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A Brief History of Guv…

class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-2073″ />With the upcoming release of our third edition of The Guvnor II series, we thought it was time to
remind and clarify to everyone what this particular beer exploration is all about.

Originally brewed in 2011, we found our first ever batch of Guvnor being appreciated by beer lovers
from all around. Later that year we put the beer to the test at the Australian International Beer Awards
and were fortunate enough to take out the champion beer award in the scotch ale and barley wine
category.

After enjoying the success this beer brought us, we thought it was fitting that for our 10th anniversary
we re-brew The Guv………but this time doing things a little differently.

Brewed in May of 2017, this batch of Guvnor or ‘The Guvnor II’ as it soon became known, was set to
become the horcrux of beers (apologies if you’re not familiar with Harry Potter).
Following fermentation, the beer was split into 4 separate parts with the idea that each part would
endure some form of variable. In other words, we wanted to put each part of Guvnor to the test and
see how it would change and develop relevant to its environment over a period of time.

Another big part of this project was being able to ensure we took care of the ageing process from
start to finish. By doing this we knew we could deliver the beer we wanted you to enjoy with no
further ageing required. This doesn’t mean you can’t store or cellar, you definitely can! All you’ll be
doing is more good drinking in name of some quality experimentation!

Part 1 we left in new French oak for 6 months, Part 2 experienced a year on our mezzanine in
Starward whisky barrels and Part 3, our latest release and arguably the most exciting so far, has
been aging for 2 years on our Beer Hall mezzanine in 1792 bourbon barrels brought over from the
heart of bourbon country, Kentucky.

What makes this particular release so ‘special’ for lack of a better word was the devastation that
occurred to the 1792 barrel house mid-last year. The entire structure collapsed and the company
lost a large portion of its bourbon and consequently its barrels.

Fortunately for us we were lucky to have acquired a couple of these barrels at an earlier date, we
can only hope this beer does justice to all that lost bourbon!

As with all our Guvnor releases, these are very hands on projects requiring countless hours from the
brewers and team here at 2 Brothers. Part 3 is no different and is a particularly limited batch with just
30 cases to service our entire wholesale market and BeerHall customers.

As always, we recommend enjoying these out of a brandy balloon or snifter having been stored at
room temperature.

If you’re lucky enough to have a few on hand, don’t be afraid to store them in a cool dark place
and enjoy them in years to come.
Part 3 available next Thursday from the BeerHall,
Cheers from everyone here at 2 Brothers.

1792 Barrel House Collapse: here

Nothing but IPA – VICS VS ALLSTARS – GBW

12 IPAS, Six from Vic and Six from the rest of Aus…. Who does it better?

Just like the bygone era of now old blokes who kicked the Sherrin around in the name of the dirt from which thy came. We look to emulate something not to dissimilar, nonetheless with beer and a lot less running and sweat, but surprisingly of similar fitness.

We’ve gone and located six of Victorias best IPAs and put them against six of Australia’s finest IPAs. With live music and footy on the big screen to light the flame under that emotional fighting spirit, we want you to tell us who does it better.

Without giving too much away, you can expect to see some of the freshest kegs of IPA coming from the likes of Fixation Brewing, Hop Nation, Modus Operandi, Bent Spoke & Old Wives Ales. All fighting it out for their representing states amongst a host of other quality opponents.

When is it all taking place?

At our Moorabbin Beerhall on Thursday & Friday the 16th & 17th of May – Starting at 12pm both days.

FREE ENTRY – Find out all the details at our Good Beer Week event page here

Northern Haze – Cashmere IPA

One would think when travelling to the west coast of America that you would no doubt be greeted by the current storm of New England IPA’s that are being brewed all over the craft beer world. Although they were invented on the other side of the country, you would still assume it might get a look in on the west coast right? No, just no. “Catch them later” they yell from windows and roof tops all the way down from Seattle to San Diego….the home of IPA doesn’t want a bar of them.
So what do they brew? They came up with their very own haze style, not a milkshake, no New England, put simply it’s a – West Coast Hazy IPA or just ‘Hazy IPA’

Rather than bow down to their eastern neighbours and feature this ‘foreign’ style in their brewpubs & breweries, they decided to take what they’ve already mastered and just add a few glorious tweaks to the New England Style. While still smelling like someone poured a fruit bowl on your nose while lying down, these beers have the added addition of all the typical resinous and pine notes found in west coast IPA’s followed up by that big bitterness not commonly associated with NEIPA’s. For lack of more poetic descriptors, it’s like a really good American IPA ‘on the juice’ so to speak.

So with the influx of NEIPA’s on the market, we felt what better time to pay homage to the style and create our very own interpretation with the crew down at The Great Northern.

So what’s Northern Haze & why a cashmere IPA? As one of our brewers toured the west coast, he noticed this Cashmere hop pop up time and time again and found it strange we hadn’t seen it much at home, especially considering how tasty all the beers were that used it. Well that was enough for us here at 2 Brothers to say why not give it a go! As for Northern Haze, well it speaks for itself. This beer was brewed with the great team from The Great Northern and it retains a nice misty haze largely due to dry-hopping during fermentation.

