On Saturday the 18th of November I visited the Hobart Brewing Company in Hobart, Tasmania. This brewery is situated in the docks area and has a great space, both inside and out in the beer garden for having a few drinks or a full on function.
The brewery is owned and operated by three people; Donald, Brendan and Scott. Scott is also the brewer and brings vast experience from his time brewing in America and also at Moo Brew.
The brewery opened in March of 2016, although they have been brewing for three years. They started their brewing with their Harbour Master Tasmanian Ale, then came their Cream Ale. These two beers, along with their Xtra Pale Ale and their Iron Pot Rye Porter, make up their core selection.
They won gold medals for the Iron Pot Rye Porter and the Tasmanian Dark Ale at the AIBA this year. They have also won numerous other medals and awards in previous years.
The focus of the brewery is to use and highlight fresh, local produce, utilising Tasmanian hops and malts in their beers.
The brewery consists of a 3500 litre brewhouse with four fermentation tanks. They are planning to go into the packaged beer market in the near future by utilising East Coast Canning until they can put in their own canning line. This move may also demand an expansion of their brewing operation.
They make use of ex Lark Distillery oak barrels to carry out ageing, with some of these being used for their Imperial Porter being made for the Dark MOFO Festival.
The beers that I sampled were:
1. Aussie Pale Ale, 4.5% abv, this has a golden colour and a citrus fruit aroma. It has a light fruity flavour on a clean, crisp finish. Very easy drinking.
2. Smoked Apple Bock, 7.0% abv, this has the malt smoked over apple wood and then has apple juice added to the brew. It has a dark amber colour and sweet apple aroma. It has a nice sweet smoky fruit flavour. Unusual and delicious.
3. Colorado IPA, 7.0% abv, this has a golden colour and a sweet tropical and citrus fruit aroma. It has a strong sweet fruity flavour and then a great lingering hop bitter finish.
4. Chestnut Brown Ale, 4.0% abv, this is made with lots of local chestnuts and is very labour intensive and time consuming. It has an amber brown colour and a smoky nut aroma. It has a great malty, nutty flavour. Very nice!
5. Houblonnee Saison, 5.2% abv, this has a straw colour and sweet banana and yeast aroma. It has a sweet yeasty flavour of bananas and wheat. Lovely!
6. Batch 50 Imperial IPA, 9.7% abv, 230 IBU, this has a golden colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a wonderful fruitiness on a generous bitter finish.
7. Imperial Porter, 8.0% abv, this has a black colour and a sweet roasted malt aroma. It has a lovely, rich, sweet malty flavour of fruitiness and yummy goodness. Oh wow!
8. Barrel Aged Saison, 7.0% abv, this is aged for four months in used Gin and Port barrels. It has a golden colour and a spicy yeast aroma. It has an earthy, spicy yeast flavour of a traditional Saison.
9. Eisbock, 16.0% abv, this is the Smoked Apple Bock that has been freeze processed. It has a dark brown colour and a smoky apple aroma. The flavour is strong, rich, smoky and fruity. Very complex and very delicious. Totally amazing!!
The Hobart Brewing Company is making a fantastic selection of beers, they are quite diverse in their styles and are all very enjoyable. The venue is fantastic as well. I strongly recommend visiting this brewery if you are in Hobart.
I would like to thank Brendan for his hospitality when I visited.
