Eagle Bay have built a reputation as one of WA’s most consistent breweries, racking up accolades and praise for a lineup of beers that lean heavily into "classically styled" territory. That said, over recent years, they've not been afraid to spread their wings; sure, classics like their iconic Kolsch remain well-crafted and ever-popular, but they haven't shied away from more experimental small batches.
The fast-changing times in which we live, and equally fast-changing tastes, are a likely motivator for brewers to keep evolving, but some personnel changes may well also be responsible for this steady but noticeable shift in gears at the brewery atop Cape Naturaliste.
Of note is Keegan Steinbacher's arrival as head brewer in 2019, bringing his own style of brewing while retaining the brewery's focus on drinkability. And on the marketing side of things, Bronte O’Donoghue has flourished since joining from Feral a couple of years ago.
For drinkers on the hunt for new experiences, however, the arrival of something entirely different from the Eagle Bay team will be of greatest interest: years in the making, the wild ferment Hoops series has debuted this autumn, and it's very much a passion project for Keegan.
"I’d wanted to do something in this space ever since first trying beers that were intentionally soured or funky," he told The Crafty Pint. "For me, they have always been a favourite of mine. I’ve always found yeast and bacteria to do things flavour-wise that malt and hops just couldn’t.
"My brewing journey has always led me to want to understand how other brewers achieve certain flavour profiles, and entering the world of mixed ferment was something that felt inevitable to me."
The Hoops series is one of not only wild ferments but also plenty of time. Utilising spent wine barrels – tucked away in a small corner of the brewery’s expansive storage shed – and a regular tasting regime, the project has evolved from experimental trials back in 2018 to where the beers sit now: packaged and ready to drink, with plenty more in the works.
It's not just the liquid that has been evolving either; it's been a learning process for the man behind them too.
"I started out with the intention of building a culture from scratch so I could understand what every element was bringing to the table," Keegan says. "The intention was to add a Brett strain, then maybe another, and another, then some lactobacillus strains, and finally some pediococcus strains.
"I quickly realised this was going to be a very long journey, so I started planning what to add to the first beer to try and get to where I wanted, knowing full well I may need to start again if it all went pear-shaped.
"Fortunately, an opportunity arose to collaborate with a good friend of mine, and of the Eagle Bay family, Brendan O’Sullivan from 3 Ravens. I’d known Brendan from the beginning of my brewing career at Mash Brewing. He managed – somehow – to get a 15 litre drum of the Wild Ravens house culture on a plane across from Thornbury, in Victoria, to the southwest of WA.
"We knocked up a saison, dry-hopped it with some aged Tardif de Bourgogne and Aramis before putting it away into barrels with the Wild Ravens house culture. I have since shifted this culture around into a few other beers and adopted it as our own.
"The brewing scene has always been an immensely open, and collaborative space and this was yet another example of that."
The first two Hoops beers, released on March 20, are the first in what will be an ongoing series, with multiple pegged to drop each year. Batch 001 has been soured with lactobacillus plantarum and aged lengthily with Brettanomyces Claussenii; for this beer, no oak was used, a ploy from the Eagle Bay brewers to demonstrate the changing state of the beers to come while remaining on theme. This stainless-aged version of a Brett Saison will be a unique addition to the WA beer scene.
"Currently, the barrel-aged versions of Blend 001 are split between four red and white wine barrels," Keegan says. "One version shows chardonnay characteristics and will be bottled as is, while another will feature fig and yuzu zest.
"The two red wine barrels are conditioning on nebbiolo skins from Frankland River that were present in a wine ferment for 100 days. The barrel-aged versions are inoculated with Brett Bruxellensis and, due to the nature of barrel-ageing, present with a higher degree of Brett characteristics, while the oak and remnant wine provide structure and tannin.
"It will be a fun experiment to see each version evolve from the same base beer with red or white barrels and fruit additions being the differentiating factor."
As an all-encapsulating concept, packaging and design is very much an integral part of the project too. Not the sorts to do anything by half measures, they created a new design for the labels, while still retaining Eagle Bay’s iconic aesthetic. A slick logo has been developed alongside artwork from Perth (Whadjuk Boodja) artist Rachel Unwin Hatton. It’s simple, minimalist, the details concise but informative.
"Rach had previously painted some simple and beautiful deconstructed native flowers," Bronte says. "They were obviously native flowers, but she presented them in a unique and interesting way that allowed the viewer to piece it together like a puzzle, and the thought immediately hit me that we should get her to take this same approach to Hoops Project, but with the inspiration being bacteria.
"After all, bacteria is what makes these beers so interesting."
With the series off to a fine start [Batch 001 is an early highlight of 2023 for me – Editor] Hoops is likely to see Eagle Bay's reputation as a brewery that "does the classics well" broaden courtesy of the creativity and progressive thinking that infuses these beers. After all, there’s much to love about an ongoing project that combines modern-thinking with old school ideals celebrating slowly-evolving, barrel-aged and wild-fermented beer.
"At a time when I think people are shifting to a more experiential way of drinking, a range of beers like Hoops Project can only be a good thing," Keegan says.
"Large format bottles are made for sharing with good friends. The beer should be a conversation starter, but then take a back seat to proceedings.
"Whilst the clean side of the brewery has gone from strength to strength, nearly doubling its output in the last four years, it’s been satisfying knowing that something is ticking away in a barrel in the back shed without a care about production schedules or supply and demand. It will dictate when it's ready.’
Jono Outred is a food and beverage writer based in WA’s Southwest. He has been involved in craft beer across a variety of capacities over the past 11 years, from beer blogging to production brewing and everything in between. When not immersed in beer, Jono is a cricket tragic, grows grapes and tends to his farm in Nannup.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
That would be would be BrewDog Tokyo, gifted to me by a colleague for my 18th birthday. Its existence alone as a 12.5 percent ABV beer blew my mind; previously I had only consumed Emu Bitter (in excess) at house parties. Discovering that beer led to a visit to the International Beer Shop where, obviously, many more mind-blowing beers were purchased and consumed.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Rocky Ridge Peach Invasion: For me, it's the perfect craft beer. It's big flavoured but perfectly smashable. Interesting but easy-drinking. Bold but balanced. Naughty but nice. Made entirely out of locally made ingredients in WA, you'd be mad not to give it a crack!
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Boatroacker Ramjet: Because THIS is what beer can be. It's massive. You might hate it now but you certainly won't forget it. One day you'll understand and you won't be able to get enough. This beer is everything that is right about crazy, "big" beers.
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Jester King El Cedro: It's American craft beer at its best. A beautiful, bubbly farmhouse ale aged in cedar barrels. We're lucky here in Australia to get our hands on these fantastic American ales and I think Jester King stands for everything we love about beer. Great beer, great story.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Beerfarm Native series Quandong & Samphire Gose.
Name three examples of music/art/culture/sport/travel/other that represent you.
- Cricket – a passion from a young age. A mediocre off-spinner with an U17's club record of 8-30. Currently playing for the Nannup Tigers!
- Punk rock and heavy metal – A passion for over 15 years, from singing in a dodgy death metal garage band as a teenager and being active in Perth's punk and hardcore scene, to mic grabs at Slayer and traveling cross country to farewell I Killed the Prom Queen in Adelaide!
- Food – A chef in a past life, now out from behind the pass and exploring food throughout Western Australia and cooking more at home.
