l BREWERY VISIT

Beyond Manly Expansion at 4 Pines Brewing Company

By Chris Willcock is being consumed in slowly declining quantities, but Australians who once accepted that was limited to a Our philosophy at 4 Pines is simple. We take what we do narrow variety of ester-fuelled lagers very seriously, but never ourselves. And above all…we have begun to ponder in ever-in- creasing numbers that a Pale Ale or a love beer! And so do our customers – because from our Kolsch might be a better “bevvy for the start-date in 2008, sales of our products had increased barbie at me mate’s place.” (transla- tion – beverage for the barbeque at my until eventually demand had outgrown supply. This is friend’s house). the story of our 2012 expansion project – from where we This emergence of craft beer is a started – in Manly, the famous peninsula on the Northern very familiar phenomenon in many of the world’s mature markets. And just Beaches of – to Brookvale, a light industrial as in the USA, UK and Canada, terms district just a few kilometres away. such as locally-produced, variety, freshness and hops are becoming increasingly prominent in an Austral- e continue our mission to estab- ern Beaches. , like ian beer drinker’s vernacular. Which, Wlish 4 Pines Brewing Company in many other parts of the world, of course, is all for the better accord- as a trusted source of fresh brews is in the middle of a revolution. Our ing to us passionate beer advocates. and good times on Sydney’s North- long-adored national drink of choice In fact, it’s about time! A good life

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Expansion to Brookvale A few years later, demand for the hand-crafted had outgrown supply and talks of a second brewery were in motion. So it was in October 2012 that 4 Pines brewed its first beer at a newly-built 1-million litre facility in Brookvale, a light industrial district only a few kilometres from the original micro-brewery venue. With its 50hL DME brewhouse (Diversified Metal Engineering – Canada), Brookvale has become the primary headquarters for the 4 Pines wholesale business and

istock.com/BrianRaisbeck the launchpad for distribution that in 2013 reached a (albiet still very small but) national scale. It is also the home of our newest hospitality space – the 4 Pines Truck Bar! This provides visitors with 19 different offerings on tap, all served over the flat bed of a converted 1956 Dodge truck. I am very pleased to say that the birth of the Brookvale Brewery has not signalled the end of the small brew- house in Manly – far from it in fact. Through my brief ten years in the Aus- tralian beer industry I’ve been in the unfortunate position of seeing some fantastic operational breweries shut down, justified by the relative “inef- ficiencies” as part of a larger brew- ing operation. However, it has always seemed short-sighted to me that these “inefficiencies” are not more often em- braced and exploited. Not only is Manly the cultural heart of 4 Pines Brewing, the small 5hL brewery has become a ‘brewing playground’ that allows us to develop new beers, experiment with new flavours, train our brewers and to educate and collaborate with custom- ers. All of which means we can still operate it at full capacity. has always been dosed healthily with for a surf when Steve asked his both good food and good wine. Why son “Where do I find a good beer Our beers shouldn’t good beer have equal stand- in Manly?” Jaron, who like his dad 4 Pines is the reigning ‘Champion ing at the table? had become familiar with, and quite Large Australian Brewery’ at the Aus- fond of, the emerging small brewery tralian International Beer Awards and 4 Pines Brewery in Manly scene back in their home state of was also named joint-Champion Large The name – 4 Pines Brewery – is Western Australia, replied that he Brewery at the 2014 Craft Beer Indus- inspired by the Norfolk pine trees that had no idea. And so began the story try Association (CBIA) Awards. All of line the iconic beachfront at Manly, of 4 Pines Brewery. our beers take their cues from a famous peninsula on the Northern From that conversation came the traditional styles with a focus Beaches of Sydney and the birthplace opening of the 4 Pines restaurant on ingredients and technique. of this eight-year-old company. Four and micro-brewery in 2008, complete of the distinctive pines were removed with 5hL brewhouse, 12 beer taps, a Pale Ale – American style during the 2nd World War to make way real ale cask system and a whole lot Pale Ale for embattlements to protect Syd- of community good will. Today the 5.1% ABV 35 IBU ney Harbour from invasion and their ‘brewpub’ is an embedded institution Produced using four US hop sacrifice has been commemorated in a in Manly and is as popular with beach- varieties and four types of small beachside plaque. loving tourists, beer connoisseurs and malt. A colourful deep ruby Many years later on the same casual passers-by (often making their amber appearance. Aromas beautiful beach, co-founders Jaron way to the ferry wharf across the road) of pine and grapefruit overlay and Steve Mitchell had just been as it is with the locals. a result but dry malt back- www.ibd.org.uk Brewer and Distiller International March 2016 z 2 l BREWERY VISIT

lution of beer in Australia (and the world). We pro- duce around 40 beers an- nually under this banner, many in small batches that do not go beyond the borders of our two 4 Pines bars. Recent larger-scale releases include Citrus IPA, Red Rye IPA, Oak- aged Baltic Porter and the ‘Bastard Children of the British Empire’ series (which traces the evolu- tion of Pale Ales along- side a story of British colonisation).

