GAGE ROADS BREWING PIPE DREAM
The BBQ is the cornerstone of Aussies culture. It’s the great leveler and a great place to check in on a mate with a sang in hand and some suds like this.
Origin – Fremantle, Western Australia
ABV- 4.2%
Size- 330mL bottle
Style- Pilsner
It was the most unexpected gold medal in Olympic history. Way off the pace in last place, he skated through the debris when the four racers in front of him crashed out on the final bend. Coming from the hottest state in Australia, Steven Bradbury won Australia's first Winter Olympics gold. It was a victory for the also-rans and bench-warmers who exist mainly to make up the numbers, whose dreams of glory beat solitary time in the most private corners of optimistic young hearts. Bradbury was our perfect hero, the boy who's pipe dream came true.
The story of Gage Roads is also one of unexpected success that began with a pipe dream and a $20,000 credit card advance. From humble beginnings, over the past decade and a half, the West Coast brewer has overcome the odds to become one of Australia's largest independent brewers. They grew from a hand full of employees in 2004 to being half owned by Woolworths by 2011. In 2016 they regained independence and now along with Coopers are our only independent ASX-listed brewer, with 120 staff in all corners of the country. It's a far cry from the starting point of a brewery founded by Peter Nolin and brothers' John and Bill Hoedemaker in an old disused margarine factory just outside Fremantle, making use of salvaged and second-hand equipment.
So, to mark a pipe dream come true comes a beer sharing that same name. Having released many lagers over the years, this throwback to those original beers offers a window into Australia's early Y2K beer landscape. It was a time when Euro-inspired lagers dominated consumption, and, something of a curiosity for many recent converts to craftier drinking, there was no lactose and no fruit! Brewed as a classic European pilsner, Pipe Dreams is a lager that's designed for sessionability. As a result, the clear, light straw-coloured beer with a crisp white head has a broad, imminently refreshing visual appeal and holds light, sweet malt aromas. A trio of hops with Hallertauer Mittelfrüher lineage imbues lemony citrus and a moderate style bitterness that lifts through the clean, crisp and dry finish.
Whether your pipe dream is longing for Olympic gold or just a making the run-on side for the St Pat's under 14c's, you've found your lager!
