Hip Hop Cammeray

April 30, 2014, by Crafty Pint

Hip Hop Cammeray

One of the few but frequent laments amidst an otherwise burgeoning Sydney beer scene is the lack of restaurants with a decent beer list. It’s a rather perplexing scenario: to be able to dine on some of the finest and freshest food you’d hope to find, in settings other cities would swoon over, only to be left with the pleasure of washing it down with one of the cheapest, most abundant and least interesting beers Australia can contrive to produce. So it’s welcome news to have somewhere open its doors where a careful eye has been cast over the totality of the menu, and that’s certainly the case at the recently opened Cammeray Craft.

The new restaurant and bar in Sydney’s north boasts excellent food and a wine list to rival most others, but it also serves up a lesson in what a restaurant beer list can be: not too long, never boring and with something for everyone. It all makes perfect sense when you consider the man behind the venture is William Wilson; ‘kilted sommelier’, man-about-town of the Sydney beer and wine scenes and all-round genial chap.

When his tenure as Food & Beverage Manager at the Sydney Convention Centre was concluded by way of a wrecking ball at the end of 2013, it also cleared the way for him to open his own venue. That he’d make that sort of sideways move within the hospitality industry wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but doing it in the relatively non-crafty northern suburbs was. Which begs the question: why Cammeray?

Says Wilson: “I was looking for the right spot for quite a long time – originally I was heading towards the Inner West and Eastern suburbs and had a place lined up which fell through at the last minute. I started looking further afield and at smaller venues: restaurants with drink or dine licenses. I came across this restaurant in Cammeray which just happened to have six beer taps and knew pretty much straight away that this was the place.”

But while strong gut feelings and a bunch of taps are one thing, setting up shop amid a population unfamiliar with craft beer is quite something else. However, Wilson’s experience taught him a trick or two about solving that problem.

“One of the most important factors in making the business a success”, he says, “was to make sure that the locals were on side.

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The Kilted Sommelier. Sans kilt…

“I made sure that a couple of our beers were approachable for the non-craft beer drinker and also kept bottles of a few of the old beers that were on tap at the same prices for anyone that couldn’t be swayed. While more locals are now coming in, sales of the old beers have dropped significantly as we educate more customers. While I started saying that three beers had to be relatively easy drinking, I now only need one to be.”

It’s impressive progress for a venue that’s been open barely a month, but it also speaks volumes of the people he has helping run the place. In what should be dispensed as essential advice for those following in his footsteps in the country’s fast-growing beer scene, Wilson says: “If you theme your venue towards one product, whether it’s wine, steak, vegetarian food or beer, the people in charge need to be passionate about it. That’s why a lot of major pub chains and venues have failed when it comes to craft beer. You can’t have a specialist subject if you’re not a specialist.

“It’s been great to have an opening team who are all so passionate about beer and food. While we have plenty of customers who already know a lot about beer, knowledge and passion go a long way in selling it to those who are not yet convinced. I have a lot of staff training and teaching experience so knowledge can be passed on. However, the passion makes the real difference.”

And what a difference they’re making. As it stands, they’re selling twice as much Bridge Road / Ní¸gne í˜ Aurora Borealis II [a 9 per cent Tripel] and four times as much Epic Hop Zombie [an 8.5 per cent double IPA] as they are light beer.

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Willie’s tasty beer fridge

“We’re lucky,” he adds, “that there’s good public transport here to take our customers home at the end of the night!”

It’s still very early days, but signs are positive enough that Wilson has plans to expand the beer offerings.

“I’m keen to put in a few more taps. Real ale was a big part of my life back in Scotland and I’ll be putting in a handpump in the near future. The restaurant is perfect for functions … so you’ll be seeing more and more events being held here.”

That, and continuing to fight the good fight every day, of course: “The Cammeray Craft philosophy is to promote independent beers. I’m not going to get started on the ‘What is craft beer?’ debate, but the beers on our taps will never be owned by major breweries (or dairies, supermarkets or British pension funds).

“In our first week, I was offered a free keg of perfectly good beer from a non-independent brewery. While my veins are full of Scottish blood and I was a bit nervous about cash flow at the time, I refused the offer.

“Now, if any independent breweries want to give me a free keg, I’d be happy to talk to them!”

Any obliging breweries will find Cammeray Craft at 504 Miller St, Cammeray. They’re also holding their first beer event this Thursday – for more details visit the Events Diary.

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