Photo: Jason South/theage.com.au

We have seen pre-Copenhagen Beer Celebration interviews with brewers from China, Japan and New Zeeland – as well as with brewers from the western side of the world but lets stick to the eastern countries, or more specifically Australia. Mountain Goat Brewery is not only one of the more famous Aussie craft breweries but also great proof that beer can be brewed everywhere where someone with the passion for proper beer decides to set up shop. We had a talk with Cam Hines, co-founder and owner of the brewery that have been around for quite a while and since moving 2004 to a new building in North St, Richmond have been in the forefront of a sustainable environment, as an extra their beers are vegan friendly. Australia has not been famous for their craft beer scene and most pubs have been owned by one of the larger breweries, with little room for craft beers on the free taps, so despite being around for over 15 years 2012 marked the year when they for the first time could pay tax on their profits. Like in the rest of the world the winds are chaning and the world wide craft beer scene is growing, but it has taken time. When Mountain Goat first opened they produced 6.000 liters, last year they producted over 1 million litres and with more pubs opening up free taps for craft beer the beer revolution is progressing faster for every day. Let the Q&A begin.

Manker Beer: Not all beer festivals have Aussie craft breweries attending; but Copenhagen Beer Celebration sees both Mountain Goat and 8 Wired (although from New Zeeland). What can you tell us about your brewery and yourself?
Cam Hines (CH): We started back in 1997 after Dave and I saw craft beer in North America for the first time. Up until that point I really wasn’t very interested in beer because Australia really only had one type of boring lager on offer. So we changed that and went about trying to convert the local people of Melbourne. I has taken a long time but we are now growing very quickly. Makes me glad we stuck at it.

MB: You and fellow founder Dave Bonighton founded the brewery in 1996, a lot has happened since then – both in Australia but also in the rest of the craft beer world. What is your view on the craft beer revolution that we have seen the last couple of years, could one see it coming back when you started?
CH: We absolutely always thought craft beer would take hold internationally. It has just taken a lot longer than we hoped. But at least it’s happening at last we can be part of it all.

MB: You started shipping beer to the US in 2011 (an IPA and the Hightail Ale), how many international markets do you currently ship to? Is there room for new ones?
CH: We have shipped a bit of beer to the US and Sweden and a dribble into Singapore and Hong Kong. It is very early days for us and yes I think there is opportunity for more export markets in the future. We just have too be able to keep up with production first.

MB: CBC is a great meeting platform with brewers-only events, for you personally what do you look forward to the most with CBC?
CH: I have never been to Copenhagen so first up that is exciting to me. But to get all these great breweries together from around the globe is going to be awesome. I’m sure we we will get to meet some great brewers and beer geeks!

MB: It seems as if more and more Australian brewpubs look beyond their local market? What is the status of the Australian craft beer scene?
CH: In the last two years good beer has really started to take hold in Australia in a big way. What is really cool is that many bars / pubs are not renewing their tap contracts with the big breweries and instead are putting some great craft beer. The momentum is building by the day so it will be exciting to see how far we can take it here.

MB: You have made a couple of collaborations, some only with Australian breweries; among them Abbey Collabbey which has been made twice now together with Matilda Bay and Moondog, if I’m correct? How did you come up with the idea for Abbey Collabbey?
CH: Basically there are two other breweries very close by to us in Melbourne. We thought why not get us all together and see what comes of it? It’s been a lot of fun.

MB: In 2011 Mountain Goat made the first international collaboration for an Aussie brewery and together with one of my favorite British breweries Thornbridge you brewed Thorny Goat. Has this collaboration and the collaborations among Aussie breweries made it easier for future collaborations by putting Australia on the beer map?
CH: Yeah I think first and foremost it’s just great top get like-minded brewers together. For sure it helps spread the word too and that is a bonus.

MB: How is an average day in Cam Hines life and how has it changed along the growth of the brewery?
CH: My average day has changed a great deal in the last two years. At last we have been able to employ more staff and those staff do their jobs very well. So much better than Dave and I trying to do everything ourselves. So finally we are starting to work on the business rather than in it. I oversee our sales manager, financial controller and bar manager and then they all have many staff that report to them. My business partner Dave looks after everything to do with production and now has a head brewer who sits below him. We’ve both travel a reasonable amount these days, meeting with distribution partners, trade etc.

MB: What breweries do get inspired by and admire the most?
CH: I really like the little guys that are fresh and new and I also have a huge amount of respect for more established breweries that have opted to stay independent. The challenges just keep getting thrown at you and I admire tenacity a great deal.

MB: Which Mountain Goat beer is your favorite and which one do you think could be improved or is the least satisfied with?
CH: I am enjoying our IPA at the moment and we brew a stout called Surefoot in winter. I like that a lot. We are doing some tweaking on our Hightail right now. Just some gentle tweaking to get it to the best place we can

MB: What should beer fans really not miss at Copenhagen Beer Celebration?
CH: Fancy Pants is a nice one. Nothing crazy, just a nice fruity amber ale that is very drinkable. It’s a hot climate here, so we have learned to make beers with flavour that you can drink a few of.

