Straight from Stone & Wood’s pilot brewery. Untried… experimental… limited
A bit like Q’s lab in the Bond movies, Stone & Wood’s pilot brewery in the Byron Arts and Industry Estate is an experimental space for their brewers to dream up new recipes, test ideas, flavours and occasionally collaborate with the community to brew untried, experimental and limited releases.
This week, if you want to pop out and taste them, there’s a hop variety that’s never been brewed with before: Hop Products Australia’s HPA 016 (it doesn’t even have a name yet). Similar to the Galaxy (the hop in the tropical fruity Pacific Ale) it was plucked from the experimental fields of HPA’s Bushy Park Hop Farm in Tasmania.
Stone & Wood say this is ‘a true pilot batch beer. TRIAL 016 has herbal, earthy and honey-like aromas from the addition of the entire hop cone and flower. Demanding attention, it is backed by a serious hop hit of resinous pine, grapefruit and peach, balanced by a clean refreshing finish… at 6.5 per cent alcohol volume this pale ale is to be enjoyed slowly or shared with good company – perhaps while dreaming of Tassie’s juicy hop bines.’
Another beer is the Summer of Splice, brewer Sam Bethune’s ice-cream creation. Inspired by the Australian ice-cream classic, this is a kettle-soured light ale designed for a summer’s day. Pouring light and golden, the punchy addition of 40 limes at the end of fermentation offers a citrusy aroma and a lip-smacking dry finish. At three per cent alcohol volume, it’s designed to be an easy-drinking and sessionable ale.
These brews won’t be around for long and may never return, so if you’re keen to try them, drop into Byron’s local independent brewery for a tasting paddle or book a tour in advance to learn more about them.
