The Cool Room

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?

156 - One Drop Live at Hopheads

Travis, Warren and Davydd are joined by Nick and Monty from One Drop Brewing Co at Hopheads in Yarraville for a live tasting session! [And because it's a live broadcast the audio quality is perhaps not up to our usual standards - please forgive us!]

We explore hoppy beers and sours and learn about the different brewing techniques required to produce both styles as the stories behind the beers and the brewery.

Just what is an "ideation process" and is there a "Committee for Adding Things" at One Drop?

We put new One Drop rep Michael through his paces on only his second day and have an illuminating conversation about things that emerge from sewers.

 

155 - Weihenstephan return!

A very special episode as Marcus Englet, world Vice President of legendary German brewery Weihenstephan joins Davydd live at Melbourne's Beer Deluxe for a live tasting of their beers in front of a huge audience!

As ever this episode is best enjoyed with a home delivered tasting pack featuring 10 different Weihenstephan beers for just $69. https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/weihenstephan-mixed-10-pack

As well as a guided tasting through 5 classic beers we also learn about the history of the brewery and the stories behind the beers. 

Marcus reviews Aussie Rules Football and the Hop Nation Rattenhund while Davydd becomes increasingly obsessed with medieval German taxation laws and the importance of saints days.

And Marcus regales us with stories of time spent in Sydney included encounters with Kylie Minogue and lions that escaped from Taronga Park zoo...

154 - Slow Lane Return

Alex from Sydney's Slow Lane Brewing returns for another excellent episode featuring a wide range of beer styles all with his unique Australian twist on traditional european recipes.

This episode is best enjoyed with the accompanying tasting pack which is available for home delivery from our online store: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/slow-lane-mixed-9-pack

As ever we range over a vast array of topics relating to the history of the styles he brews and the special techniques required to brew them with heaps of tips for new and aspiring brewers [homebrewers too!]. 

We also hear more stories about Alex's own journey through brewing, his plans for the future - and why he joins us from Perth rather than Sydney!