OCEAN REACH BREWING PASSION
My flute teacher used to say before I played, ‘take a deep breath, so you can be in it’. That is not bad advice as you lean in to talk with a mate over this beer about more than just what happened at band camp!
Origin – Cowes, Victoria
ABV – 3.8%
Size – 375mL can
Style – Gose
'For those mums out there raising their kids on a minimum wage and doing everything they can to survive in a burgeoning poverty class fuelled by rapidly increasing wealth inequality, these submarines are for you'. They were (or weren't entirely) the words of PM Anthony Albanese as he revealed the $368 billion worth of spending on a handful of submarines that will hopefully arrive sometime in the next few decades. While we battle through a cost-of-living crisis fuelled by the economist's inability to control the thing they are supposed to know everything about, it's comforting to know our new subs are the government gift we never thought we needed!
While there was a time when sourness was seen as a fault in beer, it seems the same can be said for the array of sours gifted to us by increasingly adventurous Australian craft brewers. With barely a brewery without some sort of barrel project on the go and all manner of means being explored to get wild and sour, a lightly soured beer featuring all kinds of fruits and salts is now being viewed as one with a relatively broad appeal. And while many assume they are a beer drinkers gift pulled with a flourish from a craft brewer's beard, they have a historical link to the days when brewing was a rustic, small-scale means to drink refreshing fluids without contracting cholera.
Like others, Simon Bismire, the owner and founder of Ocean Reach, didn't set out to experiment with new techniques and ingredients for novelty value or instant gratification. Instead, he held onto his roots as a homebrewer, aiming to create a unique and exciting experience for drinkers. And he has done just that. Sweet passionfruit blends effortlessly with a slight tartness from the souring process. Add a touch of saltiness courteously of seawater scoured from the pristine oceans off Phillip Island, and it's refreshingly dry and wonderfully fruity.
You'll be able to enjoy one…or maybe a few thousand as you wait to see those submarines arrive in Australian waters!
