Since launching their first bar in 2014, The Welder’s Dog team has focused intently on connecting with their community. Whether it’s the two welcoming bars in Tamworth and Armidale or the Bunker Boxes they launched during COVID, the brewery and bar staff work with myriad producers in the New England region to get better beer and good times to locals.
When it comes to brewing, they source barley from a family farm in Wee Waa, which brings us to the spring 2020 release, Native Orange Beer, where even the minimalist design of the brewery's 750ml bottles tells you this is something special. The sour ale is refermented on native orange and uses not just barley from that Wee Waa farm but also the wild orange, Capparis Mitchellii, and the farm’s own artesian basin water.
For the those unfamiliar with native orange (me until yesterday), it grows in drier parts of the country, has been eaten for thousands of years by Indigenous Australians and, despite its name, is more closely related to a caper than a Valencia. In the beer, while it does contribute soft citrus, there’s also some mango and a distinctly woody note of eucalyptus that reminded me of a flavour in a dry ginger beer. There’s also a vibrant floral bouquet on the nose and, with the light tartness, Native Orange Sour Ale comes across like a beautiful spring day captured in a glass.
Will Ziebell
Published September 19, 2020 2020-09-19 00:00:00