Bells brewers get back into the flow

This is a tale of two mates who were sitting in a Jan Juc pub back in 2012 when an idea bubbled up to start a brewing company.

As they sipped a cold beer that both agreed tasted a little underwhelming, Adam Smith and Jono Moscrop were challenged by the idea of coming up with something better themselves.

“Jono and I were talking about how good it is here and what an amazing place it is to live compared to the UK where we’re both from,” Adam recalls.

“We said the only thing missing was a quality local beer.”

The conversation flowed and the duo even came up with a name – Bells Beach Brewing.

A quick internet search revealed the name was available and they registered the URL before leaving the pub that day.

Adam and Jono met while working at Ford and between them have engineered some of the world’s finest motor vehicles for prestige car companies based in the UK, the US and Germany.

They figured there might be a way to combine the engineering approach they applied in their work on billion-dollar car development programs with their well-honed beer loving tastebuds.

The pair backed themselves to produce a craft beer that could rival any in the world and spent the next few years home brewing, experimenting and refining their product.

“In 2015 Jono’s wife had a baby so he had a couple of months off work and I had some money knocking around,” Adam says.

“I was like ‘dude, if we don’t do it now, we’ll just die dreaming about it’.”

On a 40-degree New Year’s Eve night they launched their first commercial batch of beer at a big bash held at Adam’s house.

“They loved it,” Adam says, smiling at the memory.

That beer – the Southside Saison – went on to win a silver medal at the craft beer awards.

By the end of 2016 they had developed three brews and it was crunch time to make a decision on the future of Bells Beach Brewing.

“It built to a point where it was a lot of work and we had full-time jobs and families,” Adam says.

“It became intrusive so we thought we should either knock it on the head and go back to home brewing or we should roll the dice and have a crack.”

The latter option won out.

They reached out to investors and a third business partner – accomplished sports photographer, Jeff Crow – who brought marketing and customer relations expertise to the table.

Jeff jokes he was sold on the partnership when he saw the words “free beer for life” in the contract.

“I didn’t even turn the page to see how much it was going to cost me, I was like ‘yep, I’m in’,” he says.

After 35 years travelling the globe, Jeff was ready to put down roots on the Surf Coast and his first task was helping with the long search to find a location to establish a brewery and tap room.

They found the ideal spot in Baines Crescent and the doors opened in December 2018.

The tap room now showcases the brewery’s core range of nine beers, as well as its seasonal and special small batch brews.

Many beers are named after familiar locations such as the Addis Pale Ale, Bird Rock Brown or Hells Bells XPA.

The beers are sold through Dan Murphy’s around Australia and at various Surf Coast venues.

 

With only 48 hours’ notice of easing COVID restrictions across regional Victoria after the second lockdown, there have been many 5am starts as the trio address a shortage of supply due to the changed schedule.

The brewery can hold 12,000 litres in tank at any given time and has the capacity to produce 170,000 litres of beer annually.

The tap room is licenced to hold 80 people inside and is currently allowed to have 10. They hope to soon open the car park/driveway area up to 50 patrons.

Jono says after a challenging year it’s been fantastic to welcome patrons back to the bar for a long-awaited drink and chat.

Eight years on from that fateful day when they brewed up a business idea over a beer, he takes a brief moment to savour how far they’ve come.

Looking around the space which is once again humming with the sound of machinery, Jono’s eyes settle on the four large silver tanks which are emblazoned with the words “Where Thirst Follows Surf”.

“There is something quite emotive about them – they are shiny, they look cool and they are filled with stuff that tastes really good,” he says with a grin.

Cheers to that.

For current session times or to make a booking, go to bellsbeachbrewing.com and follow @bellsbeachbrewing on Instagram.