On Saturday the 14th of October I visited The Grifter Brewering Co in Marrickville, New South Wales. This brewery is owned by Trent, Matt and Glen. Trent owns a skateboard brand and Glen is a professional skateboarder. Trent started brewing as a home brewer and then when they went into business they started contract brewing through Young Henrys Brewery. They opened their present location about two and a half years ago, prior to becoming a brewery the building was a commercial laundry.
The brewery consists of a 12 hectolitre brewhouse, eight fermentation tanks, with the largest having a capacity of 48 hectolitres, and three bright tanks.
They have been involved in collaboration brews with Parrot Dog from New Zealand, Capital Brewing Co. from Canberra and Newstead from Brisbane as well as others. They have also produced a special bottled beer for the Noma restaurant in Denmark. This was a Landlord Macadamia Brown Ale. They put most of their beers into kegs and squealers but some goes into 375 ml cans. This is done on site by a contract canner who brings in his own canning line once a month. Their Pale Ale is the beer most consistently canned, but they have done other varieties. All up the brewery employs about fifteen people including owners and families.
The beers that I sampled were:
Serpents Kiss, Watermelon Pilsner, 4.4% abv, this has a straw colour and a subtle malt aroma. It has a strong melon flavour on a crisp, dry finish.
C-Boogie, Cucumber Kolsch, 5.2% abv, this has a golden straw colour . It has sweet malt flavour with a strong, refreshing cucumber background taste on a crisp finish.
Grifter Pale Ale, 5.0% abv, this is an Australian Pale Ale with a straw colour and a citrus aroma. It is light bodied with a fruity flavour on a mild bitter finish.
Medusa, Watermelon and Mint IPA, 5.9% abv, this is a collaboration brew with Netherworld of Brisbane. It has a hazy golden colour and a sweet fruit aroma. The flavour is of subtle sweet melon and then a fruity bitterness on the finish.
Horse’s Head, American Red Ale, 5.5% abv, this has an amber colour and a citrus aroma. It has a nice malty initial taste and then a well balanced flow into a mild fruity bitter finish.
Banshee, Black Lager, 4.9% abv, this is black with a roasted coffee malt aroma. It has a sweet malt flavour of chocolate and coffee on a gentle bitter finish.
Omen, Oatmeal Stout, 5.5% abv, this has a black colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a complex malt flavour with hints of chocolate and coffee. Smooth and delicious.
Voodoo Paradise, Coconut Milk Stout, 5.1% abv, this is served on nitro. It is black with a dark creamy head and a subtle roasted malt aroma. It has a smooth mouth feel and a wonderful, sweet malt flavour of chocolate and coconut. A great dessert beer.
I really enjoyed all of the beers that I sampled at The Grifter Brewing Co. They have quite a spacious venue and they also have food available. I would like to thank Wade and Dan for their hospitality. Dan was the same barman that served me at Young Henrys, he is lucky enough to work in two great breweries.