It's time to hit the road again after hosting the GABS Hottest 100 Countdown livestream as Will and James call into Noodledoof in Victoria's west.
Founders Sam Rudolph and Alex Carr launched the brewpub and distillery with their partners in late 2019 – just before you-know-what hit – in Koroit, a small town a short drive inland from the western end of the Great Ocean Road. In the years since, they've gone on to create a genuinely distinctive operation in a region that was pretty much barren land for local craft beer before they came along.
With Sam still making his way back from a beer festival in Melbourne on the day of our visit, we sat down with Alex to hear how the former homebrewing housemates from Adelaide ended up reuniting as brewers and distillers.
We find out how they turned a former mechanics in the town's main street into a community hub, where the unique name comes from, and why they're creating a brand like little else in Australia – certainly among breweries found so far from any major cities.
Alex tells us about their mission to work with and celebrate local producers, foraging for native ingredients in the rich ecosystem of nearby Tower Hill, whose Gunditjmara name, Koroitj, gives their adopted home its name, and creating unique spirits such as a wonderful potato vodka that pays homage to the Irish community that settled in the area in the mid-19th century.
The show features great insights and inspiration for those looking to build a community around a regional brewery, and the rewards that can come from sticking to your beliefs.
We also hear from Anne Gigney, founder and co-director of The Distillers Institute, ahead of March's IBD Convention in Hobart.
You can watch or listen to the episode here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other podcast platforms. Please like and subscribe – and if you are enjoying the show, feel free to rate and review it too.
To find out more about supporting the show or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
About James
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.
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