The first time Clayton Morrison attempted to brew his own beer, the result was “rubbish”.
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However the less-than-ideal result didn’t deter the amateur, whose hobby quickly became an obsession.
An operations coordinator at McCain by day, Mr Morrison will be waiting with bated breath at Saturday’s Ballarat Beer festival as he looks to go back-to-back in the festival’s home brewing competition.
In 2016 Mr Morrison’s northern English brown ale was named best of show, and in 2017 the 31-year-old will be hoping one of his three offerings makes the cut.
Mr Morrison said his love affair with brewing began back in 2014 out of fascination.
“I went to Big W and got a Coopers home brew kit and began with tinned ingredients,” Mr Morrison said. “Now at any given time I could have 150 kilograms of malt in storage, 15 to 20 different types of hops in the freezer as well as different yeasts.”
Mr Morrison is one of many throughout the region who have taken up the practice, with some estimates placing the Ballarat brewing community at as many as 3000 people.
In the last 12 months two of those local home brewers have made the leap to commercial brewing, with Peter Parry opening Athletic Club on Mair Street and Malcolm Sachs starting Cubby Haus on Humffray Street South.
“The home brew community and the professional craft brewers in Ballarat are all really approachable,” Mr Morrison said. “We all support each others beers and offer feedback, and it’s more about enjoying the beer for what it is than getting plastered.”
This year’s home brew competition which drew 42 entrants was judged by Federation University’s brewing program coordinator Doctor Peter Aldred. The many years the university has placed Ballarat on the brewing map by offering the largest professional course in the southern hemisphere.
The competition’s winner will get the opportunity to brew their drop at the university’s commercial brewery.
Dr Aldred said while he had initially been reluctant to judge the competition, he was left pleasantly surprised by the quality of beer from the region’s amateurs.
“Previously I’ve encountered a lot of poor quality beers in the few amateur competitions I’ve judged,” Dr Aldred said. “The brewers got the basics down very well, so in many ways the choice was about which beers had the best balance of flavour for that particular style.”
Winners of the seven categories and the best on show will be revealed at the Ballarat Beer Festival, which kicks off at 11am at City Oval.