Presumably, every home brewer in Australia would like to have a family like Paul Morrison's. Having displayed talent for the art of brewing by picking up medals at competitions in his home state of Tasmania and in Melbourne, his dad suggested he should consider doing it commercially. By 2011, along with his wife Melissa and some others in their family, they put the first brew through a 500-litre brewery they'd built in a warehouse in Launceston.
From there, after seeing his first beer poured at Hobart's legendary New Sydney Hotel, the Morrisons set about refining their beers. Paul in particular has a fondness for brewing traditional styles from the UK and Ireland; it's an approach that puts him at odds with many modern craft brewers but it's found them many fans even in a beer world dominated by hops. The first three styles released by Morrison - an Irish Red Ale, English Bitter and an Irish Stout - all remain a part of the core range and while today those beers can be found inside modern-looking cans, they remain classic examples of their style. That's not to say Morrison beers aren't at times American inspired, including as is the case with their core range Tasmanian IPA, American Pale Ale or in their frequent limited releases.
Within two years, Paul was able to give up his job on an orchard to focus full time on brewing. And, in 2015, the brewery was expanded with new tanks helping fill the warehouse in Invermay. While they're most often filled with Paul's beers the Tassie brewery has also been something of an incubator for others looking to get into the industry. Brewers from the likes of Last Rites, kick|snare, Buttons Brewery and Devil's Brewery have all brewed beers with Paul in recent years and you can't help but feel the Invermay brewery hasn't been an important reason the state's number of breweries has climbed from half a dozen when they launched to the more than 30 in operation today.
While you can find Morrison beers in cans in both the brewery's home state and on the mainland, the best way to enjoy them is in draught form. For now, this means travelling to Tassie where, as well as the growing number of regular tap points, you're likely to find them being poured by Paul and his family at many of the state's festivals.
