It’s fair to say that what’s been going on in Queensland over the past couple of years has been little short of remarkable. Where once the beer lovers of Brisbane were worried as to whether they would have even one place to enjoy a decent beer, now the small and craft beer bar scene has come alive and is among the most vibrant in Oz. Meanwhile, new breweries and brewing companies, such as Bacchus), 4 Hearts and Green Beacon, have appeared on the scene, with some making headway on the national stage.
And now there is another – or should we say two more – to add to that list, with the commercial release of the first beers from Fortitude Brewing and side label Noisy Minor imminent. We’re yet to taste any of their beers here at Crafty Towers, but even if we hadn’t heard the positive feedback on the pre-launch event that took place a few weeks ago, we’d have every confidence that they would be of a high quality. Why? Well, the head brewer’s pedigree is pretty strong for oneâ¦
Ian Watson left New South Wales' brewery Murray’s, where he worked alongside head brewer Shawn Sherlock and was responsible for the likes of Seasons In The Abyss, to head up the new operation. And prior to that, he had been Australia’s first “beer sommelier” at Toowoomba’s The Spotted Cow, back before 99.9999999 per cent of Queenslanders would have been aware that such a thing as craft beer existed, and has since worked as a brewer at the likes of Mt Tamborine and the Sunshine Coast breweries.
“Demand is so high that I just can’t keep up,” says Ian, in what must be one of the earliest cases of a brewery hitting capacity. “We already have plans underway for our new brewery and want to start building that so we can make enough beer.”
For now, the operation is housed at the old Eagle Heights Brewery in Mount Tamarine. It’s a small 5 hL set up on which Ian can only brew three times a week. As for the two labels, the idea was borrowed from the wine world, with Fortitude’s range to feature more traditional beer styles and Noisy Minor where the experimentation will occur.
“I can only produce 30 kegs a week,” he says, “and I have one venue that reckons it could do 18 kegs a week and a second that’s estimating it will go through five or six up to 10 weekâ¦
“It’s all go and not just in production. We will keep hold of our brewery in Mt Tamborine for development where we don’t want to do a 40 keg batch [once the new, larger brewery is open]. Or it could be used if there’s something I want to put six months of lagering on. The new brewery will be used to produce as much beer as possible.”
Negotiations are ongoing as to where the new brewery will be located, but firm news is expected soon. That said, it’s likely they’ll be operating from the existing setup at least until the end of this year.
Already, a number of lucky people have been able to sample eight different beers that are likely to appear under the Noisy Minor label. Ian and the brewery’s owners Gerard Connors and Jim O'Connor (above with Ian on the right) arranged a progressive tasting around Brisbane venues at which they unveiled beers such as the ANZUS, which will be the label’s year-round beer – a really hoppy, decidedly better pale ale / IPA tipping the scales at six per cent. The other seven beers, including the Grim RIPA – a black rye IPA – will be released as and when there is space in the schedule. As for Fortitude, the first release will be the Original, a hoppy golden ale that measures 4.5 per cent and is described by Ian as “a dependable craft beer”.
“There will always be a market for really big beer, hence the existence of Noisy Minor. But if the industry is going to grow, you can’t just rely on 100 Scratch bars and 100 Tippler’s Taps in each city. We need craft beer in every suburban pub and that won’t happen with black rye IPAs but it could with a golden ale.”
Ian’s new role is a return to the head brewer position he held at the aforementioned Queensland breweries. It’s meant a reminder of the extra work that is entailed when you’re responsible for more than just brewing.
“[Shawn and I] still keep in regularly reasonable contact and I miss the camaraderie,” says Ian. “It was a great place to work. I’m also missing the fact that I could make beer then go home. Here I can’t turn off any more, but it’s what I decided to do.
“It’s just the challenge of any other business. There are production restrictions here so we’re trying to battle through that and move along with plans for building a bigger plant, so it’s not all plain sailing. I’m not ripping my hair out though. It’s all going pretty good – the response at the media event was very good so we’re quite happy with that. It was interesting to see what beers everyone liked too as it was a nice warm day – around 35° C – and we were pouring an Imperial Stout while people were outside.”
Bringing Imperial Stouts to a Brisbane summer may prove an epic challenge, but as the success of the region’s new ventures is showing, enticing Queenslanders to drink better beer is proving less problematic.
“There are new venues approaching us that are only just coming to the craft beer world,” says Ian. “Beer in Brisbane is growing all the time.”
The first Noisy Minor beer should be hitting taps any time now, with Fortitude’s Original due out on May 3.
