FINER POINTS OF BREWING

IOE’s Adult Recreation program certainly encompasses a range of different experiences and opportunities for participants.

Last month four young men who take part in the program, headed to the Public Brewery in Croydon for the first part of their brewing adventure. Supported by the breweries’ amazing and passionate staff,  Tim, Dylan, Josh and Jason were taken through each step of the brewing process at this little local micro brewery. The process began with them choosing the type of beer they wanted to brew and included tasting and smelling the ingredients. They then measured, added each ingredient, stirred and timed the process with precision. They also learnt about the history and processing stages of each ingredient.

In the down time between each step, the guys enjoyed a pub meal and a brew together, while discussing the design of the logo for their beer labels. They  decided on ‘The Topaz Four’ as they had chosen a Topaz Pale Ale and chose their image, colours and font accordingly.

Fast forward a month. Time to return for the bottling, tasting and labeling of the beer!

Again, supported by the great staff at the brewery, the group were taught each step, from cleaning out the bottles, using the machines that fill the bottles, capping and labeling and of course, tasting and critiquing their brew. The guys smashed the process out in record time to managed to squeeze in another pub lunch before it was time to go home with their very own slab of home made craft beer.

This was such a great experience and the brewery’s service and support was exceptional and the atmosphere and food were both great. A special shout out to staff Logan and Chris for making this such a memorable experience for our participants.

A highly recommended experience!