Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy on beer trends soon to emerge in Australia

Would you drink a cannabis beer with active THC? One New York City brewer has revealed the beer trends set to land in Australia soon.

Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy is in Melbourne for Good Beer Week. Picture: Supplied.

Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy’s infatuation with brewing was born abroad.

While working as an Associated Press journalist in the Middle East, Steve met a group of US diplomats who were avid homebrewers (Islamic law prohibits alcohol in Saudi Arabia).

But Steve wasn’t too keen on drinking beer made in a stranger’s kitchen.

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Brooklyn Brewery opened in the late 80s. Picture: NYCGo Mal Chenu.

“I kind of passed it over and eventually … he asked me again to try his beer,” he says.

“So when I did try it I was amazed at how good it was. He’d make different styles of beer, he knew all the stories behind the different styles.”

When he returned to New York, Steve started his own brewery in Brooklyn — becoming one of the pioneers of the United States’ craft brew scene.

Selling craft beer in 1988 was a hard slog, but Steve insisted on providing a quality product, and spent time educating his customers about different beer styles.

“Our first beer was a Brooklyn Lager. It was an amber lager beer, with a big hop character,” he says.

“Frankly many people who tasted it turned their nose up at it … but some people embraced it.”

Steve has seen a change in the way people drink beer in the States — and says there could be similarities to Melbourne’s craft beer scene.

In the last five years he’s seen more people buy zero-alcohol beers.

“This year we introduced a no-alcohol beer in Sweden and it’s doing really well,” he says.

“The restrictions are getting tighter in the US, in some states the limit is 0.08 and others it’s 0.05, which we’re talking no more than having one beer.”

Brooklyn Brewery’s first beer, an amber lager, was sold in 1988. Picture: Angela Saurine

“In some countries, there’s zero tolerance. I think that of course makes it more attractive if you’re a beer lover, to drink non-alcoholic beer.”

The legalisation of cannabis in some American states has also influenced the way US brewers make beer.

“Some are making beer with CBD … others are using THC which is of course what gives you the high,” Steve says.

“At the moment that promises to change the beer market in a whole different way.”

One trend we’re seeing in Australia is a shift to making quirky-flavoured beers.

“There’s a lot of experimentations with different tropical fruits and many craft brewers are using savoury flavours in their beer — think curry and Middle Eastern spices like cumin.”

Regardless of overseas trends, Steve assures us people will embrace beer in any form.

“Beer is one of the most popular beverages on earth. Craft beer really enriches people’s appreciation of beer,” he says.

Steve Hindy is in Melbourne for Good Beer Week, which runs May 10-19.

Join Steve at Untasted: Cookie and Brooklyn, Saturday May 11, 12.30pm- 2.30pm $70 pp.

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