Hobart Brewing Co. Marks Second Anniversary with Colorado IPA

Hobart Brewing Company in Tasmania is celebrating its second anniversary with the release of a Colorado IPA.

The big and bold limited edition beer pays tribute to Hobart Brewing Co.'s co-founder and Head Brewer, Scott Overdorf, who learned his craft in the shadows of the Colorado Rockies.

Scott moved over to Tasmania and honed his brewing skills at Moo Brew for five years before meeting local beer fanatic, Brendan Parnell.

Following their passion for brewing using Tasmanian ingredients, Scott and Brendan decided to conceive Hobart Brewing Co. For the next 16-18 months, Scott and Brendan would brew their first two beers at Moo Brew while securing their own home and equipment in the capital city.

Today, Hobart Brewing Co. is located at Macquarie Point in an old, rustic shed, which features a tap room that welcomes guests to come and try the brewery's range of four core beers and series of seasonal, limited edition releases.

Currently, the brewery's core range includes its original and best-selling beer, the Harbour Master Tasmanian Ale, as well as the Saint Christopher Cream Ale, Iron Pot Rye Porter, and Xtra Tasmanian Pale Ale.

All of Hobart Brewing Co.'s beers have local roots, from the malts to the hops.

"All our beers have Tasmanian hops in them. We've done a few other things like use Tasman sea salt from the East Coast and handpicked chestnuts from the North-Western part of Tasmania, and we're looking at a few other alternate ingredients to use in our beers from local producers," said Brendan, who is General Manager at the brewery.

The Colorado IPA is the first to have been made from hops outside of Australia, including Chinook, Amarillo, and Simcoe.

The beer combines the big juicy hop flavours, haziness and overall restrained bitterness of East Coast style IPAs with the predominantly piney and citrus hop character and firm bitterness of West Coast style IPAs... Think a big American style IPA with mouth coating hop character backed up with a firm bitterness – over 90 IBU, plus 7.3%ABV.

Bars and pubs in Tasmania can place orders for the beer through Saint John Craft Beer Bar in Launceston, Tasmania. Note:  stock is extremely limited for this beer.

For now, the brewery is concentrating on selling beers to Tasmania, with the new distribution arm at Saint John Craft Beer Bar helping Hobart Brewing Co. stamp its mark on the local market. A few kegs are also being sold to Melbourne and Sydney.

Growth is also being helped by a new bottling line that was recently installed at the shed. The Xtra Pale Ale will be the first to go into bottle followed by a series of bottled conditioned beers.

"They'll be really interesting and always different," Brendan explained. "They're the types of beers that we'd like to take around to some of the bars and restaurants in Tasmania. I think those will fit really well with people who are looking to have a bottle of wine with their dinner; this will be another option that can match up with their food."