When I called Charlie Claridge, head brewer at Esker Beer, to hear about his brewing career and the Esker brand, I started by asking the question a lot of people have been thinking recently: “How does a Citrus Gose win top gong at a beer awards? You know, against other styles that are actually popular in Australia.”
Charlie says he was just as surprised as me.
“Our first reaction: ‘That is nuts.’”
But that doesn’t mean this was some fluke. A fruited gose may be an obscure style of beer with a divisive flavour profile, certainly outside the craft beer bubble, but Citrus Gose is a core range beer for Esker. And it's one Charlie (in the light blue shirt above) and the team have fine-tuned a lot over the last couple of years to get it exactly where they want it to be.
“Maybe the judges saw it as a really good execution of its style, rather than being a beer for everybody,” he says.
Good execution really is key. That’s true for any beer, but especially with a beer like this, where there are so many moving parts within the flavour profile, the adjuncts, and the brewing process. When I pushed him on how they pulled it off, Charlie was hesitant to use the word “balance” since it shows up on just about every can of beer in Australia… but he keeps coming back to it.
“It’s just striking up a balance with that beer about how much salt, how much coriander, how sour it should be, and then getting the fruit expression right in relation to all those other things.
“It's probably the most enjoyable beer that I’ve brewed. There’s so much to it; there’s things going into it the whole time and you try to get the end result being the right level.”
When it comes to fine-tuning a beer over a few years, Charlie’s the right person for the job. His background in chemistry research equipped him with an understanding of principles and processes, as well as also a rigorous approach to experimentation. Changing just one variable at a time? Documenting everything carefully? No problem.
But Charlie says this left-brain thinking occasionally gets in the way as well. When the focus of tweaking a beer moves from “let’s keep going until we get it right” to “could we make it even better?”, he needs to work hard not to let his scientific background make him rigid or conservative.
“It probably does stifle that creative element,” he says. “I’m the ‘don’t touch it’ guy. It’s great; let's just make it again the same way.”
He’s grateful for Dan Shaw, with whom he’s worked under and alongside for years, for balancing out that part of his personality. Dan’s strengths include an intuitive approach to recipe development and a desire for continual improvement, and he’s helped to instil that into Charlie and the rest of the team.
“I think that idea and attitude – that is craft beer, in a way,” Charlie says. “Even each batch of Pacific Ale that we make is slightly different. I think you’ve just got try it. Even if they’re good or they’re great, they’re never perfect. They can always be better.”
Almost to pacify his own idea of technical precision, Charlie adds: “We’re not saying we’ll change the hops or something like that. It’s a slight tweak to ferment temperature or something – nothing will go too far wrong. One percent at a time.”
This drive for continual improvement has been been part of the DNA of Australian Brewery for years, and is now central to Esker Beer.
While the Australian Brewery brand was first set up back in 2010 with global export in mind, the 2022 rebrand to Esker was all about bringing the focus closer and celebrating the brewery’s home in the Hills Shire, and western Sydney more broadly. In fact, the Citrus Gose is the brewery's nod to two centuries of citrus-growing in the area.
I should point out that while the Citrus Gose warrants the spotlight for the three trophies it pulled at the 2024 Sydney Royal Beer Awards, Esker’s West Coast IPA took out Champion IPA too. This follows the trophy Esker won for their Hazy Pale at last year’s AIBAs, and the trophy they won for Reign Of Darkness Imperial Stout at the 2022 Royal Sydneys, and the trophy they scored for Old Cattle Dog Dark Ale the year before that…
How do they keep doing it? Not that there’s any “secret ingredient” or anything like that… but seriously, what’s the secret ingredient?
“I truly think that ‘something’ is just the basics of our process,” Charlie says.
He credits the foundation laid by Neal Cameron, who headed up brewing at Australian Brewery from 2010 to 2016, and in his final year hired and trained Charlie.
“In our first days brewing, he said to me, ‘It’s three things. You get the sanitation right, you keep your yeast happy, and your wort clear, and you’re most of the way to making a great beer.’”
A lot has changed for the brewery since then. Back in 2018, it changed hands from its initial owners – the Colosimo family – to the Redcape Hotel Group. Then 2022 saw the rebrand to Esker Beer. In the first half of 2024, the brewing hierarchy officially shifted from Dan and Charlie sharing the title of head brewer to Dan becoming general manager and Charlie the sole head brewer.
Then, in the middle of the year, The Australian Hotel & Brewery (including Esker Beer) was sold to new owners again – Sonnel Hospitality, the hospitality arm of the Nelson Meers Group. Since Sonnel’s focus is on building a reputation for food and beverage venues in western Sydney, it’s looking like it will be a simpatico relationship.
“Western Sydney’s our heartland,” Charlie says. “We can lend our brand story to Sonnel as part of building that reputation for them.
