On Friday the 8th of December I visited The Big Shed Brewing Company in Royal Park, South Australia. This brewery was started by Jason and Craig about four years ago. They had originally been home brewing in Jason’s shed, which is where the name originated. They held the business name for three years before finally deciding to get serious about opening their own brewery. They started by brewing part time in the evenings and on weekends as they both still had other full time jobs. They then moved into the front factory unit that had been the owners overflow storage space. They ordered a brewery kit from China and were so excited when it finally arrived that they hugged the delivery driver.
The brewery consists of a 1000 litre brewhouse, four 2000 litre, two 2500 litre and two 1000 litre fermentation tanks. They would like to have more but are at the limit of their usable space where they are. They also have their own compact six head bottling line.
They have five beers and a cider in their core range and make a varying selection of seasonal brews and special collaboration beers. They have been doing an annual collaborative brew with Doctors Orders, in 2015 this was an Imperial Sweet Potato Stout Saison at 10.5% abv. It sounds interesting.
They sell their packaged beers Australia wide at selected bottle shops.
They recently held their fourth birthday party and combined this with a fund raising event for a local community day care centre. It was attended by 350 people and raised $4000 for the day care centre.
The venue is not huge but still has a fair amount of room inside. They have a kitchen that has a great burger and bar food menu.
The beers that I sampled were:
1. Kols Chisel, 4.2% abv, this Australian style Pale Ale has a straw colour and a subtle malt aroma. It has a sweet malty taste with a slight fruitiness on a crisp finish.
2. F Yeah, 5.5% abv, this American style Pale Ale has a golden colour and a fruity citrus aroma. It has a well balanced sweet fruit and malt flavour and then a mild bitterness on the finish.
3. Californicator, 7.5% abv, this West Coast IPA has a golden colour and a sweet malty aroma. It has a great sweet fruity flavour and a generous hop bitter finish.
4. Big RIIPA, 10.2% abv, this Red Imperial IPA has a golden amber colour and a fruity malt aroma. It has a sweet, syrupy malt flavour and then a fruity bitterness on the finish.
5. Dr Shedlove 2017, 9.4% abv, this Imperial Stout was a collaboration brew with Doctors Orders, it is black with a dark head and a fruity roasted malt aroma. It has a wonderful sweet, rich fruit pudding and raisins flavour on a nice alcohol warming finish.
6. Cherry Popper, 8.5% abv, this apple and cherry cider has a pale pink colour and a slightly sour apple aroma. It has a sweet apple taste with a subtle hint of cherries.
7. Frankenbrown, 5.3% abv, this American Brown Ale has a black colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a smooth, easy drinking malt palate with subtle hints of biscuit and coffee on a gentle hop bitter finish.
8. Brewer’s Series Mad Dog’s Big Shed Bare Bones Stout, 5.3% abv, this is black with a thick head and a chocolate roasted malt aroma. It has a great sweet malt flavour of chocolate and espresso. Damn good Stout!
Big Shed Brewing Company are producing some fantastic beers. The venue is great and the food is delicious. All in all this is a brewery that is definitely worth visiting.
– [ ] I would like to thank Craig for his time and hospitality when I visited.