Black Hops August update: upcoming events, what’s on tap and beers coming soon

It’s been an exciting past few months for Black Hops with the launch of our brewery and taproom in Burleigh last month. Here is an update on some events we are part of, the current beers on tap and upcoming brews.

Events

Dan Norris guest speaker, Startup Grind, Brisbane: Thursday 28 July from 5pm

Black Hops co-founder Dan Norris will be a guest speaker at a networking event hosted by Startup Grind, a global community for entrepreneurs. The event is taking place at Collaborate, 375 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill in Brisbane. As well as discussing the Black Hops journey, Dan will also be sharing his experiences as a published bestselling author and in founding the successful WP Curve business.

Assault Trifle Tap Takeover at HooHa Bar, South Brisbane: Saturday 30 July

The HooHa Bar is a cool little venue in South Brisbane where we launched our very first keg of Eggnog Stout in 2014. On the afternoon of Saturday, 30 July from 3:00pm we’ll be back there to take over their taps. As well as more Eggnog Stout, you’ll also be able to sample our tasty mid-strength option, 30 Cal. Plus we’ll be packing our last keg of Assault Trifle, a custom brewed sponge cake/trifle in a beer that we created especially for this year’s Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS) down in Melbourne. We’ve had a super positive response to this beer since finishing in the top 10 at GABS.

We’ll all be there, come for a beer and say hi.

Sunday Roast at The Farm, Byron Bay: Sunday 31 July from 5:30pm

three-blue-ducks-2We’ll be backing up the next evening down in Byron Bay at the epic Three Blue Ducks at The Farm in Byron Bay. The Sunday Roast is $40 per person which gets you a scrumptious roast meal (starter + main) as well as a drink on arrival. You’ll also be able to sample the following beers from the Black Hops range: Beach House, Bitter Fun, Code Red, Pink Mist and Eggnog Stout.

And we’ll be on-hand to answer any brewing related questions.

The place has some serious atmosphere, with exposed brickwork, corrugated iron and wooden bench style tables and seating giving it a real ‘homestead’ feel. There’ll also be live music and of course plenty of Black Hops beer to sample, so we hope to see you there!

South Gold Coast Business Expo, Tallebudgera: Friday 12 August

Black Hops’ brewer-in-chief, Michael ‘Govs’ McGovern will be attending the South Gold Coast Business Expo in Tallebudgera as a guest speaker on Friday 12 August from 11am. Another of the panellists on the day will be David Gower-Freeman of Freeman’s Organic Farm. Govs will be talking all things Black Hops and brewing related, and the event is well worth a look if you’re interested in what’s on the agenda business-wise for the southern end of the Gold Coast.

Dan Norris guest speaker, Crowdfunding For Business Forum, Gold Coast: 12 August

Dan will be sharing the Black Hops Pozible story and lessons learnt at the Terri Cooper Networking Crowdfunding For Business Forum. The event is taking place on Friday, 12 August from 10am to 12pm at the Quality Hotel in Mermaid Waters on the Gold Coast.

Bloodhound Tap Takeover, Fortitude Valley: Thursday 25 August

With it’s open fireplaces, high ceilings, wooden floorboards and original brickwork, the Bloodhound corner bar and kitchen in Fortitude Valley is a vibey place to stop in for some beer and cheer. So we’re definitely looking forward to taking over their taps on the evening of Thursday, 25 August and giving drinkers a full range of beers from Black Hops.

Now pouring in our Taproom

taps

Our taproom is open 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 12 noon to 4pm every Saturday. We now have all 8 taps pouring. Here is the current line up.

Special releases

  • Black on the Borderline – 6.7% India Black Ale brewed with Stone & Wood, Balter Brewers and Burleigh Brewing. We brewed this one for the recent Craft Beer Industry Association (CBIA) Conference in Brisbane.
  • Triple IPA ( 10.5% Imperial Ale) – A bold American Imperial Ale, brewed with caramel malts and dry hopped with simcoe, columbus, centenial and chinook. The high ABV gives a smooth warmth with notes of banana and stone fruit. Not for the faint hearted!

