The Cool Room

166- DSSOLVR [US]

Davydd is joined by Vince from North Carolina's DSSOLVR Brewery to taste some of their amazing beers and to hear all the secret stories behind them.

This episode contains a special code that will get you free delivery when you purchase these beers for delivery from our online store: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/dssolvr-4-pack

We discover how a love of home brewing led to him leaving the world of IT and to heading up his own brewery and discuss all things hops as the first 2 beers on the tasting line up contain 9 hops between them.

What role did Australia's Mountain Culture have in his yeast foraging, is there really a renaissance of West Coast IPAs and is this the first AI created beer label we've had on the show?

165 - Ocean Reach

Davydd is joined by Simon from Ocean Reach to hear all about his fantastic beers and his journey from home brewer to owner of one of Victoria's favourite breweries.

A very limited number of tasting packs containing the beers discussed in this episode is still available in our online store: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/ocean-reach-9-pack

We hear all about his favourite [and least favourite] toys in the brewery, new techniques he's experimenting with and which styles are his favourites to brew and drink.

And Davydd gets more than a little distracted by penguins...

164 - Hawkers

It finally happened! Mazen Hajjar welcomes the Coolroom to Hawkers for a live show with plenty of great stories about his journey in brewing.

We hear all about his first adventures in brewing back in Lebanon and what led him to set up in Melbourne. We get to taste 6 of his great beers and hear all about the team that makes them reality.

What are the "things he said he'd never do" that he's gone on to do, and why does he still check the ratings of his beers?

Davydd goes off script and starts drinking hazies as Mazen explains the virtues of stouts for the Australian summer.

Oh and you want scoops? We got scoops! Listen in to find out what's currently ageing in Hawkers barrels and upcoming explorations of terroir!

163 - Moffat Beach

For our final podcast release of 2022 Davydd is joined by Matt Wilson, founder/owner and head brewer at Moffat Beach.

We hear all about the rapid rise of one of Australia's most exciting breweries with all of the excitement and challenges that such a rise brings, particularly during COVID.

We learn about Matt's varied career before he moved into hospitality, what each of his previous jobs taught him, and how those lessons helped him transition from keen home brewer to a professional with 2 facilities!

Matt explains why entering brewing competitions was an important part of his development and all about the other great breweries on the sunshine coast!

162 - Willy Beer Fest 3 - Blackmans, Bonehead & Sobremesa

In the third of our three episodes from the Williamstown Beer and Cider Festival [make sure you get along there next year!] we are joined by Blackmans, Bonehead and Sobremesa.

Luke from Blackmans shares his boundless enthusiasm for introducing new people to craft beer and also the  City of Geelong that inspires their new Pivot City Lager. Can we declare 2022 to finally be the Year of the Lager? And just which of the many quotes he comes up with would make the best t-shirt?

Then even though we were supposed to be packing up Anthony from Bonehead drops past bringing Casey who brings not just Bonehead stories but also insights into his own venture Sobremesa. 

We hear about his journey from wine-making to craft beer and which of the skills are transferrable and which would horrify his winemaking family. We learn about some huge awards he's recently one and all about the first ever core range beer from Sobremesa.

As this was an outside broadcast the audio is not of the high quality we normally aim for but we trust you'll forgive us given the great stories on the show!

161 - Young Henrys

Warren and Davydd are joined by Richard Adamson, co-founder of legendary Sydney brewery Young Henrys! 

We learn all about his personal development as a brewer and then the giant leap to setting up a brewery that has gone from a one suburb operation to sharing great beers around the country.

We have a detailed [but fun!] discussion about local government planning issues, get an insight into their many collaborations, and hear all about their distilling business too!

Which beer have they had in barrels for 10 years and just why were there two goats in their coolroom???

160 - Willy Beer Fest 2 - Coconspirators, Urban Alley & Clifton Hill Brewpub

It's the second of our three episodes featuring interviews from the Williamstown Beer and Cider Festival and again a big thanks to Shane and the team for bringing us along that day!

Davydd chats with Jacqui from Coconspirators about the brewery's birthday plans and the new core range beers before Clint from Pocket Beagles predictably crashes the party and starts talking can designs and the time that he had his shorts ripped off him at a beer festival.

Urban Alley introduce their brewery and a fun line up of beers including the highest ranked Australian Aussie Pale Ale from the World Beer Awards - the first 2 Aussie Pales weren't even from Australia - prompting Davydd to threaten a letter writing campaign. We hear all about the roll out of their venues before getting sidetracked with trombone talk. 

And then we chat with the Clifton Hill Brewpub about the long and storied history of the venue and what it's like to transition from the world of home brewing into being a professional brewer!

159 - Lost Watering Hole - Lancefield Brewery

Warren and Davydd are joined by Julian from Lost Watering Hole in Lancefield on their very first day of being a brewpub!

We learn all about what it takes to set up a venue like the Lancefield Hotel and why Julian thinks that's a better approach than brewing beers to put into bottleshops.

We discuss the differences in beer culture between Australia and Germany and the potential that Australia has as a beer market.

There's plenty of free advice for home brewers and would be pros as Julian wears his other hat from "The Brewery Mentors". 

And of course we discuss branding and design as we examine their can art!

Don't forget to rate and subscribe to the podcast and of course follow us on the socials too!

158 - Willy Beer Fest 1 - Bricklane, Wayward & Cavalier

The first of three episodes featuring interviews from the recent Williamstown Beer & Cider Festival - a huge thanks to Shane and the team for inviting us along!

Because this was an outside broadcast the audio may not be up to our usual standards - but the stories are great and we hope you listen through and learn about 3 great breweries: Bricklane, Wayward & Cavalier!

We hear all about where they are located, how they started which beers they brought to the festival and we ask what's the most out there thing they've ever seen at a festival!

Darren from Bricklane tells us all about the ethos of the brewery and their expansion strategy as well as sharing some fun insights into what it's like to be a cicerone! 

We discover that Ryan from Wayward can speak spanish as we listen to him taste the Double Passionista for the first time.

And we meet Captain Cavalier and learn the history of this 11 year old brewery and their latest inspirations and interpretations!

And just which of these breweries brings the most impractical prop to beer festivals?

157 Bright Brewery Return

Even from Bright Brewery returns to the Coolroom to share more great beers and the stories behind them!

You can grab the beers we are talking about from our online store here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/bright-9-pack Listen to the start of the episode to get the code for a 20% discount!

Even takes us through some of the changes to Bright's core range beers as well as some of their new limited releases discussing how the beer market has changed during his time at the brewery. 

We learn what happened to Bright's famous mystery beer, new export markets and copyright infringement and the 'hilarity of corporate law'.

We are gatecrashed by Pocket Beagles' Clint to talk design and collaboration on the inside and outside of a beer can. Why do people still mock his recipes and why are some mountains too point?