The day I helped brew a new flavour of beer at 4 Pines

Manly Daily journalist Bryn Kay got his dream assignment last month when he helped brew a new flavour of beer at 4 Pines. He details how it all went.

EVERY journalist has a dream ­assignment.

The chance to experience a day in the life of Hugh Hefner, a one-on-one interview with Michael Jordan or a “travel story” on what it’s like setting foot on the moon are some examples that would be at the top of my list.

Bryn mashes the malt while Andrew inspects. Photo Jeremy Piper

Sadly, all three of those ideas – two in particular – will probably never happen.

But I have been fortunate enough to fulfil another, more realistic dream assignment here in Manly. I helped to make a brand new flavour of beer.

Andrew and Bryn zesting the fruit. Photo Jeremy Piper

Now, just to make it clear, when I say “make” a new type of beer I don’t mean some homemade, anything-goes product akin to what you may find at a back alley bar in Bali during Schoolies.

I’m talking about a seasonal summer beer made and sold by 4 Pines Brewing Company – an internationally award-winning craft brewery in Manly.

My day of brewing starts with a 4.45am wake-up, but never have I been more eager to get to work.

I meet 4 Pines head brewer Andrew Tweddell at the popular drinking venue, which has a microbrewery on-site.

Tweddell, one of the premier craft brewers in the country, explains to me that we will be making a citrus-flavoured beer, an India Pale Ale to be exact, which will include blood orange, ruby grapefruit and lime zest.

Andrew Tweddell and Bryn Kay weigh the hops. Photo Jeremy Piper

“People are always putting fresh fruit in their beer and it’s a flavour combination people already know works, but I don’t think many people have done it at the same sort of level we will do,” Tweddell says to me while we carry bags of malt into the brewery.

After pouring 129kg of malt into the mash tun – basically a giant, insulated mixing pot – Tweddell breaks down what will happen throughout the course of the day.

It begins with me mashing the malt with water to ensure the starches in the malt convert to fermentable sugars.

Bryn pours malt into the mash tun. Photo Jeremy Piper

A sweet smell begins to waft throughout the brewery as the mixture takes shape.

I’m only a couple of minutes into the mashing before I’ve broken out in a sweat. After about an hour of this, it’s onto the zesting.

Tweddell and I sit side-by-side grating away at the fruit for about an hour.

I do my best to keep pace with him, but I only succeed in showing I’m anything but Gordon Ramsey when it comes to preparing food.

Meanwhile, the fermentable sugars extracted from the mashed malt, known as wort, have been transferred to a giant kettle.

The flavouring process then takes place as I pour three types of hops into the kettle – one variety when the kettle has reached 100C, then the other two about one hour later, followed by the citrus peels.

4 Pines beer Chief Brewer Andrew Tweddell and Reporter Bryn Kay in Manly. The brewery are trialing a new beer soon to be released. Photo Jeremy Piper

“Hops are added at different periods throughout the boil,” Andrew says.

“The hops you use at the beginning of the boil determine pretty much how bitter your beer is going to be – the later you add your hops, the more flavour and aroma you will get.”

After about an hour of boiling, the contents of the kettle are then cooled and then oxygenated, before yeast is added and the fermentation phase begins.

From here, it’s basically a four-week waiting game to see if the beer, to be named Citrus IPA, tastes as good as Andrew Tweddell and I had hoped for.

Last Monday the moment of truth arrived.

The results of some of the zesting. Photo Jeremy Piper

Bryn gets stuck into cooking in the brewery. Photo Jeremy Piper

I genuinely wasn’t sure what to expect – aside from the comfort of knowing I had given the thumbs up to every other 4 Pines beer I had ever drunk – and how I would conceal my disappointment in front of Tweddell if my tastebuds didn’t respond kindly to the beer. But, thankfully, I loved it.

The beer, which is 6.8 per cent alcohol, has a noticeable citrus zing to it, but at the same time the citrus flavours are not overwhelming..

Tweddell is also happy with the final product.

“I’m stoked,” he says.

“It’s nice and light and despite its hefty 6.8 per cent alcohol content, it hides it rather well.

“I can tell it’s a really well-balanced beer where you certainly wouldn’t have trouble drinking more than one in a given period.”

Citrus IPA was launched at the venue yesterday.

But if you want to try it you’ll have to get down to 4 Pines soon as the limited edition beer is only available while stocks last.