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Darker Days postponed

Darkness has come!

Based on the latest Victorian COVID lockdown, we’re devastated to say that Darker Days 2021 has been postponed.

Sadly, we were just 36 hours away from Darker Days 2021 when Victoria went back into a hard lockdown last Friday, July 16.

However…
The show will go on! We are committed to running this festival this year, after COVID has shafted our plans twice in the past 12 months.
We are working furiously on a new plan, to ensure our artists, our vendors, and you, our beloved customers, are supported and can enjoy Darker Days this year!
Some of our musicians and artists were already on their way to Bright when lockdown was announced.
We will have more to say on this very soon and we’d love your support in the meantime.
All ticketholders have been contacted via email and are legally eligible for a refund – however – we’d love it if you could bear with us until we can announce our new plan.
If you’re unable to attend the rescheduled date, you will, of course, be able to receive a refund.
For more information, please email marketing@brightbrewery.com.au

15 fun facts about Bright Brewery

As part of the ongoing celebration for our 15th anniversary this week, we’ve put together 15 fun facts about Bright Brewery that you might not know…
 
#1 The original Bright Brewery was established during the gold rush and ran from 1876 to 1916.
 
#1 When Bright Brewery first opened, it was two tin sheds with a small bar and no indoor seating.
 
#3 This original building cost less to build than the architect’s fees for the proposed venue which was eventually built 5 years later!
 
#4 Our first ever beer – Pioneer Ale – was brewed at Jamieson Brewery, Mansfield in 2004. It was a “pretty basic pale ale”, according to founder Scott Brandon. We’ve just released a tribute beer – Pioneer Barrel Aged Stubborn Russian Imperial Stout – for our 15th Anniversary.
 
#5 The first beers ever brewed onsite in Bright were Hellfire Amber Ale and Blowhard Pale Ale and these are still two of our best-selling beers 15 years later!
 
#6 Bright was a founding member of the High Country Brewery Trail which promotes beer tourism in Victoria’s High Country.
 
#7 100% of our beers are brewed right here in Bright. Many people think we must have a production facility in Melbourne but, despite the logistical challenges it creates, we are committed to staying local and investing in our community
 
#8 Our production brewery, about 1km from our venue, is named ‘Fred’s Shed’ after our co-founder Fiona ‘Fred’ Reddaway.
 
#9 Our now-infamous Stubborn Russian Imperial Stout was first brewed in 2011 by then-brewer Jon Seltin. It’s gone on to become our most iconic annual release.
 
#10 Stubborn Russian was named by Jon and Scott because the beer itself was “stubborn” and took so long to ferment during our cold Alpine winter.
 
#11 The roof of Bright Brewery is completely covered in solar panels, generating about a quarter of our current energy usage and saving the equivalent of 6000 trees!
 
#12 In 2019, the Brewery bought a herd of cows, raised them in the nearby Buckland Valley on fresh grass and spent brewery grain, before they made their way back to the Brewery as part of our low-food-mile Paddock To Plate program.
 
#13 One of our current Apprentice Chefs and Ambassadors, Sammy McMahon, summited Mt Everest in 2018 and lost half a toe to frostbite in the process. Now she’s known as Sammy 9.5
 
#14 In 2020, Bright Brewery was forced to shut for more than 150 days (nearly 6 months) due to bushfires and COVID-19.
 
#15 Bright recently commissioned a brand new canning line which means more cans than ever will be coming your way!

15th Anniversary: 15 beers for 15 years

We’ve brewed a LOT of incredible beers in Bright over the past 15 years – and a few dodgy ones!
So, in celebration of our 15th anniversary, we’ve put together a list of some of our most iconic – and most memorable – beers over the past 15 years…

𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭 (2011)
Debuting in 2011 at a highly drinkable ABV of 7.5%, our original Stubborn Russian Imperial Stout was the brainchild of former brewer Jon Seltin. Stubborn, so
named because of its refusal to ferment, has become our most iconic beer and is now brewed annually to warm up every winter (it’s also grown to a beefier ABV of over 12%!).

𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 (2011)
Brewed with 60kg of fresh local raspberries at the start of 2011, our Lambic-style Framboise was a beer that won a lot of hearts over the years, and even inspired our current Sweetart range of sours!

𝐒𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐨 𝐑𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐫 (2015)
Named for our neighbouring hamlet of Smoko, never has a beer been more divisive than this Rauchbier. In fact, we still argue about it today. Are smoked beers great or revolting? Most people feel pretty strongly one way or the other!
The good news is that Rauchbier is making a comeback in 2021 so we can keep arguing about it for at least another year!

𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐫 (2007)
Cloudy, unfiltered, and full of aromats like clove and coriander, Razor Witbier was like the quiet, reliable friend in our core range group. Always there, always consistent but never making much noise – until, in 2019, out of nowhere, she was named Australia’s Champion European Style Ale at the Australian Independent Beer Awards!

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 (2009)
Brewed with locally grown hops, Australian pale malt and pristine Alpine water, few beers summed up Bright Brewery better than our Bright Lager. A staple of our core range for many, many years – and the craft beer that many mainstream beer drinkers cut their teeth on – Bright Lager was as crisp and refreshing as the mountain air.Bright Brewery Bright Lager | an unfiltered classic craft beer

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢 𝐍𝐮𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐞 (2015)
Just down the road from Bright is the Heritage-listed hamlet of Wandiligong. A quiet, sleepy village renowned for its beauty and its nuts, “Wandi” comes alive every Autumn when the people of Bright and surrounds descend to celebrate the annual Wandi Nut Fest. We brewed our Wandi Nut Brown Ale in honour of festival – originally with Wandi chestnuts and, later, without – when we realised the beer tasted even better without them.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 (2013)
(adj) Derived as follows: super – “above”, mucilaginistic – “of viscid nature”, expiali – “to atone”, and docious – “educable”, with the sum of these parts signifying roughly “Atoning for educability through above viscid nature”
This massive barley wine was viscid and gloopy. Layers of malt derived flavour (spicy rye, crust, shortbread, oats, caramel) meld with sweet vanilla and coconut lactones from French oak.

𝐇𝐨𝐩 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭/𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐏𝐀 (2011)
When you’re the closest brewery to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest hop farm, hop harvest season takes on a new meaning. While brewers from around the world descend on Eurobin – just 10 minutes from Bright – to get their hands on fresh hops once a year, we revel in popping down the road to our neighbours, grabbing our fresh hops, and throwing them into our annual Hop Harvest brew within a couple of hours. It literally doesn’t get any fresher than that!
In 2021, we took this even further by adding local mountain-foraged botanicals to the fresh-hopped brew to create our North East Victoria IPA.

𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐥 / 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐥 (2006)
Not one for the faint-hearted but another legendary Bright brew, Fainters Dubbel is a personal favourite of Scott’s (which partially explains why it’s been around so long!).
A Belgian Abbey-style beer with raisin and clove flavours, Fainters is as sacred to Bright as it was to Belgium’s Trappist monks. We’ve even released it as a freeze-distilled Super Dubbel version on occasion.

𝐌.𝐈.𝐀. 𝐈𝐏𝐀 (2011)
What began back in 2013 as an annual, limited-release beer grew a cult-like following over the years until, in 2019, it was promoted to ‘core range’ status.
Brewed by former brewer Jon Seltin, M.I.A. IPA was also named after him – legend has it, Jon went paragliding in his lunchbreak (as you do in Bright) on the day this IPA was due to be kegged, and didn’t come back! Allegedly, he was found about 8 hours later, having had to make a forced landing on Mount Feathertop!

𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭 (2019)
When our current head brewer Reid landed in Bright in early 2019, he brought with him a few genius
ideas. One of his first was Affogato Stout, brewed with Bright’s Sixpence Coffee, which he rolled out just in time for Darker Days.
His next genius move was to suggest we serve it over ice-cream – and all our lives were changed forever.
Affogato Stout, which we’ve brewed every year since, has gone on to become our fastest-selling seasonal beer.

𝐘𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐘𝐚𝐲 (2017)
The Great Australasian Beer Fest gives us many things each year – but the best is the chance to brew a wacky, crazy beer that we’d never sell at any other time of year.
Cue our 2017 entry – Yippee Thai YAy: a red curry pale ale. Actually pretty mainstream in 2021 but groundbreaking for its time!

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 (2019)
In 2019, we let, nay, ENCOURAGED, our brewers to brew a beer without telling anyone what it was. Then our sales team, who didn’t know what it was, sold it to our customers who also didn’t know what it was – and we made them try and guess! We offered a year’s supply of beer to the person who got the closest and we all had so much fun that we’ve done it twice since!
It’s our brewers’ favourite time of the year as they use it as payback for all the other crazy stuff we make them do the other 11 months of the year!

