Way back in 2008 I wrote an article about Burleigh Brewing in which co-owner and headbrewer Brennan Fielding admitted they were taking things slowly on the flavour front to build the market and make the brewery sustainable.
“At the moment we’re only making three beers and you’ve got to admit that, so far as craft beer styles go, our three beers aren’t real crafty,” Brennan told me back then.
“They’re not schwarzbiers, not hefeweizens and not Belgian abbey ales. But we picked our beers for a strategic business reason, which was to get Burleigh Brewing Company on the map.
“We figured if we could get people to try the lager and it was flavourful and they enjoyed it – and not so flavourful that they wouldn’t buy it again – then we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.”
“We need to get them out of the shell of only drinking one type of beer – lager – and if I can get them to trust us, then I can bring them on my hefeweizen, then I can bring on my schwarzbier, then I can bring on my imperial pale ale,” Fielding said.
Well, beer drinking Australia, Brennan seems to think you’ve come out of your shell. They Burleigh range now sports a Hefeweizen (HEF), an occasional schwarzbier (Black Giraffe coffee-infused lager) and soon-to-be-released IPA. It may not be imperial, but Brennan’s ticking off his list. Things seem to be running to plan. I’d better sit down and have another chat with Mr Fielding to see what the next four years holds… [MK]
Media Release
New Burleigh Brew – FIGJAM IPA
We are excited to share news of the latest release from the Burleigh Brewing ‘Bit on the Side Department’.
After many, many customer requests for us to brew this style, this week we are bottling our very own India Pale Ale.
Brewmaster, Brennan Fielding, explains, “The India Pale Ale style boasts a hoppy, higher alcohol character and was a style first brewed a couple of hundreds of years ago by the English, to ensure barrels of beer would withstand ocean voyages to India. A couple of centuries on, modern versions of the style are enjoying huge popularity among craft beer drinkers.”
Burleigh Brewing’s FIGJAM IPA is a 7%, 70 IBU* beer, brewed with a unique blend of specialty malts and five different American hops – all put together with Burleigh’s renowned sense of balance.
Burleigh Brewing CEO, Peta Fielding, comments, ‘We have been wanting to get a Burleigh IPA out to our customers for a while now. We’ve been so busy keeping up with demand for our regular brews, that tank space has been at a premium. But we recently increased our production capacity and so the first thing to go in the new tanks was the FIGJAM IPA!’
Sampling at the brewery has the whole crew excited. Brennan describes the FIGJAM IPA as boasting, “wonderful citrus and mango aromas, with those hop driven characteristics flowing through to a clean, robust flavour.”
With a wry smile Peta adds, “and the flavours pair perfectly with figs!”
Burleigh Brewing’s ‘Bit on the Side Department’ creates limited release brews from time to time which are packaged in collectible, screen-printed, 650ml bottles –the perfect size for sharing. Previous beers in the range include Fanny Gertrude’s Bickie Beer, a beer based on Anzac bickies, and the world-beating, Black Giraffe – a black coffee lager which earned Gold Medals at the World Beer Championships for both the 2010 and 2012 releases.
FIGJAM IPA will be officially launched on Thursday, 4 October. Customers are being invited to line-up at the Brewhouse Bar at 4pm – the first 20 cartons of FIGJAM IPA sold will include a bonus 13th bottle, signed by the Brewmaster, along with a surprise gift.
FIGJAM IPA will be making its way around the country during October. FIGJAM IPA will retail for around $12 per bottle and will be available at a broad range of good bars and bottleshops. A venue and outlet listing will be available at www.burleighbrewing.com.