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Monday, November 15, 2010

Eat, Sleep, Ride...then Drink?

If there was any sport that was designed from the outset with the objective to enjoy beer to it's absolute extent, I would definitely say that Mountain Biking would be that sport.

So when I was racking my brains for Birthday present ideas for Crusty, the concept of combining beer consumption and riding seemed too perfect to be true.
I had heard of a micro-brewery South of Melbourne, called Barleycorn Brewers, that allows you to brew your own beer just like a professional - no more exploding beer bottles in the basement and petrol-flavoured homebrew. You simply select a type of beer from their extensive menu, choose bottles or cans and after brewing up your batch you bottle an cap each one. They even give you the option to get your own custom labels made up.
A few phone calls were made, several hours in front of a computer with a graphic designer were booked in and the My Mountain crew were roped in to help out bring the whole thing together.



Located in Oakleigh South, Barleycorn Brewers really is a beer-lovers paradise.
Walking in to the warehouse, an array of metallic vats line the walls, bubbling with hops, yeast and hot water. A giant refridgerator sits in the middle of the floor filled with drums of fermenting beer, awaiting to be bottled and enjoyed by its maker.
Doing the brew is kind of like a tour; you have a guide that helps you find all the ingredients for your beer and walk you through the process step-by-step, whilst you sample beers and enjoy the cricket, football or whatever is playing on the flat screen TV.
Check out their website here: Barleycorn Brewers



After you have brewed your beer, you have 2 weeks to let the beer ferment before you come back for the bottling process.
In the mean time, you have the option to send in a design to have printed up as labels that you can then put on your bottles. We had the My Mountain logo teamed up with a twist on the store's slogan and finished in a beer-label style.
Although labels set you back an extra $70 for the 5 slabs of beer you get at the end, it's a great idea for a birthday, wedding or bucks party to create a really unique gift.
Overall your beer will cost you between $1.20-$2.50 per bottle depending on what type of beer you make and whether you get labels of not, and with the option to make beers such as Stella Artois and Asahi, it is certainly cheaper than the local bottle shop.



Filling the bottles is a bit of a skill, as it involves managing the constant stream of beer coming out of the tap by providing a flow of bottles. Each bottle is then capped and is ready to be taken home.

Although we paid for 5 slabs, we ended up with 6 and a bit, making the beers even better value - this present was just getting better and better!



The finished product!
We managed to get the beer bottled, labelled and capped the morning of the Gravity 12 hour race, and drove up to Mansfield in time to provide the My Mountain crew with refreshments towards the end of the race. After a day of riding through mud and racing against the clock, the beers were well-received as you can imagine.

Special thanks goes to those who helped put in for the present including:
Anita Sharma, Peta Barns, Tim Arch, Dave Shackleford, Troy Bussell, Mat Gray, Ben Crundwell, Jerry Vella, Greg Matthews and Suzie King.

My good mate Tristan also helped with many hours spent designing the logo for the beer labels.
This wasn't the first time that Tristan has helped us out with his creative abilities, as you may recognise some of his handiwork in the shop.



He both designed and fabricated the custom handlebar display that you can see at the front of the shop behind the counter. A qualified Industrial Designer, Tristan also has a natural talent when it comes to art and graphic design.



A recent addition to the My Mountain showroom is the new stencil artwork that has been applied to the display platforms in a very slick graffiti style. Tristan has displayed a number of his stencial artworks in various galleries around Melbourne and is developing a reputation for his unique style and quality.
If you have any design problems or requirements, no matter how weird and wonderful, feel free to shoot Tristan an email to see what he can offer you.
Check out his website here: http://www.tristantaitdesign.com/

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