On Tuesday the 3rd of October, I visited Foghorn Brewhouse in Newcastle, New South Wales. It was founded by Shawn Sherlock and his business partner James in 2014 with the official opening being in April of 2015. Before starting this venture, head brewer, Shawn worked at Murray’s Brewery for years, where in 2012 he was awarded Australian Brewer of the Year. He took this vast experience and used it to branch out on his own, Foghorn Brewhouse is the result.
They have been winning awards since their inception with their recent accolades including a Trophy and Gold Medals at AIBA 2017 and Gold Medals at the 2017 Australian Craft Beer Awards as well.
They have sixteen taps and one hand pump tap at the brewhouse that change regularly with three or four making up their core range. They produce a lot of British style beers and IPAs to run through the hand pump. The hand pump beers are keg conditioned so they pour as a true hand pump beer should.
The brewery has a brew capacity of 18 hectolitres and has four serving tanks, of which three feed the taps and one is set up to fill kegs to allow them to maintain their vast selection. They fill Growlers and Squealers, giving a 20% discount to fills on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The brewery is very well set up, primarily because Shawn had a ‘blank canvas ‘ to establish it the way he thought it would work the most efficiently, calling on his experience from elsewhere.
The brewhouse has a fantastic food menu that is really aimed at food that you would want to eat while drinking beer. They also have live music on Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays.
They have a second venue in Erina for those who can’t make the trip north to Newcastle.
Foghorn are also the organisers of Tailgate Craft Beer Festival happening on Saturday the 7th of October 2017 in Erina , New South Wales from 11am to 5pm. This sounds like a wonderful event with Foghorn, Dusty Miner, 6 Strings, Modus Operandi, Akasha, Hunter Brewing, Hope Brewhouse and Block and Tackle craft breweries represented. The cost is only $20 to enter which gives you a glass and tasting tokens to start with, additional tokens are only $3 each. There will be great food available and live music. I will be there for sure!
The beers that I sampled were:
Ideas Beer, 4.7% abv, IBU 25, this is a golden coloured Australian style Pale Ale with a good head and a subtle malt and floral aroma. It has a nice sweet gentle malt flavour and then a mild fruity bitterness on a crisp dry finish.
Summer Ale, 4.9% abv, IBU 30, this is a golden Ale with a subtle citrus aroma. It has a sweet fruity flavour on a gentle bitter, dry finish.
The Voyager, 4.8% abv, IBU 30, this is a golden coloured New World Pale Ale with a tropical fruit aroma. It has a wonderful biscuit malt flavour, from the single origin Voyager Schooner malt used, and then a citrus and tropical fruit taste on a gentle bitter finish.
BogAnaire IPA, 5.3% abv, IBU 50, this has a golden colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a well balanced flavour of sweetness before a strong fruity hop bitter finish.
Red Right Hand, 5.5% abv, IBU 52, this is a Red IPA with an amber colour and a mixed aroma of caramel malt and citrus hop. It has a great well balanced flavour, initially of sweet caramel malt and then a strong IPA style fruitiness on a big hop bitter finish.
Young Americans IPA, 6.8% abv, IBU 85, this beer won a Gold Medal at the 2017 AIBA. It has a hazy golden colour and a citrus and tropical fruit aroma. The flavour is very well balanced, starting with sweet malt and fruit and then a delicious, lingering bitterness on the finish. It is all about the hops.
Braveheart IPA, 6.8% abv, IBU 70, this is a golden colour with a strong fruity hop aroma. It has a flavour of sweet fruit that transitions through light citrus, tropical fruit into a big resinous hop bitter finish. Very easy drinking.
Edmund Fitzgerald, 10.2% abv, IBU 108, this is an Imperial IPA with a golden colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a super sweet fruitiness and then moves into a wonderful lingering bitterness. Dangerously drinkable and does not taste as bitter as the IBU would indicate or as strong as the alcoholic content would suggest, be warned!
Better Than James Brown Ale, 3.3% abv, IBU 35, this is a dark amber colour with a caramel malt aroma. It has a good malt flavour of caramel and chocolate and then a nice gentle bitterness. Very sessionable.
Severus, 6.6% abv, IBU 66, this is an American Red Ale with a dark amber colour and a sweet malt aroma. It has a complex malt flavour with initial hints of caramel and then a nice citrus fruit bitterness on the finish.
Big Ideas Beer, 6.8% abv, IBU 60, this is a Rye IPA with an amber colour and a spicy aroma. It has a smooth mouth feel and a peppery sweet malt flavour with caramel hints and then a nice lingering hop bitter finish.
12:03 India Black Ale, 7.0% abv, IBU 75, this Ale has a black colour and a creamy head with a great sweet malt and fruit aroma. It has a strong malt flavour of dark chocolate and then coffee on a fruit bitter finish.
The Dubliner Stout, 4.0% abv, IBU 40, this has a black colour and a dark creamy head with an aroma of roasted coffee malt. It has a rich, smooth malt flavour of espresso with a mild bitterness behind it all.
The Dubliner Stout, 4.0% abv, IBU 40, this is the same beer as above but on the hand pump, it has a thinner head and a stronger coffee aroma. It has a smooth mouth feel and a stronger espresso flavour on a gentler bitter finish. The same, but different.
Roaring 40’s, 4.5% abv, IBU 38, this is an English style Best Bitter with an amber colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a wonderful sweet malt flavour of toffee and caramel and then a lovely fruitiness on a mild bitter finish.
Sligo Extra Stout, 7.6% abv, IBU 70, this Stout has a black colour and a thick, dark, creamy head with a roasted malt and hop aroma. It won the Champion Stout Trophy at the 2017 AIBA. It has full malt flavour of espresso and dark chocolate before a generous fruit hop finish. Very nice and very drinkable.
The beers being made by Shawn and his assistant Joe at Foghorn Brewhouse are all quite exceptional, they are all delicious and very well made. The venue is fantastic and rather spacious. All in all this is a place that I strongly recommend visiting!
I would like to thank Shawn for taking the time to talk with me, and also Trae, the young gentlemen behind the bar, who was doing a magnificent job of keeping everybody happy as well as keeping his bar clean and tidy, for their hospitality.
I really enjoyed my time in the Foghorn Brewhouse!
