It’s turning into a colourful end to a rollercoaster year for one of the country’s more idiosyncratic breweries. Black Heart Brewery is found in a two-storey shed next to a swimming pool at the back of one of its founders' Brighton home and is run by a cardiac surgeon and a profusionist.
Earlier this year, they discovered an infection in part of their nano setup and ended up with some ruined batches of beer. But, as 2013 draws to a close, they’re back with a wider range of beers than ever as Robin Brown, the surgeon and head brewer, rediscovers the passion that started him down the brewing path.
“It’s bringing back the excitement of doing home brews,” he says of the recent decision to launch a series of new beers.
Before starting Black Heart with Brad Schulz in 2011, Robin had won a number of major home brewing titles and the pair continues to support the amateur side of the beer world through sponsorship of the Australian National Homebrewing Conference. As for their own beers, with a new distributor on board, they’ve have started appearing a little further afield, with some reaching the Sydney market despite their tiny setup.
“We’re two years in now so are getting a feel for what people want to drink at different times,” says Robin. “Then there are different styles we are putting on for different people. Valley Cellar Door has been going off [and is taking 10 kegs of Black Heart’s seasonal Kolsch] and we’re going to brew a Munich Dunkel over summer as no one seems to do a dark lager.”
The infection in part of their equipment that hampered them in the first half of the year is long resolved, with other elements of their brewing practices streamlined too. Having come from a home brewing background and always looking to brew his beers exactly to style, Robin had been looking to manage a wide range of different yeast strains – one for each beer, in fact – within their restricted space. Now, following some experimentation, he has reduced the number of strains while retaining the same number of beers on the core range and adding a further eight occasional releases (so far).
“Having the infection was a good thing in a way,” he says. “We identified an issue [in the brewery] as a result, which in retrospect was something we maybe should have realised. We got rid of a component and changed the system and as an on-flow have revised everything including yeast management.”
While that was a low point in the year, a highlight came during May’s Good Beer Week when they took part in a Belgian Craft vs Classics beer battle at Village Melbourne. Four of their beers – a Tripel, Witbier, Saison and Brune were pitted against Karmeliet, Hoegaarden, Saison Dupont and Leffe Brune respectively. Their Belgian Wit topped the People’s Choice poll while the 9.2 per cent Tripel has proved so popular it’s gone on to become a semi-permanent part of their range.
Robin (left) and Brad in their backyard brewery
But, while the range expands, there are no plans for the brewery to grow beyond its handful of 300 and 500 litre fermenters.
“I can’t go any bigger from what I’ve got,” says Robin. “Council wouldn’t let me so the only way would be to get another brewery, which would mean moving from my place.
“It’s extremely convenient having a brewery in your backyard – doing bits and pieces and fitting it around our other jobs.”
And, in a part of Melbourne that – Colonial’s Half Moon pub apart – is proving resilient to the charms of craft beer, it’s also rather convenient in the sense of having fresh craft beer on hand 24/7.
We’ve got our hands on a few new and recent releases from Black Heart so will list these in the New Beers section once we’ve had a chance to sample them.