As for the beer, at 85 IBU’s it’s definitely not a NEIPA! It’s a double-dry-hopped resin, pine, fruit delight with a light haze to match. With a monstrous amount of hops used during the boil, whirpool and dry-hop (Including a bunch of fresh hops straight out of The Great Northern Hop plantation), this is definitely one of the hoppiest beers we’ve ever produced, and we’re stoked with the result.

Like any hazy they’re best enjoyed fresh, & the only two places you can currently try it are at our Moorabbin BeerHall & The Great Northern Hotel (Carlton). It will be available around town in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled.

We hope you enjoy.

STYLE: West Coast IPA

ABV: 6.8% ABV

MALT: Ale, Wheat, Crystal, Oats

HOPS: Cashmere, Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial, Citra, Mandarina Bavaria

Goes to Eleven – GABS

Since the dawn of the rocknroll era, beer has been by its side. It’s stood by through the highs of highs, through those face-melting, whaling guitar solos, and it’s been there for lows of lows, with that bloke who thought he was onto something 6 days into a festival hauled up in his tent with a one string guitar.

Either way you look at it, it’s been there, and we wanted to keep that tradition alive with our latest creation “Goes to ELEVEN”.

Named after the saying coined by a member of the greatest band to ever grace the stage. Goes to Eleven pays tribute to Nigel Tufnel and the band Spinal Tap, and their deep level of respect for taking rocknroll to not just 10, but 11.

In honor of the great Tufnel and the band who took music to places many questioned could ever be reached, we knew we had to go big, and we feel like we’ve done just that. An 11% ABV imperial stout made with 11 different malts, 11 kilograms of Galaxy hops and aged in Starward barrels for 11 months. Goes to ELEVEN is big, bold and complex, and with a little back blending from our Guvnor Starward edition for some added complexity, this beer has become dangerously drinkable for its size.

The beer will be released for GABS and will be available on tap from our BeerHall following the event….. and if you’re lucky you might even see this released in a very limited takeaway format 😉

Just like a Tufnel guitar solo at a live show, you’ll quickly realise an experience like this only comes around once in a lifetime.
So get your hands on a glass or a bottle and enjoy the ride all the way up to 11.

Dave’s IPA

Reminiscent of an early 2000’s new idea cut out, we like to think this cardboard feature of Dave shows not only his level of excitement for our latest IPA creation, but everyone down here at the BeerHall.

Inspired by a few of his favourite IPA’s over the journey, the brewers got to work using a blend of Kiwi & US hops paired with a backbone of ale, munich, wheat and a touch of crystal malt. This was particularly exciting for us as we set about using strains of hops we had not yet used in the brewhouse. We’re stoked with the end result and we’ve had some pretty awesome feedback over the bar.

Still fresh in the brite tank, come and grab yourself a pint! 🍻🍻

Tasting Notes: Pouring a light sunset orange in the glass, Dave’s IPA first hits you with a array of tropical and pacific notes, think gooseberry, sweet grape and some stone-fruit. The first sip is resinous stone-fruit and passionfruit with berry sweetness followed by a pallet fullness due to the 6.2% ABV and the copious round of dry-hopping this baby endured. We’re proud of it! A Pan Pacific Kiwi IPA – it’s a hybrid just like Dave!
Hops: Motueka, Simcoe, Amarillo – Cool double dry hopped for your pleasure.

Kung Foo Cans

Yep, after months of hard work, we are stoked to be able to bring you this mighty beer in a can.

Has anything Changed?

Absolutely nothing has changed to this beer… It’s the same Kung Foo we’ve been brewing at our Moorabbin Brewery for years. The only difference is it’s now available in the icy cold, thirst quenching, Australian summer, backyard cricket, BBQ best friend, camping essential, CAN format.

Low Gluten?

Kung-Foo has always been a low-gluten product due to the beer being made with a good portion of rice and as a result less malted barley in the beer. Over the years we became aware that a lot of people enjoy Kung Foo for this reason, so we thought why not celebrate it by stating it on the can and making it clear to anyone who can’t enjoy a regular all-malt beer, that maybe Foo is the right choice for them!

For more info on Foo’s low-gluten story, head to Foo Facts

Can Format

Kung Foo will be available in 375ml cans, a touch bigger than our 330ml bottles. It will be sold in 4 packs and cases of 16.

Availability

Cans will be heading out across Melbourne this week. We recommend heading to your usual stockists, otherwise please contact us directly through beer@2brothers.com.au

The Guvnor II Part 2: Starward Whisky Barrels

Part 2, our latest release from the second edition of our barley wine The Guvnor, has been sitting quietly away in the BeerHall for the past 12 months. If you’ve visited in that time you might have noticed a few barrels resting quietly right atop of the mezzanine.
Some asked if they were for display, others just nodded in silence, as if they knew that patience was the only answer they would receive for any questions asked.

