Watch the episode here - https://aussiebeervoyage.au/episodes/34-brian-from-spangled-drongo/

Pretty excited to catch up with Brian from Spangled Drongo Brewery in Murwillumbah (Adsy even has trouble saying it), as the first official NSW brewery we have visited! Brian is an out and out local, having previously worked for some of the other large breweries in the area. You’ve probably heard of them, being Stone & Wood and Balter Brewing, definitely not small fish in this big pond we call beer. When we visited there was only a single beer being produced, a damn tasty Pale Ale, but a Lager is coming along shortly we were told. With no taproom to sell the beer, you’ll find Spangled Drongo on tap around the place in many pubs and at craft beer events and festivals. The brew kit that Brian uses for the space he has, is huge! There’s not much spare room left in the shed, but it’s been planned so meticulously that they can still add more equipment if needed. The kit is a 4 vessel system, Mash, Lauter, Kettle Whirlpool, 2,500L or 25hL. They’ve over-capitalised on the stainless so that when demand picks up, they’re ready, willing and able. There’s 3 fermenters in total which are all 10,000L (100hL) all of the same size, with a huge ladder to have to dry hop on.

Was great to meet Brian and thanks so much for taking the time out to chat with us. Weather had changed plans for a huge event they were having that night but he still gave us time (and beer, woo!) on the day.

We love our amazing sponsors Bintani, Konvoy Kegs, Craft Punks Canning, Rallings Labels and CRAFTD. Glass once again, our thanks. As industry people supporting the little guys like us, it’s invaluable what they do for the industry, but also in support of us.

A special thanks also to both Amber Hour App for giving us use of their app, and Beers Illustrated for providing us with our awesome logos and continual support when we accidently delete them!

And it goes without saying, thanks to Hiker Brewing Concern for giving us excellent beer many times a week, and letting run amok in their brewery more times per week than anywhere else.

And special thanks to you, our fans who may have watched or listened to this episode. Essentially, you’re the reason we’re doing this and it makes a world of difference. We could do it without you, but it wouldn’t be as fun and probably not as worthwhile.

The very first location to visit on our Northern NSW Roadtrip and it’s to visit Smokey at Currumbin Valley Brewing! To say we were excited was an understatement. Joel might have been less excited to quickly realise just how much Smokey talks, and paired with Adsy, was going to be recording a lot of information.

Unique to a lot of the places we’ve visited is that Currumbin Valley’s brewhouse is located on Smokey’s private farmland, nestled in the beautiful rainforest of… You guessed it, Currumbin Valley. But, it’s location is not the only unique thing this brewery has going for it. The kettle is an old dairy vat that had to be rolled into the venue like a massive wheel and suffered only minor dents in the side. However though, while unique itself as a kettle, it’s actually heated by pumping refined oil through the jackets, not steam.

Meet Thomas the Tank Engine, probably the most unique piece of heating equipment in Australia (not confirmed). Thomas is basically a thermal fluid heater, and there’s even a tasty beer named after said oil, Waste Oil Stout. This heater was sourced by Luke, the other half of Currumbin Valley Brewing. Massively need to thank Smokey for allowing us to visit his private residence tucked away in the hills just to chat beer, at 7:30am… And then, to drive to the taproom for a second part interview in the morning. Much appreciated mate!

We love our amazing sponsors Bintani, Konvoy Kegs, Craft Punks Canning, Rallings Labels and CRAFTD. Glass once again, our thanks. As industry people supporting the little guys like us, it’s invaluable what they do for the industry, but also in support of us.

A special thanks also to both Amber Hour App for giving us use of their app, and Beers Illustrated for providing us with our awesome logos and continual support when we accidently delete them!

And it goes without saying, thanks to Hiker Brewing Concern for giving us excellent beer many times a week, and letting run amuck in their brewery more times per week than anywhere else.

And special thanks to you, our fans who may have watched or listened to this episode. Essentially, you’re the reason we’re doing this and it makes a world of difference. We could do it without you, but it wouldn’t be as fun and probably not as worthwhile.

In this episode, you'll be guided by Joel's dulcet tones as he narrates the entire trip in an overview as we meandered down from Brisbane to as far south as Coffs Harbour. Writing this now, who was Coffs? Anyway, I digress, mostly because I don't to say much in this episode! Some people will likely enjoy that more - Adsy.

We've taken our very first real voyage as part of the Aussie Beer Voyage (ABV) podcast to Northern NSW! We also visited Smokey at Currumbin Valley Brewing, which is really at the butt end of QLD and NSW border region, but who's asking? This voyage was an epic adventure for more than one reason. It's been a dream of both Adsy & Joel to be able to travel further afield than just the Brisbane region, and this trip was all courtesy of our sponsors for making it financially viable. Check them out, they're all legends!

Across four adventure filled days, we trekked and voyaged ourselves all the way from Brisbane's south down to Coffs Harbour and back again. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though. In fact, it was more rain with little sun and a few rainbows. We'd planned this journey down to the minute, and it wasn't until a week before that we (Adsy) hadn't factored in that it was still daylight savings in NSW, which would finish on the Sunday they were away. Thankfully, we (Adsy again) hadn't confirmed an interview time yet with a brewery, and that caught us an hour back on the Thursday morning. Confirming interviews would later come back to bite us...

We love our amazing sponsors ⁠Bintani⁠, ⁠Konvoy Kegs⁠, ⁠Craft Punks Canning⁠, ⁠Rallings Labels⁠ and ⁠CRAFTD. Glass⁠ once again, our thanks. As industry people supporting the little guys like us, it’s invaluable what they do for the industry, but also in support of us.

A special thanks also to both ⁠Amber Hour App⁠ for giving us use of their app, and ⁠Beers Illustrated⁠ for providing us with our awesome logos and continual support when we accidently delete them!

And it goes without saying, thanks to ⁠Hiker Brewing Concern⁠ for giving us excellent beer many times a week, and letting run amuck in their brewery more times per week than anywhere else.

And special thanks to you, our fans who may have watched or listened to this episode. Essentially, you’re the reason we’re doing this and it makes a world of difference. We could do it without you, but it wouldn’t be as fun and probably not as worthwhile.