I stumbled across my very first bottle of Footscray
Ale by West City Brewers while sitting on my Ken Done in Seddon Wine Store.
Like a true beer connoisseur, the label dragged me in. But the sheer beauty of
this brew was comparable to Annabel and Clarabel meeting for the first time:
magnetic.
I decided then and there that I was a genius for
discovering this amber liquid in a pretty bottle. So I told heaps of people
about it, showing off how much of an expert I was. But instead of the expected
‘ooohs and ahhhs’, I received knowing nods and responses such as ‘how good is
it?’, ‘so and so brought a sixer to Nath’s birthday and we all thought he was
rad’etc etc etc.
So if you haven’t heard of or tried Footscray Ale,
here’s some information so you can brush up on your craft brew knowledge before
you rock up to Nath’s party next week.
West City Brewing is the baby of two brew boys with
the coolest first names, Fergus McGregor and Bevan Dalziel. They tell me
they’re gypsy brewers. I ask them if they brew their beer in a caravan while
they dance and play tambourines. The answer is no.
Gypsy brewers simply use other existing breweries
gear and tank space to make their own beer. Apparently heaps of labels start
out this way, which is fair enough. I mean, looking back to my own home brewing
days, the plastic tub and heat pad, plus bottles and tops took up a spare room.
It’s not like many people have those massive rocket brew tanks sitting in their
living room.
Bevan explains that all home brewers, and probably
most beer nerd types have dreams of making their own commercial beer or having
a brewery.
“We are not getting any younger, and the time is
right with craft booming world wide – especially in Australia – so we took a
bite of the bullet. While we are gypsy brewers at the moment, as the label
becomes established, we are hoping to gain some funding and build our own
brewery. Maybe we will end up helping out some new brewers and then the cycle
continues!”
Both fellas are local westies. Bevan himself has
been running the West Side Beer Drinkers group for a couple of years now. So of
course it was only logical that they got cracking on a label of their own.
While my hard core beer drinking days are almost
done, thanks to becoming a parent and therefore becoming responsible, this beer
is something that I’m proud to have in my fridge. Think of this brew as that
one tasty refreshment at the end of a hard day’s work or that shared six pack
treat between you and your partner if your kid
decides to go to bed early and you have the time to hang in the yard
amongst the Tonka trucks and talk about your renovation dreams. This beer is
your responsible pal in a bottle format. You want to savour the flavour not
smash and drown cash. Got it? Now buy it.
For these passionate brewers, the future looks
golden, with flagship beer Footscray Ale ticking all the right boxes for Westie
pallettes, Fergus and Bevan are looking to re-release an Oatmeal Stout called
Oaty Session Stout in Autumn and Sunshine Ale in summer. And while they’re at
it, a bar and brewery in Footscray could be on the menu in the not too distant
future.
Feeling thirsty just reading this? Head to West
City Brewing’s website for a current listing of stockists. If your local
bottle-o doesn’t stock it, tell them to or even better, ask your local pub to
hook up a keg.
West City
Brewing
I found mine at Seddon Wine Store. Find your
closest stockist at www.westcitybrewing.com.au
Photo by Paul Large.
This article first appeared in the April issue of The Westsider newspaper.
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