Core range

  • Beach House (4.7% Saison) – Our Gold Coast take on the traditional French Farmhouse ale. Light bodied, low bitterness and dry, makes this easy drinking. Delicately hopped, giving tropical aromas whilst letting the yeast shine through with zesty fruit & spice.
  • 30 Cal (3% Californian Common) – Our mid strength take on the classic Californian Common. Traditionally brewed with Northern Brewer Hops, Californian Lager Yeast and Victory biscuit style malt that gives this beer a layer of dry toasted complexity and a russet brown colour.
  • Bitter Fun (5% Hoppy Pale Ale) – Brewed with Australian malted barley and hops, this is a sessionable yet flavoursome all-Aussie hoppy pale ale, with notes of apricot and stone fruit. Golden in colour, with a firm bitterness.
  • Pink Mist (4.7% Raspberry Saison) – A Belgian Saison brewed with fresh raspberries and delicately hopped with New Zealand and Australian hops. This results in a beautiful pink colour with tart berry flavour and a dry crisp finish.
  • Eggnog Stout (5.3% Spiced Stout) – A dry Irish Stout with subtle notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla bean and French brandy. It showcases a mild bitterness through the use of roasted barley and a generous late hop addition. Our first commercial release and a beer that is close to our heart.
  • Code Red (6.2% Red IPA) – A classic American Red Ale, boasting a rich toffee malt body and a luscious ruby colour with minimal yeast character, providing a clean finish and allowing the hops take centre stage. This year hopped with a combination of American & NZ hops.

New Brews coming soon

We have some cool beers coming up in August. Here is how the schedule is looking.

  • ABC Bomb (6.5% Black IPA) – This hoppy black ale is balanced by strong citrus and pine hop aromatics and a distinct toasty dark malt character. The use of American hops gives this beer a genuine IPA backbone with a unique spice flavour through the addition of rye. An American Black C-hopped bomb.
  • I Heart Lager (5.7% Black Lager) – A re-creation of a collab brew we did with 4 Hearts last year. We’ll be brewing 1,000 litres on our big system in collaboration with Wade from 4 Hearts. I Heart Lager is a clean crisp hoppy Black Lager brewed with cold pressed Carafa grain to give a rich black colour without the roast or bitterness you would expect from a dark beer.
  • Kill Patrick (5.5% Oyster Killpatrick Stout) – Brewed for GABS 2015 and finishing in 13th place, our Kill Patrick is Stout featuring fresh Tweed River Oysters, smoked barley, tamarind, molasses, ginger & clove. KP has subtle characteristics of the sea, with hints of bacon & Worcestershire sauce. We’ll be bringing this back via our pilot system for a one off release for the taproom only.
  • The Kramer (5.8% Grapefruit XPA) – An all Burleigh collab. Kustom Footwear and Black Hops team up for the 10yr celebration of their first shoe, The Kramer.

Other News

Black Hops Ambassador Group

We’ve opened up access to our Black Hops Ambassador group on Facebook. We’ve set the group up to help members out with questions about brewing and business and members help us when we need a hand. Win, win!

Visit blackhops.com.au/ambassadors and request to join. We’ll see you there.

Operation Brewery Book coming soon

operation-brewery-coverOur book about starting Black Hops has been completed and is off to the printers. Our Pozible backers will be getting the book first and we’ll release it to the public shortly after. We are also stoked to announce that the one and only Hendo has written the foreword for the book. We can’t wait to unleash the book into the wild.

Here is a blurb from the back cover and a few early comments about the  book.

In July of 2014, Dan, Eddie and Govs sat at a bar talking shit about making beer. Two years later, they’d opened their own brewery on the Gold Coast in Australia called Black Hops. It’s been an epic journey, from “the little situation” in China, to a collaboration with the biggest entertainment franchise on earth, and finally – launching a brewery.

Operation Brewery tells their story and gives you every last detail on how to build your own brewery on a budget.

“Great resource and super inspirational!” Nathan Pierce from MicroBrewr
“Loved it and was laughing out loud reading it.” James Graham from The Crafty Pint
“I couldn’t put it down. I was hooked on the Black Hops story, and I don’t even drink beer!” Ben McAdam
“If you’re looking to open a brewery, read this first!” Nat Burcher
“The boys have done an amazing job. This is a great story and a complete guide to starting your own craft brewery.” Stuart McVicar

To be notified when we launch, please check out blackhops.com.au/book.

Black Hops in Bottles

all_black_hops_bottles

With the brewery operation in Burleigh now in full swing, we thought it was time to get busy bottling our brews for our Pozible campaign. We were recently able to test out the bottling machine and pumped out a few cartons. Once we’ve sent out all the cartons to our Pozible backers, we’ll look at bottling more beers to sell at our taproom.

Welcome James Barry

Last but not least, Black Hops welcomes James Barry to the fold. James has taken on the role of Sales Manager, getting the Black Hops brand out there and into drinking establishments from The Sunshine Coast all the way out to Toowoomba and down to the Northern NSW area..and everywhere else in between!

Welcome aboard James, we look forward to having you start with us in August!

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We have been openly sharing our craft beer journey since we brewed our first beer in 2014. If you’d like to get our updates, please jump on our email list below.

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