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.
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.
