Sydney Brewery awarded best beer, cider at Royal Agricultural Society’s Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show

LIKE Beer? So did Michael Capaldo. He started out stealing beer glasses and ended up one of the country’s best brewers.

A brewer’s guide to success

MICHAEL Capaldo started his career in beer in a way he’s not particularly proud of — he started stealing beer glasses. He’s come a long way since then.

It was Madrid in 1995 and the Aussie brewer says he loved beer so much he couldn’t resist pocketing his first glass. Fast forward 20 years and he’s got 250 glasses and the title of one of the country’s top brewers.

Mr Capaldo did something no brewer in Australia has ever done last month when he walked away from a major beer event with top gongs for both beer and cider.

The creative genius behind Sydney Brewery took out the Champion Draught Beer and Champion Cider awards at the 2015 Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show.

He says anybody can do what he’s done with a bit of know-how and some hard work.

“Anyone can home brew,” he told news.com.au from a pub in central Sydney on Friday afternoon.

Beer is Michael Capaldo’s life.

A proud man: Michael Capaldo.

“Someone once said to me that brewing is 25 per cent science and 75 per cent art, but if you don’t know the science you can’t master the art. I think that still rings true.”

The beer connoisseur said he first tackled making beer when a friend gave him a home brewing kit.

“A buddy was doing some home brewing and got over it. He said: “Michael, try this, you might like it’. Within a month I had 100 litres at any one time. I had six kegs and a beer gun in my kitchen that could reach anywhere. It was beer heaven.”

He studied a bit, too. A post-grad in brewing science and a part time job packaging beer landed him full time work at a brewery and then later a head brewer job at Sydney Brewery.

As a maker of beer and a beer fanatic, it’s his job to watch what the industry is doing. He says we’re seeing “a cultural change” towards craft beer.

“I don’t think it’s a fad. Consumers know what they want and craft beer is on the rise.”

His favourite thing about the job? That’s easy. Walking into a pub and seeing everybody drinking one of his beers.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.

Sydney Brewery beers are on tap at select venues around the city. Visit Sydneybrewery.com for details.

The Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show awarded 15 Gold, 55 Silver and 73 Bronze medals at The Stables, Sydney Showground, on September 18.

Originally published as Sydney Brewery awarded best beer, cider at Royal Agricultural Society’s Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show