If people won’t come to your brewery, move it to where the people are – that’s the main motivation behind the re-location of Murray’s Craft Brewing from Taylor’s Arm on the mid-north coast to Port Stephens.

The marriage of craft beer and fine wine suggested some attractive synergies to brewery owner Murray Howe who acquired the Port Stephens Winery late last year. The bar and restaurant area has been substantially refurbished and the micro-brewery is producing beer again after a month-long hiatus while it was packed up and moved.

Murray’s Whale Ale was the first beer brewed at the new premises and is an easy-drinking wheat ale with obvious connections to the coastal area. This will be followed by the porter-style Murray’s Dark Knight and this pair has been developed by head brewer Shawn Sherlock who has carried on the full-flavoured standard set by foundation brewer Graham Mahy.

Howe candidly admits there was something of a Field of Dreams optimism about the brewery’s original location alongside the Pub With No Beer, located in a hamlet which was 90 minutes drive from the nearest major population centre. “We were just too far from everyone,” he says. “We got tourists but not enough of them.

“You’ve got to have a go but it wasn’t really as successful as it could have been. The move to the Hunter [region] is a good one and means we’ve got half a million people within 30 minutes of us.”

The quirkily-named Pub With No Beer has been leased out, though the new owner has kept Murray’s beers on tap. Howe says the microbrewery was also running out of room at the Taylor’s Arm base and they have added 10 new fermenters at Port Stephens, with plans to ultimately double the beer-making capacity.

Merging with Port Stephen’s oldest and most visited winery brings a ready audience to Murray’s range of often boldly-flavoured brews.

“It gives us an opportunity to educate wine drinkers about the differences between craft and industrial beers,” says Howe. “People seem to be more open to talking about wine than beer which means we have to keep educating them.”

The new location offers daily brewery tours and beer appreciation sessions. “Most wine tourists are surprised at how good our beer is,” Howe says.

While Western Australia has clusters of craft breweries in wine regions like the Margaret River and the Swan Valley, the trend has been slower to evolve further east. “I’m really surprised there aren’t any craft breweries in the Hunter Valley which is Australia’s oldest wine producing region,” Howe says.

Being a mere two hours drive from Sydney means the new venture gets its share of day trippers, including what Howe calls “hardcore beer geeks” – who come solely for the amber nectar.

One of the more extreme beers is called Murray’s Grand Cru which suggests wine connotations but, rather, reflects the strong Belgian influence running through the beer range. But the wine side of the business has produced some unexpected windfalls for Murray’s beers which are now being exported to Japan and Singapore on the back of existing Port Stephens wine brands.

TASTING NOTES

MURRAY’S SASSY BLONDE (4.5%)

Bottle-conditioned golden ale which pours with a fluffy white head. Hints of robustly Belgian yeast and fennel notes in aroma; palate is solidly malty with a dry, yeast-tinged finish. Overall: breaks the mould with a Belgian-inspired session ale.

MURRAY’S GRAND CRU (8.8%)

Copper-amber ale which has a noticeably subdued carbonation. Toffee, peaches and cream come through in aroma; the palate is winey, toffee-ish, plummy and chewy, rounded out by a decidedly warming finish. Overall: devilishly hedonistic.

MURRAY’S DARK KNIGHT (5%)

Dark brown/black with beige coloured collar of foam. Hints of Milo and coffee in aroma; the palate has some milk chocolate and caramel notes well-integrated with an understated hop bitterness. Overall: flavoursome and well-balanced porter style.