Yenda comes out of the wilderness
A brand of new craft brews has seemingly come from nowhere.
That is appropriate. Yenda is a long way from the nation’s big cities. So the town’s name fits perfectly for a beer maker emerging from the wilderness.
The Australian Beer Company is based in rural New South Wales. Even general manager Derek O’Donnell refers to Yenda, near Griffiths, as being in the “outback”.
“We are a massive metropolis of 1000 people. If you’re driving it is about eight hours west to Sydney and five hours south to Melbourne,” O’Donnell said.
And from that base head brewer Andy Mitchell has put together an impressive range of beers, from a Helles to India Pale Ale.
For almost any other brewery in such a location getting the produce to market would seemingly be a logistical nightmare.
Not for Yenda. The brand is the flagship of Coca-Cola Amatil’s return to Australian brewing after a two-year absence.
“For most craft brewers sales and distribution is a problem,” O’Donnell said.
“That’s the flip for us. We’re 50 per cent owned by CCA and the trade off is that we get access to their sales and distribution.
“I won’t hide from it, it gives us a sense of optimism because we are able to get our beers into the market.”
Unfortunately, there will be craft beer aficionados who will immediately take a step back on reading that a small local brewery is significantly controlled by a multi-national drinks giant.
And there is no doubt the Australian Beer Co. are trying to borrow the history and traditions of the 99-year-old town in Yenda’s brand image.
But so what? The beers are produced in a small operation and have targeted a marketing idea that will prove more alluring to those on the cusp of breaking away from the mass produced drops from the two Big Boys – Lion and CUB.
A Helles-style Lager could well play Pied Piper in drawing drinkers to new territory.
The beer, called Hell, is unfiltered and has a super grapefruit aroma and taste. It is unfiltered and the Vic Secret hop provides great flavour.
“With the Helles the Vic Secret gives a pineapple taste too, which is slightly different from the normal lager,” Mitchell said.
And the subtle differences to a highly popular style will hopefully encourage those who have shunned experimentation to give craft a chance.
“There is still a lot of people conditioned to the standard lagers. They perceive craft as only Ale. But craft is about flavour,” O’Donnell said.
“We’re hoping that for people who might have been afraid of craft this becomes their craft drink. Craft is something to enjoy not fear.
“In every country beer is in decline but craft beer continues to grow. And it is domestic craft that is the growth stream in every country. This is where the Australian Beer Company comes into play. We have fantastic Australian produce, fantastic barley and fantastic apples for cider.
“CCA has very strong Molson Coors brands on the multi-national side and are strong in cider with Rekorderlig and now Yenda comes forward to give them a portfolio balance.”
The labels on the five Yenda beers also gives drinkers a malt and hop profile reading and suggestions about what foods would be good matches.
Yenda’s 3.5 per cent Red has great impact on the mouth with the dark crystal and Munich malts. There is a plum twist and plenty of sweetness. A blind taster would have difficulty detecting this wasn’t full strength.
The company’s Pale Ale also picked up a silver medal at the Craft Beer Industry Awards last year. It was just the beer’s second brewing.
Mitchell has plans for a couple of seasonal beers, including a Belgian Dubbel with cardamom as “something a bit different” for autumn, and a Chocolate Vanilla Stout for colder months.
Yenda has been progressively available on keg but will launch into packaged beer from tomorrow.
