Full Circle Brewery

Early last year The Mailbag ran a story on a boutique brewery that was being run by Mark and Nicola Sheridan on their property ‘Secret Creek’ in Bridgetown.

Plans were a foot to increase the size and scale of the brewery and move the whole operation into the basement of the Bridgetown Hotel, where patrons of the Hotel could watch the brewing and bottling stages through a glass wall.

The move is now complete with Mark installing three 700 litre fermenting tanks at the hotel.

Mark talks about the move into town and how it is working out, “Most of the problems we had with operating the brewery on the farm have been solved.

“The main issue we had on the farm was heating of the brewing tanks, I now use a three phase power heating mechanism, which has made for a much more efficient day.

“I can now heat a 500-litre kettle vat in around one hour, which is a tremendous improvement.

“The space we are renting in the hotel is much larger than the one on the farm, with the bigger space it has allowed us to invest in more equipment enabling us to increase the volume being brewed, giving us a cost advantage with the larger volumes of beer.

“We also get a lot more exposure for the Full Circle Brewery products brewing in the Hotel. Those that see the process may wish to taste the product.

“There is now a want for beer drinkers to sample the beers from all the different boutique breweries, so we seem to be in the right place at the right time, for the moment.”

Not only has the capacity been increased but Mark can now also brew a few very individual beers, one of new beers is Two Nannas NEIPA, New England Indian Pale Ale, which is a Hazy style beer. The beer has a minimal bitterness and a soft palate. This beer is brewed with protein rich oats and wheat. The beer also has ridiculous amounts of hops. It is brewed using ‘aroma hops’, hops which are grown with certain flavours, it has Mosaic and El Dorado which are a dual-purpose hop. It can be used for bittering, and can also give the beer a tropical fruity taste of mango and pineapple.

Aaron Hide has a great interest in the brewing of beer and helps Mark out with an ‘all hands to the wheel’ attitude. The beer he suggested that should be brewed is ‘British Amber’. This beer is brewed with bitter hops, and is a English style beer. This one is named ‘Upper Crust’.

Another new beer is the Sweet Sunshine Indian Pale Ale, which is a smooth and sweet, single hop beer using the Mighty Citra hop. The Citra hop has a strong, yet smooth floral and citrus aroma and flavor. It has specific aroma descriptors that include grapefruit, citrus, peach, melon, lime, gooseberry, passion fruit and lychee and a smooth bitterness.

The Extra Pale Ale, XPA has always been a favourite, is also an easy drinking beer, it has tropical aromas and with hop flavour.

“All in all, the move into town has worked out well. One of the main reasons for moving into town was the fact that I was made redundant from my Fly in Fly out job, I have since returned and been employed in the same job, one week on, one week off, so Nicola keeps an eye on the brewing process while I’m away.

“But the dream remains, the long-term plan is to establish a business which will provide an income along with an idyllic lifestyle for the whole family in Bridgetown.” Mark reflected.

The beer is now on tap and in cans at the Bridgetown Hotel, as well and it’s also available through Clovers Liquor Store in all varieties in cans.