Interview - We Chat Beer With Zeke Hower From Earth Beer Company At Cudgen
Friends of Silver Belle Vintage Caravan Bar
If you visited us at the 2021 Tweed Wedding Trail and grabbed a complimentary beer from our vintage caravan bar, then you probably heard us raving about the Earth Beer Company Rising Sun Pale Ale that we had on tap. We love a good beer and if it’s local, even more so.
On a working avocado farm at Cudgen, Northern NSW, Earth Beer Company (formerly Red Earth Brewery) has turned a humble tin packing shed into a new local favourite. Since opening just over a year ago, Earth Brewery has produced a range of quality beers crafted with the hot summer days, cool autumn nights and fresh local produce of the local area in mind.
Earth’s creative brewer, Zeke Hower, started his brewing journey at home, going on to spend six years working with Stone and Wood. In late 2019 he decided to jump into smaller scale beer production with Earth.
We had a chat with Zeke about the brewery and about his beer.
Zeke Hower from Earth Beer Company and Ashley Wroe from Silver Belle Events stand with Silver Belle Vintage Caravan Bar at Earth Brewery.
Tell us about when you first decided you wanted to brew beer?
I first decided I wanted to brew beer roughly 11 years ago when I was living in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the middle of winter and a friend took me to a bar / brewpub called Brew Dog, now known worldwide. It opened my mind to the complexity of beers and from then the flame started to burn. I love the creative side of it. To craft something from raw materials and when you get to sample the final product and it’s just as you imagined, that’s pretty priceless.
How did the vision for Earth Company Beer become realised?
From working on a small scale all the way up to large commercial scale brewing with Stone and Wood, I knew where my passion lay. The beauty of working on small scale brewing gives you the ability to put all your focus into diverse beers and expand your creativity from within, into a glass of delicious cold beer.
Once I understood that’s where my passion was, the next step was to create a boutique community-based brewery with my business partners Tommy and Richie.
What makes Earth Beer different to other beers?
All breweries have their own unique style.
Something that we really pride ourselves on here is the way we brew and manage our beer. Like a fine Sourdough bread, we make our beer with no fast tracking and give it all the love it deserves, allowing the beer to ferment for the perfect amount of time and give it all the appropriate time in tank to condition. This allows the yeast to breakdown the gluten properly which helps with digestion.
The same reason why lots of people can only eat sourdough bread, is the same reason why our beer won’t sit as heavy in your belly as other fast-tracked beers.
Tell us about the Rising Sun Pale Ale that was on the Silver Belle caravan bar taps at the wedding trail?
The Rising Sun is a beer made to represent the natural light, from the colours or fleeting light from dusk to dawn. It’s a little bit of sunshine in a glass.
We make it to the truest methods with no fast tracking of the beer, like the German law. It’s vegan friendly. We dry hop the beer with citra hop to give it its subtle citrus notes on the nose, well rounded bitterness and a pillowy smooth finish.
Image: Pipi and Palm Photography
You guys have a huge focus on community and giving back through your beer. Can you tell us about your Community Keg Initiative?
We always dreamt of creating a community-based brewery where one day we could give back to local charity's and things within the community that need some help.
The Community Keg Initiative is a way we can allocate all profits from a keg on any given day the brewery is open to a selected good cause in the community.
What new beers might we expect to see on the Earth taps in 2021?
We have just released a classic delicious Paradise Pilsner and we are close to releasing an Australian Pale Ale.
We try to create beers that suit the seasons and drink best during those times. Most of our beers reflect the change of seasons and weather. We will see some exciting things revolving around weather events and so on.
Do you have any tips for people deciding on a beer for their wedding or event?
We make a large variety of beers here; I believe we have something for everyone so I’m sure there will be something that is the perfect fit.
Image: Lady Bella Australia
If you could only drink one beer for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would get very bored, I have a strong passion for variety in life and always like to keep my taste buds dancing with variety, as it’s the spice of life.
The joy of using a BYO caravan bar like Silver Belle at your event is that you can serve whatever drinks you like, save on your bar costs, and you can choose to support amazing local producers like Earth Beer Company.
If you’re interested in serving Earth Beer on the Silver Belle caravan bar taps at your wedding or event, we can put you in touch with Zeke and help you to arrange kegs. Get in touch here.
You can visit Earth Beer Company and enjoy a round or two at 592 Cudgen Rd, Cudgen NSW 2487, Friday to Sunday, 11am-8pm.