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝟒𝟕 (2013)
A highlight of our brew calendar every year is the High Country Brewery Trail collab brew, Rule 47. Created and brewed by all the brewers of the High Country as they work side-by-side in the brewhouse, Rule 47 is a signature brew that changes every year but always represents the very best of the High Country.

𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐞 (2021)
No list of memorable beers would be complete without our exploding Pineapple Dream Nitro Milkshake Ale of 2021! The first beer we’ve ever had to recall, Pineapple Dream kept fermenting in the can, causing a pineapple flavour sensation with slightly too much alcohol and a little bit of bang! Despite its explosive start to life, Pineapple became a crowd favourite in its short lifespan and we’re planning to bring it back in a less-explosive way soon.

Bright Brewery celebrates 15th anniversary

15 years ago this week, four friends opened the doors to a small tin shed on Bright’s Great Alpine Road, and the Bright Brewery we know and love today was born.

But Bright Brewery’s 15th Anniversary Party, planned for this Saturday, June 12, has now fallen victim to Victoria’s ongoing COVID restrictions.

After the toughest year on record with bushfires and then COVID forcing the Brewery to close its doors for nearly six months of 2020, owner and founder Scott Brandon was looking forward to celebrating the longevity of his iconic brewery with a huge anniversary bash.

But Victoria’s latest COVID outbreak and ongoing restrictions, means the party, like many other events, can’t go ahead.

“We’re obviously disappointed that we can’t celebrate with our friends and family and those who were instrumental in the success of Bright Brewery,” Scott said. “But we’re grateful that we’ll be open again and we’ll look forward to celebrating with our local friends and visitors from regional Victoria.”

The Brewery now plans to hold a small locals-only celebration with the big party put on ice until restrictions ease.

In honour of its milestone celebration, Bright Brewery will release its limited-edition Pioneer Rum Barrel Aged Stubborn Russian Imperial Stout – named in honour of the brewery’s first ever beer, Pioneer Ale – next week.

The beer will be available online, with free shipping for all Victorians, and from the Brewery Door.

Family-owned and fiercely independent, Bright Brewery has spent the past 15 years championing its beautiful hometown through fantastic beer experiences.

The Brewery remains at the heart of the Bright community, running a successful Locals’ Club, playing free live music on Sunday afternoons, pouring more than $35,000 in sponsorship to the local community every year.

Scott, who founded the brewery with his late wife Fiona Reddaway and two friends, lives just minutes from the Brewery with his three teenage daughters, two of whom also work in the business.

As a founding member of the High Country Brewery Trail, which aims to market the Victorian High Country as a serious craft beer region, Bright Brewery plays a major role in promoting tourism to the area.

And over the past 15 years, Bright has continued to be a pioneering leader of Australia’s independent craft beer industry, leading the way in sustainability, innovation and creativity.

In 2019, Bright’s Hazy Razor Witbier was named the Champion European Style Beer in Australia at the Independent Beer Awards.

Also in 2019, Bright was inducted into the Victorian Tourism Hall of Fame after being named Victoria’s Best Brewery for three years in a row from 2017 to 2019 – a feat Scott is particularly proud of.

“Being recognised as a leader by Victoria’s tourism industry for all the work we do in promoting Bright and the High Country meant the world to us,” Scott said.

“We believe what is good for Bright is good for Bright Brewery and vice-versa. We are really proud of our contributions to the tourism industry and continue to champion our area through delicious beer, unforgettable adventures and embracing everything our region has to offer.”

With a new multi-million dollar production facility opening in 2018, Bright was firmly focused on its future but things took a drastic turn in January 2020, when bushfires decimated Bright’s busiest tourist season and COVID forced the brewery to close shortly afterwards.

But Bright rose the challenge of creating a COVID-friendly business and, within 24 hours, had pivoted its entire business to a direct-to-consumer model, offering free home delivery, home-delivered hot meals locally, and even freshly poured beers.

“We delivered hot meals around Bright, and we set up a pop-up bar in a refrigerated warehouse in Melbourne and spent many weeks pouring our fresh beers into growlers and delivering them around Melbourne,” Scott said.

And when the High Country Brewery Trail’s annual collaboration brew day – a major fundraiser for the Trail’s marketing efforts – was banjaxed by COVID, Bright put their hands up to lead an online campaign to promote the High Country around Australia.

“We bought more than 240 cases of beer from all the other High Country Brewers and we packed and delivered mixed cases of beer all over Australia,” Scott said.

This was one of two High Country Brewery Trail-specific campaigns Bright led in 2020, with plans for another later this year.

