On Sunday the 29th of October I visited the Cupitt’s Craft Brewery in Ulladulla, New South Wales. This is a craft brewery within a winery. It was started in 2014 by brothers Wally and Tom. Their focus is to produce beers of quality first and foremost and also to make styles that they personally enjoy. They were initially worried about the response that their beers would receive from the local community, however, they have been pleasantly surprised and have become quite accustomed to converting the locals to drinking good tasting craft beers.
The brewery consists of a 300 litre brewhouse with five 300 litre and two 800 litre fermentation tanks. They also barrel age and condition some of their beers. They make enough beer to keep up with the demands of their cellar door and to supply a couple of bottle shops and a few select restaurants in the region. Their cellar door bar has several standard taps and one hand-pump.
They are considering expanding their output and to this end they have recently employed a new brewer to start there in the near future. This will be Liam Jackson, who will bring a wealth of experience from his time brewing at Staves Brewery. They are hoping that he will assist them in taking the brewery to the next level which should include producing packaged beer for wider distribution.
The venue is wonderful and includes a wine tasting room, a restaurant and a deck area where there is also bar food available, including delicious wood fired pizzas. The deck is great and overlooks a grassed area, where live music is performed every Sunday from 12:30, before having views over the vineyard, livestock paddocks and Lake Burrill.
The beers that I sampled were:
Kolsch, 5.1% abv, 23 IBU, this has a straw colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a nice malty taste and then a gentle bitterness on a crisp, clean finish. Very easy drinking.
Cupitt Hibiscus Wit, 4.2% abv, 15 IBU, this wheat beer has a hazy pink colour and a subtle sweet, spicy yeast aroma. It has a sweet wheat flavour with hints of banana and a gentle spiciness.
Pale Ale, 5.3% abv, 45 IBU, this is an American Pale Ale with a golden colour and a pine and floral aroma. It has a well balanced flavour of sweet malt and then a fruitiness before a good hop bitter finish.
Nut Brown Ale, 5.1% abv, 28 IBU, this brown coloured Ale is served from the hand-pump and has a malty aroma of nuts and toffee. It has a wonderful malt flavour with good hints of caramel, toffee, nuts and chocolate. Very nice.
Indian Black Ale, 6.8% abv, 80 IBU, this has a black colour with a dark head and a fruity hop aroma. It has a great flavour of sweet fruit, chocolate and coffee with a pine-like resinous hop bitterness on the finish. Nice!
IPA, 6.4% abv, 60 IBU, this has a golden colour and a strong fruity, citrus aroma. It has a wonderful sweet, juicy, fruity flavour that transitions into a generous, lingering hop bitter finish. Excellent.
Cupitt Belgian Dark Strong, 9.1% abv, 30 IBU, this has a dark amber colour and a strong malt and Christmas cake aroma. It has a wonderful, smooth, buttery sweet flavour of caramel, toffee and Christmas pudding with a gentle spiciness. Quite magnificent!!
Cupitt Russian Imperial Stout, 8.0% abv, 75 IBU, this black Stout has a thick, dark head and has a roasted coffee and chocolate malt aroma. It has spent twelve months in Shiraz barrels and has a fantastic, rich, smooth flavour with tastes of dark chocolate, coffee and fruit cake. This is very special!!
The beers being produced by Cupitt’s Craft Brewery are all quite excellent. They have a great selection of beers, wines and cheeses, a wonderful venue and delicious food. This is definitely somewhere that you should visit if you have the opportunity.
I would like to thank Wally and Tom for taking the time to talk with me and for their hospitality when I visited.