Location, location location...

It's a phrase beloved of real estate agents, and it's fair to say there are few brewery locations in Australia quite like that of Meletos Brewing. 

Sitting in the heart of the Yarra Valley and surrounded by apple orchards surrounded by the region's more famous fruit, the brewery shares space with one of the region's top wedding venues, Stones of the Yarra Valley. The site includes impressively-restored historic buildings that date back to the 1860s, with Meletos (the restaurant) focusing on local produce and Italian fare, and Ernie’s Bar featuring not just freshly-brewed beer but flights of whisky for which you can select spirits from America, Victoria or Far North Queensland.

Oh, and if you fancy making your stay a longer one, there’s also boutique accommodation and a day spa – Ill Massagio – onsite too.

It’s an experience for beer drinkers that’s unlike much else – and the beauty isn’t lost on Jacob Turoy either. Even if the head brewer doesn’t always have time to take it in.

“I’m in the brewery working away so you can forget about it,” Jacob says, “but sitting in the garden here with a beer, it’s a stunning location."

It may well be stunning, and has only been firing on all cylinders since earlier this year, yet much about Meletos isn't actually new; indeed, beer drinkers may already be familiar with the space.

Originally, it was home to Napoleone Brewing, the beer sibling to the well-established Napoleone Cider Co run by the family behind Punt Road Wines, with a cellar door next to the brewery. It then became Detour Beer for a while, before the brewery closed and the site was taken over by the Frazer family, who have long run Meletos and Stones of the Yarra Valley.

That whistlestop race through a few years of backstory brings us to today and Jacob's time steering the ship. Before helping launch the brewery, he spent time making beer at CBCo and Burnley Brewing, but it was while working at Punt Road Wines that he made the move across the paddock.

“I was approached by them early last year,” Jacob says. “I was working at Punt Road next door doing vintage.”

At the time, he’d just started brewing at Burnley and had decided to spend his weekends in the Yarra Valley providing fresh beer for functions.

“I was just brewing on the weekends for weddings," he says. "Just small batches so they could keep beer flowing for them.”

Later in the year, the Frazers asked if he’d like to come on board full-time and, towards the end of summer this year, Meletos Brewing was born.

“It’s such a beautiful venue and the Yarra Valley is primed to have another brewery,” Jacob says. “So I thought it was an opportunity to build a destination brewery.”

After two years at CBCo's Port Melbourne site, Jacob made the move to Sweden after his partner had relocated there for work. While there, he developed a fondness for making barrel-aged beers.

“I went over and I was working with Stockholm Brewing,” he says. “They have a team of extremely talented brewers and this huge barrel program for a small brewery.”

After learning what he could from them, he returned to Melbourne and, while searching for another job, found his old stomping ground were after a production brewer. Better yet, he even recognised the brewer they’d used in the advert.  

“It had a photo of me in as the main photo in the ad,” Jacob recalls. “So I messaged Ash [Hazell, CBCo’s head brewer] and said ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve got this!’”

Armed with a fresh love for oak, he headed up the brewery’s nascent barrel program, helping launch their Brown Ale and Rubus.

“I came in and really wanted to take it on,” he says. “There were quite a few barrels that had been sitting there and I was like, ‘Why aren’t we doing anything with these?’"

These days, while he's surrounded by wine barrels in the Yarra Valley and has the team at Punt Road within shouting distance, a barrel program at Meletos remains one for the future.

“I don’t have the space to do it yet,” Jacob says. “But there are so many good wineries here, and so much good fruit grown here, so it’s a real focus of mine to do products that really focus on the ingredients that are grown here.”

To find out more about all things Meletos Brewing and Jacob himself, he joined us for our long-running Who Brews...? series.  

Jacob Turoy – Meletos

Who are you? 

I’m Jacob Turoy, the head brewer/operations of Meletos Brewing. I’ve been a professional brewer for about seven to eight years, having worked at CBCo Brewing, Burnley Brewing, Stockholm Brewing, plus a bit of time making wine at Punt Road Winery. 

We also have some clever folks that help with marketing and strategy, namely Caity Reynolds and Ben Frazer.

Where do you brew? 

We’re out in the Yarra Valley, in Coldstream, an hour drive from Melbourne. It’s a beautiful view looking over the vineyards.

Why do you brew? 

It’s two-sided really. I get to be both creative and imaginative in recipe development while also being pretty hands on to make the final product.

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

I wouldn’t say there was a “Eureka!” moment, more of a slow burn over the years. 

In my late teens, I would buy a mixed pack every Friday from the International Beer Store in Perth to try different styles. When I was living in Copenhagen, the beer bar I worked at always had new beers from To Øl, Mikkeller and Nørrebro Bryghus, which gave me the chance to consistently try more modern craft beer. 

So, when I moved back to Australia, I knew I wanted to stay around craft beer, just not behind the bar itself. So the brewery it was. 

What’s the inspiration behind the brewery name?

The name "Meletos" comes from the Italian word for apple orchards. We brew out in the Yarra Valley on a beautiful site surrounded by… you guessed it, apple orchards. Fitting!

What beer in your lineup best represents you and why?

I’d say our Helles Lager: it’s crisp, refreshing but has a lot of complexity as well. 

I took a lot of what I’ve learnt over the years, especially while designing the Oktoberfest beers for Burnley Brewing last year. It has a few different elements from different beers that I thought worked well, so I tried to incorporate that into a cracking lager.

If you could have any person in the world join you on a brew day, who would it be, and why?

From a brewing perspective, Armand Debelder of 3 Fonteinen – RIP. Getting to pick the mind of a great Lambic producer and understanding his approach to beer making would be fascinating. 

Otherwise, my dog, Luna. She makes for a great brewery dog but, honestly, she’s always there anyway.

If anyone drops in on brew day, what are they most likely to hear blasting from the speakers?

Depends on the day and what needs to be done. If I have to concentrate then drum 'n' bass helps to focus. Otherwise mostly likely some sort of indie rock like Radiohead or The War On Drugs.

What beers are in your fridge right now?

Sobremesa Soulflower, a few different Devilbend beers, and a 3 Fonteinen Geuze.

What would be your desert island beer of choice?

I’m a sucker for a lager so something simple like Weihenstephan Pilsner. It’s a clean and well-made beer, unsurprising since they’ve been making it for centuries.

Which local beers have blown your mind in recent weeks?

I’ve been enjoying a few of the Kicks Brewing beers of late, especially their Vice Hazy Pale from earlier in the year. Everything I’ve had from them has been killer.

Is there a particular style, ingredient, or trend in beer you'd like to explore further?

I’d love to do more wine and fruit mixed culture beers using ingredients from around the Yarra Valley. We have a few things on the go at the moment, but being able to use more of the great produce grown locally in the region would be amazing.

Where can people find your beers?

We have all our beers on tap at our brewery bar (Ernie’s Bar) – come and visit us at 12 St Huberts Road, Coldstream. 

We’re also in a few spots around the valley (Payten & Jones, Cavanagh’s, Barrique) and a few places closer to Melbourne (The Preston Bottle Shop, Nillumbik Cellars).

You'll find Meletos Brewing at 12 St Huberts Riad d, Coldstream, as well as in the free Crafty Pint app, alongside hundreds of other breweries and good beer venues across Australia.

About Will

Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

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The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:

Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.

You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?

• Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.

• Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.

• Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."

The last beer you enjoyed:

Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.

Three things that represent you:

• Bruce Springsteen
• Ken Burns
• The State Library of Victoria

Articles by Will