Brewing with the boys…

The Brewboys are a small brewing operation based in the Adelaide suburbs started by two long-time brewers. The boys, Simon Sellick and Stephen Nelson have both brewed for other breweries over their careers but they decided to join forces and start their own operation.

The Brewboys opened their doors and started producing their own beers a few years ago. At the same time they launched their cellar door outlet for local beer lovers to visit and get the beer from the source.

The guys have four staple beers that are available year round. The range includes the Maiden Ale, their flagship beer. It is a malty amber ale that has a firm hint of American style hops with a nice bitterness that makes it a very drinkable, year-round beer, especially sessional in the summer months.

A real summer special is Schweinhund, a classic German-style Heffeiweizen – crisp, fresh and easy drinking. Seeing Double is Brewboys’ interpretation of a Scottish Wee Heavy. It’s a sweet beer but has just a touch of smoked malt to add balance.

BrewBoy Simon Sellick at the taps

The pick of the beers from Brewboys is their Ace of Spades Stout. It’s as black as it’s name suggests and has a great roasty flavour. Hints of chocolate and coffee balance it out. I rate it as one of this country’s best stouts.

On top of their regular selection, the Brewboys do a number of seasonal releases. Most interesting are the single keg batches produced regularly on the pilot system and available only at the cellar door. This has included beers made with a wide array of ingredients including almonds, cherries and star anise. Recently they have produced a series of single batch beers named after Australian muscle cars that has brought them a lot of attention from non-beer media. Having the car magazines covering a micro brewery has to be a good thing. It’s surprising how many people are interested in drinking a Charger Lager or GTS Pale Ale. It has helped to open good beer up to a wider audience which can only be a good thing.

Stephen and Simon are a couple of really down-to-earth guys putting everything into the beer they believe in. Stephen has a long association in the industry with his father being involved with brewing for SA Brewing and Lion Nathan. Stephen tells a story of taking samples from 20m high fermenters and trying to drink the uncontrolled flow from an old style sampling valve. This at six years of age when OH&S standards weren’t quite what they are today.

Simon is one of the friendliest guys you will meet and is always quick with a story or some brewing advice for local home brewers. That pretty much sums up what you can expect from the Brewboys. They love to hang out, have a beer, put on some music and kick back with the punters. If you are in Adelaide make sure you get down to the cellar door and have a chat with the boys. If you can’t get to the cellar door make sure to hunt down their beer in your area. The cellar door is a great venue decked out with dart board, pool table and some classic arcade video games. It’s a bit like a decked-out back shed with really good beer.

Old car seats reformed to be sofas, barrels for tables and a big old cast iron stove that gets fired for cold winter nights all contribute to the ambience. Sitting in front of that fire with a pint of Ace of Spades is something a beer lover really should experience.

Almost every week there is a special event on. These have included “Wurst Day” with lots of small goods to try, a fondue night with tons of tasty cheese and many special limited edition beer releases.

While they don’t have food on all the time there is often a BBQ running or the boys are shouting pizza for the punters. The boys also get out to a lot of events around town like Cheesefest and the Prospect Wine and Fashion festival. They are always doing something.

Brewboys’ beers are available at a number of venues in South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. It doesn’t get any fresher than direct from the source. At the cellar door you also get the chance to try all the small and single batch releases that don’t show up anywhere else. Stephen and or Simon are always on duty too.

www.brewboys.com.au

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