There are few towns in Victoria that feel as secluded as Mitta Mitta; fittingly, the small community’s eponymous brewery is also like little else in the modern beer landscape.
Starting with the town: it sits in the north-east of Victoria’s High Country, a small hamlet located on the banks of the river with which it shares a name. The Mitta Mitta River is quite a mighty one too, with its path forging a spectacular valley at the base of the Great Dividing Range.
Its beauty and bushland mean that, while Mitta Mitta is a place of quiet farm life, it has also become an increasingly sought-out destination. Each weekend and during holiday periods, you’ll find the idyllic landscape welcoming campers, hikers and anyone else looking to explore the outdoors, whether via dirt bike or as they cast a line in search of trout.
As for Mitta Mitta Brewing Co, that story starts when Alec Pennington and Chris Rowe moved north from Melbourne to enjoy the serene beauty themselves. After investing all their time and energy into building a house, the couple looked at another paddock by the banks of the river; its spectacular views of rolling hills and lush green farmland told them it was destined for something more.
In 2012, Alec called his old mate Tim Cabelka, who was living on the Mornington Peninsula with partner Jen, and had spent years brewing at yet another idyllic location: Red Hill Brewery. At opposite ends of the state yet eager to start something new, Alec and Chris invited their friends to make the move and start a brewery in the heart of the Mitta Valley.
In an early sign of the approach to come, their first undertaking was planting a hop field so Mitta’s beers could feature hops grown on-site at the brewery. And, at time of writing, the beers that have ensued have almost entirely used hops grown at the back of the brewhouse, with the crew working as a farmer-brewers who tend to the fields year-round and make beers with flowers either fresh off the bine or dried for later use.
Their next step was to build a brewery and taproom, something they undertook themselves, first throwing open the doors to guests in 2018. When you walk in, you can instantly tell Mitta Mitta Brewing is a place created by families. It’s not so much that the idiosyncratic space looks like a home, more that it manages to be incredibly homely.
Purposefully picked artwork, lighting, and furniture all make stepping into the venue feel like you’ve been handed the keys to a friend’s cabin for the weekend. Friends who told you to “make sure you enjoy a beer as soon as you get in.”
That’s exactly what you’ll want to do when you make it to Mitta, not least as Tim’s beers are always a finely-worked display of balance. The core range consists of a pale lager, the Black Velvet Revolution based on Czech dark lagers, and MiddaBitta – a wonderfully complex amber mid-strength that you should drink whether you’re driving or not.
As that core range alludes to, Tim has a particular fondness for European styles; as such, limited releases often take the shape of bocks, saisons, and tripels, all of which are built on their custom-designed five-hectolitre system.
The kitchen is centred around an impressive wood-fired oven, so quality pizzas fill the taproom’s tables throughout the evening, while a substantial modern pub-style menu runs throughout the day and night.
Although Mitta Mitta Brewing’s tale is very much the story of two families, it wouldn’t be where it is without the community that surrounds Tim, Jen, Alec and Chris. While building the taproom, they realised they wouldn’t have enough funds to turn their dream into a reality, and so turned to a crowdfunding campaign to get the doors open. Upon seeing the passion the couples and their families had already put into building their dream, the community soon rallied.
So, as you sit in their beer garden with a pint of beer made with truly local hops, and stare into this picturesque valley as kids laugh and play around you, you won’t feel secluded at all. Instead, you’ll find yourself part of the community, in all likelihood wishing this small town wasn’t quite so far from your home.
Will Ziebell
