If you're looking for evidence that the early part of the 2010s was a boom time for beer like no other, just check out the number of breweries and beer-centric venues entering double figures. Among those marking their decade milestone in November are Scott and Renae McKinnon, the couple behind Wolf of the Willows.
In many ways, theirs is the archetypal modern brewery tale. After developing a taste for craft beer in the US and starting to experiment at home, they tested the water by brewing their first beers alongside a few other budding brewers at Cavalier Brewing's home. From there, they entered into what was kind of brewers' share-house arrangement with Bad Shepherd before setting up a brewery and taproom of their own in Mordialloc.
Along the way, they've experimented with new flavours and ingredients, collaborated widely, and moved into non-beer products too. That said, arguably the biggest impression they've made on the local beer world to date has been with their first, and flagship, beer: the XPA that was one of the very first released in Australia, and which, stylistically, pretty much set the template for what such beers would become.
Little surprise then that among the trio of beers they’ve released for their tenth anniversary is a version of that beer. Or, if you’ve been following their story closely in recent times, that the birthday version – called X – features terpenes, an ingredient we discussed with Scott on Episode 009 of our podcast.
If we head right back to the start, the first brushes with brewing came when Scott used to make ginger beer with his dad, a habit that was sparked anew when Renae bought him a Coopers kit from Coles. Given he’d spent time enjoying craft beer while living and working on the ski slopes of the US and Renae was working in the wine industry and loved visiting wineries to discover how that was made, the pieces were in place to take the leap once they realised change was coming in Australia.
“We loved Coopers Pale and Little Creatures and Stone & Wood Pacific Ale, and were seeing that rise,” Renae says of the time they decided to throw their hat into the ring.
“It was the classic, ‘I can make good beer here. Why don’t I bring this to the masses?’,” Scott adds.
At the time, thanks to a strong Aussie dollar, international craft beer was arriving here in a way not seen before, giving drinkers a chance to try something different, and helping to shift market demand towards new flavours and styles.
What’s more, they had young kids toddling and crawling around the kitchen where he was brewing, so going pro would at least remove the risk of scolding the little ones with boiling water…
That said, there were times when they were grateful to the wider beer family too, such as at an early Ballarat Beer Festival (pictured above).
“It was our early days at Cavalier,” Scott says, “and they’d invited us to be part of their tent. Back then we had no one really helping us, so we wrote our phone numbers on the kids’ arms and they got to look after themselves.
“[Local Taphouse and Stomping Ground founder] Steve Jeffares ended up befriending them and looking after them for the day.”
Initially, their approach was a case of “let’s see how this goes” but, before long, they realised they needed to start working out the next step and the one after that to meet demand.
“We quickly realised that if this has any legs, or if it’s not going to break us mentally or physically, we’ve got to make leaps and bounds compared to what we thought initially,” Scott says.
However, while watching others “building massive breweries” and thinking, “How are they doing that?” he says they’ve ended up doing things “reasonably slowly”, an approach that’s arguably left them better equipped than some to navigate the choppy waters of recent years.
A similar ethos permeates their thinking as they look ahead to their second decade.
“Just being sustainable,” Renae says. “Making sure we’ve got a sustainable business for our staff and for us.
“We’ve been in this site in Mordialloc for five years now, and seeing the growth has been excellent, building in the local area.”
She sees that as key for businesses like theirs too: “Just be prominent in your backyard where you’re able to get to know your locals.”
Before we get to their Ten Lessons, it would be remiss to publish such an article without reflecting on highlights from over the years.
There was the time CUB featured someone wearing one of their caps in an ad for VB – picked up by this week’s podcast guest, Luke Robertson, in his Ale of a Time days. There was the series of back-and-forth barrel-aged beer and beer-finished whisky collabs with Lark Distillery too.
Other beers that spark particular fond memories are the Acidulous series of hoppy sours that brought something new to the local market, and Tom Collins, the cocktail-inspired gin botanicals sour with Patient Wolf that debuted at GABS in 2018 and is also back for their tenth birthday.
Collaborations have opened doors in many ways for them over the years too.
“Via beer, we’ve gone to America, to China and Japan, and along the way we’ve been hanging out with mates,” Scott says.
“The beauty of the craft beer industry, and what attracted us to it, was because of the link between working – let’s face it – pretty hard but also getting enjoyment and hanging out with good people in what’s broadly a good culture.”
He draws parallels between craft beer and his time working in the snow.
