Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Amber

Wild Ale - Other

Amber is a well cellared, rounded, malt-accentuated Australian wild ale. Our traditional recipe calls for an extended boil which caramelises rustic pale… Read More

Amber is a well cellared, rounded, malt-accentuated Australian wild ale. Our traditional recipe calls for an extended boil which caramelises rustic pale grains in order to develop a copper colour and malt sweetness. Light levels of hopping balance with the toasty characters in an extended cooler fermentation with our house culture. Following fermentation, we rack Amber into French oak barrels to further develop a smooth palate and express funky, tart characteristics from our indigenous yeast. We select and blend well evolved barrels for a desired malt forward with subtle acidic character. The slightly heavier characteristics of this beer make a fantastic complement to food and offer a variety of flavours to both compare and contrast in pairing. Read Less

Gold

Wild Ale - Other

Gold is a medium strength Australian Wild Ale best enjoyed in good company. Delicately balanced, gold shows notes of pepper, fresh hops, lemon zest and… Read More

Gold is a medium strength Australian Wild Ale best enjoyed in good company. Delicately balanced, gold shows notes of pepper, fresh hops, lemon zest and stone fruits. The palate is effervescent and bone dry with a subtle spicy bitterness, pillowy body and developing acidity from the indigenous flora. This beer undergoes a warm primary fermentation in wide vats before being transferred into French oak barrels for maturation. Barrels are then selected and blended to meet our desired character before being packaged and naturally bottle conditioned for a minimum of 12 weeks for ideal carbonation. Only then do we release this unspiced wild ale to be enjoyed at table with your favourite foods and best of friends. Read Less

Organic Table Beer

Table Beer

A certified Organic mixed culture house beer made with organic Schooner Barley and organic Malted Wheat from Organically Greenwood in Coleambally, NSW… Read More

A certified Organic mixed culture house beer made with organic Schooner Barley and organic Malted Wheat from Organically Greenwood in Coleambally, NSW and organic NZ Motueka. Read Less

Good As Gold

Wild Ale - Other

A 50/50 blend of barrel aged Gold with fresh Gold that has just completed primary fermentation. This composition of aged and fresh beer is what we had… Read More

A 50/50 blend of barrel aged Gold with fresh Gold that has just completed primary fermentation. This composition of aged and fresh beer is what we had originally intended for our Gold. It didn't end up like that though, as Gold is 100% barrel aged.

We love the fresh fermentation esters and bright hop character we get in our young fermentations. This is what we focus on in beers like The International & As It Were (coming in November). But we can't hide that we also love the apparent funk, creamy mouthfeel and complex fermentation flavours of aged beer. We dont think of this blend as being a best of both worlds, but more an attempt (and this is only the first one) to marry these flavours harmoniously. One of the beers that really got me thinking about making mixed culture beers at all was BFM √225. It was the first biere de coupage I tasted and still remains a little bit of a mountain for me. Good as Gold may be made in the same fashion as and with a lot of inspiration from √225 but has a distinctively Wildflower feel. Read Less

Solera

Wild Ale - Other

Solera is a 30% NSW raw spelt beer fermented with our house culture and aged in foudre. It’s recipe is similar to our Gold except raw wheat is exchanged… Read More

Solera is a 30% NSW raw spelt beer fermented with our house culture and aged in foudre. It’s recipe is similar to our Gold except raw wheat is exchanged for raw spelt. We will be taking successive pulls of this large barrel and are excited to watch the development of these pulls as the beer inside continually and eventually blends itself. Because we get less a chance to intervene and blend ourselves, Solera appears more tart than our Gold and Amber blends and has a distinctly unique body. Read Less

Hive: Post Brood

Wild Ale - Other

A collaboration with our friends, and honey superstars Tim and Emma from Malfory's Gold honey, Hive: Post Brood is a barrel aged golden Australian Wild… Read More

