Media Release: 19/03/15

Tour of the Galaxy

Stone & Wood’s Hop Harvest Pilgrimage

The smell of the fresh hops hits the nostrils before you reach the Bushy Park gates. Before the long vertical bines hanging from the trellises lining the fields that disappear into the distance are visible, you’re welcomed by a punchy, zesty aroma that lifts you above the previous evening’s haze and awakens the senses from the early morning mist.

For Stone & Wood Brewing, they’ve made it. Each year the regional brewery, located in the Northern Rivers of NSW, make the pilgrimage down to Tassie to check out the new season of hops that they’ll use in their beers for the year ahead. They call it the Tour of the Galaxy.

“The tour started with a need to get our young new brewers closer to the raw ingredients that make up our Stone & Wood beers. The tour has grown as the business has grown and now it’s just as important to get people from across the business to understand our hops – specifically Galaxy, and its importance to our Pacific Ale,” Said Head Brewer and Co-Director Brad Rogers.

The Galaxy hop is the protagonist of the brewery’s Pacific Ale, becoming the most internationally recognized Australian variety from its tropical fruit flavour. When it simply had a cultivar number of 94-203-008, Brad knew he had to use it when dreaming up the beers he and the other two founders Jamie Cook and Ross Jurisich would brew when starting the brewery back in 2008 because of its distinct aroma and local origin.

“We wanted to be true to the Australian hop industry, and use locally grown hops (and malts). It’s important for us to know the grower, to know the garden, and be able to create the strong relationships we have today with HPA (Hop Products Australia).”

___________________________________________________________________