By Shelby Brooks
Tucked away in what was a family rumpus room in Blind Bight, an impressive professional grade distillery is making a name for itself in the craft beer market.
Blind Bight Brewery was a dream of long time mates David McLeod and Scott Hooper, who turned it into a reality four years ago.
“Around the campfire we’d talk about this, giving up our normal day jobs and make whisky and beer for a living,” David said.
“But we haven’t realised that yet because it takes that much money to do this we have to keep working,” Scott added, laughing.
They toured local and international breweries in Asia to take inspiration when planning their own set up, which can produce 12,000 litres of beer a week.
Their long term goal is to eventually have a local hospitality venue showcasing their beer and whisky.
A big focus of the brewery has been on their whisky production, taking particular attention to the barrels in which the whisky is stored.
“Every barrel is definitely unique because they have a different char level or a toast level or a different manufacturer or a different product that’s been in it,” David said.
“We don’t use any new, virgin oak casks. It’s just the diversity, we want to do like single barrel releases. So they’ll be like 200 bottles and that’s it.
“We’ve been told only two people in Australia are doing what we’re doing- that’s just picking the best of the best barrels.”
They’re hoping to leave the whisky for four years before bottling it.
“It’s an investment on our side. So then we’ll get more value for our product at the end. Because I would say 90 plus percent of whiskies that are produced in Australia do not have an age statement, which means they’re not any more than two years old,” David said.
The beer Blind Bight Brewery produce has proven popular in the local area, being stocked at several outlets in Casey.
“The beers we make here are our version of an ale,” Scott said.
“We have a mid and a heavy ale called Westernport Ale. They’re very refreshing.”
Although Covid-19 diminished a lot of the brewery’s sales, online orders have kept the business afloat as they wait for revenue to pick up with the return of hospitality.
“What we found was that one of the first things people did in Covid was stop buying premium beer,” David said.
“It was because everyone a little bit unsure about their jobs and their livelihoods.
“Hopefully our sales will pick up a little bit more as restaurants open back up. We’ve had a couple of venues get in touch with us again.”
Head to blindbightbrewery.com.au to learn more.