A collaboration with our friends, and honey superstars Tim and Emma from Malfory's Gold honey, Hive: Post Brood is a barrel aged golden Australian Wild Ale refermented with natural formed Warré hive post-brood wild comb from the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands of NSW. The Malfroy's Post Brood Polyflora is unlike any honey I have ever tasted and indeed a unique product. The beer is our aged Gold refermented and macerated on the left over comb, untreated or heated... just natural, after Tim’s milling and gravity straining of the post brood comb. He doesn’t spin or press the comb, just lets time do its thing. But what happens is that there is still a bit of honey clinging to the waxy comb (along with all the other good propolis, bee bread and pollen). So in September 2020, after much chatting, Tim sent some of that ‘honeywax’ he calls it (the left over comb mixed with honey & others), to us and we employed our hearty yeasts to clean off the comb and ferment any extra goodness on the comb. Old school mead was made this way too, by the comb washings, not from honey dilution. I can give no analogue for the flavours this honeywax (and all the still active microflora) has imparted on our beer. This is an inherently special thing to be a part of though, almost certainly a first, and I am very thankful to Tim for trusting me with this rare gift of nature. Read Less

Foggy Morning

Smoked Beer

Made entirely from the first batch of Stringy Bark smoked malt from Voyager Craft Malt, fermented with our house culture and aged in barrel.

Made entirely from the first batch of Stringy Bark smoked malt from Voyager Craft Malt, fermented with our house culture and aged in barrel. Read Less

St Phoebe 2020

Wild Ale - Other

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with plums. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife Emily's first daughter, Saint Phoebe was a… Read More

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with plums. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife Emily's first daughter, Saint Phoebe was a first century deaconess from modern day Greece. In 2020, this beer was made from golden mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer and 722kg of fresh, tree ripened Ebony Sun plums hand picked from Thornbrook Orchard in Nashdale, NSW.

St Phoebe 2020 was made in a similar manner to St Abigail and St Thomas whereby we source and macerate whole, real fruit from Nashdale with barrel ripened Gold from our cellar. This year, the beer had a whole four months to hang out with these plums and soak up every last bit of their sweet plummy goodness before being blended and bottled in early July 2020. For 17 weeks the beer went through its ultimate fermentation in bottle for carbonation and conditioned concurrently. At this month of release, it is 5.6% ABV and super tasty. Strong skinsy pinot gris pet nat vibes. Lifted nose, perfumed (rose water) and full of ripe sweet fruit. Surprisingly funky and with a dark spice complexity. The palate shines, beautiful, subtly pretty integration with the fruit, creamy carbonation, sweet purple fruits and a moreish gentle acidity to finish. Read Less

Table

Table Beer

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St Thomas 2019

Fruit Beer

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife's first son, the Saint Thomas Aquinas was… Read More

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife's first son, the Saint Thomas Aquinas was an immensely influential 13th century philosopher and theologian. In 2019, it was made from amber mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer and 1000kg of tree ripened, whole fresh Morello sour cherries from Thornbrook Orchard in Orange, NSW.

We made a bit more of Thomas this year than we had planned for due to us taking a whole load of hail-damaged cherries that Thornbrook couldn't sell as first class. The flavour and skin integrity was on point, but the majority had small dents in them that knocked them out of contention for the markets. I picked up the fruit in Orange on 2 Jan '19 and drove back to Sydney in time to fill a stainless vessel with the fruit and rack barrel 1717 (9 month old Amber) into the vessel for a refermentaion. Due to the volume of fruit, we were forced to leave the fruit whole, not even destemming the fruit, which I was confident about after speaking to some friends who do similarly in the UK. We believe this lends to the digestif character which we love. Over the next 3 months, the fruit macerated and fermented with Amber from our cellar from barrels 1716 (5 month old Amber), 1755 (9 month old Amber), 1767 (6 month Amber), 1768 (11 month Amber), 1773 (15 month old Amber), 1821 (10 month old Amber) and 1826 (11 month old Amber). We packaged it on April 17th and aged for in bottle for 11 weeks before release. Read Less

St Abigail 2020

Wild Ale - Other

St Abigail is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with white peaches. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife Emily's second daughter, Saint Abigail… Read More

St Abigail is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with white peaches. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife Emily's second daughter, Saint Abigail was a medieval healer and beekeeper from County Clare, Ireland. In 2020, this beer was made from golden mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer and 1100kg of fresh, tree ripened white peaches hand picked from Thornbrook Orchard in Nashdale, NSW.

We had a hunch this beer would be special at bottling, however at release, its full colours have come out and made it one of our favourite beers to have been made here. Peach dominant aromas. Sweet perfumed ripe white Peaches and peach fuzz. Vanilla custard, vanilla slice, vanilla cake. Soft, engaging and delicious.The palate reflects the nose with peach flesh the hero. The gold base sings, lending wonderful acidity, vibrancy and freshness. A sherbety funky peach finish that persists a long long time.

