The Pioneer Brewing Co set-up

Pioneer Brewing Co is now operational west of Orange, NSW, on a farm where it is growing its own malting barley.

Two of the beers in Pioneer’s range have been brewed using 100 per cent estate barley, founder Peter Gerber told Brews News.

“We bought this property where we live on now and it’s 98 per cent arable, so we put crops in and we’ve been running predominately sheep on here,” he said.

“We’ve been sowing oats and barley for years, more for grazing purposes. I just figured I’d give it a crack and put some malting barley in and the results were absolutely amazing.”

Voyager Craft Malt in Griffith has processed the Baudin variety barley for Pioneer, and Gerber said they have been impressed with the quality of the product.

“They even put their hand up to buy any excess off us, so it’s a good sign,” he said.

Pioneer has a 17-hectolitre brewhouse on a 500 square metre shed on Gerber’s property in Bowan Park, 27km west of Orange.

A longtime home brewer with a background in engineering, he has created a core range of four beers, a mild ale, a Vienna lager, a pale ale and an IPA.

He said the company has plans to open a taproom on the farm and will focus on wholesaling its beers within a 100-mile radius.

“We’ll support all our local community and local publicans to begin with and then branch out from there,” Gerber said.

The company has installed an ABE canning line, which it intends to commission in the coming weeks.

Brewery openings are presented by Spark Breweries and Distilleries, the finest in-venue and production brewing systems available, with local design and support.

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