Now reputedly brewed out of Gage Roads, the Sail & Anchor brand is enjoying a revival with four brews in time for the summer season.
With the original brewery closed down by Woolworths in 2010, some feared it would be the end of the iconic Australian brand that was begun at one of the first pub breweries in the country – the heritage listed Sail & Anchor Hotel in Fremantle, WA.
Instead they are now being brewed by one of the country’s best-known contract breweries.
Bill Hoedemaker of Gage Roads, WA – and ex-Sail & Anchor – says that the new brews have been designed to reflect the lives of the enterprising sailors that inhabit Fremantle – hence they are named after knots used on the docks.
“With these beers we pay homage to their mischievous lifestyle,” he says. “Using a combination of local and imported hops and malts to give you four brews worthy of their impropriety.”
The brews include: Monkey’s Fist Pale Ale, Cat’s Shank Kolsch, Lark’s Foot Golden Ale, and Boa’s Bind Amber Ale.
Available at Woolies liquor outlets, they retail for $3.90/bottle, $14/four-pack and $44/16-case.