WARRANDYTE BREWING CO AUSTRALIAN HAZY
A dart in one hand and this beer in the other; it’s a great way to have a pointed - pardon the pun - conversation about life and all its ups and down.
Origin – Warrandyte, Victoria
ABV- 5.8%
Size- 375mL can
Style- Hazy IPA
Some set off on their bikes to decompress from an emotionally exhausting week of working from home with a toddler. Others headed to the beach to feel the sand between their toes to distract them from their current state of unemployment. Then came the news that left you wondering, 'Can I still do this within 5 kilometres of my home?' Shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation all of a sudden had to take place within a small local radius. While the new rule limited movement for most of us, it wasn't so for members of the Royal Sydney Golf Club. Rather than the 14km road trip from Mosman, the exclusive golf club, where green fees sit at $30,000 a year, offered a water taxi service across the harbour which reduced the distance travelled to 3.5km!
Sitting just inside the five-kilometre zone for David and Bianca Ryan was Warrandyte (pronounced wo·ruhn·dite) on the banks of the Yarra in Melbourne's North-East. During successive strict lockdowns, it was the place where the couple would escape with their German Shorthaired Pointer. It was during these visits that an idea began to grow. 'We walked that river SO many times' shares David. 'While a passion for craft beer and an appreciation for the community planted the idea when we were living in Canada, it was during these walks that the concept grew into something great'. That something was Warrandyte Brewing.
Kicking things off in early 2022, whilst the dream is to one day have a physical presence in the riverside town, for now, the couple are focused on developing beers for the local area while holding down full-time jobs, Dave a paramedic and Bianca working for a disability services organisation. To date, they have released two first-rate beers, a Sunnyside Ale and this Hazy IPA. Dialled in and brewed at the lower end of the haze spectrum, this one is an accessible and approachable 5.8 percenter. There are doses of sweet mandarin, zesty citrus peel and fresh pine needle aromas courtesy of the Eclipse, with the crowd favourites galaxy & melba adding hints of passionfruit and peach, all balanced with just the right amount of bitterness.
It’s that good that should radius-based lockdowns ever return, I wouldn’t think twice about sneaking out of my zone to get my hands on this hazy!
