With the future plans of their last head brewer Jayne Lewis now known, it’s a case of back to the future at Mountain Goat. Having received applications from as far afield as Germany, England, New Zealand and South Africa, they ended up looking no further than a few kilometres down the road. The newly appointed head brewer is Dave Edney, currently brewing at the James Squire Brewhouse (Portland Hotel) in Melbourne's CBD after spending time at Goat earlier in his career.
"It's a lot of fun working at a little brewpub but I want to get back into full on brewing," says Dave. "I was really surprised when Dave [Bonighton, Goat co-owner] told me that they did something like 30 different brews last year. That's going to be a bit of a challenge and a really good opportunity to get into developing beers, which is something I really like doing."
Dave has been working in the industry since completing the Diploma course at the University of Ballarat in 1995 and has spent time at many breweries, including Scharer’s Little Brewery, Stockade and Bluetongue. Among his creations during his three years at the Portland Hotel) was the Two Centurions, a superb Double IPA brewed last year to mark the brewhouse’s 200th batch.
In his last stint at Goat, they utilised both his skills as a brewer and those from his previous life as a fitter and turner to help install much of the brewery's equipment. It’s a skill set he’s likely to get the chance to use again when they take delivery of a new DME brewery in the coming weeks.
Dave Bonighton describes Dave as a "journeyman brewer" and feels that his experience in so many situations will be a great asset at Mountain Goat.
"We have known Dave for ages and think he is a really good fit for the culture at Goat," he says. "I'm really excited about letting him loose in the brewery."
Dave is equally excited.
"I'm aware that there are a lot of people who have followed Goat over the years, and it might be an old cliché, but I know I have to step up to the plate and do a good job.
"It'll be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work."