A real standout marriage of fruit and beer. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Read Less

St Phoebe 2019

Wild Ale - Other

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with raspberries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first daughter. Saint Phoebe was a 1st century… Read More

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with raspberries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first daughter. Saint Phoebe was a 1st century deaconess from modern day Greece. Read Less

How's the Serenity

Australian Sparkling Ale

A sparkling Australian Wild Ale made with organic malted schooner barley (AU), organic black patent malt(AU), organic raw sugar(AU) and Pride of Ringwood… Read More

A sparkling Australian Wild Ale made with organic malted schooner barley (AU), organic black patent malt(AU), organic raw sugar(AU) and Pride of Ringwood hops(AU). Fermented and aged in a single 500 l puncheon before bottling, conditioning and maturation for four months before release.

How's the Serenity is a nod to one of our favourite beers and showcases the primary characteristics of our house culture, is well hopped and packaged in #greenbottle. Read Less

St Thomas 2020

Wild Ale - Other

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife's first son, the Saint Thomas Aquinas was… Read More

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. While the beer is named for Chris and his wife's first son, the Saint Thomas Aquinas was an immensely influential 13th century philosopher and theologian. In 2020, it was made from amber mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer and 800kg of tree ripened, whole fresh Morello sour cherries from Thornbrook Orchard in Orange, NSW.

At release. St Thomas 2020 opens with aromas of rich cherry liqueur, bright after dinner mint and soft chocolate notes. Palate is on point. Loaded with bright sweet cherry fruit flavours across it, the Amber base beer gives profound complexity with dark chocolate, sweet spice, more red (currant) fruits and nuttiness. The harmony is wonderful, creating a simultaneously clean cherry forward beer while also a deeply complex and evolving drink.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner Munich malt, Binya NSW grown S.O. LaTrobe Vienna malt and Riverina NSW grown chocolate malt from Voyager Craft Malt. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 20 May 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 11 weeks. At bottling it was 6.7% ABV, 18 IBU and 2.5°P (FG = 1.010 SG). Read Less

St Florence 2018: Sauvignon Blanc

Grape Ale - Other

St Florence is an Australian wild ale refermented with wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife's first daughter and released around Florence's… Read More

St Florence is an Australian wild ale refermented with wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife's first daughter and released around Florence's birthday. The Saint Florence was a 7th century abbess from Cartagena, Spain. After a 3 week carbonic maceration, the bunches were drowned in a single 9 month old puncheon of our Lager Beer wort fermented only with our NSW culture. These two were blended together on 11 April 2018 and left together to co-ferment for nearly 3 months when on July 3 we blended in barrel #1777, an 8 month old barrel of a similar NSW culture fermented lager beer wort. It was packaged on the same day at 5.5% ABV and 0.01P (1.000 SG). We packaged just under 1,000 bottles of St Florence: Sauvignon Blanc. At release, this beer has a strong vinous nose with savvy characters of lemon citrus and grassy herbaceous complemented with yeasty, funky aged beer aromas. The front palate is dominated by citrus and melon. A phenolic grip provides a structural depth to the beer and helps integrate the strong influence of the fruit with the complexity of the aged beer. More complete than Florence ‘17 the ‘18 will reward those who allow it to continue to age in bottle. Read Less

As It Were

Farmhouse Ale - Saison

As it Were is our idea of beer as it was. I think it's kind of like what maybe the olden day seasonal worker beers in parts of Europe, as it were, could… Read More

As it Were is our idea of beer as it was. I think it's kind of like what maybe the olden day seasonal worker beers in parts of Europe, as it were, could have possibly tasted like. A dry beer made with malted barley and raw wheat, fermented in oak without temperature control by a mixture of yeasts and bacteria. Made bitter by noble, spicy Hallertauer Mittelfrüh and allowed to condition in bottle for a number of months. Read Less

St Henry 2018

Fruit Beer

ST HENRY is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with apricots. It is named for Chris and his wife's second son and released around Henry’s birthday. The… Read More

ST HENRY is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with apricots. It is named for Chris and his wife's second son and released around Henry’s birthday. The Saint Henry II was a Holy Roman Emperor during the 11th century. In 2018, the beer was made from golden mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer that was racked onto 230kg of fresh, tree ripened Moongold apricots from Thornbrook Orchard in Orange, NSW. The two were left in contact together for 10 weeks allow for near-complete fermentation by cultures both off the skins of the apricots as well as those still alive in the beer at racking. It was packaged on 2 March. Read Less

