AN Andrews Farm resident has brewed an internationally-recognised beer from the comfort of his own backyard.
Mark Prior – who owns One Barrel Brewing, which he established in his garage in early 2018 – entered his homemade Gose beer ‘The Silesian’ in the 2019 World Beer Awards last month and came away as the Australian winner in the Sour & Wild Beer category.
To be in the running, he sent 16 stubbies of the beverage by air freight to London for judging, and his category success now puts him in the race for the World’s Best Beer award – the winner of which will be announced online on September 19.
“There’s a whole bunch of guys trying to have a crack at what they think the (Gose) style is, and I’ve tasted a lot of them because it’s a point of interest for me – I’ve been making this for about 10
years now,” Mr Prior said.
“Some people try to do too much and it just overshadows what the beer should really be.
“I’ve been surveying the international competitions and thought ‘this is a really good beer, and I’m just going to chuck it over there (and see how I go)’.”
Having been brewing beer for the past 15 years, working at a small Barossa Valley microbrewery and completing courses at the University of Ballarat and The World Brewing Academy in Chicago,
this was the first time Mr Prior had entered a competition under his own label.
Since getting the necessary licences and approvals to brew beer on his premises in January 2018, he has twice appeared at Adelaide’s popular Beer & BBQ Festival, showcasing up to 24 different
varieties created by One Barrel Brewing.
Mr Prior initially wanted to establish his microbrewery in Willaston, but when that attempt failed he didn’t let it stop him achieving his dream.
“After a couple of months of sulking I thought ‘I’ve got to do this, I just really want to do it’,” he said.
“So, I made all my applications to do it here (in Andrews Farm), and that’s it.
“Brewing is as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.”
For more about One Barrel Brewing, visit www.onebarrelbrewing.com.au