BYRON BAY Brewery has begun the era of Lion ownership with the introduction of three new lagers and a revitalised hospitality offering.
The brewery re-opened last month having retained its head brewer from the previous ownership, Alastair Gillespie, with Malt Shovel head brewer Chris Sheehan providing additional oversight.
“From a career perspective I’m so stoked to have support from other brewers, because although I’ve got a dream job up here, the one thing is I felt a little bit isolated,” Gillespie told Australian Brews News.
New in the Byron Bay range are The Hazy One (Cloudy Pale Lager), The Bold One (India Pale Lager) and The Rosy One (Mid-Strength Red Lager).
Sheehan said Lion had spied a gap in the market for craft lagers, which he believes will play well in the brewery’s home market of northern NSW and south east Queensland.
But the beers have not been dumbed down by any stretch, offering flavour intensity and complexity that Sheehan hopes will challenge drinkers’ perceptions of lager.
“We wanted to make some lagers that would sit alongside a Pale Ale or an IPA and a lot of people wouldn’t know the difference,” he said.
“We also wanted a range that would appeal to everybody: A bit of ‘gateway’ and a bit of beer nerd and a bit in between.”
The three new beers join two survivors from the previous regime – a Pale Ale and an IPA – rebranded respectively as The Pale One and The Lively One.
The Dark One (Dark Lager) will be added next year, making it four lagers out of a range of six beers.