The International

Farmhouse Ale - Saison

Collaboration ale fermented in oak barrels and hopped with Hallertau Blanc. Designed by the Saison, Bière de Garde & Farmhouse Ale Appreciation society… Read More

Collaboration ale fermented in oak barrels and hopped with Hallertau Blanc. Designed by the Saison, Bière de Garde & Farmhouse Ale Appreciation society and brewed independently at 10 breweries in 8 countries using local ingredients and individual house cultures. Read Less

St Phoebe 2018

Wild Ale - Other

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with raspberries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first daughter. Saint Phoebe was a 1st century… Read More

St Phoebe is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with raspberries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first daughter. Saint Phoebe was a 1st century deaconess from modern day Greece.

In 2018, the beer was made from 3 barrels of golden mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer. 1762 (9 month old barrel of our Pilsner wort fermented with our NSW culture), 1734 (a 9 month old barrel of Gold) and 1766 (a 4 month old barrel of Gold). On January 25, 2018, 1734 and 1766 were racked onto 160kg of frozen raspberries from late in 2017 originating from Coffs Harbour, NSW. Anecdotally, this is also where Chris is from.

The two barrels and beer were then blended into the tank (see photo above) with the raspberries and left in contact together for 20 weeks to allow for near-complete fermentation. On 13 June, we blended in 1762 based on needed structure. This is our preferred method to fruit referments. Overshoot the fruit rate initially, and blend to taste after the referment. It was packaged on the same day and allowed to go through a tertiary fermentation for carbonation and conditioning for 8 weeks. At bottling it was 5.0% ABV and 1.9 P (1.008 SG).

Like all our beers, St Phoebe is best enjoyed when decanted off a settled natural yeast sediment at cellar temperatures (10-12°C). Read Less

St Walter 2020: Black Muscat

Wild Ale - Other

St Walter is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with red wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife's first son and the Saint Walter was an 11th… Read More

St Walter is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with red wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife's first son and the Saint Walter was an 11th century monk from the Loire Valley in France and is the patron saint of vintners.
St Walter was made in a method we have come to adopt for wine grape beer refermentations. The fruit for this beer comes from an old plot of table grapes at Thornbrook Orchard in Nashdale, NSW. After being hand picked on 25 March, we put the fruit into a three week carbonic maceration before racking two barrels (1904 & 1736) of aged Gold onto the semi-fermenting fruit on 16 April 2020. The beer and grapes macerated and refermented together for just under three months. The grapey beer was then transferred off the fruit and washed with barrels 1863, 1601, 1712, 1605 and 1814 of aged Gold before bottling on 29 July 2020 and allowed to condition in bottle for 18 weeks before release.

At release, we see big aromatics of rosewater, turkish delight and sweet lolly. The palate is fresh but without the cloying flavours you would assume from these aromatics. Light grippiness with a fresh concord grape, vitis labrusca finish. Lots of energy and fruit in what is a very enjoyable beer to drink. Read Less

St Thomas 2018

Fruit Beer

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first son. Saint Thomas Aquinas was an immensely influential… Read More

St Thomas is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with cherries. It is named for Chris and his wife's first son. Saint Thomas Aquinas was an immensely influential 13th century philosopher and theologian.

In 2018, the beer was made from 3 barrels of amber mixed fermentation, barrel aged beer. 1720 (9 month old barrel of Amber), 1710 (a 10 month old barrel of Amber) and 1764 (a 6 month old barrel of Amber). On January 15, 2018, 1710 and 1720 were racked onto 200kg of fresh, tree ripened morello cherries from Thornbrook Orchard in Orange, NSW. The fruit took us three days, and a whole lot of help from our friends, to destem. These cherries had some of the most amazing flavour we have ever tasted in fresh fruit. They were brimming with juiciness that paired perfectly with their clean tartness. More than a few did not make it into the beer.

