2023: A Year in Gluten Free Beer
Here we go again – another year begins. If 2023 was anything to go by, we are in for another rollercoaster of a year. For TWØBAYS, 2023 was one of our best yet. We felt like there was something to celebrate every month! So here’s some of the highlights to look back on.
January: Ginger Beer sells out in record time
We started the year with an absolute bang! Our first limited release under the GFB brand, GFB Ginger Beer launched on 31st January, and was sold out on our website by February 5th! More like a beer with Ginger than a syrupy ginger beer, this was our drink of the summer at the taproom and was an instant hit with customers too.
February: GFB hits the spot
After selling out of GFB Ginger a lot quicker than we’d anticipated, we launched our GFB flying disks to celebrate the last few weeks of Summer. GFB Draught is the perfect thirst quencher for a hot day so we threw in a free flying disk to go with the beer.
March: The biggest events deserve the best Gluten Free Beer, and March was all about big events.
They don’t come any bigger than the MCG! TWØBAYS Pale Ale made its debut in the members bars a couple of months earlier at the Boxing Day Test. After selling out on Day 1, we confirmed the demand in the stadium was huge so set about getting the beer into every bar in the stadium. Ed Sheeran fans were the first to get the privilege, then the AFL Season kicked off soon after. Richard was even more excited than your average footy fan to be able to have a beer at the footy watching his beloved Cats again!
We don’t want anyone to miss out on great beer, so we took “Free the Taps” to almost every state and territory in our biggest ever Coeliac Awareness Week, with 10 venues across Australia pouring 17 different beers from over 70 taps. From core range favourites, to limited keg only releases, there was a beer for everyone’s taste.
Hot off the heels of Coeliac Awareness Week, the whole TWØBAYS team travelled to the Victorian high country for hop harvest. Returning to the brewery with a bus full of freshly picked green hops, our brewers created Australia’s first ever wet hopped beer.
As if the month had not already had enough highlights, we also release the second in our SMASH series, SMASH #2, to showcase Vienna Millet Malt and Citra Hops in all their glory.
April: Gluten Free Beer appreciation.
We love proving gluten loving craft beer fans wrong one set of tastebuds at a time. Iconic craft beer venue, The Local Taphouse in St Kilda, hosted TWØBAYS’ Head Brewer - Kristian Martin, and Founder and CEO - Richard Jeffares, for their first ever Ale Stars gluten free beer appreciation night. Giving craft beer fans a chance to find out more about why we love crafting beer with alternative malts and change their perceptions and expectations about what a gluten free beer can be.
Overheard at the bar before the event - “You’ve got to try this session ale. It’s so good!”. There was only one session ale on the tap bank and it was TWØBAYS!
May: Good beer is one everyone can enjoy
The month of May features some of the highlights of the Australian beer calendar – Good Beer Week, the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBAs), and the Melbourne leg of the Great Australian Beer Spectapular (GABS).
The AIBA awards were a night to remember, bringing together brewers from all around the country to celebrate great beers and breweries. For us, it is a chance to have our beers tasted by expert judges and get feedback on their quality. Landing Gold Medals for Pale Ale and GFB Draught, was confirmation that our two flagship beers are up there among the best.
As good as Pale Ales and Aussie style draught beers can be, some people like something a little less traditional, which is why GABS exists - It’s a chance for brewers to show off their creativity and experiment with something a bit different to the norm. The TWØBAYS brew crew created a sensational keg only limited release, The Pumpkin of Liberty IPA. Brewed with 175 kg of roasted pumpkins and yellow corn malt, this was another chance to show beer lovers that you can enjoy great beer, no matter if you need to avoid gluten or not.
June: Extra special, extra tasty beer.
In June we launched ESB, an English style ale – Extra Special Bitter – and it was extra tasty. This was a rich malty beer, ideal for those colder winter months by the fire in our taproom. Once again, this speciality release didn’t last long on the shelves and was snapped up by the TWØBAYS Clan in no time at all.
July: Raising a glass and raising awareness.
We spent the month of July raising awareness for Coeliac Disease. Affecting 1 in 70 Aussies, we refunded 1 in 70 orders from our website, to give coeliacs around the country something to raise a glass to, while raising awareness for the need for earlier diagnosis and for venues to cater for all customers.
August: Best of the best.
This month was a biggie! Session Ale picked up its second consecutive Indies Gold Medal, and became the first ever gluten free beer to take home a Champion Beer Trophy at a major Australian beer awards. In a category with more gold medal winning beers than any other, and up against some outstanding barley beers, TWØBAYS Session Ale came out on top, proving gluten free beer made from malted ancient grains can be just as good, or in this case, even better than barley beers. We couldn’t be more proud of our brewers, and the incredible beers they make week in, week out.
Being crowned the best gluten free beer in Australia took the limelight away from another 5 medals at the awards, including another Gold for Pulp Fusion Passionfruit Sour. The brew teams efforts have paid dividends in quality and consistency. Cheers to Kristian, Grant and Stephen.
September: Gluten free beer at all footy codes in Melbourne.
Coeliac Disease and gluten intolerance doesn’t care which code of footy you follow, and we reckon if you pay the same as everyone else to watch your team, you should have the same experience as your mates and be able to get a beer at the game! In September we claimed a 'Victory' at Melbourne’s AAMI Park and took the bars there by 'Storm'. Rugby and soccer fans can now buy a TWØBAYS at the match in Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium.
October: Someone has to be first.
We are all about giving gluten free beer lovers the same choices as everyone else. Unless you are very recently diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, the chances are you have never tried a Cold IPA. In another Australian first from the brew crew, Blue Steel Cold IPA launched in October to give the 300,000+ Aussie Coeliacs a chance to try this new world beer style.
November: Gluten free expo returns to Melbourne
We loved meeting and sampling beers with so many people at the Melbourne Gluten Free Living Expo, and seeing newly diagnosed coeliacs faces light up when they realised they can still have a great tasting beer on a gluten free diet. One lucky visitor even took home a Year of Beer!
Just down the road near our home base in the craft beer capital of Australia, on the Mornington Peninsula, Vine Hop was in full flow and so were the Pulp Fusion Gin Slushies! We took twice the slushy capacity with us this year and still couldn’t keep up with demand.
December: We partied like it was our birthday.
There is a lot to celebrate in December, not least our 5th birthday! Time has flown and the beer has flowed as we have grown from a little known brewery on the Mornington Peninsula to become a national brand. Stocked in some of the best venues in the country, and continuing to prove that being gluten free doesn’t mean missing out on cheersing a mate with a great beer. The team celebrated with friends and family at the taproom and gave us a chance to reflect on the journey so far.
On the 6th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Australia’s first ever gluten free hazy IPA, Broader Horizon - Every year, the team at Carwyn Cellars hand pick breweries and invite them to contribute a beer to their Canvent Calender. This was another chance for us to show off just how good alternative grain, gluten free beer can be. The brewers knew they had to come up with something special to impress some of the harshest beer critics going around – gluten loving Untapped users! The feedback has been sensational. If you are lucky you may find a keg or two of this unique beer on tap at your favourite watering hole in Melbourne (Wolfhound on Brunswick), Adelaide (Duke of Brunswick or Port Admiral) and ACT (Dickson Taphouse).
