Wayward Brewing and Vivid Sydney

OK, I’ll admit that this post is a combination of a couple of ferry trips. Let’s get the second trip out of the way first. At the moment in Sydney, the Vivid Sydney Festival is in full swing. Between 24 May and 10 June, Sydneysiders are treated to an awesome, free light show that is simply mind-blowing. 10 buildings in and around the CBD are lit up in quite remarkable ways. What they do to the Opera House alone is brilliant. illiards and I were treated to array of designs that harked back to old boom boxes and sound systems with images of volume gauges and LED display lights. It’s good enough that you’d almost stay out the back for the return trip and a third trip. The best tip is get out the back of the 6.30 ferry 10 minutes before departure and catch 15 minutes of the light show. We’ll be back out the Back again on Thursday, having another gander at an unmissable Sydney event.

I work in a particularly dull industry. Gets me out and about, but it’s just not that exciting – and it’s no surprise that many participants have a sideline. Fortunately, two blokes that I’ve known separately for a many years in a professional capacity have turned out to have as good a sideline as one can get – they’re brewers. You’ve already met Dave – the head brewer and co-founder of Riverside Brewing. Well, he’s a generous chap because he lets other brewers use his facilities and one of those is another bloke that I’ve known for years is Peter – the founder of Wayward Brewing.

Peter generously gave me a six pack of stubbies to sample. 3 bottles of Keller Instinct and 3 bottles of Charmer India Red Ale. Now I love a good beer name and Keller Instinct is up there with the best of them. His label is also absolutely magnificent. Have a really close look at it. There’s a t-shirt in that, Peter. Equally good in the label department is Charmer. Peter’s working on a couple of new brews at the moment that may top these for nomenclature, but I won’t let the cat out of the bag. Both beers are belters. The Keller’s got my vote. It’s a hefty, malty treat. The Charmer is a sessionable, fresh tasting hop drop. No hop bomb – just a great tasting, easy drinking beer. Looking forward to having both of these out of the tap soon. They’ll make it out the Back of the Ferry again soon as well. Cheers, Peter – thank goodness for diversions.