Brookvale Union Alongside our beers, we have developed a range of other alcoholic beverages including an Alcoholic Apple Cider and a Ginger Beer.

Talent and hard work During recent years, beer sales have surpassed even Brookvale’s initial 1-million litre capbilities, meaning supply had to be partially managed by ‘contract brewing’ through an external partnership. ground. The red label of an Australian summer. However, knowing this the Pale Ale is probably the scenario was never com- most recognisable in the 4 – Dry Irish Stout pletely satisfactory, we Pines range. Voted #3 in the 5.1% ABV 40 IBU had also begun plotting 2015 ‘Hottest 100’ Australian A dry, Irish style stout, presenting investment into further Beers Poll. almost black, bearing a generous tan expansions that allow us to produce all head. The aroma profile is of coffee, the 4 Pines beer once more. Kolsch – German style chocolate and caramel malts. These The familiar challenge here was Golden Ale are matched on the palate with a full how to take advantage of such a large 4.6% ABV 22 IBU bodied, smooth finish and a balanc- growth opportunity with such limited Light straw in colour. Aromas ing bitterness. Served on nitrogen for resources to invest? Time and budgets of lemon/lime from New maximum ‘creaminess’. Champion are often very tight and split across Zealand and noble hops Stout at the 2012 ABIA Awards. no more than a few individuals who prelude a light, malty palate. Finishing must simultaneously invest in staffing, crisp and clean, showing hints of spice ESB – Extra Special Bitter market strategy, sales relationships, and citrus. Purposely spelled without 5.4% ABV 40 IBU finance, health and safety, production the traditional umlaut. This is southern A full flavoured, amber coloured Eng- efficiencies and product quality (among hemisphere homage to the lish ale. Rich toffee and raison sweet- other things I’m sure have slipped my west-German style. ness from the malt, balanced with a mind). At times it feels almost impossi- firm bitterness and fresh herbal hop ble to give every decision the rigour and Hefeweizen – German aroma. Champion Pale Ale at the 2014 focus it deserves. In short, there is no style Wheat Beer CBIA Awards. easy way to do it. It takes a talented and 5.2% ABV 18 IBU hardworking team, a lot of research and A Bavarian-inspired wheat Keller Door series planning, a healthy dose of pragmatism beer. Cloudy pale straw in 4 Pines’ Keller Door series is where (my favourite word) and probably a few appearance, mild sweet the brewing team really unleash their mistakes made along the way to make nose with hints of banana creative talents in one-off, small batch it happen. exhibiting a well-rounded (maybe never to be seen again) brews. So somewhere along the way we palate showing characters of Keller Door’s creativity and innovation signed the lease on an additional banana and spice. Great for are our way of contributing to the evo- 1500sqm of warehouse space in

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have an intimate The Bastard understand- ing of how Children of the it all works British Empire: and was put together. English IPA – 6.0% ABV / 47 IBU More pain, but certainly more Robust in flavour with subtle aroma gain. of raisins and British herbs, this Our 6,000bph line English IPA combines both traditional Australian Pale Ale – 5.0% ABV / 32 is now operational and has barely floor-malted Maris Otter (English IBU missed a beat since installation. Beer two-row varietal barley) and copious This brew is straw-like in appear- quality is maintained during the amounts of famously-earthy English ance, unfiltered and naturally- aseptic filling operation (our beers are hops. conditioned for one month in the unpasteurised) via in-line carbona- bottle. Small amounts of carried-over tion and polishing filtration through American IPA – 6.3% ABV / 70 IBU yeast provide a distinctive fruitiness lenticular pads at the filler infeed (an Boasting a full flavour and resin- and plenty of vitamin B to help with integrated craft brewing system de- ous musk, this aggressively hopped hangovers in any cases of accidental signed and built by Moravek Interna- American IPA has assertive bitter- overconsumption. tional). Other machinery includes a de- ness and distinctively aromas of palletiser built by New Zealand-based citrus and grapefruit. Unfiltered to Belgian Pale Ale – 5.6% ABV / 19 IBU Scott Packaging Handling System, a maintain the raw, tannic mouthfeel Traditionally less bitter with a toasty two-head rotary labeller built in Syd- from the hops. Antioxidants galore! malt sweetness, the famous yeast- ney by Impresstik, a WestRock cluster driven phenolics produce a refresh- packing machine and a second-hand New Zealand Pale Ale – 4.5% ABV / ing spicy and fruity character. 29 IBU carton packer/sealer built by Recopak Packaging Solutions in Victoria. Drink in the broad spectrum of tropi- 4 Pines Pale Ale – 5.1% ABV / 35 IBU We’ll look forward to making many cal fruit characters typical of New A colourful deep ruby amber appear- a carton of beer through this hot Aus- Zealand hops. Clean and crystal clear ance. Aromas of pine and grapefruit tralian summer, and I hope there will from cold filtration. What else would overlay a malt backbone. On the continue to be many more diverse, fla- you expect from a country so close to palate full bodied malty flavours with voursome and hand-crafted offerings Antarctica? a tight and bitter finish. from 4 Pines to come. We love beer! 4 Pines Open Day: An open morn- Brookvale, including an 1000sqm aging phobia” (I’m sure many of you ing at the new 4 Pines packaging warehouse that is separated from the know the type), but also a decision that brewery facility is planned for Friday original brewery by a driveway and probably had several advantages over 18 March as part of the IBD Asia Pa- a rock climbing gym, and we started a turn-key option. The line we’ve built cific conference in Sydney. Conference planning. The two units are now is now customised for our preferences, delegates will have the opportunity connected via a spanning bridge of we have strong relationships directly see the new brewhouse and bottling stainless-steel conduit and pipework with all machine suppliers, it was line investment. Further details will be and we recently completed the Phase 1 probably cheaper and my team and I available during the conference. of a 3-phase expansion plan which has quadrupled capacity to approximately 4-million litres.

