Long-time friends and collaborators Mountain Culture Beer Co and Wildflower Brewing & Blending have announced a new collaboration, and this time it’s a joint tap room.
Bringing the two contrasting brewing styles into one venue, the tap room at Wildflower’s home in Marrickville will become a shared space known as Village.
Founded by brothers-in-law Topher Boehm and Chris Allen, Wildflower produces a range of beers brewed with regenerative organic grains and a mixture of yeasts and bacteria collected by flowers native to New South Wales at the brewery site.
The new Village taproom will showcase these unique brews alongside 10 taps dedicated to Mountain Culture, the GABS Hottest 100 chart-topping brewery founded by husband-and-wife duo DJ and Harriet McCready.
According to Harriet, the vision for Village was to create a one-stop showcase of Australian beer, making it home to the best, broadest and most interesting tap line up possible.
“Because Wildflower and Mountain Culture brew such different beers, and then our unique ones together also, the line up at Village is honestly incredible,” she says.
“You’ve got big, hazy NEIPAs next to these really complex and intricate lagers that, in some cases, have been ageing for years. It makes a really easy place to spend an arvo as you make your way through the list.
“At its core though, Village is about friendship, and it’s our hope that it’s the place where mates can come, hang out and have a good time, and a really cool beer experience is the fun added bonus.”
As Harriet emphasises, the focus at Village is as much about the beer as it is friendship, and that’s exactly how the collaboration came to be in the first place.
Explaining to Beer & Brewer where the idea for the taproom originated, Boehm said: “Well mainly because we’re friends, like personal friends, and have been since before both of these brands or businesses we operate began. And we love drinking each other’s beer, we think it’s great and it’s the best of what our country has to offer.
“We love beer and want to share and celebrate that nuance and variety, rather than attempting to deliver the same beer styles and experiences that’s on offer seemingly everywhere else,” he added.
The opening of Village marks the third venue for Mountain Culture, alongside the Emu Plains Craft Beer Taproom and the Katoomba Brewpub. Being a shared venue, Village has a totally different feel to the other two, Harriet explains.
“Katoomba is the heart and soul of Mountain Culture and you go there to get a feel for where we’ve come from and enjoy the beautiful Blue Mountains. Emu Plains is much more industrial and everything feels big and state-of-the-art.
“Village, on the other hand, is different again because you’re in this laneway in Marrickville, and when you walk in, it’s like you step into another world. It’s so unique, and the level of detail that has gone into it to ensure that you have best beer experience possible is what makes it so special,” she added.
While Village has a clear point of difference from Mountain Culture’s other venues, there are some similarities that will weave the personality of the two existing venues into this collaborative space.
Just like the Katoomba and Emu Plains venues, the walls will be lined with cans from previous brews, and the popular tater tots will also make an appearance on the menu.
A one-stop showcase
One of the main considerations of any collaboration is how best to reflect the identities of both brands, and in this case, Boehm says this was achieved by focusing on the service of the beer, and ensuring each pour reaches the customer exactly as it was intended to.
“For Village, we’ve installed an additional 11 tap lines to best pour and exhibit MCBC beers without affecting the specifically designed 10 taps for Wildflower beers, which are served warmer and through specific taps.
“Additionally, five of those new 11 taps are a specific ‘side pull’ tap that we imported directly from the Czech Republic in order to serve their lagers in the fullest experience we can.”
While the installation of LUKR Czech taps is on the pricier side, and the system harder and slower to pour from than a standard Australian brumby tap, using traditional side-pull faucets ensures that customers experience the full breadth and mouthfeel of certain lagers.
Earlier this year, the two breweries began working on an ongoing ‘rustic’ lager collaboration, and this will also utilise the LUKR Czech taps.
The concept for the rustic lager program predates Mountain Culture and Wildflower, an idea that was thrown around by DJ and Boehm long before either brewery was born, as a means of honouring traditional lager brewing techniques and styles.
“[This] allows both of us to play around and explore lager-making techniques long lost with the efficiencies of commercial lager production and modernised equipment,” says Boehm.
The return of Village ale
While there are many new releases just around the corner, one collaborative beer that Mountain Culture and Wildflower fans can expect to return is Village. Set for a third edition, the release of Village 2023, named for the year it was put to bottle, celebrates the launch of the joint venture.
Adhering closely to the traditional lambic and gueuze production methods practiced in Brussels, Village 2023 was brewed without the direct introduction of yeast.
Instead, Boehm explains how it is made: “In the 2020, 2021 and 2022 winter seasons the blend of ales in this beer were each cooled from boiling temperatures in copper coolship overnight exposed to the environs of the Blue Mountains world heritage site before being fermented and aged in oak without addition of yeast or bacteria.
“There are only a handful of producers globally who attempt these types of fermentations, most similar to the process of starting your own sourdough starter at home, and with enough anecdotal knowledge and experience, it can create one of the most uniquely flavoured beers on the planet.”
From the beer, Boehm says customers can expect a delightfully refreshing ale with aromas of aged hops and oak, leading into a textural palate with gentle acidity, warming oak component and a wonderful funk.
“Overall, it’s an ale whose complexity indicates the nearly four years it has taken to make,” he added.
The new Village taproom officially opens to the public on Friday 26 July, with a weekend of opening specials planned, including the unveiling of Village 2023 and special pies from Sydney’s AP Bakery.