After 10 years in the importation business, Red Island’s Patrick Alè and David Milstein finally bit the bullet and launched Red Island Brewing Co.
It is the culmination of the dream that originally led the pair into the importation and distribution game. According to Alè he and his business partner originally looked into starting a brewery but were put off by the high cost of the endevour.
Instead they started importing a Bolivian beer, that wasn’t so successful, while they were looking for a cider to import. Banking on Australia following the UK’s growing cider market they happened upon Rekorderlig and the rest, as they say, was history.
Now the duo have launched their first brew under their new brewing company – Quiet Deeds Pale Ale.
According to Alè, he and Milstein took their time crating the name, the branding and the visuals for their first brew. Obviously they have learned a lot from the positioning of Rekorderlig, and Alè says that while a lot of Australian craft brewers don’t spend a lot of time on branding, Red Island have followed the American model, creating a cohesive image that will carry across their soon to be expanded range and give the brand recognition with consumers.
However, rather than going all out with a loud label, Alè says they worked with two separate graphic design companies to come up with an eye-catching yet simple design that really reflected the name Quiet Deeds. The style of the label will then carry on to their soon to be released second brew, which will feature similar graphics in different colours.
As for the beer itself, Quiet Deeds has been pitched as the brand’s “entry level” beer. A Pale Ale with a good nose and a sessionable flavour, that still packs enough of a hoppy punch to distinguish it without alienating those less used to extreme bitterness. And it is doing rather well too, the brew scored Best Pale Ale in the recent Microbrewery Showcase People’s Choice Awards – not bad for a beer that is only a few months old.
This stellar effort is soon to be followed up by an IPA – Alè says it should be out in May – with a third and fourth brew – as yet to be decided – to round out the range later on.