News

New Lead Brewer for Bright

After nearly four years at the helm of Bright Brewery, head brewer Reid Stratton is swapping the mountains for the ocean, and making a sea-change for the sunny shores of Denmark, WA. 

Stepping on to the brew deck in his place is lead brewer Lewis Kerr. 

 Lewis, who previously brewed for Bridge Road Brewers, Moon Dog Craft Brewery and Whistler Brewing Co (Canada), joins Bright to lead its passionate team of brewers including David Stokie and Madi Bruce. 

 “Ever since I began my brewing journey, I have had a long-held aspiration of being the head brewer and part of the production team at Bright Brewery,” Lewis said.  

“I want to work for a brewery that shares the same values as I do, with regards to an active outdoor-driven lifestyle, in parallel with a focus on sustainability, both of which I have always admired Bright Brewery for.” 

 A keen mountain biker and snowboarder, Lewis is focused on helping Bright achieve its goals of carbon neutrality and continue its strong sustainability program. 

“I am extremely conscious of the sustainability challenges our industry faces and passionate about making the future of brewing greener,” he said. 

Lewis brings with him a passion for wild, sour and alternative beer styles and is excited to create brews with a uniquely High Country flavour. 

 “Blurring the lines between wine and beer is something I would like to explore more, and I have a particular interest in creating our own distinct terroir.” he said. 

“We are lucky to live in an area that is home to amazing artisan producers, and I will strive to build on the creative and positive relationships with them that benefit our brewing projects and community.” 

FAREWELL REID 

Reid, who joined the Bright team in March 2019, brought with him a wealth of experience and was inspired by the High Country landscape around him.  

Reid and his team transformed Bright’s stable of core range beers, enabling the business to grow exponentially over the past four years. And his creativity, love for fermentation, and knowledge of unusual ingredients helped elevate Bright’s limited release range of beers in market-leading trend-setters. 

Reid now joins the small but notable group of brewers who have all made their marks on Bright Brewery and gone on to create amazing beers in other parts of Australia, and the world.   

We wish Reid and his wife all the very best for their move to WA – and we thank him for everything he’s given to Bright Brewery over the years. 

Farewell to Head Brewer Reid Stratton

Head Brewer Reid Stratton will be departing Bright Brewery to start a new adventure in Western Australia.

From the moment Reid – a quietly-spoken American euphonium player from Oregan, USA – joined us in 2019, he made a huge impact, not just on our team and our beers, but on all of our lives.

Within weeks of arriving, Reid – a former-baker-turned-brewer – made his mark; becoming the first brewer in Australia to brew with the Norwegian super yeast, Kveik. And from then on, Bright Brewery became synonymous with Reid Stratton.

Reid and his small team of brewers elevated Bright’s stable of core range beers to a level of quality and production volume that enabled our business to grow exponentially. His creativity, love for fermentation and knowledge of unusual ingredients helped transform Bright’s limited release range of beers into market-leading trendsetters.

He relished Bright’s proximity to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest hop farm – Eurobin’s Rostrevor Hop Garden – and forged strong relationships with local producers all over the North East, including Mountain Yuzu, Reed and Co Distillery and Backwoods Distilling.

Reid now joins our small but notable group of brewers who have all made their marks on Bright Brewery and have gone on to create amazing beers in other parts of Australia.

We wish Reid and his wife Gabby all the very best for their move to Western Australia – and we thank him for everything he has given to Bright Brewery over the years.

 

Vote for #notanotherpaleale in 2022

Ever calculated the percentage of pale ales in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll? We have.

95% of the Top 20 beers in the 2021 poll are pale ales – or hazy pales, tropical pales, India pales, etc. You get the drift…

And as a brewery whose #1 best-selling beer is not a pale ale, we find this statistic pretty interesting.

Craft lagers are on the rise in the Australian beer market – that’s a fact. And breweries who have long turned their noses up at brewing lagers are now scrambling to try and brew them quickly. But, here in Bright, we’re ahead of the curve…

We’ve been brewing our best-selling Alpine Lager (and, before that, our Bright Lager) for years now, and it very quickly became our #1 best-selling beer – both in our brewpub and more widely across Australia.

 

It’s brewed with pure Alpine water and locally-grown High Country hops. It’s as crisp as the winter sun rising over the mountains around Bright. And it’s a damn good beer.

Last year, with the help of beer lovers around Australia, Alpine had one of the fastest climbs up the Hottest 100 ladder, climbing from #150-something to #32 – making it the best lager in Victoria made by an independent brewery.
Now that’s a statistic we can get behind!

That fact, coupled with the larger resurgence, has seen Alpine Lager find its way into the hands of thousands more beer lovers around Australia in 2022.
So with lager well and truly on the way up, we’re hoping to see it give all these pale ales a run for their money in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll for 2022.
Competitions like this – which are won by popular vote – are really important to small businesses like ours. They can be an absolute game-changer. But changing the game when you’re a small, family-owned indie brewer can be a challenge.

