Intriguing ideas grow as beer flows 

Beetroot, lemongrass, fennel and even pickled cucumber … it seems you can make a beer from just about anything, if you find a partner who’s as keen to experiment as you are.

Loop Growers’ Phil Garozzo and Newstead Brewing Co CEO Mark Howes. Picture: Dominika Lis

BEETROOT, lemongrass, fennel and even pickled cucumber … it seems you can make a beer from just about anything, if you find a partner who’s as keen to experiment as you are.

Loop Growers’ Phil Garozzo and Alice Star have done just that, thanks to a collaboration made in frothy heaven with Newstead Brewing Co.

The Draper farm is well known for its ‘loop’ philosophy – working with restaurants and cafes to compost discarded organic material, which is used to grow produce supplied to the same venues.

Newstead Brewing Co CEO Mark Howes says he heard about the farm through mutual friends and started sending some of the brewery’s spent grain to be composted.

“We got talking more and more … I really admired what they were doing here and wanted to get on board,” Mark recalls.

So, they started taking produce for use in the kitchens at the brewery’s two venues, and the idea to use more of the produce to make a beer naturally followed.

Mark says it aligned with their ethos, which is based on community connections.

The first beer was made about 12 months ago, a beetroot bitter, followed by a lemongrass XPL and a fennel brew in December.

COPYRIGHT WARNING for Moreton Life ONLY. Phone Kylie Knight 3480 8226. Loop Grower's Phil Garozzo and Alice Star with Newstead Brewing Co CEO Mark Howes. Story on Fennel Beer collaboration with Newstead Brewing Co.

Mark says a pickled cucumber beer to be brewed later this month, will be their fourth.

So, how have they been received by punters? “It’s been pretty confused feedback,” Mark says smiling. “It’s challenged people. It’s definitely filled the brief.

“Everyone’s not sure about vegetable beer, but it’s really refreshing and tasty.”

He says the pink beetroot beer grabbed attention and the lemongrass beer’s strong flavour was a hit with customers.

“Fennel seems to polarise people. They either love it or hate it,” he says.

“I think people are catching on to what we’re trying to achieve and like the story.”

Mark says the fennel beer prompted Newstead Brewing Co to step things up a notch. They secured a plot of Loop’s farm, which was used to grow the fennel they needed to make the beer.

Loop Growers’ Phil Garozzo and Alice Star with Newstead Brewing Co CEO Mark Howes. Picture: Dominika Lis

For Phil and Alice, this was a chance to give Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) a crack. It’s where the community shares the financial risk in producing crops by paying to grow a crop in a section of the farm.

They produced 50kg of fennel for the beer and additional fennel for use in the brewery’s kitchens.

While making beer wasn’t on their radar when they started out, they’re convinced almost anything can be used in the brewing process to create new and interesting flavours.

“We’re giving it a go. We’re definitely pushing the limits at the moment, making a pickled (cucumber) beer,” Alice says, laughing.

“We appreciate the confidence of the brewers who are willing to take the risk, that’s the exciting part and consumers are enjoying the ride as well.”

Loop Growers’ Alice Star. Picture: Dominika Lis

The cucumbers grown for the next beer have been pickled at the brewery and will be brewed into a briny, salty beer using desalinated water provided by SEQ Water under the watchful eye of head brewer Simeon Bonetti.

This particular brew is being created for the Queensland Beer Awards and will be ready by the end of February. It will be available commercially in mid to late March, but is expected to sell quickly.

Mark says he’d love to see more of this in the beer industry, which uses “pretty resource-intensive processes”. “It’s a burden on society and resources, so anything we can do as a company in terms of sustainability I think is really important,” he says.