On Thursday the 5th of October I visited the Six String Brewing Co. in Erina, New South Wales. This brewery is run by owners Chris and Ryan, locals to the Central Coast, and has been in operation for four and a half years. It was named after the six string bass guitar that Chris plays.
They started the brewery to fill a hole in the craft beer market here on the Central Coast. Initially employing three people their brewery has grown to now employ fourteen. They do everything on site from brewing to packaging via their own canning line. The brewery consists of a 10 barrel or 12 hectolitre brewer with six 20 barrel fermentation tanks. They would like to expand in the future to add another four 30 barrel tanks to effectively double their capacity.
They have a core range of four beers; Coastie Lager, Pale Ale, Dark Red IPA and, new to the core range, TPA or Tropical Pale Ale. On top of this they produce seasonal beers, a Cider and a brewed lemonade.
Food is available at the venue through Donnie’s Eatery who are contracted to the brewery, they used to be a very successful catering business but now they have a base at 6 String.
They run brewery tours on weekends as well as tours for private groups.
Their beers are sold predominantly to the NSW coast between Sydney and Newcastle, but they available all along the east coast at selected suppliers and some even make it to SA and WA.
They also sponsor the Central Coast Mariners Soccer team, ( I wish Perth Glory could get a craft beer sponsor), as well as quite a few local charity events.
If this brewery sounds like what you are interested in and you have something to offer the business, they are looking for investors who could be active contributors to the brewery.
The beers that I sampled were:
Coastie Lager, 4.8% abv, 12 IBU, this is a straw coloured Lager with a subtle malt aroma. It has a sweet malt taste and then a crisp dry finish.
TPA, Tropical Pale Ale, 4.2% abv, 15 IBU, this is a straw colour with a tropical fruit aroma. It has a tropical fruit flavour of pineapple and passionfruit and then a smooth, crisp finish.
Pale Ale, 4.8% abv, 26 IBU, this is a straw colour with an aroma of citrus and passionfruit. It has a nice initial taste of malt and then a mild fruitiness on a gentle bitter, dry finish.
Dark Red IPA, 6.0% abv, 51 IBU, this has an amber colour and a sweet hop and caramel malt aroma. It has a well balanced flavour of malt with hints of caramel and then a generous hop bitterness on the finish. Very nice.
Golden Ale, 3.5% abv, 16 IBU, this has a pale golden colour and a biscuit malt aroma. It has a sweet malt initial taste and then a mild bitter finish. Very sessionable.
Ram Stein, Marzen, 5.4% abv, 25 IBU, this is a German style Lager that is traditionally brewed for Oktoberfest. It has a golden colour and a malt aroma. It has a sweet malt flavour and then is followed by a mild, bitterness on a dry finish.
Celtic Fusion, 5.0% abv, 30 IBU, this is a black coloured oatmeal stout that is infused with cold dripped Onyx Coffee Co. coffee beans. It has a strong coffee aroma and a wonderful flavour of sweet malt that leads into a pleasant espresso coffee bitterness on the finish.
Three, 8.8% abv, 23 IBU, this is a Scotch Ale, inspired by a Wee Heavy, that was made for the brewery’s 3rd anniversary. It has a dark brown colour with a strong nutty, malt aroma with suggestions of plums and raisins. The flavour is lovely, rich and sweet like a Christmas pudding. Beautiful!
Four, 9.5% abv, 26 IBU, this is the fourth anniversary beer, it is a Belgian Tripel style. It is golden in colour and has a sweet soft malt aroma. The flavour is wonderful, sweet, complex malt with a gentle spicy bitter finish. Superb!!
The beers being produced at Six String Brewing Co. are all fantastic. I really enjoyed them all.
I would like to thank Ryan for taking the time to talk with me and show me through the brewery and also Dean, behind the bar, for his great service and hospitality.
This is a brewery that is definitely worth visiting and is bound for bigger and better things.