JOINING THE FERMENTATION CLUB

WORDS BY CARLY GODDEN

Sam Wills of Old Slang Brewing talks about getting into craft brewing, a few disasters and near-misses along the way, and his ultimate fresh as a daisy results.

Sam Wills is so enamoured with brewing beer, he once grew his own hops. His crop thrived in a part of Victoria not usually associated with agriculture: ‘It was in the backyard in Footscray,’ he says. ‘I tried growing it in Chewton, but the soil’s terrible here!’

Sam heads up Old Slang Brewing, a microbrewery based in the central goldfield town of Castlemaine.

Although he now lives in nearby Chewton, he first picked up brewing about eight years ago when his home was in Melbourne’s industrial West.

‘The first rule of brewing is keep everything clean. And that’s also the second rule. It’s a bit like Fight Club!’

‘My wife saw a homebrewing kit at a garage sale and thought “Sam might like this” and took it home.’ By his third batch he had moved on from using packaged ingredients to brewing with proper raw grains.

Flash forward a good few years later, and his brand’s Fresh as a Daisy pale ale is being sold in bottle-shops and on tap in pubs in Castlemaine and surrounds; and is even stocked in his old stomping ground in the Westside of Melbourne. As a community bubbling with enthusiasm for all things locally-made, Castlemaine locals have been invaluable in supporting Sam’s venture into commercial production.

For those looking to take up brewing and perhaps even go down a similar path, Sam has a few tips.

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He advises that everyone starting off will probably get an infection in their brew at some stage and will need to throw the lot out and start again. While the experience can feel frustrating, the wasted product is also a good lesson in being mindful of the golden rule to always sanitise your equipment.

Listening to podcasts dedicated to brewing can be a great way to learn new skills and Sam plays them on his Melbourne commute, where he still works as a physiotherapist. He’ll usually take in two or three podcast episodes that cover a technique, and read a couple of articles, before trying it out for himself. Organisations like the Brewer’s Association of Australia also have a lot of useful information for brewers online.

Sam’s love of fermentation extends beyond brewing beer—he also likes to rustle up fermented food and drinks like kimchi and kombucha. Over ten years ago he even created a starter culture for a sourdough that is alive and well today, although it was once nearly lost.

‘My mum was cleaning one day and unfortunately thought the yeast culture was just mould growth or something and chucked it out.’ Luckily, he had shared the culture with a friend who had kept it and could siphon off part of her collection to give back to him.

Sam hopes to keep sharing his passion for fermenting and brewing through expanding Old Slang Brewing’s range to include a lager, and dark ale.

‘There’s something satisfying about making something from scratch. And the cool thing about fermentation is that once you’ve mastered doing it with one thing, you can apply it across the board.’

For stockists visit: oldslangbrewing.com.au