Local breweries win big at Indies

SEVEN Mile Brewing Co. has been named the best medium-sized independent brewery in the country at the Australian Independent Beer Awards.

The Ballina brewery won the Champion Independent Medium Brewery Award, recognising breweries that produce between 100,000 and 699,000 litres a year, at the event, known as ‘the Indies’.

Bangalow brewery Common People Brewing Co. was also one of three finalists for the NSW title.

Both breweries also won a swag of medals recognising their individual brews.

“It’s good to have a couple of little breweries from the Northern Rivers kicking goals,” Seven Mile Brewing Co. sales manager Tim Murphy said.

Seven Mile was founded by Matt Wilson, who previously worked at Riverside Brewing Company and 4 Pines Brewing Co. in Sydney, and his dad Lou in 2017.

“Back then it was only us and Stone & Wood from Coffs Harbour north to the border,” Murphy said.

“Now there’s nine breweries spread across the same region.”

Murphy said the craft beer market boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There are so many people who have moved up here from Sydney and Melbourne that it’s started to spread,” he said.

“Our biggest seller is the Cali Cream, which is nice and light, and for the first couple of years it was really all we could sell locally.

We’d try to sell our American Pale Ale or flagship West Coast IPA, which got a gold medal in the Indies, but people would say ‘It’s too hoppy – it tastes like flowers’.”

But Murphy said beer lovers were increasingly seeking variety, and their limited releases were extremely popular.

“My old man just drank Tooheys New but the new drinkers coming through always want to try something new.”

The Indies saw 1,028 beers evaluated by nearly 50 expert judges over three days, with scores determined by blind taste testing.