We are really exited to try some more Aussie brews at CBC and we are thankful for the time set aside by Cam for our little interview. The full list of beers at CBC can be found through this link and the below listing of the beers Cam is bringing is subjective to change. Pinks gets to try them all.

Mountain Goat CBC Beer List:

• Hightail Ale
• Steam Ale
• IPA
• Rapunzel
• Lil Sister
• Surefoot Stout
• Bubble and Squeak
• Abbey Collabey
• Fancy Pants

I just finished my article on and interview with Cam Hines, co-founder of Australian brewery Mountain Goat. Together with Sören Eriksen of 8 Wired Brewing Co. they will represent the Aussie/Kiwi flavor at Copenhagen Beer Celebration, less than a month away. You who have followed my preparations so far have been able to see how all of the articles and interviews have given small hints on what beers will be poured at the festival. At the moment me and second half of MankerBeer, M2, is creating the ultimate beer list for the celebration – perfect for all of you who wants a list which you can edit and tweak by yourself. You will also be handed a folder with all the beers, breweries and information at the entrance of the celebration, so do not mourn if you forget to print our list.

One of the beers they will bring and which Cam strongly suggest is the Abbey Collabey, a collaboration they brewed with fellow Aussie brewers from Matilda Bay and Moondog; “Basically there are two other breweries very close by to us in Melbourne. We thought why not get us all together and see what comes of it? It’s been a lot of fun”.

The beer is a Belgian dubbel with waffles & raisins and all you tickers, or Blaf’are as we say in Sweden can look forward to a beer which just recently was released and as with several of the beers Cam will bring few have tried them before.

Rapunzel
Lil Sister
Surefoot Stout
Bubble and Squeak
Abbey Collabbey
Fancy Pants

Yes, 6 beers, so there are three more – which I will add to the list by the time the interview is published in a couple of days!

Beer on, wax off!

Två stycken Sverige- eller åtminstone Norden-aktuella bryggerier är även tillsammans Sverigeaktuella med sin gemensamma öl. Lät det krångligt? Brittiska Thornbridge, ett av de brittiska bryggerierna som importören Galatea lanserade i fjol blev snabbt populära bland svenska öldrickare med öl som Bracia, Jaipur och Raven (som även den släpps nu på tisdag). Om någon vecka kommer de också på Sverigebesök för att ha ölprovningar i Stockholm, Malmö och Göteborg. Mountain Goat från Australien dök upp lite kort i September 2012 med sin IPA, men alla de svenskar som besöker ölfestivalen Copenhagen Beer Celebration kommer där att få möjligheten att prova fler av deras öl.

Det de båda bryggerierna har tillsammans är slutligen deras andra gemensamma samarbetsbrygd Thorny Goat. Är man inte en som håller koll på just Thornbridge så kanske man har missat att de gör rätt häftiga samarbeten och på listan över samarbetspartners finner vi minst sagt kända bryggerier; Kernel, Sierra Nevada, Terrapin och Dark Star, bara för att nämna några. De båda bryggerierna har en viss australiensisk touch, Mountain Goat för att de är från Australien och Thornbridge i form av sin production manager australiensaren Caolan Vaughan. Deras första samarbetsbrygd blev en version av thornbridges Raven som man gav en australiensisk touch genom en rejäl humling med humle från Nya Zeeland och Australien.

Inte ville man nöja sig där utan tanken var att ta en av Moutan Goats öl och ge den en touch av Thornbridge – vilket resulterade i Thorny Goat, som nu släpps här i Sverige på tisdag. Ölet är en 6% stark mocha porter med kaffe, vaniljbönor och choklad och släpps i T7-modulen, säljs i 500 ml flaskor som kostar 49,50 styck. 1104 flaskor kommer att säljas och samlar du på artikelnummer så är det 11086 som gäller.

Thornbridge/Mountain Goat Thorny Goat

Utseende:  Mörkt brun vätska som skimrar i rubinrött, krämigt cappucinoskum med en gräddig topp.
Doft: Aromen är mild och ger tankar åt snällt rostat kaffe med tydliga toner från kaffebönorna som smälter in i de bittrare områdena där jag känner mer utav choklad och lite vanilj. Ölet är ju bara på 6% men jag tycker ändå att de finns en värmande ånga i doften. Om ölet börjar som en balanserad och brittisk kaffe mocha så slutar den med en liten klick vaniljsyrup.
Smak: Lätt till medelstor munkänsla med bra kolsyra. Mild är ledordet genom hela ölet och även smakerna är av mild mochakaraktärer med lena chokladsmekningar och inte alltför stark espresso. Aningen bitter choklad, just sådär lagom torr där det vildaste som sker är en antydan till komplexitet från de värmande inslagen från alkoholen.

Betyg? – Bra+. Jag har nu druckit ölet två gånger och kan bara sammanfatta det som att ölet har växt på mig, mycket för att jag skaffade rätt referens. Tänker du Southern Tier Mocha så är det mer “imperial” med högre alkohol, extra smak, extra kraft och pang på. Förväntar du dig kraftigt så är det en risk att du blir besviken. Thorny Goat drar mer åt de rena och lättdruckna brittiska porterölen – fast med en twist genom tillskottet av vanilj, kaffe och chokladen. För 50 kronor per flaska är den helt klart prisvärd!