My love of beer stemmed from a few nomadic years of traveling before I was introduced to the world of brewing (and a cracking IPA) over lazy days at the iconic Sail and Anchor Hotel. I embarked on my journey in beer with a Head Brewer role at The Monk in Fremantle while I also completed a Graduate Diploma in Micro Brewing at Edith Cowan University. In 2011, I joined the team at the Swan Brewery as Technical Brewer, honing my skills on a 700HL brewhouse. 

At Swan’s closure in 2013, I joined the Colonial Brewing Co team as Head Brewer, spending 2 years running their Margaret River site. I then moved East to launch their second facility, a production brewery in Port Melbourne. 

In late 2016, I took a left turn, joining the team at Bintani Australia, as their Head of Sales, Products and Development. My five years with Bintani allowed me to work closely with brewers across Australia, assisting with innovation, technical issues, and best practices across their extensive range of brewing ingredients.

I have partnered with the BBS team as I am passionate about sharing my experience to help the next generation of brewers across all aspects of their businesses. Getting things right from the start is essential, and I thoroughly enjoy connecting with brewers to walk them through key decisions like brew length, vessel config, heating method, cellar sizing, and more.

Complimenting the design and layout services I provide through Bespoke, I offer expertise and technical guidance across a wide range of brewing specifics, through my consultancy business Fox Unlocks. Some key focus points include:

Recipe & Brand Development:

Making the most of first impressions, it’s critical to put quality beer in the hand from day one. I offer individual recipe projects that include a discovery session, split ferment pilot brews, and tasting review feedback for final adjustments before contract brewery onboarding. I most recently worked with Hawke’s Brewing Co to develop their core range, claiming champion Australian Lager at the AIBA with their first release Hawke’s Lager and a Gold Medal for their second, Hawke’s Patio Pale.

Sensory Programs – Fault Training:

My journey has afforded me the opportunity to engage in judging beer across Australia and New Zealand for over a decade. I have regularly been honored to judge at the Australian International Beer Awards, and currently sit as a member of the competition advisory group. My experience includes table captain roles across the IBA’s Indies, Brewers Guild of New Zealand, and two years as Chief Judge of the Perth Royal Beer Show. I am passionate about building sensory skills in all brewers, by hosting fault training sessions and supporting breweries to establish sensory programs. I am also available to assist brewers to navigate the entry process and category selections for beer competitions.

Long-Term Flexible Consultancy:

The diversity of skills required to successfully run a modern brewery is extensive and constantly shifting. I offer extended retainer packages that recognize these changing priorities, providing technical expertise across the business wherever the immediate need is at the time. Be it brewing, cellaring, or packaging best practice, inventory, and administration, sales and branding, procurement and training, safety and compliance, or benchmarking and continuous improvement.