HOPS to it this Easter!

The Australian beer scene is fast becoming one of the most exciting in the world, with more and more beer lovers turning toward full-flavoured beers, especially India Pale Ales, seasonal beers and Belgians. With over 600 microbreweries (including brew pubs and contract breweries) dotting the landscape from coast to coast and with more opening every month, our growing craft beer market is due to passionate craft beer makers and sophisticated beer drinkers who are demanding a more unique, and premium product.

While the term "microbrewery" was originally used to describe the size of the brewery, it has evolved to reflect an alternative attitude and approach to brewing beer and now also describes those breweries that incorporate flexibility, adaptability, experimentation and customer service to the overall beer experience.

The Hunter Beer Co. in Nulkaba is the Hunter Valleys first micro-brewery and is famous not just for brewing beer, but also its unique range of innovative, handcrafted beers that come with a diverse range of flavours and styles. The brewery has been in operation since 2003 and brews approximately 600 litres at a time with 95% of the beer consumed onsite.

The small brewing team headed up by Keith Grice “The Beer Guy”, believe that beer should be a journey – “an adventure” – bold in flavour and character. When you get Keith talking about beer, you get the impression that he is on a life-long pursuit towards a beer-fuelled Nirvana. As a result, the guys at the Hunter Beer Co. have a great deal of fun experimenting and brewing many different types of beer and being creative with a variety of different ingredients.

Their range of award-winning regular beers, such as the bold American style Pale Ale, the dark German styled Bock, the full-strength Lager, the light flavoured Belgian Witbier and the flagship beer the Hunter Kolsch, all have unique tastes and big personalities. They also produce a wonderful easy drinking Ginger Beer.

In addition to the regular beers, the brewing team also produce a range of popular seasonal beers – which depending on the time of year could be anything from the Oyster Stout, the Apricot IPA, Christmas Pudding Beer, Slaked Magpie or Cranky Pants IPA.

The increasing popularity of these handcrafted beers brewed by the Hunter Beer Co. confirms that people are becoming educated about beer and the different flavours available to them. Visit the Hunter Beer Company's spacious “beer bar” to see first-hand just how microbreweries function, talk to Keith or the brewing team and taste the wide range of beers on tap.