Media Release

Due to NO internal miscommunication! BOATROCKER / Rate Beer Best and Tassie

Well, after a month of highs and lows with one very public miscommunication (not on our end), we have continued on our mission to source and represent the best of local and international craft beers. As we announced in January our aim was to expand or distribution footprint to offer a one-stop specialist distribution service for real craft beers and the brewers that create them. The mission to source only the best beers and deliver them fresh to our retailer partners across the country, showing respect for the product and the people involved in the entire process.

It’s with great pleasure we announce that another of Melbourne’s hottest new brewers has signed a deal with Experienceit, to provide them with national distribution and sales efforts.

From March expect to see Boatrockers awesome range of beers added to our portfolio nationally with our sales team taking direct responsibility for sales across the country, in collaboration with Boatrockers Melbourne based sales representative, who will still continue to handle the Melbourne Metro area.

Like our international range we have been very selective with the brewers we have approached to join our range and we feel strongly that Boatrocker sits nicely alongside our International beer portfolio and our other Melbourne based brewer BrewCult plus, the soon to be added Nomad Brewing Company from Sydney.

Matt Houghton – ” Boatrocker are very excited to team up with Johnny and the rest of the crew at ExperienceIt. They have an amazing portfolio, and treat beer with the respect it deserves, from refrigerated shipping and temperature controlled storage, through to excellent customer service. It’s this attitude and ethos to craft beer that really attracted Boatrocker, as it reflects our own commitment to the quality and respect of craft beer. It also means the rest of Australia will be able to rock the boat with some awesomely fresh brews.”

Johnny – “What we love about Boatrocker is the passion that matched our own and the mix of great core range styles with a focus on experimentation that will see a range of barrel aged beers and experimental limited releases in the pipeline. We’ve even found a nice match for them with our crazy Dane’s To Øl during Good Beer Week (stay tuned for more details).”

Rate Beer Best 2013

Joining Boatrocker in March and April will be a selection of the world’s best beers as rated by Rate Beer in their 2013 beer awards, with 2 of the worlds top 5 best new brewers sharing centre stage with Alpha Queen. UK’s Siren will be the first to land with a great range of kegs and bottles just in time for Good Beer Week, and then following will be one of the other top 5 Weird Beard also in bottle and keg.

Tasmania

It’s now your turn to share in our passion! From March and just in time to support the Boatrocker launch, we will be commencing a brand new direct service to Tasmania. Tasmania has long been overlooked by many of the major distributors, and this service will finally give all Tassie venues access to our entire portfolio every month, with the ability to re-order on demand and receive stock in the same time as it takes us to service Qld (or less). Add to this we have finally found a true door to door chilled freight service for cartons, so Tassie will be getting the best and the freshest craft beers possible direct from the source, chilled with new beers every month. Our website will shortly have details, but if you want to setup an account or require more details please drop us a line.

For further enquiries and to place orders please contact one of our local sales representatives

• NSW: Jack – 0408 658 061, Brad Flowers 0404 725 572
• VIC / S.A.: Joseph – 0456 053 741
• TAS: Joseph – 0456 053 741, Brad Flowers 0404 725 572
• Qld: Daniel – 040 773 6663
• W.A.: Rob – 040 773 6663

About Boatrocker

It all started back in the mid 80’s when Matt was a teenager, with a television show called “The Beer Hunter” by Michael Jackson. The show was the inspiration for Matt’s love of all things beer. It set him on the path of enlightenment, education and travel.

Matt Houghton

Matt would spend his days homebrewing and dreaming of travelling through such exotic locations as Brugge, Boulder, Bavaria and Britain and anywhere else M.J. happened to have been on his TV show. It was not until 1998 that it all became a reality. With backpack on, these beers came alive; their history, social importance and appreciation of the craft by its loving populace.

And then, sadly, Matt was back in the land of bland, Hmmm. VB or Carlton… Where was the love? There was only one answer; take homebrewing to the next level. So Matt went to study brewing at Ballarat Uni. At this time, Matt also discovered his other passion; his wife Andrea.

They then set about planning a brewery. No easy task and very expensive. So while saving their pennies and keeping an eye out for investors Matt & Andrea couldn’t just sit back and watch their friends drink “fast-food” beer. They had to rock the boat. With no brewery of their own, they took the recipe that had been perfected in the garage to a contract brewery. The result was the Alpha Queen. Followed shortly after by Hoppbier and Aotearoa Smash. These beers were now no longer just enjoyed by friends and family, but by judges at international beer awards where they picked up numerous medals.

Contract brewing was a great first step into the world of commercial craft brewing, it has its limitations and made Matt & Andrea more determined to have their own brewery.

After a few years Matt & Andrea were in a position to build their own brewery. Late in 2012 they took over a property, purchased equipment from around the world and set about getting it all up and running.

In 2013, Boatrocker had a home in Melbourne’s South East. This has become the creative hub of Boatrocker where years of inspiration will become reality

And in 2014 they go national …