BREWING
tecture, the Matilda Bay venues were the choices of the new beer-drinking generation, par- ticularly both genders in their mid-to-late 20s. Even the way the beers were presented was different. Redback came in a new elegant Weizen glass. Often it was served with a lemon. Suddenly there was a different level of com- munication between consumer and product.
“If it looks good, it will taste good,” Sexton said at the time. “Presentation is a key point to any food and beverage operation. If the customer is presented with a glass of beer that is a sight to behold then they will already be taking a favourable view of the product. The presentation of a glass of beer begins from the time a customer orders it. Beer is not to be boring.” And thus the rst wave of West Australian, read Australian, craft brew- ing had crashed onto the country’s shores. The nation’s beer game would never be the same. A new style of beer Fearing the rising competitor, and in the hope of extending a foothold in WA, Victoria-based Carlton United Breweries (CUB) bought Matilda Bay Brewing in the late 1980s. And in 2007 it took it
Perth’s Swan Brewery in Kings Park
Redback that became the leader of the beer revolution. These weren’t the zzy lagers the drinkers’ fathers consumed – remember beers weren’t supposed to be for women. But the radically different range was locked out of almost every WA pub because of Swan’s control. So Matilda Bay created its own pubs. Yet, these were differently-themed premises. The Brewery Alehouse, Queens Tavern and Sail and Anchor weren’t the stuffy, cig- arette smoke congested, formulaic, dull and male-dominated establishments that dotted the State. Open and inclusive with rustic archi-
the internet has changed all that. One day, someone will write about how the internet has changed brewing forever.” Thirty years before social media pro- vided the platform to communicate and promote new beers, Sexton
choreographed a brewing and marketing style WA consumers quickly adored. Beer revolution Matilda Bay delivered a Czech Pilsener, a Munich- style Dark Lager, an American Pale Ale and then a Wheat beer called
Riverside Brewhouse is The Old Brewery’s microbrewery and bar.
42 ● BREWER AND DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL I november 2019
i bd.org.uk
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