Once Bitter Urban Ale has undergone a rebrand and launched Urban Alley Brewery and its flagship product – Urban Ale.
Launched in 2016 as Once Bitter Urban Ale and previously brewed by contract brewers Southern Bay Brewing Company, the beer is now being reintroduced as Urban Ale, while the brewery itself is to be named Urban Alley Brewery. A blend of an Australian golden ale and a Belgian blonde ale, the beer will now be brewed at founder Ze’ev Meltzer own Urban Alley Brewery. Located in The District Docklands, the new brewery is due to open its doors in September 2018. Cans of Urban Ale will also soon be available to purchase in Melbourne.
“It was always my intention to build a brewery on Collin Street, but the stars didn’t align and it wasn’t viable,” says Meltzer. “This spot in the Docklands became a reality. I thought it would be disingenuous to call us Collin Street Brewery if our brewery wasn’t there. We’re redefining ourselves a little bit and this was an opportunity to come up with a different name.”
Once the 25 hectolitre brewery has been commissioned, three new core beers will be unveiled alongside the renamed Urban Ale, while there will also be quarterly seasonal releases, and a monthly Brewer’s Release beer on a smaller scale.
“This is a huge step in our journey and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to build a home for our beer and brand and share it in Melbourne,” says Meltzer. “We were brewing at capacity and we knew that we had to scale up at some point. A big part of that was building our own brewery and having our own home where we could bring people to experience our brand the way we want them to.
“While we are very fond of our contract brewers and have enjoyed working with them, we are excited to have a space where we can develop and showcase the craft beer we are so passionate about. We will be releasing three new core beers with the launch of our brewery as well as a quarterly seasonal and a monthly brewers release all of which will be produced out of our new Docklands brewery.”
“It is both a great privilege and responsibility being a brewer,” adds Urban Alley’s head brewery Shaya Rubenstein. “People deserve good beer and as brewers are simply the vehicle to bring them what they rightfully deserve. For me, brewing is unique in the way that it allows for ultimate creativity whilst being rigidly scientific. I am excited to bring the market some truly unique products that will hopefully become some of Australia’s favourites.”