town’s Bell Street. Just a short walk from the beach, they have installed the brewery formerly found at True South in Blackrock, where Renn used to be the head brewer, at the rear of a restaurant and bar and are already pouring three of Renn’s beers: a Belgian-style witbier, a hoppy golden ale and a West Coast-style IPA. And in the kitchen they have Mitch from Beersine, the WA chef who specialises in cooking with beer and beer’s ingredients.

“I’d always thought Torquay, Geelong or somewhere on the coast would be amazing for a brewery,” says Renn, who grew up half an hour from the brewery. “It’s a great space to live too and is becoming a lot less seasonal.”

In his six years as a commercial brewer, Renn has covered a lot of ground. His brewing career started out when he trained at Edith Cowan University in WA, with his first professional job at The Monk in Fremantle, supplemented by a spot of keg washing at the Sail & Anchor across the road. Then there were a few months spent at the Old Swan Brewery before he moved to London and worked at Camden Town, becoming one of many Aussies to spend time there. After a spot of travelling, he returned Australia and became head brewer at True South before setting out on his own.

“Me and Jess travelled for six months before coming back to Australia and went to some classic beer towns like Pilsen [birthplace of the pilsner], Bamberg [home to Schlenkerla’s smoked beers] and Cologne [home of Kolsch] and drank lots of beers,” he says. “We went to quite a few breweries; Cantillon was the most amazing, along with Pilsner Urquell. We’re definitely going to do an unfiltered lager as part of our core range because of that experience at Pilsner Urquell and one that Camden used to do.”

 

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The three beers already pouring take their names from his dad and other family members: Bob the witbier, a soft, smooth, fruity and gently spicy number featuring lemon zest, coconut and coriander; Ernie the golden ale, with big tropical hop aromas and plenty of grapefruit hop flavour; and Reginald, the punchy US-inspired IPA that Renn hopes will become the brewery’s flagship beer. All three were brewed when the system was still in place at True South before they moved it down the coast.

Now that the brewery is in place and commissioned, everything will be brewed onsite and, initially at least, the beers will only be available at the venue itself before they look to send some to local craft beer-supporting venues.

“We have more tanks coming so we can smash more beer out for summer,” says Renn. “There have been quite a few local people approach us, like Vue Grand that are into their beers, who are keen to get some.”

As for the decision to bring Mitch over for a couple of months to set up the kitchen and design the menu, apparently it was a case of: “Come and cook awesome food, Mitch. We love you!”

 

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Says Mitch: “We worked together at The Monk and when I came over for Good Beer Week I stayed with him and Jess and whenever they come out to WA they stay with us. They love the food we did at The Monk so I submitted a whole heap of ideas, they chose what they wanted, then I came over and looked to see what was left over from the old place and tried to keep costs down as much as possible [ while setting up the new kitchen].”

Among the beery dishes on the menu are spiced meatballs in a spent grain sauce – “similar to a dish that Renn used to eat a gazillion of at The Monk” – locally made sausages featuring IPA and served with beer mustard, Mitch’s pale ale cheese and his hop honey. As well as designing the menu, Mitch will train up a permanent chef before heading back to WA.

“I have two weeks with the new guy when he arrives,” he says. “He’ll have a nice base to start from and can go wherever he wants. We’ll be over once every three months to do seasonal beer dinners, which will be a lot of fun and will give me the chance to work with someone that knows my food.”

As for the decision to open a brewpub on the Surf Coast, Renn feels the time is right in the region. There have been a number of breweries operating there for some time, the likes of Bellarine Brewing Company and Southern Bay close to Geelong and Forrest Brewery and Prickly Moses slightly further afield. With venues like the aforementioned Vue Grand as well as Frontbeach in Torquay itself and the Odyssey Tavern just up the road embracing craft beer, things were on the up while the opening of Little Creatures in Geelong has taken things to the next level.

 

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“Little Creatures is changing people’s views on what beer is,” says Renn. “Their beer’s great and that venue has gone absolutely bananas since it opened. They’re great for doing what they’ve done.”

He and Jess will be hoping to do the same for Torquay. Their venue was previously the iconic Surfrider restaurant, “a bit of an institution here” according to Renn, that has been “pulled to bits: we redid the bar, polished the floor, basically took six months renovating to get it ready. In fact, we’re still going…”

The latest addition is the beer garden, which will feature long beer hall style tables made out of Western Australian timber built, like much of the venue, by Renn’s dad.

Tasty beers, creative food, a beer garden and the beach a few hundred metres away… what more could you want? How about Brettanomyces fermented chilli sauce? Well, they got that too. See you there!

Blackman’s Brewery is at 26 Bell Street, Torquay and is currently open Fridays from 6pm and weekends from midday. Hours will be extended from next month.

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