Brouhaha: /ˈbruːhɑːhɑː/; noun; a noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something
Hidden away in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is the small town of Maleny, with its awe inspiring views of the Glass House Mountains, the Maleny Dairies and Gardners Falls that are, at least to this FNQ lad, brass monkey cold.
Maleny is also home to brewpub Brouhaha Brewery, a place that has hit the ground running faster than most other craft breweries in Australia. Founded by four Maleny locals in mid-2016, the brewery has gone on to be a must try for every serious beer lover in Australia. The beers are crafted by co-owner and head brewery Matt Jancauskas who always had a dream to create a brewpub in the cool, forested hills off Maleny.
Jancauskas had learned his trade during two and a half years at the incredibly successful microbrewery Beavertown Brewery, one of the leading craft breweries in the UK. If you are a hop-head you’ve probably heard of them, if not you should check them out. Beavertown, owned by Logan Plant, son of Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant, has a cult following and was growing rapidly. Jancauskas applied for the job on a whim whilst sitting in the Hong Kong airport, on holiday from his electrical engineering job. It gave him training and experience that he wouldn’t have found anywhere else, a baptism by fire of sorts. In his time there, he rose to production manager, helped oversee various stages of the brewery’s expansion, sourcing a million dollar canning line for example and returned home with a wealth of knowledge. There he spotted a recruitment ad on SEEK for a business partner, working with the other trio who already had the site, the name and the intent and helped bring Brouhaha to life in the unlikely spot of a mini-mall in Maleny, surrounded by medical centres of all things.
Matt has created a massive array of beers, and one of the reasons for this range is his interest in batch splitting, a technique to trial a variety of new brews from one base recipe. His somewhat unique approach has seen him create a dry hopped saison and a raspberry saison both from the same base, milk and coffee stouts, and two IPA’s, one an American, hopped up style and one co-fermented with passionfruit.
As demand has increased the range of beers has increased, and so too has Brouhaha’s customer base. From that tiny Queensland town the beers can now be found Australia wide at quality bottleshops and, excitingly for those that like to try beers out in the “real world” with food and friends, on tap at select venues.
These are beers that are bursting with flavour, superbly sessionable and work perfectly with or without food. Drop what you are doing and get down there and start a brouhaha of your own.
A couple to try:
Brouhaha Strawberry and Rhubarb Sour – made using Maleny Dairies’ natural yoghurt as their souring agent, with stewed rhubarb and strawberries added to the fermenter for the secondary fermentation. It creates a light pink coloured beer that is anything but sweet. Solid berry aromas on the nose, with a slight yeast dough note, great lactic tang on the tongue with some sour rhubarb showing through, finish is long and dry. Dangerously drinkable. 4.2%abv.
Brouhaha Milk Stout – Milk stouts are generally sweeter than their brethren, the lactose that is added is unfermentable and is residual in the finished product, it’s also what makes this a very agreeable stout to enjoy in our warmer climate. Roasted malts, dark chocolate and a touch of coffee on the nose, on the tongue it’s a little ashy, earthy with just enough sweetness in there, all wrapped up with a velvety smooth mouthfeel. Superb with a cheese platter. 4.8%abv.
Brouhaha Raspberry Saison – built around the French saison yeast strain that imparts fragrant, fruity aromas with a full mouthfeel. The addition of raspberries to the brew give it tart berry aromas, with a little bit of crunchy green apple and hay, a little light bread in there too. Those fresh and tart berry flavours follow through onto the palate, a touch of spice, a little bit of fresh multigrain bread all mingle with the dry saison esters, finishing crisp, dry and clean. It’s a cracker of drop, which works incredibly well with light, fresh seafood lunches. 5.9%abv
