The lord and swillhouse collaborate for an allied brew

The group came together last Thursday to kick start the brewing process of the pilot Allied Ale, which will be a sessionable brew that sits around 5.6%-5.7% ABV.Packed into The Lord’s cellar for the brew day from the Swillhouse was; Jason Scott – Group Owner (representing Shady Pines), Anton Forte – Group Owner (representing Shady Pines), Jordan McDonald – Group Beer Monster & Live Music (representing Frankie’s Pizza) and Lewis Jaffrey – The Baxter Inn GM. While from the Lord Nelson there was Andrew Robson – Head Brewer, Kaine Oreagan – Brewer and the main man behind the collaboration Kristian Savio – Operations Manager.

“We’ve been calling it an Allied Ale because it’s a collaboration between allies – all the venues it’s going to be in and The Lord Nelson. The Lord Nelson’s Three Sheets is the only beer we stock across the venues,” said McDonald (Frankie’s).

“We’ll be running it through a few venues. It will definitely be on-tap at the Baxter Inn and Frankie’s, but because we’re not bottling this we’re looking at ways of having it at Shady’s as there’s no taps there. We’re looking into finding ways of getting it to the people. We’re thinking of getting our own growlers.”

The Allied Ale will be crafted with all British malts and three American variety hops – Centennial, Amarillo and Citra. The artisan approach of The Lord Nelson is sure to reflect in the brew with it one of the few breweries still doing things like mashing by hand.

While the collaboration may seem like an unusual juxtaposition of old and new, the two groups have a strong history and both champion bringing craft beer to the masses.

“We have always had a great relationship with Swillhouse group, they have always been keen to have any ‘seasonal brews’ in the past as it gives the customers something new and fresh and they are the purveyors of creativity in the Sydney bar scene,” said Savio (Lord Nelson).

“I approached the guys to get serious about doing a brew with us, as it had been spoken about for a long time. Add Jordan (idea for the style of brew), add Andrew (sourcing the ingredients and confirming the recipe and alcohol per cent) and it all came together. We know it’s a first for the small bar scene and are all waiting patiently to taste the finished product.”

About 650 litres of the pilot beer will be created and ready to taste in 3-4 weeks. The boys will then come together again and potentially tweak the recipe, before the final brew is created, which will be ready for Sydney Craft Beer Week in October.

“It’s been spoken of forever and we finally had this idea for Sydney Craft Beer Week to release a special collaboration brew,” said McDonald.