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.