The two barrels and beer were then blended into the tank (see photo above) with the cherries and left in contact together for 10 weeks to allow for near-complete fermentation by cultures both off of the skins of the cherries as well as those still alive in the beer at racking to fruit. On 21 March, we blended in 1764 based on needed structure. This is our preferred method to fruit referments. Overshoot the fruit rate initially, and blend to taste after the referment. It was packaged on the same day and allowed to go through a tertiary fermentation for carbonation and conditioning for 15 weeks. At bottling it was 6.0% ABV and 2.0 P (1.008 SG). Read Less

Noel 2019

Wild Ale - Other

Noel is a festive Australian Wild Ale aged in ex-Muscat barrels, unspiced and made entirely of Voyager malts. First made in time for the 2018 holidays,… Read More

Noel is a festive Australian Wild Ale aged in ex-Muscat barrels, unspiced and made entirely of Voyager malts. First made in time for the 2018 holidays, this is one of the releases I have most been looking forward to in 2019. I wanted something suitable for the table at Christmas lunch, something to pair with spiced ham, to share with family and friends. An occasional beer made specifically for that occasion.

Noel is the only beer we have released to expressly name the type of barrels the beer was aged in. For pretty much all the rest of our beer, the barrel is a vessel, not a flavour additive... but this just had to be an exception. Noel 2019, as in 2018, is aged in six ex-Muscat barrels from Clonakilla Winery in Murrumbateman, NSW. In addition, this 2019 version also includes 450 litres of Noel 2018 that aged in an ex-fortified wine barrel for over one year from Murray Smith at Canoblas Smith winery in Orange, NSW. Read Less

Bright Side: Shiraz

Grape Ale - Other

The Bright Side beers are two friend’s attempt to view the world with a glass half-full. When Bryan Martin (Ravensworth Wines) realised his vines were… Read More

The Bright Side beers are two friend’s attempt to view the world with a glass half-full. When Bryan Martin (Ravensworth Wines) realised his vines were smoke tainted from the 2020 bushfires, he concocted a plan ‘B’ with Topher Boehm (Wildflower Brewing & Blending). These beers are the marriage of Bryan’s hand harvested, carbonic macerated, whole bunch wine grapes with Topher’s freshly fermented Gold Australian Wild Ale. Aged and macerated for eight months in Murrumbateman before travelling to the big smoke for bottling and maturation. Read Less

St Florence 2019: Black Muscat

Fruit Beer

The variant made with Black Muscat was made by blending five barrels of mature, barrel aged Gold with hand harvested Black Muscat grapes from Thornbrook… Read More

The variant made with Black Muscat was made by blending five barrels of mature, barrel aged Gold with hand harvested Black Muscat grapes from Thornbrook Orchard in Nashdale NSW where we source many fruits. We picked the grapes with our friends Matt and Suzanne from The Masonry in Seattle on 21 March 2019, drove them back into Sydney and immediately transferred them into a stainless steel variable capacity tank without crushing or destemming and allowed for their fermentation to naturally begin with the native yeasts on the skins of the fruit. After three weeks, we removed the juice at the bottom of the ferment and blended in three (1856, 1857 and 1858) mature barrels of Gold, coincidentally all barrels that had once held Muscat wine from Clonakilla and allowed the fruit to macerate and referment with the beer for 2.5 months. In mid June, we blended in 1740 (7 month old Gold) and 1839 (11 month old Gold) for necessary structure and balance. It was packaged on 10 July and allowed to go through a tertiary fermentation for carbonation and conditioning for 8 weeks before release.

Upon release, this beer opens with a gently attractive perfumey, rose water aroma to be expected from the muscat grapes, however unlike its white skinned sibling, the aroma moves toward layers of spice and earthiness. The palate is delicate resembles this continuance from sweet fruit and turkish delight flavours towards a structural spice, phenolc and tannin finish. Read Less

Foudre Beer #1

Other

Foudre Beer is a spelt beer made in collaboration with our friend Mike Bennie. A 30% raw spelt ale made with aged hops and fermented with our 100% NSW… Read More

Foudre Beer is a spelt beer made in collaboration with our friend Mike Bennie. A 30% raw spelt ale made with aged hops and fermented with our 100% NSW origin yeast cultures. This mixture of yeast and bacteria is our Wildflower house culture sans a single Belgian-origin strain. Instead, all of the organisms that ferment this beer are from here, collected from flower cuttings, off the skins of fruit or from small scale spontaneous fermentations over the course of 2015. This same culture ferments Waratah, our annual 100% NSW origin beer.

The beer fermented slowly and went through some pretty strange stages, but has emerged after 7 months in this barrel as an incredibly balanced, highly drinkable beer. Its nice I didn't get a chance to blend this one, it opens with a familiar gueuzey aroma of aged hops and brett, the palate is remarkably clean with a refreshing acidity. I like to think of it as an Australian Wild Ale to take the place of lager. It's a beer for drinking, made of and for community. Read Less