Congratulations to Red Oak Brewery for getting Grand Champion Beer in the International Beer Awards. The award has gone to overseas breweries for the last few years - deservedly so - but it is great to see an Aussie brewery get the gong!

Congrats also to Mountain Goat Beer for their win in best Stout - Surefoot Stout, and best Victorian Brewery. Holgate Brewhouse picked up a gold medal for their Old Pale Ale - so Congrats Paul Holgate!

Lots of great beer around at the moment coming out of great little micro breweries - sadly none of it is mine! If you have read the past posts you will know that we are going through some changes with the packaging and recipes. The process has been slower than I would have liked but the results are really fantastic. We are also going through some other changes which has meant that the beer and brewing the beer has had to be put on hold for a little while. I will keep you posted on when we commence brewing again and where you can find it.

In the mean time search out some of the new beers around and enjoy!

Hi again everyone–

Paul has sent me some beautiful new labels for his Father’s Favorite Ale. Yes, that’s his dad, Gus Mercurio, you see in these photos. Click the small images below for a better look.

Hi Everyone!

Paul has sent me some cool graphics for his Summer Ale labels (these have the Peach Ale wording, which will change), and he’s asked me to post them. Click the thumbnails below for a larger version:

Label 1

Label 2

Label 3

Label 4

I think they’re all stunning.

I am under going a rebranding strategy and thought I would give you guys a bit of a forward look at the direction I am going in. The logo to the left is the further development of the initial logo but probably a lot stronger. The colouring on the example on the link below is not as it will be on the label - it is an example of how the logo could work in a label.

Drop me an e-mail with any thoughts.

Click here to see the full logo.

Forgot to give you the date for the Beer and Tapas night!!!! - Thanks Teresa for emailing me and telling me it was missing - your free case of beer is here waiting for you to collect:)

oh, the date - Friday the 22nd April

After the success of the Italy on the Bay Happy Hour we are up and running (and excited) to be doing a Beer and Tapas evening at Cafe Hobson - 21 Melrose Street, Sandringham. Cafe Hobson has some new owners who are doing fantastic things with the restaurant and the FOOD! I have eaten there twice now and will be going back soon. Terenzio is their chef - born in England lived in Spain and knows everything there it to know about Tapas and more!! I have eaten Tapas in Spain and I can tell you Terenzio’s is as good as it gets anywhere in the world. SO come on down and buy a tasting plate - you will get a glass of My Mercs Own Peach Ale and four peices of mixed tapas all on a lovely serving plate. There will be several tasting plates to chose from and all of them perfectly matched to my beer.

Of course I will be down there pouring some tasting samples of a my Ale for anyone who wants a taste before buying the Tapas plates.!

We will be kicking off at 7.30pm - if you want to book then Call Giacomo on 9521 0370

Hope to see you there!

I will be serving Mercs Own Peach Ale at Italy On The Bay on the 7TH April from 5.30 till 8.30 It is Happy Hour or I should say “happy hours". Italy on the Bay are serving up some of their wonderful Tapas and nibbles to accompany the beer - the food is complimentary, the company fun and the beer suitably cold!

See you then: 356 Bay St Brighton North 3186

Thanks and welcome to everyone who has sent me an email after seeing my story on the ABC last Friday. Welcome also to those who read the review on my Peach Ale in the Bulletin magazine - last Wednesday’s issue.

Quite a few people have asked where they can get the Peach Ale in Sydney. The short answer is you cant! BUT with your help hopefully you will be able to in the not too distant future. Firstly ask your friendly bottle shop manager to get some in or if you know of a really good bottle shop that is into interesting Australian Micro Boutique Beers email me with their details and I will call them and see if they will take some beer. They will if they know they will sell it and that is why you guys need to be asking for it. I would love to get the beer in to Sydney so lets get working on it together!

Welcome to Australia’s latest Boutique Brewer - Mercs Own Brewing Company. The site is still being built so I hope you will come back and check us out as we grow and develop over the next month or so. For the moment I wanted to let you know where you can find our very first and unique product - Mercs Own Peach Ale. Click on the where to buy and then get on down to the nearest store to get a six pack!! Keep an eye out on this section as I plan to be adding several new stores each week. At this stage I am only in the Melbourne area and plan mainly to build up a base here before going interstate - so I am sorry to the interstaters that have e-mailed me already asking where to get it outside Melbourne. I promise I will work on it as soon as I can.

For those of you in Melbourne I would love your help in getting my beer out there. So - if you ask your local bottle shop often enough for a Mercs Own Peach Ale they will make an effort to try and order some Mercs in for you. Drop me an email on the contact page with the name of the bottle shop, the phone number and the managers name and I will give them a call, then drop in with a sample and once they’ve tasted the beer they wont be able to stop themselves from ordering a few cases to get the ball rolling!! I thank you in advance for your help.

Oh by the way the beer is an Ale style beer made with Australian malted barley and malted wheat. It has two additions of Tettnang hops, a generous splash of peach juice and uses an English ale yeast. There are no preservatives, added sugar or other additives - it is an all natural bottle conditioned ale which means there is a little bit of yeast in each bottle. That is the sign of a truly Fresh Beer.

Why peach I hear you ask? Well, Why Not. Fruit has been used to add flavour to beer for centuries. So although my Peach Ale might be a new beer for you, it has a history steeped in tradition. I am sure you will enjoy it.

I do and so does my wife!

Cheers!!

Paul