Hindmarsh brewery Pirate Life Brewing steals the prize for its Mosaic craft beer
A PRESTIGIOUS craft beer award is the froth on top of a hoppy business for this western suburbs brewery.
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THERE is one thing Red Proudfoot loves more than cracking open a frosty ale and drinking it at a bar – watching his customers do the same thing.
“It is always wonderful when you go to a bar having a beer yourself and you can stand at the bar and every second or third person at the bar is getting one of your beers,” the 34-year-old director of Hindmarsh’s Pirate Life Brewery says.
Mr Proudfoot says he loves “creating and getting on the tools” – and that passion for hoppy brews has paid off at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards.
One of the brewery’s newest froths, the Mosaic IPA, took out the prestigious Champion Indian Pale Ale award.
The beer was initially a one-off – brewed for Pirate Life’s second anniversary – but it proved so popular, the company decided to take it to market.
“The Mosaic has been a nice little project for us, moving away from brewing a more balanced beer with malt IPA to a beer that is 100 per cent focused on the hops,” he says.
“We are a pretty hoppy brewery but this really, really simple malt brew really shines, the Mosaic hops shine through.
“It’s a nice reward and you are up against all these independent Australian brewers and the IPA category is really crowded these days because everyone is doing them these days.”
The brewery, which opened its doors in 2014, is also planning to expand and open in Port Adelaide at a yet-to-be confirmed location.
Mr Proudfoot says the “vision” is to have a larger production site with an adjoining venue serving food and drink.
“We want to do more interesting beers and a lot of beers we would not normally be able to do in a 100 per cent production facility so doing some funky beers,” he says.
“We don’t want to do any funk when our entire business is on the one site so when you move it off-site, you can start playing around a bit.
“We didn’t think we would fill this place up but we’ve been on a really strong trajectory and we’ve been fortunate enough that we have been able to react at key points along the way.”