Packaging project The most important aspect of the Phase 1 (completed in September last year) expansion was the purchase, installation and commissioning of a glass bottle filling line. The line is intended to service both the short and longer-term needs of the brewery, while also adhering to a limited capital budget and providing good perfor- mance in safety, quality and reliability metrics. Due to the limited budget and my need to write a dissertation project for my final Master Brewer study mod- ule, I chose to “have a crack” at project managing the purchase and installa- tion myself. A somewhat risky decision for a brewer who has long been known to suffer from a classic case of “pack- Chris Willcock is a Master Brewer and Chief Brewer of 4 Pines Brewing Company www.ibd.org.uk Brewer and Distiller International March 2016 z 4 l BREWERY VISIT

These DO reduction results are also supported by further Bottling at 4 Pines Brewery test results carried out by Heriot Watt University in Edin- burgh on its pilot scale Moravek CW400 carbonator bottle/ in Manly NSW keg filler installed in the research laboratory back in 2007. Furthermore, this highly-efficient method of carbonation With continued growth of bottle sales in the Australian also delivers a stable product to the filler reducing the risk market the time had come for 4 Pines to invest in its own of fobbing and superior filler performance. beer bottling line. 4 Pines Brewery owner Jaron Mitchell and Head Brewer Chris Willcock put together a line speci- Tribloc filler fication that would give them the capability to produce The inline carbonated 6,000 BPH at 330ml and 3,000 BPH at 500ml output capac- and filtered beer is de- ity. After the installation of a new DME brewhouse the new livered to the Moravek bottling line was another major financial investment for 24/24/4 rinser/filler/ the brewery and it was very important for the company crowner which is rated that it chose the right equipment. to a maximum output of 7,000BPH x 330ml Moravek and 5,000BPH x 500ml. Chris and his team set about the selection process of The BC30 Beer Car- potential suppliers for the new line and after a thorough bonator and 24/24/4 evaluation process of a number of suppliers Four Pines tribloc filler are inter- selected Moravek to supply the wet end of their new line. faced electronically as 4 Pines chose Moravek for a number of reasons; the well as being hydro- benefits of the BC Beer Carbonator technology and a mechanically synchro- highly-satisfied customer base in the craft brewing indus- nised. This ensures the try. To meet the required specification Moravek supplied beer process pressures and commissioned a BC30 inline automatic Beer Carbona- and filler counter pres- tor with BF30 lenticular type beer filters and 24/24/4 beer sures are automatically filler tribloc with double pre-evacuation. balanced and always Moravek also designed and supplied a special beer correctly set to opti- delivery system to transfer beer across from the brew mum further enhanc- house to the bottling hall, which are housed in two sepa- ing filler performance. The Moravek triblock filler in-situ rate buildings divided by a road. Bright beer is transferred The BC30 also features automatic filler prime function, from the BBTs located in the brew house building to the automatic purge run out with minimal beer losses as well Moravek BC30 Beer carbonator located alongside the bot- as CIP function of the complete system. tling line in the bottling hall. A combination of full factory pre-delivery testing and Moravek’s well-proven technology ensured a quick smooth quick commissioning start-up of the line within one week of Moravek technician’s being onsite in Manly. “We got off to a solid start putting 4,000 cartons straight into the warehouse in the first week of commis- sion production, and we have been delighted both the quality of packaged beer the Moravek system produces plus the various features of the BC make life simpler for our production team,” says Chris.

Filtration, carbonation and filling

Reduction in DO The Moravek BC30 inline gas atomise type beer carbona- tor delivers a smooth natural carbonated finish with consistent CO2 levels. A reduction in dissolved oxygen DO is also achieved by gas stripping in the BC30 carbonating chamber. Combined oxygen de aeration of the beer at the car- bonator and high-vacuum double pre-evacuation at the filler achieved the following final pack DO results; • Original bright beer in tank DO content = 0.20 mg/L • Final Bottle sample DO content: = 0.08 mg/L For more information about Moravek • Represents DO reduction of 0.12 mg/L across the bot- integrated process and packaging tech- tling process against the typical industry norm of DO pick nology for craft breweries go to their up of + 0.05 mg/L website at www.moravekinternational.com

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