The popular coastal holiday destination of Byron Bay will soon be the location for not one, but two of the country’s newest craft breweries. Stone & Wood Draught Ale was flowing in several pubs before Christmas, produced from a microbrewery operated by a trio of former Matilda Bay Brewing employees – brewer Brad Rogers and marketing/sales guys Jamie Cook and Ross Jurisich – plus local pub owner Tom Mooney.

Meanwhile, the company behind Byron Bay Premium Ale – who have been the subject of plenty of flack from Byron locals for using their name on a beer brand which is brewed in western Sydney – have announced plans to install a 12Hl into the former Arts Factory site.

Stone & Wood Brewing is using a new 25Hl Canadian-built plant which is currently producing a single keg beer - Stone & Wood Draught Ale – which they plan to distribute within the northern NSW and SE Queensland region, while a bottled product (probably a lager, Rogers hints) will be released sometime during 2009 for the national market.

The cloudy, golden ale is brewed with a generous dash of wheat - including, unusually, rolled wheat. “It’s all about texture,” says Rogers. “The beer was designed specifically for this region.”

Stone & Wood Draught Ale is hopped with several additions of Galaxy, a relatively new Australian-bred variety, which is available in whole hop cones and adds a distinct tropical fruit character to the beer’s palate. It’s hard to pigeon-hole it style-wise except that it re-defines the rather broad concept of an Australian pale ale.

“It’s brewed to be served fresh in the many great watering holes down the road,” says Rogers. “Therefore, we don’t need to filter or pasteurize it. We want it served over the bar just like it is in our storage tank at the brewery.”

Judging by what I saw at a couple of Bryon’s pubs recently, board shorts, thongs and Hawaiian shirts are the standard dress code, and I saw plenty of such attired punters tipping back schooners of Rogers’ cloudy, golden ale on a balmy evening. And it’s the relaxed lifestyle as much as the new challenge which has drawn Rogers and his partners to the area.

“We’ve left some pretty good jobs and we’re in this for the lifestyle,” he says. “I’m not moving again.”

Rogers spent more than a decade working within the Foster’s empire, running their Fijian brewery, Masthead Brewery (Sanctuary Cove, Queensland) and, ultimately, Matilda Bay Brewing. He is a trained winemaker and also ran the Foster’s-owned distillery during his time in Fiji. Over the length of his brewing career Rogers has honed classical beer styles and also created some ground-breaking ones, including a honey wheat ale (Matilda Bay Beez Neez) and a coffee-infused beer (Matilda Bay Crema).

Stone & Wood sounds like a law firm but marketing man Jamie Cook says they wanted to connect with the natural elements of brewing. “Anyway, it sounded pretty good,” he says, “and, in the fullness of time, it will make sense.”

STONE & WOOD BREWING

4 Boronia Place, Byron Bay 2481

www.stoneandwood.com.au

TASTING NOTES

STONE & WOOD DRAUGHT ALE

Cloudy, pale golden colour. Nose: fruit salad and honey notes. Palate: tropical fruit notes upfront; gentle malty mid-palate, with crisp, mellow finish. Overall: highly original and easy-drinking golden ale with some lovely juicy, fruity characters.

Willie Simpson