It’s fair to say most people first heard about Hepburn Springs Brewing after they took out Champion Lager at the 2020 Indies. To this day I’m not sure who was more shocked, the punters or the Galik family themselves – their reaction, captured over Zoom, was incredibly wholesome & something they clearly weren’t expecting! (33:00 minutes in, if you want to check it out here)
Something that may surprise some; this award wasn’t the culmination of 30 years of finetuning a homebrew recipe until it was finally Champion Lager material. In fact Nick & wife Helen had spent the last 30 years running the Cloverhill Hepburn Springs Accomodation, about 200m further up the hill from where the brewery now sits. Craft beer wasn’t even on the radar for Nick, having given up on beer years earlier as he didn’t really enjoy the sameness of mainstream lager.
Brewery Type
Physical
Region
Daylesford & the
Macedon Ranges
Tasting Room
12 Forest Avenue,
Hepburn Springs
A trip to Melbourne & the Sherlock Holmes in 2014 changed all of that. Eyes opened to the possibilities of what beer could be Nick set about homebrewing. Initial results, by his own estimations, were awful – probably as a result of using the areas famed spring water. He enrolled in a Master Brew course run by Costanzo Brewing Consultants, resulting in the installation of his 200L “Home Brew Kit on Steroids”.
After working through a multitude of licensing issues, they began serving their beers to guests at their accomodation. Rave reviews followed, but due to some of those council restrictions they were unable to distribute beers outside their own venue. This was lifted shortly before the pandemic kicked off they had their first batch of Pilsner & Pale Ale produced by Barossa Valley Brewing in SA. On a whim Nick entered them in the Indies and the rest, as they say, is history.
Now to the venue, it’s one of the most unique I’ve seen in Victoria! It’s an old weatherboard day spa that has been converted, which is useful to know if going for the first time! You walk up some steps to what looks like a reception desk, to be greeted by a member of the Hepburn Springs Brewing Team. On both occassions I’ve been it was by Helen, who is exactly who you think she is from watching them in the Awards ceremony above, she is incredibly welcoming and really helps create the small family business vibe.
Despite the venue being reasonably small there are quite a few different areas for you to sit. The old massage rooms have been converted to small comfortable nooks, the larger room out the back functions as a traditional bar area, whilst the back deck has stools and views of the bush. The little decking area out the front is the place to be in spring, a few beers paired with their complimentary pretzels makes for an excellent afternoon!
Regular readers knowing my love of Pilsners be be in no doubt about where this review is headed. I generally don’t spend much time on the makeup of the brewery’s lineup, but given the uniqueness of Hepburn’s I think it’s needed. The range skews towards European malt & yeast forward beers. For the most part they are very traditional, although most will be 2% ABV higher than one might normally expect.
When I first sampled this I instantly understood why this beer put them on the map! There’s enough bready malt to lay a platform for the hops to shine. They provide appropriate bitterness for the style, whilst offering spicy floral notes and hints of citrus. It makes sense that their own 200L system wasn’t able to keep up with the demand for this beautiful beer! This is one that lager lovers should go out of their way to seek out! I can also confirm that it tastes even better by the Specialty Glass out the front of the brewery!
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
