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 So, here's a tip...
When you book yourself in for a tour of the James
Squire Brewery, it is NOT the James Squire drinking hole at Cockle Bay
Wharf...it's actually the real brewery on Parramatta Road, Camperdown.
Sadly, I learnt this fact while standing outside JS
Cockle Bay at 12:40pm, when my official brewery tour was at 1pm at JS
Camperdown! I can confirm that it's a 15min cab ride between the
two! Anyhoo, I digress.
Back in November (??) 2010, myself and 2 of the
NBBC boys (Peter M and Paul M) booked ourselves in for an official tour of the
JS Brewery. What a great time it was!
We learnt during our 3-odd hour stay that the JS
people get lots of requests for a tour, and due to such popular demand they put
them on about twice a year. Bookings are essential and fill up
fast. About 100 people do the Tour in any one afternoon session.
The staff was really friendly and knowledgeable,
and went out of their way to answer questions and in the case of Mr. Chuck Hahn
(of Hahn Brewery fame, and yes, the founder of the Malt Shovel Brewery), were
very happy to pose for photos with us.  Cheers Chuck!
The site itself is quite a small factory, with the
'engine room' downstairs, and a suspended upstairs that houses the offices and
a large bar area. One of the original copper kettles (about 4m
diameter and 5m high) from a previous Chuck Hahn brewery is well-placed
near the entrance and sets the scene that you really are entering a real-deal
brewery.
In short, the tour consisted of a walk around of
the downstairs operations (one cool feature was the 'testing' setup which was
amazing...and this was just for their practice! Us home brewers drooled
at the sight of it!), and then lots of tastings and explanations upstairs.
In terms of the downstairs area, I was struck by how small it all was.
For a company that now supplies a huge amount (and variety) of beer to
Australia and beyond, they really do make the most of the space they
have. They brew, bottle, box and distribute all from this place.
Amazing!
Probably the best part of the tour upstairs was
that the 5 or 6 beers we tasted were partnered up with some finger food.
When I say finger food, I don't mean sausage rolls heated up in a
microwave...I'm talking classy nibbles. The pick of the bunch was some
lamb cutlets that were to die for, these were coupled with the JS Amber Ale
(??). And later on, the last tasting (a stout that was soon to hit the
market) was paired with some chocolate cookies. Amongst all that, there
were some very tasty handmade Thai chicken pies that followed the JS
Pilsener. All in all, apart from filling our bellies with quality beer
and food, we learnt some good lessons about matching tastes.
The tour itself cost $40 per person, which was well
worth it given the experience, the learnings, the beer (obviously) and food,
and the opportunity to mix with such learned and respectable people as the JS
staff.
Another good benefit was that you get a discount on
their merchandise if you buy on the day (t-shirts, hats, bottle openers etc).
A great afternoon, and highly recommended.
This trip to
the Malt Shovel Brewery has been brought to you by Adam
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