Rainbow Brewery hits milestone

After almost two years and nearly $2-million in investment, Rainbow Brewery is on the cusp of commercial production.

Brewery owner Shane Brown said it would be all systems go after plumbers connected gas to the big brew house.

“Gas connection is the last piece in the puzzle for the big brew house and then we’re good to go for full commercial brewing, which should take place in December,” he said.

“Then we’ll be in a position for a grand opening throughout January.”

The brewery, in the southern Mallee town of Rainbow, will use malted local grain in its beer.

There will be six different brews on tap when the cellar door opens to the public early next year.

“We’re aiming to do a lager to start off with, which will be a core product,” Mr Brown said.

The Melbourne-based man, who is joint proprietor of the brewery and the town’s nearby Eureka Hotel with wife Vesna, is also keen to explore support for creating signature beers for individual pubs in small towns across the Wimmera-mallee.

“What we want to do is give them the opportunity to not only have our beer but a slightly tweaked beer for themselves, a signature beer,” he said.

Other plans down the track include investigating the availability of government grants earmarked for regional industry to help establish a Rainbow malting plant.

Initial estimates reveal little change from $1-million to get a malting facility built.

“Once the brewery is up and running, the action won’t stop there,” Mr Brown said.

“I want to get my teeth into basically building a malting plant there.

“Not only would it supply the brewery directly with local grain, but there’s an opportunity to build more industry in Rainbow itself, utilise different grains that are grown there and malt and distribute to other craft breweries.”

Mr Brown said Rainbow people were passionate about their town.

He applauded their drive to keep the community strong and believed a brewery in full production would be a positive addition.

“That’s what drives me, being able to assist in getting the town to a level where it will flourish in the future,” he said.

While commercial supply is just weeks away, a test brew to trial a small brew house at the Rainbow site sparked interest among locals.

Hundreds also enjoyed a sneak peek at the brewery during a Rainbow reunion early this month.

“It’s been two years since we started turning dirt,” Mr Brown said of the brewery project.

“And it was a huge relief just to keg some beer and put it in bottles and have a test.

“Even though it won’t be our on-going beer, just the fact that we made beer was a big tick moment.

“I think everyone in Rainbow was really rapt we’d finally made some.”