Next year, Bootleg Brewery will celebrate two decades of craft brewing in Margaret River. It’s a quite remarkable achievement in a region known primarily for wine – and perhaps the odd shark or two. As a tourist destination and the first microbrewery in the south west, it’s fair to say Bootleg is an institution.
Head brewer Michael Brookes has been at the brewery for 15 years and now he’s enjoying seeing new generations of craft beer drinkers coming into the brewpub.
"Adults are now coming in who remember being bought here with their family because their dad drank Raging Bull. Now they’ll visit and take some home to their father," he says. It’s a far cry from those of us who remember their dad’s garage fridge filled with red cans of Emu Export (sorry, Dad!).
"Today, a 31-year-old has been drinking craft beer for 13 years," says Michael.
Living up to the expectations of generations of craft beer drinkers is no small thing so Michael and the team at Bootleg Brewery are continually working to improve the venue and the beers. And this, Michael believes, is cause for them to make a little noise.
"We want to get louder about our beer because we are getting better and better," he says.
What that means now it a little revamping of the brewery’s image, starting with a new logo; a new image that reflects the brewery it has become today.
"It needed to make a big modern leap while still paying respect to its heritage," says Bootleg’s marketing manager Simon Naylor.
The big B, designed by the daughter of owner Tom Reynolds, remains in the logo as a link to their heritage and the strong sense of family at the brewery. The locals have given the new branding a thumbs up too – using their other hand to clutch a pint of Bootleg beer of course.
"It’s refreshing: a motivator to where we are going as we gain more momentum with the brand," says Michael.
With new branding comes new merchandise and a new website, but something that remains the same is the focus on creating quality beers and also trying out new ideas in the brewhouse.
"As a brewer I want to be an educator of craft beer and keep the public interested by having diversity on tap," says Michael, with more frequent seasonal beers on their way. "I want to have seasonal beers that people will walk away and talk about, not be shocked by."
Most recently, that has seen Bootleg playing with oak-ageing their core beers. So far Wils Pils, Tom’s Amber Ale and Princep Cider have gone through the process. Next up, Michael and assistant brewer Ryan will be an aged version of their much-loved and award-winning strong dark ale Raging Bull, which has spent time in a hogshead Cognac barrel.
Responses to the oak aged beers have been extremely positive, especially with tourists to the region, and Bootleg will be making room in their range for more seasonals. Settler’s Pale Ale and the Bootleg Hefe will move from their core ranging and be reborn as seasonals while the highly regarded, repeat seasonal offender, Black Market IPA, will pop up again in spring. Settler’s Pale Ale will evolve into an American style India Pale Ale with New Zealand hops into the mix for something a little different. With the Hefe, Michael is eager to play with the structure of the beer, create a creamier mouthfeel to carry bigger flavours of bubblegum and clove.
For those counting at home this means Bootleg Brewery’s lineup will feature five regular beers, the Princep Cider and at least one seasonal on tap at any time, maybe even two.
You can check out their new website here, order some beer while you’re there and keep up-to-date with their beery antics on Facebook.
You can also keep up with the antics of the author of this piece via her girlplusbeer blog.
