There’s a good chance you’ve never considered how wonderful it can be to enjoy beer in the shade of an avocado tree. After all, the opportunities to do so are few and far between.
However, let me take this opportunity to assure you that it is indeed a wonderful pursuit. And, should you wish to put this to the test, I can highly recommend a visit to Earth Beer Company, close to the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The brewery’s home on a working avocado farm in the tight-knit community of Cudgen, just south of the Tweed River, offers a brewery experience like few others.
The old tin shed that houses the brewery and bar was once the major packaging site for the 400-acre farm spread across Cudgen Plateau. It’s an area which has long been a major centre of agriculture due to its deeply rich, red volcanic soil; the town’s name is derived from the Bundjalung word for red, and the brewing company initially put out beers under the Red Earth banner.
When the farm was a single operation, workers would descend on the packaging shed on a Friday afternoon to get together, drink a few beers, and share stories. So, in many ways, not all that much has changed. Except for just about everything…
Today, Earth’s home is a more modest 25-acre farm, while the tin shed has been transformed into a working brewhouse and a breezy taproom that opened late in 2019 before undergoing a significant upgrade and transformation three years later.
The driving forces behind the brewery are Zeke Hower, Richie Foreman and Tommy Lee Lewis – three mates inspired by the part of the world they call home who wanted to create a community-focused business.
They’ve done so via a venue that offers the kind of relaxed space in which you can easily spend hours gazing upon the panoramic vistas from their hilltop site, views that take in Mt Warning (Wollumbin), which also appears in the brewery’s logo. The shed is filled with upcycled timber and rusted metal, with the odds and sods from the farm decorating the walls adding to the sense that time slows down here.
That tranquil environment is only enhanced by the beer garden wending its way down the hill. Pull up a pew – some of them providing shade from the sub-tropical sun – to sip on an IPA, or maybe an Avocado Kolsch if you time your visit right. Completing the laid-back vibe is the tendency for the carpark to be dotted with vans filled with surfboards as locals from nearby Kingscliff or the Gold Coast pop in post-surf.
Despite being a mere ten-minute drive from the Goldie, it’s unlikely you could feel much more removed from that region’s sparkling beaches or warehouse-based breweries. It’s a point of difference that entices day-trippers and families alike; dogs are welcome too and kids are not only appreciated but can jump aboard a boat resting among the trees.
Food options include a range of platters produced in-house and visiting food trucks, while the 12 hectolitre setup produces beers covering the full breadth of modern styles. Beyond the aforementioned Avocado Kolsch (one of four genuine seasonal), the brewers make use of the fertile fruits that surround them, including a popular Mango Weisse Bier made each summer in harmony with a hundred-year-old mango tree on the farm.
As their name suggests, the Earth team also makes a great effort to have as low an impact on the planet as they can, from a focus on selling beer as close to home as possible to sending their grain to feed pigs just down the road.
After all, when you make beer on an avocado farm while gazing upon one of the most beautiful parts of the country, how could you not want to look after the place you call home as best you can?
Will Ziebell
