Steve Bradbury: from Gold medal to liquid gold beer
Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold medallist was in Gladstone launching his Last Man Standing lager.
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When Australia's first Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Steven Bradbury, was standing on the dais at Salt Lake City in 2002 he felt like a beer, but didn't imagine he would launch his own lager.
Considered to be in the twilight of his career, the then 29-year-old was the first person to win a Winter Olympic Gold Medal from the Southern Hemisphere when the rest of the field in the short track speed skating fell in extraordinary circumstances.
Once the pandemonium of his success quietened, Mr Bradbury said he entered the world of public speaking.
"After a couple of years of it, I thought what happens if I start getting really good, so I started working with a comedian and a speech writer," he said.
"I started knowing my way around a stage like I did around an ice rink.
"I added some comedy to my show, I showed the video replay of the Gold Medal race and delivered some success strategy messages of teamwork, persistence and goal setting.
"I didn't imagine it would become a full time job at first, but it did, and I did it for 15 years."
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Like with a multitude of other things globally, COVID put an immediate halt to this chapter of his life.
"Fortunately I had the beer to fall back on, which we had started prior to COVID," Mr Bradbury said.
During his public speaking career, Mr Bradbury said he met former Wallabies rugby union hardman Roy Prosser, who was working for Carlton and United Breweries.
"I became mates with his son's Damien and Stephen Prosser and we all talked about doing our own beer one day," he said.
"When big Roy passed away in 2008, I kept the conversation going with his sons and we didn't do anything for 10 years.
"Then two years ago we said we were going to regret it if we don't do this."
From there, Last Man Standing lager was born.
"We've gone into the most competitive industry imaginable, mainstream beer," Mr Bradbury said.
"We've done it out of mateship, the love of having a beer watching sport and out of big Roy's memory.
"We poured our first beer on tap at the Port Office Hotel, in Brisbane, in 2019."
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Now, more than 25 venues in southeast Queensland have Last Man Standing lager on tap and it is available in every Dan Murphy's between Cairns and Coffs Harbour, plus independent bottle shops, with BWS soon to follow.
So, how does it taste?
"It's an amazing beer that is palatable for probably at least eight out of 10 beer drinkers," Mr Bradbury said.
"It is an easy drinking lager, 4.5 per cent, unpasteurised, which means its really fresh.
"There are no preservatives, which means it's really clean and you can have a couple more before you get a hangover.
"It's a traditional lager, which means its bitter when you drink it and it doesn't have any fruit or other additives, only the four ingredients (water, yeast, barley and hops) that beer is traditionally meant to have.
"But it's brewed in a style where you get a little bit more malt flavour in the aftertaste."
Mr Bradbury, who will be at Dan Murphy's Rockhampton this afternoon and the beer festival tonight, encouraged everyone to consume alcohol responsibly and never drink and drive.
For more information visit Mr Bradbury's website or LMS Brewing.
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