Since then, time and temperature have worked their wonders and what we’re left with is something pretty special. The barrels the barley wine were extracting from and mellowing in were those from Starward Distillery, the award winning, multi spirit producing distillery located in Port Melbourne (it’s a great spot to check out if you haven’t already).

Showing wonderful wooded characteristics with some smooth sherry notes, accentuated by the higher end whisky overtones. This one is best served between friends at room temperature in a fine glass or goblet, ideally matched with a dram of Starward Whisky.

*Each release is bottled in black glass, perfect for shielding it from any risk of light damage, making this beer perfect for ageing for countless years to come. Store it as you would a fine red wine. Over time this beer will age to become more intricate and refined, taking on more liqueur and sherry like characteristics.

2Brothers & Mean Sardine – Collabrewation

For our first ever attempt at an international collabrewation we thought it would be logical to start small and stick to something mildly predictable and familiar. That idea was quickly ditched when we met Rolim from Mean Sardine and the idea of a wine infused saison was tabled.

Mean Sardine is one of Portugal’s leading craft breweries and have twice been voted as the country’s number one craft producer. Originally put in touch by Al, a good friend of both the breweries and the owner of the iconic Great Northern Hotel in Carlton. We soon realised the opportunity to produce a beer with such a good group of people was something we couldn’t turn down.

With Mean Sardines passion for brewing Saisons infused with lighter wine styles, we thought what a perfect time to work with a style they’re familiar with but also try something a little left of centre and incorporate Australia’s rich reputation for big and bold red wine.

So after months of back and forths and time zone differences (we’re talking one email every 24 hours at best….slow and steady) We finally settled on one almighty beer style, a BLack Imperial Shiraz Saison we appropriately named ‘B.L.I.S.S’

Finding a local wine producer that would be kind enough to supply us with the volume of wine (in trade for beer of course) wasn’t as easy as first thought. Luckily for us we were able to call on a friend from Stefani Estate in the Yarra Valley, who were very kindly able to supply us with a delicious and bold 14% Shiraz.

After a vigorous and hot fermentation, followed by a lengthy conditioning phase in the fermenter, the beer was put into a limited amount of kegs and carefully hand filled into 750ml champagne bottles.

Bottles will be available by the end of the month. If you want to ensure one is held for you at the BeerHall, please send an email to beer@2brothers.com.au .

If you do happen to pick one up by all means drink crisp and fresh, but don’t be afraid to cellar in a cool dark place and enjoy it down the track like you would a nice red wine!

RAW IPA

Amongst the current storm that is IPA there is always the calm and beauty of the beer that takes it back to where it all began (modern times). None other than the American IPA.

Our latest BeerHall release pays homage to the simplicity and beauty of the original style by creating what we think is a delicious unfiltered,unfined, raw and to the point IPA.
Citra, Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade were used late in the boil and heavy in the dry hop to give the beer its characteristic West Coast flavour. Citrus, stone fruit, pine and resin are some of the flavours and aromas you can expect to hit the palate. Medium to high bitterness is accompanied by a soft caramel malt finish that melds nicely with the resin hop character. Not overly high in alcohol, RAW comes in at 5.8% ABV, allowing room for maybe that extra glass you wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Currently only serving at the BeerHall, you can expect to see this single batch at limited venues around Melbourne from next week onwards.

We hope you enjoy our tribute to the O.G of beers, the classic American IPA!

Cheers

Hop Harvest – Ungespundet

Ungespundet sounds like so many things other than a beer. Nevertheless, it is indeed a style of beer and it’s a style that has been appreciated for so long that maybe, like us, you questioned your status of beer nerd for never having heard of it.

To define, Ungespundet or ‘unbunged’ is an Upper Franconian style Kellerbier, one of the oldest and most traditional beer styles still being brewed in one of the oldest brewing regions in the world”.
In the words of the beer god Michael Jackson (not the pop god) it’s “the unfiltered German Lager of your dreams. A true taste of Germany’s fast-vanishing artisanal tradition”.

With that in mind and with our Head Brewer (Ben) generously volunteering to spend his holidays doing copious amounts of liquid research on the other side of the world, we thought why not bring this style home and add a twist to it.

Knowing that harvest season was just around the corner, we saw an ideal opportunity to marry this natural style lager with fresh wet hops straight off the bine. So off went Ben at the crack of dawn to Hop Products Australia to pick up a metric truck load of fresh Ella hops.

The fresh cones were then added into the brew within hours of being picked to impart some very nice rich resin and green hop character.
The result is a lager that brings taste and character like nothing we’ve ever made before. Fermented on the cold side under atmospheric pressure (unbunged), this beer is completely unfiltered and unfined. Warm amber to light red in colour and lower in carbonation than your typical lager allows the drinker to be more sensitive to the rich malt balance in the beer. The addition of the fresh Ella hop brings a lingering green hop taste that coats the back palate and stays long after you’ve downed that last stein!

Big thanks to the team at Hop Products Australia for all their hard work and allowing us access to their fresh produce!

Cheers