Brews News Editor Matt Kirkegaard first visited Bright Brewery in 2008 and said this support of its local community was what made Bright a leader in its industry.

“One of the things we celebrate with Australian craft and independent small brewers is the contribution they make to their local community, the way they support their local community and the way their community supports them and it’s been wonderful to see that Bright Brewery has grown and, with it, so has the support for the local area,” he said.

“We see the employment that they create, the investment that they create in the local area, that is what independent brewing is all about.

“To the team at Bright Brewery, and to Scott, cheers and congratulations for all you do to make indie beer, and the community of Bright, better.”

Bright Brewery Timeline

2003: Brewery idea conceived by Scott Brandon, Fiona Reddaway, David Cocks and Julia Street (nee Cocks); land bought on Bright’s Great Alpine Road for future venue

2004: Purchased German copper brewery from Japan

2005: Brewed first beer (Pioneer Ale) at Jamieson Brewery, Mansfield; opened small bar in Wills St, Bright

2006: Small Bright Brewery venue, with outdoor seating only, opened on Great Alpine Road; first beers brewed onsite (Hellfire Amber Ale)

2009: Fiona & Scott become sole owners

2013: Venue expanded from 162sqm to 752sqm

2014: Fiona passed away after battle with stomach cancer; purchased land for production facility

2016: Purchased land next to venue for future expansion, taking venue space to 2600sqm

2018: New production facility ‘Fred’s Shed’ (in honour of Fiona) commissioned

2019: Named Victoria’s Best Brewery 3 years in a row; inducted into Tourism Hall of Fame

2020: Bushfires and COVID shut venue for 6 months

2021: 15th Anniversary

Celebrate Le Tour de France 2021 with a Tour de Froth mixed case

Back by very popular demand, Bright Brewery is excited to announce the return of its unique Tour de Froth Mixed Case for 2021.

Tour de Froth comprises 21 Bright Brewery beers hand-selected to perfectly complement every stage of Le Tour de France, which kicks off on June 26.

Conceived during lockdown 2020 by Bright Brewery’s cycling mad founder Scott Brandon (pictured right, with Brewery ambassador Sam McMahon in 2020), Tour de Froth 2020 was an unexpected bright spot during the dark months of winter in lockdown.

“Cycling is in our DNA here in Bright,” Scott said. “It’d be hard to find a more cycling-friendly town in Australia, so it’s great that we can link Bright and the Tour in this way.”

Bright and surrounds also features some of the best mountain roads in Australia and is the perfect training ground for Australia’s professional cyclists, welcoming pro teams to the area every spring and summer.

Ride High Country Ambassador and former World Cross Country Champion, Paul van der Ploeg, is an enthusiastic supporter of Tour de Froth!

“The Tour de Froth is such a cool concept combining two of my passions – cycling and craft beer!” Paul said. “I love that the beers are curated by Bright Brewery to match the stages of the Tour, and I’m excited to see what they come up with this year.”

This year’s Tour de France kicks off with a hilly 187km stage from Brest to Landerneau in north-western France. The Tour de Froth kicks off with a can of Bright’s American-style Blowhard Pale Ale.

The start of the Tour de France is always a nervous time for riders and this will be exacerbated with a 3km uphill finish where the sprinters will Blowhard to try and remain in contention, and the GC contenders will be looking for time gaps and bonus seconds.

Each Tour de Froth case also comes with a branded Bright Brewery Beer Can Glass, and Tasting Tour notes so you can follow along at home. The beers are a wide mix of styles from both Bright’s core and seasonal ranges.

It’s the perfect way to enjoy this year’s Tour!

Tour de Froth 2021 cases will be available for sale exclusively online from Bright Brewery from June 1 with shipping available Australia-wide. We recommend ordering early to ensure your case arrives in time for Stage 1 on July 26.

Kim Churchill to set Bright alight at Darker Days 2021

Australian live roots legend Kim Churchill will headline an all-star line-up for the return of Bright Brewery’s DARKER DAYS festival for 2021.

After the horror show of 2020, Bright’s annual midwinter festival, DARKER DAYS, will rise from the ashes from July 16-18, 2021.

A celebration of all things dark and decadent – with a special focus on dark beer, live music and crackling bonfires – DARKER DAYS 2021 will be bigger, better, darker and diving deeper into winter than ever before, with three full days of events.

With festivities to enjoy across the weekend, Saturday’s main Festival Day will heat up with 10 hours of live music, cold beer, hot food, local drinks & roaring fires.