“They have some great venues too [including] a renovation in Marrickville, craft beer centre of Sydney. Exciting time to be part of that extension. Some new territory for us, which is good.”
For all that’s changed at the Rouse Hill brewery, the recent awards show these changes haven't been for the worse; and in fact, plenty has remained the same.
There’s been low turnover in the team over the years, so there’s a strong culture among the brewery and venue staff keeping the ship steady. And even with the “official” changes in hierarchy, Charlie says little has changed in the way the brewery operates day-to-day.
“We’re a small team here; we’re still only four brewers, including Dan and I. So while Dan’s general manager, I’m still telling him, ‘You’re brewing on Thursday and Friday.’ And, at the end of the day, I’ll still take the bins around.”
To fill out more of the chemist / head brewer / bin man’s story, here’s his entry in our long-running Brew & A series.
Charlie Claridge
Why are you a brewer?
Well, it seems a good way to combine the things I enjoy and am interested in into a career. I love good beer and have always been drawn to technical or science related subjects. I did work in a corporate job for some time, and the hands-on nature of brewing and the feeling of creating something is much more enjoyable.
What would you be if you weren’t a brewer?
I did work experience as a kid on the maintenance crew in a vineyard. Getting into that industry definitely interests me.
What was your epiphany beer?
Early on in my brewing career I was sitting down having a can of Former Tenant from Modus. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is pretty fantastic." It kind of kicked off a love of all things red and hoppy!
How did you first get involved in the beer world?
I had done the grad certificate course, but was not yet part of the industry. It had been a rough few weeks in the job I had then and, out of the blue, I just saw a job ad at the Australian Brewery. I had an interview with Neal Cameron, head brewer at the time, and did a couple of trial shifts and there was no looking back from there.
What's the best beer you’ve ever brewed?
Growing up in northern Tassie, we were pretty proud of the Boag's Brewery. I made a Honey Porter, which was inspired by one of their limited releases from a while back, and it turned out really well. We had it on tap in the brewery and at a few places around Sydney for a while. I was quite happy with that at the time!
What’s your single favourite ingredient to use in beer?
I can't go past chocolate malt. I love making dark ales, porters and stouts, and the smooth finish afforded to those types of beers by using the right level of good chocolate malt.
Are there any beers you’ve brewed that might have been better left on the drawing board?
It actually turned out OK in my mind, but I made a dark raspberry sour one time. It had its followers, but it was very dark and very sour. A bit of a niche beer that was tough to sell!
If you could do a guest stint at any brewery(s) in the world, which would it be and why?
Kind of two answers to that, both with the idea of gaining more knowledge about beer production.
I'd like to spend time in a brewery making beer at scale, something like Paulaner in Munich – a beer I had at my wedding!
Equally, when I went through Belgium, I went to some great little places doing lambic brews and tripels and that would be an amazing experience. Plus getting to spend some time in Belgium.
Which local (Aussie or kiwi) breweries inspire you?
There are so many great venues, beers and stories within the industry. The guys down at Yulli's are good friends, and offer something a bit different with their menu and beers. Watching them build all that from the ground up has been pretty inspiring.
What inspires you outside the world of brewing beer?
I love travelling and seeing great natural landscapes. Mountains, rivers, cliffs, oceans, deserts. A tough day's hike and then sitting somewhere remote with a view spells happiness for me.
What's your desert island beer – the one to keep you going if you were stranded for the rest of your days?
Hmmm, desert island probably needs something light and refreshing, so I'll go with one of my personal favourites: Pash the Magic Dragon from Batch.
And what would be the soundtrack to those days?
I am not a music aficionado like most of the others in our brewery. Old school for me: Powderfinger, Crowded House, something like that.
If you couldn’t have beer, what would be your tipple of choice?
Red wine for me. I'm showing my colours again here, but Tassie makes some great pinots. I have a favourite from down the east coast near where my parents have a shack called Bream Creek.
What's the one thing you wish you’d known before becoming a brewer?
How hot it can get working in a tin shed in western Sydney!
And the one piece of advice you’d give to anyone considering a career in craft beer?
Great people and great fun, but you're going to have to work hard at times to make it a success. If you're up for it, give it a go. I did and it's been awesome.
You can find other entries in our Brew & A series here.
Mick Wüst is the author of the book Beer Drinker's Toolkit, a fun and approachable guide to beer. He's also a freelance copywriter for the beer industry. You can find him on Instagram as Schoonerversity.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
I'm sure I'd had good beers before this, but the first barrel-aged imperial stout I ever tried made me feel like Popeye with spinach.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Balter XPA
- Wayward Raspberry Berliner Weisse
- Boatrocker Ramjet
The last beer you enjoyed:
A IIPA from Woopi Brewing that tasted like fruit salad and resin.
Three things that represent you:
- Book - World War Z (seriously, give it a go - it's better than it sounds)
- Travel - Greece
- Food - all the bread and hot chips
