Brewery invites you to Duck in for beer – Eat Drink West

IN 2005, Scott and Vanessa Wilson-Browne spotted a red-chested duck and its ducklings on Lake Purrumbete, near Camperdown.

That feathered freshwater family was the inspiration for the brewery brand they launched that year, Red Duck Beer, now based in Alfredton.

They produce 12 diverse beers, primarily in cans.

“We have light, refreshing and easy-drinking summer beers, dark beers, stouts, porters, pale beers, lagers, saisons, and amber ales,” Mrs Wilson-Browne said.

“We’re about to release a new fruity sour. It’s called Cherry Berry Bang Bang. It’s a raspberry and cherry kettle sour.”

At their Michaels Drive cellar door, four taps are operating, serving a revolving selection of beers. Visitors can pick up some cans, or enjoy tasting paddles and flights.

Behind the scenes, the brewing process is natural and chemical-free.

“The fermentation happens in the can or the bottle. We buy a lot of our grain from a Ballarat grain roaster, House of Malt.

“We love the whole process of creating new beer styles and getting them our into the marketplace; designing a recipe, right through to designing the label and working with our sales and social media people,” Mrs Wilson-Browne said.

Looking ahead to 2021, the couple have big ideas to expand their venue and offerings.

“We’ve been expanding with cellar door experiences in recent years, but we’ve just submitted planning permits to do a brewery renovation, changing the whole format of the cellar door.

“We have a capacity of 20 patrons, but we’re going to 50, with an outdoor deck area, a bigger bar, longer opening hours, and we’re putting in a pizza oven,” Mrs Wilson-Browne said.

“We’ll be able to have large groups, more brewery experiences, and we’re hoping to serve some local wines. We’ll have Forge bases with own toppings from local producers, like Salt Kitchen Charcuterie.”

Red Duck Beer have sold a share in Kilderkin Distillery to start up their own Red Duck Distillery.

“Realistically, that won’t be up and running until mid-next year, but it’s exciting times for us. We’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Mrs Wilson-Browne said.

“There’s so much growth in the western corridor, but there aren’t many venues here, so we should have a good catchment of all the new housing estates.

“People can pop down to us as their local craft brewery and distillery on a Friday night and grab a pizza.”

Red Duck Beer is open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Their products are stocked at IGA, Jack’s and Campana’s.