Tiny Bear craft distillery owners in high spirits as they prepare to open their doors in Knoxfield
THE BRAINCHILD of a high school teacher, a craft gin distillery will open its doors in Knoxfield next week, with three homemade gins on the menu.
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A HIGH school chemistry teacher’s dream is about to become a reality as he opens his own craft gin distillery in Knoxfield.
Specialising in flavoured gin, The Tiny Bear distillery is in a converted industrial site on Henderson Rd and features a 200-litre still and tasting room.
Owners Damien and Amanda Anderson have spent two years working on the distillery, which has its soft launch next Wednesday, May 30.
They have three different types of gin, a coffee liqueur and a limoncello, and are making their own whiskey, which is due to be released in a couple of years.
Mr Anderson, a high school chemistry teacher, said there had been a lot of trial and error and experimentation before deciding on their initial offerings.
He said the three gins, known as the Doctor, the Sailor and the Gypsy, were all “very different to the old London style”.
The Doctor is a herbal gin, the Sailor is high-strength (58 per cent alcohol) and the Gypsy is spiced.
“We wanted to do our own thing,” Mr Anderson said.
“We’re trying to create these unique flavours and basing it all on what we think tastes nice and not being influenced by what’s already out there.”
Mr Anderson said the craft distillery industry, like craft beer, had “exploded” over the past couple of years and was still growing.
The 29-year-old said he was inspired to make his own spirits after doing a unit on distillation during his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education degree.
Tiny Bear will have a soft launch and will be open for bottle sales from Wednesday, May 30 before the official opening and launch of its tasting room on Saturday, June 16.
Bottles start from $65.
Details: tinybear.com.au
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