Written by Glen Green
Being in the wine industry certainly has its perks, and as any of you know, sometimes there is no substitute for having a nice cold beer at the end of the day, especially a long hard day of winetasting. So it was with great delight that I received some samples in the post recently from a small brewery in Melbourne called 3 Ravens.
The noise around the gentrified part of town was that the boys there were brewing up a storm, so not one to be shy, I thought I better get on the blower, fix up some samples, taste these brews and report back to this well educated forum about my findings, all in the name of research of course.
3 Ravens started in 2005 and headed by engineer Ben Pattison took on the near impossible, to make awesome English Ale beers in VB country. Making it was never going to be the problem, as it seldom is in the liquor industry, selling it to the undemanding palates that VB had left in its wake was always going to be the challenge. Yet somehow this bird brained scheme took hold (pun intended), and the rest is history as they say. Demand quickly outstripped supply and they have been not-so-quietly growing the business ever since.
THE BEERS
Each one of these have all the essential ingredients for a well crafted brew...passion, prowess, and a good dash of crazy!
THE LINE UP
Blond Altbier
Bronze English Ale
White Witbier
Black Stout
Dark Smoke Beer
VERDICT
Did this engineer have a screw loose? Yes I think so, but it was well tightened and now this 3 man machine is running like a well-oiled piece of engineering genius. Oh and the beers, let me answer that by asking you one question: We are all so absolutely picky about what wines we drink, the quality, the aromas, the balance and so on, doesn't it make sense to drink your beers with the same discerning, uncompromising attitude? If you think so too, then you will want to give 3 Ravens a call and get some of their very fine brew.
Special Offer for WIJ Members
For a limited time only, ring or call into the brewery, ask for Adrian, mention the Wine Industry Jobs website and receive a discount of 10% OFF your beer order. You can even call in and pick it up yourself if you live in the Melbourne area. If not, the boys are happy to freight it to your door so that it is there when you arrive home, ok it might not be cold, but did I mention it is English Ale.
Location
1 Theobald Street (corner Matisi St) Thornbury, Victoria, Australia 3071
Melways: 31 B4
Telephone
Tel: 03-94951026
Mob: 0438-728367
www.3ravens.com.au
Disclaimer: While Glen is not a bewmaster himself, he does consider himself fairly well versed in the art of beer researching. Having travelled to Germany and Belgium conducting research, England and Wales doing research, USA and Canada (yes another research trip), research, research, research...in fact, it would be fair to say, his whole bloody life has been dedicated to exactly this type of research!