Crank Handle Brewery opened to the public for the first time on November 16, 2019. It’s proprietor, Mick Piera, had been a keen homebrewer since the early 2000’s. Mick had recently given up his job as a trainer for Komatsu in the mining industry to look after his wife Kellie, who had been suffering with Mitochondrial Disease for a number of years. Unable to travel for work Mick decided to do what he’d been dreaming of for many years; setup his own brewery.
Mick took the slightly unusual route of purchasing and importing his own brewery before having a site to put it in. He was in the process of looking for a site near to his Kiewa Valley home, an area his family have lived in since World War 2, when he received a call. That call was from the landlord of Sweet Water Brewing. The call came as a shock to Mick, Sweet Water was closing down and the landlord was calling to see if Mick was interested in setting up on the same site on the Kiewa Valley Highway in Tawonga South.
Brewery Type
Physical
Region
High Country
Tasting Room
211 Kiewa Valley Highway, Tawonga South
A quick trip down to measure up & ensure his equipment would fit, it’s one of the tightest squeezes you’ll see, and Mick had found the first home for what would become Crank Handle Brewery. Mick had aspirations to move into a purpose built facility but saw the location as too good an opportunity to pass up in the business’ initial stages. The brewery draws its name from Mick’s home made grain mill that he used to wake his young boys up on a weekend to help mill the grain for his homebrewing.
The brewery is housed in a brick building, that is probably more suited to being a restaurant than a brewery, by the side of the highway into Mount Beauty. They’ve made great use of the beautiful location they’re in adding a beer garden out the front, complete with shade cloth, with views of Mount Bogong. Inside the brewery takes up the majority of the back half of the building, with only centimetres clearance from the roof! The decor is a little uninspired with generic brewery stools & wood topped tables, although I think this is to encourage you to take advantage of the wonderful scenery outside. It’s a true family affair with Mick’s daughter Stacey the Kitchen Manager. She’s knocking out some really nice food with burgers the main fare, although there’s also share plates, soups etc.
Now; 2020 & 2021 so far has been hard on everyone, but Mick may just take the cake for hardest hit. First the bushfires that struck the Victorian High Country forced them into temporary closure as Mick jumped into a fire truck to help out. Then COVID hit & he was hit with all the restrictions that all of hospitality faced here in Victoria. His wife Kellie had a serious fall around the same time that Mick himself was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Whilst Mick is slowly on the mend, his wife Kellie sadly passed away in January. On July 28th 2021 Mick announced that since Kellie passed & with his own health struggles he has doesn’t have the drive to continue to operate the brewery the way it needs to be run to succeed. He sold his beloved brewery to Craig & Trevor King who will take over in mid-August.
Despite all the challenges the quality of the beer Crank Handle were putting out was excellent. I sampled most of the available beers on the day I visited & found myself gravitating towards the ESB (as tends to happen if they’re well made!). This one managed to strike that lovely balance between malt & hops, with those lovely earthy tones and just the right amount of bitterness. It was a beautifully refreshing beer on a hot summers day.
I generally have tried to keep these posts as editorial as possible, which is obviously challenging given the subjectivity of design, food, beer flavours etc. etc. I felt so sad to read that Mick had sold the brewery last week. He was one of the most passionate people, in an industry full of seriously passionate people, I’ve met throughout this journey & I really hope that he can get back on his feet soon. Good luck with whatever you do next Mick! And good luck to the new owners, I hope to be able to visit again when COVID settles down a bit more.
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
