If you don't, let me enlighten you ... it is Cascade.
Being perfectly honest, until Barbara and I did the grand tour of their historic premises in South Hobart I had no idea myself ... and didn't really care! Who does?
Most beer drinkers seem to have a favourite "brew" that is readily available and appeals to their taste buds and they just stick to it!
As it turns out, even before visiting Tasmania, Cascade Light was my favorite (when I can't get Guinness on tap that is). So to be able to see, taste, touch, and smell all of the ingredients that go into MY beer, then see how it was produced and packaged was an opportunity I wasn't going to miss. The more so because I was then going to be sampling it in its most fresh condition.
Tours are conducted 7 days a week pretty much all year round, but you must book in advance to be sure of a spot as they really are one of the most popular of all Tasmanian Tourist attractions. The genial Jenny Hamblin, was our guide on this particular tour.
Jenny has guided thousands of visitors through Cascade brewery over the many years she has done the job and claims to have the fittest thighs in Tasmania. I wouldn't doubt that, given the up-hill walking and stair-climbing involved. You sure as hell need a cold Cascade when it's over!
Of course before setting out there is the now obligatory donning of vests and goggles, and the run-through of factory safety precautions. The one thing you don't want to do is stray from the main party. It seems the head brewer eats alive any visitor who does.
The facts and figures Jenny came out with leave your head spinning. Can you imagine this: the factory works 365 days a year, employs a work force of fewer than 150, yet produces 4 BILLION litres of draught and packaged beer annually. She offered no statistics on the number of hang-overs that represents.
As brewing requires the highest degree of sterile processing conditions, visitors don't get to see that side of the coin. We could smell the process, of course, with that unmistakable hop aroma, so characteristic of a brewery, swirling around our nostrils each time we reached ground level. For some on the tour, ground level was where they really preferred to be. While I was shaking my head in disbelief at the size of the fermentation and holding tanks we viewed from a very safe walkway high up in the 'gods" ... there were others not enjoying the open grating underfoot quite so much.
Also present on our tour was "Pepper" or "Peppa" or "Pepa" (unlike me, I neglected to ask her for the correct spelling of her name, but that is what it sounded like anyway). She was an "official photographer" taking shots to be used on Cascade's web-site. At the rate I am getting through my intended DAILY blog pages, her shots will be well and truly up on the web before mine.
Our party's arrival in the packaging department coincided with the commencement of a new run of "long-necks" just arriving from the filling and sealing section to be labeled. What a sight! Like a battalion of toy soldiers marching to victory. I found their cacophony not unlike a forest full of cicadas on a hot summer's day.
Our inspection nearing an end, we quickly made our way past a high traffic area where even a robot "sweated" as it loaded barrel after barrel onto pallets ready for shipment. One can only imagine how many hard working men its invention would have made redundant in an era long gone.
With Hobart chilled to the marrow by the recent snow falls on Mount Wellington, it was wonderful to get back to the comfort of the Cascade Visitors Centre. Snow, by the way, is the source of the crystal clear mineral-loaded spring water Cascade still use today in the production of all its beer. Those cascades of pure water was the reason Peter Degraves, the brewery founder, chose the site on which the brewery still stands.
The story of Peter Degraves and the events leading up to, and following, the building of the cascades brewery makes absolutely fascinating reading. I strongly recommend you click on this link to see a page which, even though still under construction, tells the story.
Curiously, the web site on which this page appears was created not by Tasmanian historians, as one would expect, but by three "Banana Benders" ... Greg Jeffrys, Brad Horton and Dr Cliff Rosendahl. And haven't these talented, learned and very intelligent individuals dug up some great Australian historical material. I just love their work and so too will my good friends Colin and Jill Parker of Kew in NSW who are avid readers of my blog. With all this great research material on the net to read, is it any wonder I get so far behind with MY blog posting!
All the walking and climbing we had done meant we had worked up a real thirst. From behind the enormous bar, Jordy, a zoology student-cum-barman was happy to serve us with any of the eight beers on tap, plus an explanation of how they were different to one another.
Five of these beers are available on tap in many bars on the Australian mainland, but three can only be bought in Tasmania. Some recipes call for unique locally grown ingredients which, because of their short supply, prevent the production of large commercial quantities. And wouldn't you know it ... these were the ones Barbara and I really enjoyed most.
One brew ... "First Harvest" ... is in such short supply it is available only from the brewery itself. It contains the first crop of green flowers to come off the local hop plants each season. I have never enjoyed a beer so much in my life. This could be the catalyst which causes me to move permanently to Tasmania. (Only kidding family) Naturally, because of its short supply even in Tasmania, it is more expensive than the mass produced products.
On the walls of the visitors' centre are some great historical photos and other artworks. A legendary character from the very earliest days of the brewery was Fatty Appleton.
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Our visit ended with a walk around portion of the 3 acre gardens which form such a lovely part of the Cascade Brewery.
Here we found "Tommie", the Cascade cat.
Like every feline I have ever had anything to do with, he remained totally aloof, refusing to engage in direct interaction with me.
Before departing, we just had to head back to the merchandise sales desk to buy a supply of "First Harvest" to take back to the van. Here we met the the delightfully chatty Emily ...
and before long we were exchanging ghost experiences ... she has some great ones to relate about her several visits to Port Arthur.
Now, you probably haven't noticed that not once have I made reference to the famous Cascade Tasmanian Tiger that prowls threateningly the area behind the visitors' centre bar.
I have left that 'til last because of an item I found on the web when I Googled the question "Is the cascade tiger real?" One reference that query turned up can be seen by clicking on this link. Despite my background in marketing and advertising (many years ago I admit) I had never heard of Landor or its founding father Walter Landor. I was fascinated to learn of their part in the success of Cascade as a brand today. Without Landor's intervention early this millennium, it seems Cascade may well have been headed for the same fate as their famous trademark, the Tasmanian Tiger.
So now for these two Tassie Tourists, a new day dawns.
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