Brendan Varis' Feral Brewery is anything but undomesticated as Chris Canty recently found.
There was once a time when Western Australia's Swan Valley was known for being the State's oldest wine growing region. Yet when Brendan Varis opened Feral Brewery in 2002, the area began getting plaudits for other reasons.
"I was pretty well inspired by what the craft brewers in the US were doing after visiting there in 1996," Brendan says.
"The beer we had there was great and I knew that Aussies would take to fuller flavoured more interesting beer if it was available."
So with that in mind, Brendan began learning his craft working with DME Brewing Services before a short stint with St Arnou in 2001. He maintains that this experience continually helps him at Feral.
"Between 1998 and 2001 we completed 14 turnkey projects in Australia and the experience I gained from doing all those startups is still proving invaluable today."
Feral currently has 5 beers on offer, ranging from its Farmhouse Ale, a light beer (3.8%) with hints of ginger, cured orange peel, coriander and Thai palm sugar; to Rust (6%), a Belgian Abbey ale style with a distinct banana aroma.
He says that the name Feral means ‘undomesticated' which shows a bit of cheekiness in regards to the major ‘domestic' beer labels. While he makes an array of different styles, he maintains the main feature of all his beers is balance.
"You can be as big and bold and experimental as you like when it comes to flavour and aroma profiles but all components of the beer need to be in balance with each other in order to make a beer that is all round satisfying and with a high drinkability," he says.
"That's what we strive for when putting together a beer."
Ask anyone in the industry about Brendan and the first thing they'll say is his generous nature. He is well known for going out
of his way to share his knowledge with fellow brewers, though it's not only those in the industry he likes to educate.
"I really enjoy pouring our beer for people who either don't normally drink beer at all or who have been a one beer brand person their whole life," he says.
"Invariably they will be pleasantly surprised by some of the flavours they encounter in our beer and you know they will go away and try new beers on a regular basis. That's a job well done as far as I'm concerned."
But while the joy he has in giving customers the finished product is obvious, he is perhaps even more passionate about the brewing process itself, in particular developing new beers.
"With our beer lineup fairly settled for the minute we only get four or five opportunities to experiment each year," he says.
"The satisfaction of moving a beer from concept to finished product is awesome."
Despite Feral being categorised as a boutique brewery, growth has seen a restaurant and merchandise sales added to his business, which Brendan says can be a distraction.
"Juggling hats between Managing Director and brewer can suck a bit," he says.
"So far the balance has been pretty good, and I haven't had any cobwebs appearing on my gumboots yet."
And what's in store for the Feral future?
"I'm back in the US for the first time in 11 years this April to judge at the World Beer Cup and can't wait to see how the scene has progressed," he says.
"Short term, the brewery will introduce our White Beer to more of the country. We will also do a minor upgrade to the brewery which will let us do more specialty and seasonal beer."
While it is obvious that the Feral Brewery is part of Australia's relatively new wave of high quality producers, Brendan thinks that there is still a lot of work to do in educating people about what craft beer represents.
"I get a little nervous when I talk to people about their new startup brewery and I get the feeling they expect to be the next Crown Lager," he says.
"We need to stick to what we do best which is full-flavoured, interesting beer. If we do this and then put in the effort to explain to people what is so special about our beer then I am confident craft beer has a bright future."
Feral Brewing
152 Haddrill Road, Baskerville. Phone: (08) 9296 4657
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