Are you sick of seeing pale ales dominate the countdown? So are we! So let’s get together and do something about it.

There are so many amazing craft beers out there, and we know your Top 5 votes are precious. But a vote for Alpine Lager is more than just a vote for us – it’s a vote for small business, for adventure, and for the future (not to mention a vote to bump those pales ales out of all the top spots!).

Vote #1 Alpine Lager
#notanotherpaleale

GABS Hottest 100 Voting is now open

Love Bright? Love beer? Love supporting small, indie brewers? We need your help!

Voting is now open in the annual GABS Festival Hottest 100 Craft Beers Poll – and we’d love to ask for your support in voting for our best-selling Alpine Lager.

A true celebration of Aussie craft beer, the Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll celebrates the best of the best with a public vote for the best beers of the year.

Competitions like this – which are won by popular vote – are so important to small businesses like ours. They really can be game-changers. But we’re not the biggest craft brewery in Australia, so it can be hard to compete.

Craft lager is on the rise with breweries all over Australia scrambling to meet demand. But we’re ahead of the game – our Alpine Lager has been a leader in its field for years. Crisp, refreshing, enjoyed by beer lovers from all ends of the spectrum – it’s brewed with pure Alpine water and locally-grown hops.

In 2021, your love for Alpine Lager saw it rise from #150-something to #32 in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll, making it the #1 Victorian Lager by an independent brewery.

This year, Alpine has found its way into the hands of even more beer lovers all over Australia and we’d love to see it climb even higher!

If you’d like to hear a little more about what this comp (and this beer!) means to our owner and founder Scott Brandon and the team, you can check out the video above.

Need a little refresher on our crisp and sessionable Alpine Lager? You can grab some online here today.

There are so many amazing craft beers out there and we know your 5 votes are precious. But a vote for Alpine Lager is more than just a beer vote – it’s a vote for outdoor adventure, a vote for small business, and a vote for the future (and to try and bump those pale ales out of the top 10!).

We’d love it if you could help support local, family-owned & independent, by voting #1 Alpine Lager in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll.

#notanotherpaleale

 

Bright’s Evin Craney takes seat on IBA Board

Bright Brewery is thrilled to announced that our National Sales Manager, Evin Craney, has been elected as a Director to the Board of the Independent Brewers’ Association (IBA).

Evin, who has been with Bright Brewery since 2019, was elected to the board at the IBA’s AGM today.

He takes on the Board seat alongside his existing position as the Chairperson of the IBA’s Trade Engagement Working Group.

Evin has worked in Australia’s craft beer industry for the past 10+ years and said he was excited to join decision-makers at the forefront of the industry.

“I am incredibly fortunate to have been welcomed into the craft beer industry at the start of my working career and am looking forward to moving our amazing industry forward,” Evin said.

“But being an independent brewer in a country dominated by multi-nationals can be a really tough gig. I’m excited to be part of the IBA’s charge to support and represent indie brewers across the country and work to better spread the word of indie beer.”

Evin has a particular interest in gaining more support for indie brewers within ‘big box’ retailers along with goals to expand the Australian craft beer industry internationally.

“Aussie craft beer has come such a long way in such a short time and I think that, now, we need to show the world how good our beers truly are.”

During his time at Bright, Evin has spearheaded several notable projects including our Australian-first Paktech recycling scheme, gaining national and international distribution, the update of our core range, and he was instrumental in helping us survive the COVID pandemic – at which time time, he spent nearly 18 months home-delivering Bright beer throughout Melbourne’s suburbs.

Bright Brewery has a long history of representation within the IBA and we currently hold 2 of the 6 Chairs of the IBA’s Working Groups. Our Projects and Sustainability Manager Marthijs Heuperman also Chairs the Sustainability Working Group.

Bright Brewery’s founder and owner Scott Brandon said he was incredibly proud of Evin and Marthijs for getting involved with the IBA, and for helping pave the way forward for indie brewers in Australia.

“No one is more passionate about craft beer and independent breweries than Evin and I’m excited to see what he and the rest of the board achieve this year and into the future,” Scott said.

Evin joins new and existing IBA Board Members:

Matthew Shortal from Great Ocean Road Brewing

Chris Cefala from the Local Brewing Co.

Clare Clouting, Gage Road Brewery

Richard Watkins, Bentspoke Brewing Co.

Callum Reeves, Kaiji Beer

Lauren Jack, Ballistic Brewing Co.

The IBA is the voice for independent brewers around the country, with 432 brewery members and another 110 associate members. The IBA works with government agencies, industry, trade and international counterparts to represent the interests of Australian independent brewers. Working alongside its members, the IBA seeks to build a strong, sustainable future for our industry.

