Van Dieman

Brewer

Name
Van Dieman
Address

537 White Hills Road
Evandale
TAS 7258

Phone
(03) 6391 9035
Tours

By arrangement only

A few years back, Will Tatchell departed Tasmania to take up a brewing job at Guinness in Ireland. He never made it, the dream position dashed by an email that landed in his inbox while he travelled through Nepal with his dad telling him the job had gone. Undaunted, he continued on to the UK, sent emails to 100 breweries from the Orkneys in the north of Scotland to the south coast of England and landed a place at Milton, in the university city of Cambridge.

"Part of the job was to walk into these colleges with Harry Potter like dining halls and try to sell the brewery's beers," says Will. "The Aussie accent seemed to help!"

Within two weeks of starting, he was brewing by himself, immersing himself in the art of brewing real ales - and developing a love for British ales that he brought back with him to Australia in 2006. Faced with a choice of working for another brewery or starting his own, he chose the latter, installing a brewery on family land outside Evandale. It's a beautiful spot, with the brewery shed set among 100-year-old oak trees (the ones on Van Dieman's labels) in the rolling countryside just south of Launceston.

After 25 trial batches, Will finally released his first beers - a Pale, an Amber and a Stout based on beers he'd brewed in the UK - on Anzac Day in 2009. He continued with the British theme, producing ESBs, IPAs and a Hedgerow ale that uses berries from the farm, all of which either take their name from nearby landmarks or give a nod to their Tassie heritage, before exploring an interest in barrel-aged, sour and estate grown ales. The last of these refers to his mission to develop beers in which every ingredient is grown or sourced on the farm.

Part of the farm was turned over to growing barley for his beers, which they now malt on-site, and, mid-2016, a coolship was installed, while hops have been grown on site for years. It means that, in November 2017, the first of the Estate Ales appeared, each bearing the names of Will and Kalie's three kids, Edward, Oscar and Max.

The Estate Ales arrival coincided with a rebrand and more new beers with a barrel focus too, including a three-year-old wild ale and a barrel and Brett-fermented IPA, and have continued with the installation of a small malthouse on the farm.

For now, Van Dieman's brewery remains a production facility – one that has been constantly expanding since opening – and one where Will's not just using family land. Head in on bottling days and you might find mum and dad lending a hand – and maybe even Will's kids on hand too. If you want to find his beers, chances are you'll have to head to Tassie as such is demand in his home state that Will sells 95 percent of his beers there.

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Stories featuring Van Dieman

Core Range

Van Dieman Freycinet Pilsner
Oak-Fermented Pilsner
4.1%
Van Dieman Early & Late Table Beers
Table Beers
3.0% & 4.5%
Van Dieman Ragged Jack
English Pale Ale
4.2%
Van Dieman White Hills
White Ale
5.0%
Van Dieman Stacks Bluff
Oatmeal Stout
5.0%
Van Dieman Jacob's Ladder
Amber Ale
4.2%

Limited Releases

Van Dieman Mexican Lager
Smoked, Spiced Mexican Lager
4.0%
Van Dieman Estate Ales: North Pole & South Pole Porters
Estate Baltic & Robust Porters
6.2% & 5.9%
Van Dieman Vandemonium
DDH Cryo NEIPA
7.5%
Van Dieman Deep Roots Oaked XPA
Oaked XPA
5.7%
Van Dieman Max & Kalie 2021
Australian Wild Ales
5.3% & 4.8%
Van Dieman Elderflower, Wild Nectar & Fence Line
Australian Spontaneous Ales
6.5% & 7.1% & 5.9%
Van Dieman Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
Fruited Australian Wild Ale
6.2%
Van Dieman Eagle Tree
Australian Spontaneous Ale
6.2%
Van Dieman Medlar
Fruited Wild Ale
7.5%
Van Dieman Wilderness Project: Long Shadows & Unpredictable Spring
Australian Spontaneous Ales
6.0% & 5.9%
Van Dieman Giblin X
Port Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
10.0%
Van Dieman Estate Ale: Oscar
Estate Farmhouse IPA
5.2%
Van Dieman Claude
Fruited Wild Ale
6.5%
Van Dieman Bramble
Fruited Wild Ale
7.5%
Van Dieman Old Bubba Hubbard & After Dinner Mint
Berry Hefeweizen & Choc Mint Stout
5.0% & 6.0%
Van Dieman Tetu & Duchess
Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ales
Van Dieman Estate Ale: Max
Estate Grown Saison
5.3%
Van Dieman Estate Ale: Edward
Estate Grown Hoppy Farmhouse Ale
5.4%
Van Dieman Loquacious Barrel Aged Wild Ale
Barrel Aged Loquat Wild Ale
7.5%
Van Dieman Hedgerow Barrel Aged Sour 2016
Flanders Red Style Ale
6.1%
Van Dieman Motor Mouth IPA & Summer Berry Grisette
IPA & Berry Grisette
5.5% & 3.4%
Van Dieman Barley Wine
Barrel Aged Barley Wine
14.0%
Van Dieman Brewing Harvest Ales 2015
Harvest Ales
7.0% & 5.6%
Van Dieman Giblin Imperial Stout & Enigma IPA
Imperial Stout & IPA
7.7% & other
Van Dieman Hedgerow 2014
Barrel-Aged Sour
6.6%
Van Dieman Harvest Ale 2014
White IPA
7.1%
Van Dieman Dubbel Shot
Coffee Dubbel
6.6%
Van Dieman Geronimo
Fruit Wheat Beer
4.3%
Van Dieman Hedgerow Autumn Ale 2012
Barrel-Aged Sour Ale
6.1%
Van Dieman Hedgerow
Fruit Ale
5.8%