Bridgetown brewer hops to success

A Bridgetown brewery has backed up its recent international success with an award-winning outing in Perth this month. The Cidery and Blackwood Valley Brewing Company took home silver and bronze for their special bitter and stout respectively at the Perth Royal Beer Awards. Brewer Mark Hollett, pictured, said he was certainly pleased with the results but was more focused on how his beers performed long-term. “For me it’s more about consistency over time,” he said. “I like to pop it in just to get that feedback. “That’s why we support these events, to get the feedback and it’s always great when you get a good result.” Mr Hollett said the English-style bitter was inspired by a trip he and his wife took to England in 2016. “We went all around the country and did a fair bit of travelling and that’s what I was sampling,” he said. “I went to some breweries and investigated traditional ingredients for that style of beer. “Generally for that style of beer you do need to get English types of malt and hops, I get a malt called Maris Otter for the actual base malt, and then the hops in there I use East Kent Golding and a little bit of Willamette. “It’s not screaming out at you with any particular flavour demands, some beers they’re very flamboyant, but a good English bitter is just a pleasant, soft, easy-drinking beer.” The latest achievements come after the brewery won gold for its chestnut ale and bronze for its truffle ale at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards last month — the biggest beer competition in the world. The Cidery’s stout was also a previous overall winner of the inaugural Perth Royal Beer Awards in 2007.