Having blown up Melbourne’s Cherry Bar on the last night of Good Beer Week with a night of hard rock, blues and craft beer, the original instigator of the Rockstar Brews concept in Oz is teaming up with his biggest band yet. Past collaborations with Front End Loader, Hell City Glamours, My Dynamite and Crow already under his belt, Richard Adamson and his Young Henrys crew has now created a beer with Aussie legends You Am I. The beer – Brew Am I – will be available on the band’s forthcoming sellout tour that kicks off at the Dark Mofo festival in Tasmania on June 19.
Brew Am I is a hoppy summer ale style beer featuring the new Kiwi hop Kohatu that Richard says gives the beer floral, spicy and piney characteristics. It’s been designed with bassist Andy Kent, who has been a pretty regular caller at the Newtown brewery in recent weeks, and the beer is, says Richard, “crafty enough to be a good introduction to craft beer” for You Am I fans without being too confronting.
“We took ingredients from each of the places the band members are from in Australia and New Zealand,” he says. “Wheat from WA, malt from Victoria and hops from New Zealand.
“Andy has been knocking about the brewery but has been a bit busier than anticipated. The tour has taken off – they’ve sold out so many shows it’s ridiculous. Hopefully the fans are as thirsty for the beer as they are for their music!”
Where possible, the beer will be poured at venues on the night of You Am I’s show. Where this isn’t feasible, Young Henrys has arranged for kegs to be delivered to nearby pubs so that gig-goers can get their hands on it before and after. There will also be a release of limited edition You Am I squealers (one litre refillable vessels).
As for the name…
“We got a bit puntastic,” says Richard. “In the end we could have come out with an entire range of You Am I beers based around various song titles.
“The band has been super laid back about it as well as being really excited. The most fun part for me has involved a local graphic designer who has done a lot of work for us [at the brewery]. He’s a massive You Am I fan so I put him in touch with Andy to do the artwork for this and he’s ended up doing a lot of work for the band as well as the Love Police, Andy’s concert promotion company. He’s had his photo taken with one of Tim’s guitars around his neck and while he’s trying not to smile…”
Brew Am I comes hot on the heels of the three Rockstar Brews Young Henrys created for Good Beer Week. One, Fresh Six, was originally brewed with Front End Loader last year, while the other two – Red Barrel Red and My Dynamite – were brewed with Young Henrys brewer Oscar’s band Hell City Glamours and Melbourne’s My Dynamite respectively. There’s still some kicking around after the Cherry Bar gig on May 26 – despite the best efforts of the bands and their fans – so look out for a listing elsewhere on the site for all three.
Beyond that, there may not be too many new musical collaborations left to come.
“I don’t know how much more of this we can do,” says Richard. “There’s Frenzal Rhomb [who we’ve already been talking to] but that’s the only one as there has to be a connection.”
Still, knowing that one of his beers will be touring with Tim Rogers and co for the next two months or more should be more than enough to keep him smiling hourly, daily through the winter months.
