On Friday the 22nd of September I visited the Black Duck Brewery and Bar in Port Macquarie. This brewery has been in operation for five years and is using English brewing equipment that was originally used in Ballarat at the Sovereign Brewery in the early 1980’s. The equipment was purchased and then stored for 20 years when Sovereign Brewery closed down before Al, the owner of Black Duck, came across it. He negotiated a fair deal and then started his own operation. The brewery has 4 fermenting tanks and 5 conditioning tanks that all have an outer skin made of wood for insulation and look great, they make a nice change from the usual stainless steel appearance of most breweries. The brewery also has its own bottling line.
In making the beers they use mainly Australian ingredients and have a bar in the town centre, ‘The Duck’, as well as the brewery in the industrial area for the sale of the beers. Both venues serve food and regularly have live music.
The brewery also sponsors Australian motorcycle racer Damien Cudlin. He comes from Taree which is not too far from here. When he is not competing overseas he runs local track days to help develop the next generation of Australian racers.
Security at the brewery is taken care of by ‘Murphy ‘ a LARGE, black Great Dane.
The beers that I sampled were:
Summer Swallow, 3.5% abv, this is a golden coloured mid-strength Ale with a subtle fruit aroma. It has a fruity taste and a gentle bitterness on the finish.
Sylva Bullet, 4.5% abv, this is a golden straw coloured Pilsner with a subtle apple and yeast aroma. It has a nice clean, crisp taste and then a dry finish.
East Coast Pale Ale, 4.8% abv, this Ale has a golden colour and a citrus fruit aroma. It has a good citrus fruit flavour and a mild bitter finish.
Golden Goose American Pale Ale, 4.0% abv, this Ale has a golden straw colour and a sweet fruity hop aroma. It has a sweet tropical fruit taste and then a good hop bitter finish.
Heron’s Craic Irish Red Ale, 4.0% abv, this has an amber colour and a caramel malt aroma. It has a full malt flavour with hints of caramel and toffee.
Indian Runner, 6.0% abv, this is an India Pale Ale with a golden colour and a strong tropical fruit aroma. It has a lovely sweet malt and tropical fruit flavour before a generous hop bitter finish.
Dark Ale, 4.0% abv, this traditional dark ale has an amber colour and subtle malt aroma. It has a wonderful caramel malt flavour.
Phoenix Export Stout, 7.5% abv, this is a black coloured stout with a roasted malt aroma. It has a great full malt flavour. Excellent.
Platypus, 4.0% abv, this is an Australian Pale Ale with a dark golden colour and a subtle malt aroma. It has a well balanced flavour that starts with sweet malt and then transitions into a gentle bitterness on the finish.
Mother Duck, 5.5% abv, this is an American Pale Ale with a hazy golden colour and a sweet tropical fruit aroma. It has a great fruity flavour and then a generous hop bitter finish.
The Black Duck Brewery is producing some excellent beers and has a wonderful selection to choose from. I would like to thank Al for his hospitality at the brewery and also the staff of The Duck on Clarence street for their attention when I visited them.