Razor Witbier named Top 20 Beer of 2022

We were absolutely thrilled to see our beautiful Razor Witbier named one of Australia’s Top 20 Best Beers of the Year by The Australian newspaper over the weekend.

Razor is a Belgian-style Witbier laced with coriander and orange zest and brewed with unmalted wheat. It is effervescent and cloudy with aromas of banana, bubblegum and citrus.

It’s name is an homage to the iconic Razorback Ridge on Victoria’s iconic Mount Feathertop.

No stranger to accolades, Razor was awarded an Independent Brewers Association Champion Trophy in 2019 for Best European Style Ale.

“This award-winner hits all the right notes,” according to reviewer Peter Lalor.

Craft beer is a competitive space to play in, with more than 600 registered craft breweries in Australia and tens of thousands of brews coming out each year.

Witbiers may not be the trendiest style of beer, but there’s a reason they’ve been brewed continuously for hundreds of years.

Is this the resurgence of the witbier? It might just be!

To get your hands on this award-winning brew, please head here.

To read the full Weekend Australian article (behind a paywall), please head here.

Buy Local this Black Friday with 10% off storewide

As Halloween and other American holidays gain traction here in Oz, so too has another American tradition – Black Friday!

Traditionally on the Friday after Thanksgiving – this Friday, November 25 – Black Friday leads to crazy online bargains, huge sales and discounts, and generally mass hysteria!

So while some businesses use Black Friday to move old stock or grab attention with bargain-basement sales, we thought we’d take a slightly different tack this year.

This Black Friday, we’re asking our friends and customers to think about where your hard-earned money is spent – and to consider supporting local, instead of giving it away to global tech giants or buying another blender you don’t need.

Think about buying from local, independent producers in your own community – or ones that align with your values – rather than from mainstream, internationally-owned monoliths.

The catch? Producers creating unique, small-batch products – like ours – can’t afford to take a loss with bargain-basement prices.

So while our discounts might not be as big as the majors, you can feel confident in the fact that every dollar spent is going into a family-owned, independent business – hopefully one right in your own community!

We can’t compete with selling cases of Great Northern for $40 – but we do have some great deals, including:

– 10% OFF STOREWIDE FROM FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: all beers, all merch, all mixed packs*

– FREE GIFT WORTH $22 for all orders over $150

– FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $100 (excl WA/NT)

* Excludes Mash Club subscriptions and sale items

And we’ll even do one better – in exchange for your support of local business, we are going to donate 10% of all sales made through our online store on Black Friday to Zero Waste Victoria.

Zero Waste Victoria’s mission is to empower Victorians to downsize their waste through everyday choices, while advocating for meaningful change. They aim to shift mindsets, facilitate action and spotlight solutions to reduce waste. Their impact is to amplify the community voice and connect people, inspiring and enabling them to reach their zero waste goals.

Our Black Friday Sale is on from Friday 24 – Sunday 27 November.  You can start browsing here now! Enter code: CODE: BLACKFRIDAY10.

Lemonade Shandy Launch

It’s the summer of Shandy!

On Tuesday November 8, we launched  the release of our Lemonade Shandy with a “competitive” game of lawn bowls at the Myrtleford Bowls Club.

The club room bar was stocked with plenty of icy cold Shandys; and Lilly from our events team was on hand with tasting samples for the thirsty local local bowlers.

Bright Brewery fielded two teams so needless to say the competition was fierce… A big shout out to Lance Symons, President of the Myrtleford Bowls Club, for helping us organise the event and lending a hand with a few coaching tips – it sure wasn’t an easy task!

Bright Brewery has been a sponsor of the Myrtleford Bowls Club since 2019 and is proud to support more than 40 local people, festivals, events and community organisations.

The Lemonade Shandy is available now in the venue, online and at independent liquor stores. Get some zest in your life and shop some here.

Work with us

Looking for a career change, a tree change or both?  Love to stay active and want to work with like-minded people for a business that cares about your physical and mental health, as well as the environment?

We are on the lookout for friendly, active people to come and join our team here at Bright Brewery.

We know how awesome Bright is to live, work and play, but don’t take our word for it, hear what our staff have to say in the video above.

We are currently recruiting for people in the following roles:

  • Kitchenhands (junior/senior roles/no experience necessary)
  • Qualified chefs
  • Cooks
  • Apprentices

Full-time, part-time, and casual roles are available.

What do we offer?

  • Award rates
  • Guaranteed work-life balance
  • Subsidised Bootcamp or Yoga Space memberships
  • Regular social activities (MTB, trail running, knitting, etc)
  • Bonus Green Transport initiative for ditching the car and walking/riding to work
  • A genuinely fun and enjoyable working environment

If you’re interested in joining our team, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our Jobs Page or just pop in with a CV when we’re open.

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