Farmhouse Ale & Cider
farmhouse ('fa:m,haus) ale (eil) n 1. The very model of farm self-sufficiency and productivity. 2. An exceptionally nutritious beverage brewed from farm grown, foraged and/or naturally present ingredients (cereals, hops, microflora and water) by the farmhands, on the farm, traditionally in the cooler months of the year when the demands for farm labour were at their lowest ebb. 3. Brewed to feed, slake the thirst and entertain these same farmworkers during the labour intensive warmer months. 4. Matured for many months before consumption, fermented with naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria, often sour, exceptionally flavoursome, wonderfully digestible and always unique to the property. 5. Some would say these ales are the very essence of what beer should be.
Two Metre Tall Wild Farmhouse Ales
Our Range includes;
A Tasmanian Wild Ale 5.5% alc. vol. | This is the product you may have seen us referring to on various social media as ‘The Future’. Yes, “The Future” is finally here! Sure, it looks very much like “A Cleansing Ale” used to. And that’s the whole point!
This has all been made possible by the slow, experimental learnings of a dedicated 18-year journey of exploration culminating, over the course of the last 4 pandemic-corrupted-years, when on each occasion we brewed a batch of ‘A Cleansing Ale’, we separated a volume of the base wort and allowed it to spontaneously wild ferment. The oak barrels accumulated in our cellar, growing numerically such that they began to populate all available floorspace & sheds, eventually, and recently, spilling into the rows between our hop bines. In August 2022 we siphoned an aliquot from each barrel, blending the pieces of this time-puzzle onto hop flowers in a tank and then, in September, we bottled it.
Not only spontaneously fermented, but spontaneously bottle conditioned! Be in no doubt about this whatsoever, this is magic! The original witchcraft in fact!
The River Series Farm Ales | Four rivers, four regions, four distinctively different farm ales.
Derwent Wild Farmhouse Ale 5.2% alc. vol. | An ale, naturally soured by the microorganisms present on the raw spelt and completed by the aromatic complexity of whole hop flowers from the Derwent Valley. Now 100% spontaneously fermented.
Forester Wild Amber Farmhouse Ale 5.2% alc. vol. | A rich & complex ale featuring the Pride of Ringwood whole hop flowers from north east Tasmania's Forester river region. Developing brettanomyces complexity as it ages.
Forth All Grain Farmhouse Ale 4.2% alc. vol. | Brewed with quinoa, buckwheat, rye, oats & barley malts, this brew showcases grains grown in the Forth River Valley in northern Tasmania by the Damen family. The bitter saponins on the unwashed quinoa deliver a subtle bittering structure and surprisingly, no hops are used at all.
Visit our online SHOP now. *Alcohols listed here are indicatve only & may vary from brew to brew.
Huon Farmhouse Wild Cider
7.5% alc. vol.
When we discovered the Griggs family at Lucaston Orchards in the Huon Valley were still growing the famous old English cider variety, Sturmer Pippin, that was all the motivation we needed to produce a traditional, unfiltered, bottle fermented farm cider made using only apples and wild microorganisms.
Current release is from the 2019-20 harvest.
A little note on ingredients; Our farm cider is made from whole apple juice and wild microorganisms. Nothing else. We use NO sulphur dioxide and NO preservatives.
But you like sweet cider ...
Yes, our cider is very dry. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy a sweet beverage more to your liking. The Europeans have been adding their own sugar to dry cider for centuries. Why not follow their tradition and add sugar to taste?
Special Releases - Barrel Aged
Our special release ales, ciders and meads are available in very limited quantity and released from time to time during the year.
Second hand wine barrels are filled with spontaneous brews of our ale, cider and mead, often steeping fruits from the Derwent Valley & beyond including morello cherries, plums, pumpkins, red berries, medlars and more. Oysters, mussels and seaweed from Tasmania's southern waters also find their way into the brewhouse as well.
Current special releases -
SPARKLING MEAD 2019 | 7.5% alc. vol.
2019 was a tryingly dry spring, after a colder winter. The bees had had a difficult time. They took a long time to “get going” that year. The honey was produced in the hive during November & December 2019, extracted in January 2020 but not solubilised by us until June 2021. The fermentation substantially commenced in open ferment tank and was then transferred to oak barrels where it continued its fermentation journey for the following 2 years. Refermented in bottle using a spontaneously fermenting solution of honey for a deliciously sparkling result.
Surprising acidity & overlaying aromatics from the honey, this beverage is equally elegant served alongside sweet or savory pairings.
SOUR PUMPKIN ALE 2016-2017-2021 | 5.1% alc. vol.
This, our second release from the project, blends 2016 (the 1st batch), 2017 (the weird child) and 2021 batches together. 2016 had tannin and sharpness from the skin in abundance. Time has mellowed these excesses. 2017 differed from the pioneering 2016 brew so much I was confused for many years about how this project could come together. But persistence is everything when forging into the unknown and by 2021 I had a method, a fermentation process and an outcome produced a fabulous ‘base ale’ and, with the passage of years, the initial ‘oddities’ of both 2016 & 2017 brews had matured into incredibly textured flavour components to layer over this foundation.
Blended in March 2023 and not bottled until September was the final touch to complete this intriguing puzzle.
As a beverage, this will open your eyes!
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