Surf-rock icon Churchill will be joined on the bill an eclectic line-up of Victorian musicians, including seven-piece funk outfit Funk Rabbit, returning pop-punk trio Since We Kissed, and indie-pop/rock duo This Way North.

And we are very excited to announce that our friends at Mr Banks Brewing Co & Molly Rose Brewing will be joining us on the dark side, as our special Guest Brewers at DARKER DAYS 2021.

Best known for its exciting line-up of fun, small-batch beers, including hop-forward ales, super sours and crushable lagers, Mr Banks is synonymous with innovation and quirky releases.
Molly Rose prides itself on bringing people together through beer – some we value here at Bright Brewery – and their eclectic and creative beers are designed to do just that!
We’ll also be joined by award-winning High Country producers and our recent collaborators Reed & Co Distillery, Backwoods Distilling, and Alpine Cider.

Bright Brewery Marketing Manager Laura Gray said while the core elements of Darker Days would remain the same – beer, music, food & fire – the 2021 festival would be bigger than ever.
“It’s been a long time in between drinks at Darker Days and we know festival-goers are just as keen to get to Bright as we are to see them!” Gray said.
“Having missed 2020, we thought we’d come back with a bang for 2021.
“We are absolutely stoked to be welcoming our friends from Mr Banks Brewing and Molly Rose, between the two of us, we’ve got a huge range of incredible beers on offer.
“Think a vintage Stubborn Russian Bar, Affogato Stout sundaes, and some beautiful barrel-aged releases as well.”

The weekend’s festivities include:

Friday, July 16:
• Brewer For A Day with Bright’s Head Brewer Reid Stratton
• Weekend Welcome Party with free live music
• Darker Dinner

Saturday, July 17:
• Festival Day
• Guided Brewery Tours

Sunday, July 18:
• Brewer’s Breakfast
• Barker Days Fundraiser for RSPCA Vic
• Recovery Session with free live music

Some events across the weekend will be free, with others ticketed. Children can attend the main festival day free of charge.

Early Bird prices are available for those keen to lock in their plans early, and a weekend-long VIP Darker Pass is available for those who want to fully immerse themselves in the dark side!

Tickets are now on sale. If the booking page does not appear below, please refresh your page or click here.

Easter at Bright Brewery

Get egg-cited – Easter is coming!
 
And we’re open every day – including Good Friday – pouring cold beers, local gin & wine, and serving beautiful fresh meals.
 
Doors open at 11.30am daily, and lunch starts at 12pm.
 
Here in beautiful regional Victoria, it’s sometimes easy to forget that we are still living in COVID-times. Life is not back to normal, but we’re all getting used to “COVID-normal”.
 
Our venue capacity is still reduced due to COVID restrictions, we are still managing labour-intensive requirements like table service, sanitisation, managing crowd numbers, etc. This is to ensure your safety, and the safety of our beautiful community.
 
And, unfortunately, like the rest of Bright – we are also experiencing a severe staff shortage.
 
We want everyone who visits us to have the best possible experience, and we are prioritising quality over quantity, so we are no longer taking any bookings for the Easter period.
 
If you don’t already have a booking and you’d still like to join us, please pop by and we’ll do our best to seat you if we have capacity.
 
If we don’t have capacity, please be understanding. We would love to be able to host everyone who walks through our doors but, at the moment, we just can’t.
 
But back to the fun stuff…
 
Children of Bright & surrounds, little visitors and their parents are invited to join us at Bright Brewery at 11am on Easter Saturday for our annual Easter Egg Scramble.
 
This hugely-popular annual event has become a must-do for chocolate-lovers and those who love a bit of competition!
 
The Scramble kicks off at 11am SHARP this Saturday. Bring a bucket, bring a basket, bring a wheelbarrow. Just don’t be late – chocolate waits for no child!
 
More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/618982865640973

Bright launches Australia’s first beer can handle recycling scheme

In what is believed to be a first in Australia’s craft beer industry, Bright Brewery has rolled out a national recycling scheme for Paktech beer can handles in bottleshops across the country.

Bright Brewery-branded Paktech recycling bins are being installed in independent bottleshops and supermarkets from this week.

Beer lovers can drop any plastic Paktech beer can handles into the bins – whether they’re from Bright beers or any other brewery – to ensure they’re recycled correctly.

Bright Brewery National Sales Manager Evin Craney said the recycling scheme was an important part of Bright’s Sustainability Program.

“We believe this is the first recycling scheme of this kind in Australia,” Craney said. “We pride ourselves on acting sustainably in every aspect of our business, and this seemed like an obvious way to do that on a much bigger scale.