“Everyone knows each other. You’re all to some degree reliant on the elements: in a good summer, people drink more beer; you need good snow for a good winter season.
“You feel the same pain and feel the same highs.”
As with everyone still standing in the wider beer world, here’s hoping the second decade of Wolf of the Willows brings plenty of the latter and not too much of the former. And as for what the first decade has taught them…
Scott & Renae McKinnon
1. Beer is for fun, let's keep it that way
Beer is about having a laugh, catching up with mates, sharing good times with your family. It’s been around for thousands of years and will be around for thousands more. We’re honoured to be part of this industry, and if we can provide a moment of enjoyment from one of our brews, then our job is done.
2. Live and breath your values
We’ve tried to really understand what we truly value, and then set the standards by our own behaviour based on these values. If these standards aren’t being met then it needs to be called out.
If they are being met then it also needs to be acknowledged and celebrated. Most people don’t need a big song and dance, just a simple: “You’ve done a good job, thank you.”
3. You can’t please all the people all the time
We've learnt a lot about ourselves, the beers we like to brew and drink, and the workplace environment we want to create and be part of. Some people love this, some don’t. Such is life.
4. The harder you work the luckier you get
Things don't just land in your lap, you still have to work at it. We've had to constantly adapt to an ever-changing drinking culture that demands so much choice and variety!
It started with our XPA, creating Aqua Boogie Boozy Sodas, playing with our terpene range of beers, the list goes on. You need to keep moving, the old cliché of "pivot" and find what works, what doesn’t. We've grown sustainably these last ten years, but it's been through sheer determination and hard work.
5. Kaizen
Japanese translation: "Constant improvement is paramount."
Improving yourself, improving the conditions for those around you, improving the product, improving the experience. As employers we encourage our staff to better themselves, educate themselves, find that course and upskill. We expect ourselves to always give our best and we simply want to be around people who do the same.
6. Find joy in the small things
In today’s society we all have a tendency to move onto the next thing, and quickly! We've really tried to stop, breath, and celebrate the wins. Even if they are small, they are still significant. We are cautious and sometimes we overthink it. It can all be quite fast paced at times, making decisions on the fly, and the pace of it can be quite overwhelming.
Remember to stop, pause and look back at how much has been achieved. Smell the roses ... or those hops!
7. Collaborate
We've been fortunate enough to collaborate with some amazing business along the way, from our collaborations with Lark Distillery, Patient Wolf Gin and Tromba Tequila, to lifestyle brands like Nitro Snowboard, Smith Optics and Rocky Mountain bikes.
We are so lucky to have created some amazing products and experiences, but the most rewarding is making the long-lasting friendships that have come with them.
8. Local, community
We first got the keys to our Mordialloc site five years ago, and since that point we've built a welcoming, family-friendly Taproom for our locals to enjoy a good feed and well-crafted beer and boozy soda. We support local community groups and sporting clubs, and have collaborated with local businesses for a common goal: to bring joy to those around us!
We also love our "local" community in the mountains. These are "our people"; their support and encouragement has meant so much over the years. Our customers: the indie bottle stores, local pubs and restaurants who sell our beer – they've helped Wolf become who it is today.
Beer connects people, and we're so proud and honoured to be a part of that.
9. Take time out
It took us a few years to get it right but we know now that getting away and having a holiday makes us better employers, parents, people to be around haha. You gotta know when to switch off – life's a juggle and we all feel it.
We work so hard, but you need to have something to look forward to. The most important thing for us is getting out and in nature. It really does re-calibrate us: be in the mountains, play in the snow, be playful! Go for a mountain bike ride, get off the grid, take the kids camping.
It's amazing what a bit of fresh air and quiet contemplation does for the soul.
10. Team Wolf – our family
Quite simply, Wolf of the Willows wouldn't be here today without the hard-working, dedicated people and the incredible humans behind it. We always say we're family-owned and operated. To us, that doesn’t just mean genetic family, that means those who we care about and those who care about us.
The last few years have certainly tested everyone, and we're proud to say we're stronger than ever, thanks to our incredible Wolf crew, customers, and every supportive family and friends. Our family and friends are so important to us; our kids (now 14 and 12) have really only known Wolf. They've certainly seen some highs and lows but we honestly couldn't have done this without their support.
To everyone who has ever drank a Wolf beer, come to a Wolf event, supported a local bar or bottleshop that stocks us, we thank you. Here's to another ten years. Cheers, Scotty, Renae and all the Wolf Crew!
You'll find other Ten Lessons From Ten Years articles here.
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
