It started more than a decade ago with the ultimate man’s cave. But, finally, after years of hard work, the brewing dream shared by Jason Harris and Craig Basford is set to become a reality.
"We began brewing in Jason’s shed in a rented property in the Barossa back in 2002,“ says Craig. "The shed was huge, a farmer’s shed with easily enough room for the brewing equipment, cars, the Scalextric track, hardware, tools everything. It also had a mechanics pit which was perfect for keeping our brews at a constant fermenting temperature.
“It was here we began our love affair with making beer and while brewing that we would talk about making this a business as most home brewers do. We got ourselves an ABN and a business name, but it was a while before we did anything with it beyond getting a cheaper price on materials.â
But, as Paul Kelly once sang, from little things big things grow. Or in this case, from a big shed, an even bigger shed grows, as very soon South Australia will gain a new brewery in the form of Big Shed Brewing. The site is ready to go in Royal Park, Adelaide, and the mates have recently taken delivery of their brewhouse kit.
"The big day came when our first container filled with stainless was delivered and we could barely contain ourselves," says Craig. "We were at the brewery at 5.30am for the celebratory breakfast and when the truck came it took all our will power not to hug the truckie.
“The fact he could crack stones by staring at them made the task of avoiding physical contact easier. Despite that, on our opening night, the truckies will be invited."
The Big Shed kit is a decent size for a startup microbrewery (consisting of a 10 hectolitre four vessel brewhouse with 20 hectolitre hot and cold liquor tanks and four 20 hectolitre uni-tank fermenters for those interested in the specifics). And, sensibly given the rapid growth of the Aussie craft beer scene, they’re already planning ahead, with with a setup that will allow them to double their capacity without any major redevelopment required.
This might be just as well given the mishaps when it came to installation.
"Unloading was fairly fun and easy. Getting the equipment upright was not,“ he says. "It started off well enough but our first hurdle was the kettle. With its short stubby size we’d though we’d have no worries. Of course we hadn’t taken into account the additional weight of the ‘blast chamber’.
“It wasn’t until we nearly tipped our walky stacker a couple of times (just to prove it wasn’t a fluke) that we decided we needed a more robust solution. We borrowed the forklift off our dear friends and neighbours at Grand Kitchens and made short work of it.
"The second container housed the fermenters which did not have the same weight concerns but instead we found other issues. They were our tallest vessels coming in at around 3.2 metres. In itself this is no problem: our warehouse is taller than that. The problem is once you take into account the boom attached to the forklift and the slack in the shackle to attach the fermenter to the boom and the forklift itself it was going to be tight. How tight? We were literally scraping the roof with the forklift as we inched it forward. We now have a new found appreciation for the poor bastards who built Stonehenge!"
The new brewery
As with much of the craft beer world, getting to where they are now has been a real community effort.
"Aside from friends and relatives who have gone above and beyond with working bees and the like – concrete cutting and removal to add drainage was a particular delight – we have also had great support from local businesses to help get our dreams off the ground*."
As well as brewing their own beers, Jason and Craig made it clear from early on that they intended to open the doors to Big Shed to other brewers looking for somewhere to brew their beers. It’s an offer that’s made a lot of people in Adelaide very happy. With contract brewed beer brands such as Birbeck’s and Mismatch starting up in South Australia, there has been a great deal of interest from many brewers keen to turn pro but not in the position to invest in and establish a brewery of their own.
In the past the options have been slim to none for contract brewing in SA, which has required those wishing to brew under contract to travel interstate, brew their product, and then transport it all the way back to Adelaide. Having a facility in SA that is an affordable way of entering the industry will be an amazing opportunity for those wanting to follow their craft beer dream.
"Aside from brewing our own beer we will be open to contracting as well,“ says Craig. "This helps our cash flow – we are a business after all – but we also want to help lower the barriers for entry in the craft beer market for those with a passion for it.
“Speaking to those who are contracting at different facilities now, the large volumes required really limits their ability to produce a variety of interesting beers. The Adelaide craft beer industry seems small compared to other states and if we can help increase that then we believe it helps all of us.
“We will use a model that basically assigns a fermenter to a contract so space constraints aren’t a problem. This initially limits the number of contracts we can take on but with available space and glycol capacity we can add additional capacity should it be required. This doesn’t mean we won’t be available for one off batches but that will need to fit in to the brew schedule before it will be agreed to.
“We are keen to use the relationships we make with our contract brewers to try some different things within the industry. They’re just ideas at this stage, but stay tuned as we move along."
Most importantly Jason and Craig wish to support a community of beer lovers and brewers: creating a venue that invites people with the right motives and ethos. They are hoping that by building a business that nurtures small batch brewing and a community of like minded people, Adelaide will see a greater range of beer labels and a flourishing industry within SA.
"We are currently in the final stages of excise and liquor license approval. All going well, we will have a beer to market in early to mid December. We would prefer to keep our initial offering a surprise at this stage but can tell you the Big Shed philosophy on beer is that we always want to bring something different to the market wherever possible. This doesn’t necessarily mean using weird ingredients all the time, but we want to make sure our beers continue to offer something new rather than shoehorning another beer into the same crowded space."
It’s all really exciting – and just one of many exciting things currently brewing in South Australia – even if there’s no Scalextric track at the new site.
*The Big Shed guys wanted to thank Adam at Primary Plumbing, John Kobzeff of JJTak Electrical, Alex from Exel Electrics, Stephen Nelsen from Nelsen Brewing Services (Brewery Planning), Thomas Hamann from Winequip (Glycol, Pumps and Bottling), Scott Eaton from Dixon (Brew house and Glycol Hoses) and Michael Stegemeier from Haymans for their help in getting Big Shed up and running.
Matt Carty is a press photographer currently turning his passion for brewing into a career. You can follow his adventures in beer via his blog, The Self Obsessed Beer Snob.
