BREWERS CHEER BEER RETURN
THE smell of hops is once again in the air at an iconic watering hole after a 10-week hiatus.
The Brewery Townsville fired up the mash tug and brewed fresh beer yesterday, for the first time since the middle of March.
Never in The Brewery’s two-decade history has beer production been suspended.
The suspension, due to COVID-19 restrictions, halted the production of 45,000 litres of beer over 10 weeks.
Head brewer Sam Lloyd said they were replenishing their Tropical Coast Pale Ale stock after running out a month ago.
“We decided to do a (brew) this week, even though we could have left it a couple more weeks,” he said.
“But because we have sort of opened up to the public and we are missing one of our core beers, we wanted to get everything rolling.”
Some 375 kilograms of grain was dropped into the mash tug along with three kilograms of Mosaic hops.
It is expected to produce 1500 litres of Tropical Coast Pale Ale or the equivalent of 4545 bottles of beer.
Brewer Jordan Dahl said it had been a struggle to get through the lockdown.
“It is the longest time I have gone in a professional setting without brewing and it has been gutwrenching walking past the brew house every day and wanting to be here doing what we love,” he said.
“All the sensory things that go with brewing are really nice to have again.
“So all the aromas of mashing in and portioning out your hops and once you get to the boil and put everything in; it’s just the whole aspect of it.”