“We will collect all the handles, and make sure they are all are reused or properly recycled, as part of our ongoing quest to lessen the environmental impact of craft beer.”

Paktechs are made from 100% recycled milk containers and are also 100% recyclable – a fact that Bright’s Marketing Manager Laura Gray said was lost on many beer drinkers.

“Most people don’t realise that they are actually made of recycled materials, and they are completely and infinitely recyclable,” she said. “They are also really sturdy and re-usable, which makes them even more sustainable.”

Craney said the idea for the recycling scheme, like all great ideas, was concocted over a few cold beers, in order to solve a problem all beer-drinkers face.

 

“We have always recycled and reused our own Paktechs in-house. But we know that, anecdotally, many beer drinkers don’t even know they are recyclable and are just throwing them out.”

The first bin was installed at Carwyn Cellars in Thornbury earlier this week and general manager Ben Duval said he was thrilled to be involved.

“As soon as Bright came to me with the idea, I knew it was gold,” he said. “Beer drinkers never know what to do with the handles, and they just end up getting chucked out.

Bright has solved a massive problem for us and for our customers, and I can’t believe no brewery has thought to do this before now!”

The bins are currently rolling out to Bright’s independent retail customers across Victoria, with other states to follow shortly.

Craney said Bright was hoping to implement the same program within the major national “big box” retailers to increase the awareness around sustainable practices in the craft beer industry and implement the program on a larger scale.

“We are hoping that the success of these in independent retailers helps translate over to the major chains as we continually develop new ways to lessen our carbon footprint,” Craney said.

Bright Brewery Paktech/Beer Can Handle Recycling Bins are available to beer retailers across Australia.

To register your interest, secure your bin and help Bright help the planet, please email Evin Craney on nationalmanager@brightbrewery.com.au

Hellfire Amber lands in Dan Murphy’s across Victoria

Bright Brewery is thrilled to announce its partnership with Dan Murphy’s, which will see their beloved Hellfire Amber Ale stocked in every Dan Murphy’s store across Victoria from today.

Hellfire Amber Ale has rolled out to all 74 Victorian Dan Murphy’s stores, including its flagship South Melbourne store, which  officially reopens today. In South Melbourne, Hellfire sits alongside four other Bright Brewery beers including Alpine Lager, Blowhard Pale Ale, M.I.A. IPA and Bright Sour.

Hellfire Amber Ale is a staple of Bright’s core range line-up, and has been brewed continuously for 15 years, tweaked along the way to its current state of perfection by Head Brewer Reid Stratton.

The Dan Murphy’s partnership signifies the first state-wide ranging of a Bright Brewery beer in a large retailer and comes straight off the back off an incredibly tough year, after the Brewery was hit not just by the global pandemic but also bushfires in January 2020.

Bright Brewery National Sales Manager Evin Craney said the move was a “huge step forward” for the brewery.

“Our whole team has come together during, arguably, the hardest time imaginable to not only reinvent Bright Brewery for a larger audience but grow the brand from a small-town business to what it is now, with so much more still to come,” Craney said.

“It’s confirmation of a lot of hard work paying off, and being able to showcase Hellfire to such a wide audience after all these years is an incredibly exciting opportunity.”

Bright Brewery Marketing Manager Laura Gray said the brewery’s presence in the craft beer market had exploded in recent years.

“For the first 12 years of its life, Bright Brewery only existed within Bright for visitors to Bright,” Gray Said. “Then, three years ago, we built a multi-million dollar production facility to allow us to meet demand and started selling wholesale as well.

“Since then, we’ve built an army of partner venues and retailers around Australia – in every state and territory (except the NT) but our heart and soul remains in Victoria, so we are absolutely thrilled that beer lovers all over Victoria will now be able to easily and regularly find our beer at Dan Murphy’s.”

A rich and malty Amber Ale, Hellfire oozes with caramel sweetness and toasty highlights thanks to the complex blend of malts and fruity yeast. Its hypnotically fiery red colour inspired Bright to name it after Hellfire Gully – an exhilarating drop off the side of Victoria’s Mount Feathertop, known only to adventurous backcountry skiers.

“It’s the perfect beer for sipping around an Autumn campfire, with a rich Sunday roast, or after a day of adventuring in the mountains with friends,” Gray said.

You can find Hellfire Amber Ale at all Victorian Dan Murphy’s stores, straight from the source in Bright, and in our Web Shop.

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