On their mind was an optimal position for length of sun exposure during the forthcoming summer.

Extrapolation, along with a bit of guesswork, and the Southern Highlands Brewing Hop Yard was born. 

With their sights on a true Southern Highlands hop harvest, in September of 2016 the boys experimented and planted some hop rhizomes - including Chinook, Cascade and Goldings.

James, the head brewer at SHBC, had been growing hops experimentally on his property for a few years and had total faith that the time was right and that their efforts would pay off.

The Southern Highlands is deemed a hop-favourable climate due to its location, just on the cusp of 35 degrees latitude, with a propensity for very cold winters.

The first Sutton Forest hop harvest occurred in February 2017.

Naturally Cameron and Ben undertook a couple of “in-house” trials, primarily using their best grower of the season- the Chinook- with an aim to gauging the bittering and aromatic qualities they could design a beer around.

“I have a few local amateur brewer mates who’d been growing and making their own home-brews from hops they’d raised themselves for quite a few years,” James said. 

“I’d tried plenty of theirs- bloody good- so I knew we were onto something for SHBC.”

The hops lay dormant through the cold winter of 2017, and the harvest season of 2018 was characterised by a hot, dry summer.

Irrigation through those months saw a yield of enough beautiful hops for a small-batch run of the newly- created ‘Sutton Forest Hop Harvest’.

Wet-hopped late in the kettle and the whirlpool, there’s a touch of roast for depth and significant Vienna malt dominance.

The process resulted in a very Autumnal Golden Ale, conjuring all the good things that the season in the Southern Highlands brings to mind.

Significantly, this marks a first for the region, a beer that has been planted, nurtured, harvested and brewed for sale right here in the Highlands.