He recognises “Galaxy^® is a huge part of Pacific Ale and Pacific Ale is a huge part of our Stone & Wood brewing business. What I really love about Galaxy^® is that you can open a bag of hops to smell next to a bottle of Pacific Ale, show people, and they reference the aroma in the bag and in the beer instantly.”

High in oils and bitterness, Brad describes Galaxy^® as an “all-rounder you can use as a bittering hop early in the brew-house kettle and also late in the fermenter to get the aromatics, where it has a very floral, tropical flavour of passionfruit and paw paw”.

By no means a hop monogamist, Brad enjoys “the fruit salad of different hops” from our gardens. Stone & Wood’s Garden Ale limited release offers a real opportunity to experiment with the hops. When using Summer^™ and Ella^™ he found they have a very aromatic, strong oil content which pulled flavours out that people can really detect.

Brewing since the early 90s, Brad’s crafted a number of brews allowing him to experiment with many different hops, malts, water and yeasts. Brad prefers to let the hops express themselves individually, so you really get a sense of the hop characters.

Whatever the method, Brad’s aim is always to make beer that’s really drinkable. He just wants people to enjoy craft beer.

In Brad’s fridge right now, you can find beers from the UK & Germany after a recent trip to the other side, including Fullers and Camden Brewery beers, as well as some home grown Stone & Wood Pacific Ale and Stone Beer. You’ll find Brad and his fridge in Byron Bay, living the dream.