On Tuesday the 10th of October I visited the Young Henrys Brewing in Newtown, New South Wales. This brewery was started by Oscar and Richard about five and a half years ago. Richard had a brewing background from Barron’s Brewery, while Oscar had been a musician and had worked in bars.
The brewery focus is on European style beers, but using Australian ingredients where possible. The brewery ethos is all about Rock and Roll, Harleys and good beer, something I can really relate to personally.
They have a huge production going on with beers available all over Australia, they are now even available through BWS and Dan Murphy’s. Their Lager and Australian Pale Ale are even available at the Sydney Opera House, having displaced Crown Lager.
The brewery has food on Saturday and Sunday and also runs tours on these days.
They also have their own distillery which is making gin and is moving into rum.
Their core range of beers includes their Lager, Australian Pale Ale, Real Ale Best Bitter and Cider. They also produce a changing range of seasonal beers.
The beers that I sampled were:
Natural Lager, 4.2% abv, this is an unfiltered lager with a hazy straw colour and a malt aroma. It has a nice lager malt flavour and then a clean, crisp, dry finish. True to the style.
Newtowner Australian Pale Ale, 4.8% abv, this is their most popular beer and was named for the local area. It has a golden colour and a tropical fruit aroma. The flavour is one that is of sweet malt and then a gentle fruitiness on a mild bitter finish. Very easy drinking.
Summer Hop Ale, 6.0% abv, this is a seasonal Australian IPA with a golden colour and a citrus fruit aroma. It has a sweet fruity taste and then a huge hop bitter finish. It is an American style made with Australian ingredients.
Accidental Holiday, 4.7% abv, this is a Belgian Blonde with a straw colour and a yeast and malt aroma. It has a nice sweet malty flavour with gentle citrus notes. Quite refreshing!
Real Ale English Best Bitter, 4.0% abv, this has an amber colour and a malty caramel aroma. It has a great malt taste of caramel and toffee and then a mild bitter finish at a sessionable alcohol level . No wonder it has won awards in the UK.
Brown Bagger, 4.5% abv, this is a brown ale with an amber colour and a caramel malt aroma. It has a complex malt flavour of caramel and a nuttiness. This was a collaboration with Brown Cardigan.
Oldtowner Stout, 6.0% abv, this is a seasonal beer with a dark brown colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a lovely malt palate with hints of dark chocolate and coffee. A great Stout.
They will also have a very special collaboration beer available through Vintage Cellars that is a collaboration with Jameson’s Whisky. The beer is aged in their barrels and is an Irish Red Ale called Craic and Barrel. It sounded wonderful, I wish I could have tried it.
I would like to thank Buster for taking the time to talk with me and Dan for his great service and hospitality. I strongly recommend this brewery.
