King Road took home Champion Small Australian Brewery, proudly sponsored by HPA. The family owned and operated business may have begun as a self-described “home-style setup that made barely drinkable cider”, but has evolved into a state-of-the-art venue that brews award-winning beer and cider. After giving King Road time to celebrate their big win, we got in touch with Head Brewer Steve Wearing to congratulate the team and ask a few questions about their beers and the key to consistency.    

Q: Congrats on your recent success at the AIBAs. You went home with the trophy for Champion Small Australian Brewery and Best Traditional IPA. What does this kind of recognition mean to you?  

A: This is a huge credit to the brewing team. They work bloody hard, and it’s really nice to receive recognition for the consistent quality they are pushing out. Aside from the huge pat on the back, hopefully this will correlate to sales. We installed a can line late last year and are very much in a growth phase, so the timing couldn’t be better.  

Q: Your Pale Ale was also awarded a gold medal for the third consecutive year, earning you the coveted Consistency of Excellence Medal. They say consistency is key, but what’s the key to your consistency?

A: For me, it’s a culmination of the little things. There are many different ways to make good beer. We strive for consistency here as I strongly believe this is the path to great beer. We spend a lot of time training new staff that come through to ensure everyone is following the same procedures, allowing us to work hard at dialling in the finer details of a recipe, and hopefully achieve consistency from batch to batch.

Q: To round out an incredible evening, you were also awarded a gold medal for your Summer Ale, which just happens to feature Galaxy hops. How do you go about building the hop bill for a new beer?

A: This is something I struggled with for a long time. When I was first elevated to Head Brewer and had the responsibility of developing new recipes, I was never happy with the hop driven beers that I created. They were either too grassy, or astringent, or resinous… you get the idea. What I’ve come to learn is there is no silver bullet when it comes to recipe design. It takes experience to get to learn which hops play well together, what hopping rates are suitable for different styles, and which hopping techniques to use. We are lucky to have access to such a huge range of hop varieties, and now an array of different product formats (T90 pellets, concentrated pellets, liquid extracts, etc). For the consumer, this gives an almost unlimited number of beer flavour possibilities. To answer the question, developing a new beer, if it’s something similar to a beer I have brewed in the past, I just lean on experience. If it’s a completely new beer, I have a stab in the dark and push through a little 20L batch for proof of concept, and adjust from there.

Q: As a believer in continuous improvement, you’ve been known to experiment with seasonal beers from time to time. Which one of your creations truly had to be tasted to be believed? 

A: A few years ago we didn’t have a core range IPA. Instead, the intention was to have a seasonal release IPA on tap year-round, showcasing a different hop variety each release. In the second iteration of this we featured a hop called Strata, which was a relatively new and unknown variety out of the US at that stage. First time I tried it in tank, just after it was chilled, I was blown away by the big strawberry jam notes. It settled into a more mellow and balanced beer by the time it made it into keg, and I was really impressed with the beer. It was launched at Frothtown and was a crowd favourite. Shortly after, it took out a trophy at the AIBAs, and the again at the Perth Royal Beer Awards. It was obvious this needed to become core range, so the rotating IPA range only made it to iteration #2… It’s continued to win trophies and has been a big driver in the growth of our brand.

Q: You’ve made beers for the likes of Homestead and Blasta. What was it about King Road that attracted an award-winning, well-travelled brewer such as yourself?

A: The location was the initial attraction. A brewery that had a rural feel to it, but close enough that I didn’t need to move house and I was able to keep all the conveniences of living in Perth. What’s kept me here is the owners. It really is ‘family owned and run’. The owners are heavily involved in all aspects of the business and treat the staff like family. They have given myself and the brewing team a huge amount of support, allowing us to continue to grow.

Q: King Road is the perfect meeting spot right in the middle between north and south. How does your location influence the general atmosphere of the venue?

A: Our venue, although not far from the suburbs, is in the middle of farming land. It has the feel of a rural down south brewery, whilst only being 10 minutes from local suburbs, and about 45 mins from the CBD. On top of that, there is a big emphasis on being family friendly, with a huge playground and oval to keep the kids happy. The result is a very laid-back atmosphere where customers get the ‘away on holidays vibe’ without needing to travel too far.