Who Brews Three Greens Beers?

August 6, 2018, by Will Ziebell

Who Brews Three Greens Beers?


When Luke Moulton-Brooks, Nick Copland and Julien Langlet launched their gypsy brewery Three Greens Brewing Co in June this year, it was culmination of a long and slow process.

Back in the late 1990s, in separate parts of Victoria, Luke and Nick learned to homebrew as a means to not only get their hands on cheap beer, but also as a practical way to get their hands on styles that weren't then available in Australia. Meanwhile, over in France, Julien was also learning the ropes of brewing, for much the same reason as his future accomplices.

Years later, all three would find themselves working in aviation and the trio would often share brewing ideas and talk about what they loved to brew. Eventually, those ideas would turn into new beers they brewed together until, finally, their gypsy brewing operation took flight.

Now they're airborne, here's Luke, Nick and Julien to tell us about Three Greens as part of our Who Brews...? series.


Three Greens Brewing Co

Who are you?

By day, Nick is a pilot, Luke is an airline operations manager and Julien is an analytics manager. By night, we are homebrewing beer nerds who wanted to bring our beer out of the garage and into the many craft beer bars we inhabit.

 

Left to right: Luke, Nick and Julien, AKA Melbourne based gypsy operation Three Greens.

Where do you brew?

We develop our recipes using mostly homegrown hops at Three Greens HQ (Nick’s basement). Then we scale them up to commercial quantities for gypsy brewing with the fine folk at Cavalier Brewing in Derrimut. 


Why do you brew?

We started for the same reasons as most: it was a cheap and enjoyable hobby that resulted in beer. For the three of us it was inevitable – indeed, to not be brewing just didn’t seem like a possibility.


What beers have you released to date?

Just two, a Red Rye IPA and the Sunrise Ale.


Of those, which has been your personal favourite?

The Red Rye IPA was the first beer we made, so that will always be remembered fondly. Also, being a red rye made it a little bit unusual, which turned out to be a good thing in today’s craft beer market. We were pretty stoked when our first keg sold out in four days!


What’s the inspiration behind the brewery name?

Three Greens is an aviation reference. Before landing, the pilots check that three green lights are illuminated to ensure the landing gear bogies are down and locked into position. The fact that there are three of us is entirely coincidental!


Was there a beer or a moment that set you on the path to becoming a brewer?

Nick started homebrewing in 1998. He wanted to make something a bit different to what was available – remember this was at a time when Carlton Cold was considered a little exotic. It just took 20 years for him to meet two other guys who had been doing the same thing.


What beers are in your fridge right now?

Nick: Several test batches, Cavalier Imperial Stout, Ballast Point Sculpin, Blackman’s Lager.

Luke: Three Greens Sunrise Ale, Exit Milk Stout, Bridge Road The Harvest Fresh Hop.

Julien: Three Greens Red Rye IPA, Mr Banks Hazy State, BrewDog Punk IPA.


What would be your desert island beer?

Nick: Pirate Life IIPA.

Luke: Coopers Pale Ale.

Julien: Blackmans Juicy Juicy Bang Bang DIPL.


If your brewery was a band, who would it be?

On a scale of Slayer to Coldplay, we’re about a Faith No More – slightly alternative, yet largely accessible.


Where do you hope your brewery will be ten years from now?

A big brewpub in Melbourne and national distribution. It never hurts to dream big!


Where can people find your beers?

We have an interactive map on our website which shows where you can find us in cans or on tap.


You can keep track of what the guys at Three Greens are up to by following their Facebook or website.

And you can find other entries in our Who Brews...? series here.

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