SOAPBOX BEER OPINIONATOR
While I'm not suggesting you should take up smashing eggs over a mates head to get him talking (although it might be funny!!), cracking this tinnie with him might be just the trick to get a conversation started.
Origin – Fortitude Valley, QLD
ABV- 4.5%
Size- 330mL bottle
Style- Pale Ale
Today's cars are manufactured from 50% plastic. More clothing is made out of polyester plastic than cotton. Yet recently it seems we have decided that plastic is an evil thing, with the UN declaring a 'war' on it and Kim Kardashian (boldly!) going one step further and calling on her Insta followers to give up plastic straws. Perhaps they are right? Maybe it’s time we go back to corrugated cardboard, or perhaps all the way back to the wooden crate that was used to ship soaps?
It’s the crate that was made famous in the 20th century by the likes of Franklin Roosevelt, who shared his political views while standing on one. While these days, it's not so common to see someone standing on a soapbox flamboyantly preaching to passers-by, metaphorically it’s gathering momentum, particularly on social media to declare a view on everything from stolen elections and COVID conspiracies to…well, the evils of plastic straws!
However two Brisbane craft-beer enthusiasts with something to say have not only wound back the clock and stepped up onto a creaky old wooden box, they’ve gone above and beyond and converted a dilapidated soap factory into a platform for conversation. Working in the teleco and film industries respectively, Scott Robertson and Luke Nixon first struck up a conversation about the merits of craft beer as a social lubricant while waiting for their kids at the school gate. Many conversations, and a lot of planning later, Soapbox Beer was born.
Not surprisingly given how things came about and the chosen name, Soapbox has an emphasis on conversation. It's a topic close to heart. 'Men need to talk', explains Robertson's wife Amy, knowing first-hand the consequences of that not happening – tragically her father took his own life when she was 21. It is an emphasis brought to life with Soapbox beers’ names including the Pep Talk dark ale, The Rant IPA, and this Opinionated pale. And in my opinion, head brewer Greg James has put together the perfect drop for a warm conversation while also winning over the uninitiated to the craft beer cause. Light straw in colour, with subtle aromas of piney hops on a light malty palate, it finishes crisp and clean.
Whether you’re up for some street-corner oratory or just a chat with a mate, you’ve found your lubricant.
