On Tuesday the 17th of October I visited the Shark Island Brewing Company in Kirrawee, New South Wales. This brewery started with a partnership between two men with a background in liquor distribution about five and half years ago. Dion had quit working in the liquor distribution industry and started working at Murrays and then Four Pines Breweries to get experience in the craft brewery game. While James had at one stage had his own craft brewery in Orange.
Dion and James started the business but had a few issues prior to pouring their first beer. About three years ago they started paying rent on a factory unit in preparation for starting the brewery only to be ripped off, along with about ten other Australian craft brewers, by an equipment supplier that kept them waiting and then did not deliver at all. They lost a lot of money including paying rent on an empty building for twelve months. This meant that they were almost out of business before they even started. However, things got better, they took over another factory unit that had been used by Black Rock Brewing and used some of their equipment. Then the craft brewery industry showed how big its heart is by helping out. The Royal Albert hotel held a fundraising event for them and other craft brewers generously donated kegs to get them started.
The beers that they brew at their factory unit are all consumed on site and their packaged beer is made via contract brewing at other venues, including Dad and Dave’s Brewery. All of their beers are named after local surf breaks in the Cronulla area. And their main sales focus is to supply the Shire area. At the brewery they have food trucks present every Friday and Saturday. They are hoping to be able to extend their hours of business in the future and are aiming to be open on Sunday as well.
They are also happy that two other craft breweries are setting up in the Shire area, namely; Hairy Man in Taren Point and Sunday Road in Kirrawee. This will enable people to carry out craft brewery tours of the area.
The beers that I sampled were:
Shark Island Lager, 4.6% abv, this has a golden straw colour and a subtle malt aroma. It has a smooth malty flavour on a crisp dry finish.
Sandshoes, Golden Ale, 4.5% abv, this has a golden straw colour and a tropical fruit and passionfruit aroma. It has a sweet fruity flavour before a gentle bitter finish.
Caramel, Chocolate Irish Cream Ale, 5.0% abv, this is a collaboration brew with Willie The Boatman. It has a golden colour and a sweet caramel malt aroma. The flavour is a sweet complex malt one of caramel, toffee and chocolate. Delicious!
The Point, Dark Ale, 5.0% abv, this has a dark brown colour and a sweet, roasted malt aroma. It has a lovely roast malt flavour with a coffee backbone. It has a nice smooth mouth feel from the Pilsner malt used.
The Alley, Texas Brown Ale, 5.5% abv, this has an amber brown colour and a creamy dark head with a malt and citrus aroma. It is very well balanced with a sweet malt initial taste and then transitions into a gentle citrus bitter finish. The hops used in this brew are Lemon Drop which gives the citrus flavour. The beer started as a seasonal but demand has seen it come onto the core range.
The Shark Island Brewing Company is producing great beers and has a wonderful little venue that is definitely worth visiting. I enjoyed chatting with Dion, he really is quite a character, and an accomplished musician as well. I would like to thank Dion for his hospitality and recommend visiting him yourself.