Wrap up of Beer & Brewer Expo

Coinciding with the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), it was a big week for craft brewers all across the country with the Beer & Brewer Expo held at Fed Square.

A couple of observations...

- Great to speak with all the punters both trade and public including many home brewers (some having great pleasure dissecting our beers!)
- Great feedback on both beers, with the amber a slight favourite with the audience
- The gourmet sausages rocked! Don't need to eat for a week.

Now it's time to catch up on some sleep!

RIP - Isle of Wight Hotel

Terrible news overnight on a long standing favourite watering hole of the Flavour Merchants at HBC - the Isle of Wight in Cowes. Many, many hours of research has gone into the Isle in our time & we wish all the locals down there only the best for what ever grows from the ashes.

Australian International Beer Awards - Hawthorn Brewing Co. now owns Medals !

Well we're just recovering from our debut at the worlds second largest beer awards - the Australian International Beer Awards. From our 6 entries, we were amazed to collect 5 medals, which included our Pale Ale being judged joint best Australian Pale Ale effectively in the world - with a silver medal !! Three cheers must go to the Leo Burnett crew, as their designs helped our packaging collect the remaining 4 medals, with a silver and 3 bronze beauties across both the Pale and Amber Ales.
These awards are truly an international affair - try these brewery names on for size: Nogne O - Det Kompromisslose Bryggeri; Plzensky Prazdroj A.S - Gambrinus; Budejovicky Budvar all significant winners on the night. I'm dizzy trying to get through those...or maybe that was the brews we sampled ?...

Hope you're enjoying our latest batch of Pale Ale. We've increased the aroma hops. We're now adding copious amounts of fresh hops straight into the storage tanks while the beer matures. Mmmmm, you can smell it!

New Stockists!

There are now around 100 fine establishments stocking our beers - following are 9 new converts...

Macaulay Cleanskins - 478 Macaulay Road, Kensington
Malt & Vine - 13 Hall St, Newport
Maxi Foods - Ferntree Plaza, Shop 2/1202 Burwood Highway, Upper Ferntree Gully
McKinnon Cellars - 156 McKinnon Rd, McKinnon
Polly Cocktail Lounge - 401 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
Sabroso - 2 Gamon St, Seddon
Thirsty Camel - 180 Victoria Street, Seddon
Wattle Park Cellars - 160-162 Elgar Rd, Box Hill South

See here for our updated list of all stockists.

Tasty Hawthorn Pale Ale on the slopes of Mt. Fuji

Pete was recently in Japan and enjoyed a tasty Hawthorn Pale Ale on the slopes of Mt. Fuji. Sure it was freezing cold and blowing a gale, but the Pale Ale made the trip well worth while!!