Frogs Hollow Brewing Co make a splash on the South Coast brewery scene

Richard Northam and Mitchell Piercey purchased their South Wolumla property in 2011 with a vision for some form of enterprise, not knowing what it would be at the time.

"We bought the property as a lifestyle kind of thing so we wanted it to be able to make money.

Spending weekends on the property while still working and living in Queanbeyan, the pair bit the bullet and made the move five years ago, and planned to build holiday accommodation along with a brewery to draw people to stay.

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Located in South Wolumla, the property is situated beside the head water at Frogs Hollow Creek, leading Richard and Mitchell to settle on the Frogs Hollow name.

Looking after the brewing side of things, Richard has come from an engineering and IT background, having worked in higher education IT infrastructure for big research projects, before stumbling on to brewing.

"It all started in about 2013 for me when I was leaving a job, and the going away gift was a home brew kit," said Richard.

"I got a little bit better at it and then people started saying 'your beers aren't too bad'."

Partner Mitchell does everything else for Frogs Hollow Brewing Co, from communications to material handling, while still working his current job at the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering.

"Brewing has a lot of engineering about it and science - having that background has been fantastic," said Richard.

With the costs of builders and materials skyrocketing during the COVID19 pandemic, the accommodation idea was put on the back burner while the brewery took focus.

"A brewery we could build and manage ourselves," said Mitchell.

During their research, the size of the brewery soon became the focus - purpose built around the specialised brew equipment Richard had sourced from China.

Once delivered, housed and up and running, the experimentation began as the pair tried close to 50 varieties on obliging friends, neighbours and anyone willing to try.

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Looking to sell at a local level, one thing soon became clear for the Frogs Hollow partners.

"We've got to make beers that the locals like, we can't rely on the tourists," Richard said.

Settling on a core range of a pale ale, pilsner, session ale, stout, red ale and witbier, the early going for Frogs Hollow has proved successful, selling to bottle shops and restaurants across the region.

"We started just before Christmas, and we had two 500 litre vats that we canned, and we sold out of those in two weeks and went 'oh' - we didn't think it would be this busy this quickly," said Mitchell.

Luckily, the brewing shed was built for expansion, with future provisions for 12 fermenters, while the brewery currently runs four.

Another focus from the outset for Frogs Hollow Brewing was sustainability, with the goal of operations being carbon neutral.

From powering the entire site via solar panels from a shed on the other side of the property, to limiting and utilising waste water, Frogs Hollow set itself apart from other breweries all while maintaining strict levels of quality control.

"Another part of our differentiation is to try not to use as many of the chemical fining agents," Richard said.

"So the way we clarify beer is pretty much how they used to do it back in the day. We chill it down to zero degrees and then let gravity take all the yeast and stuff down.

"It's a slower process but we think it actually gives you a nicer tasting beer."

Waste water was another point of emphasis considered in the build process, with drains catching the water, then pumped into a holding tank.

"For every litre of beer, most breweries will produce at least three litres of waste water. Some are up around five or six," said Richard.

"Right now we're producing about 1.5 litres roughly and we process that all onsite."

Instead of discarding the waste water, Frogs Hollow Brewery filters and treats the water before using it to irrigate their property.

Around 100kg of spent grain from each batch is also currently used as compost around the property, with the possibility to sell to local farmers as stock feed when the operation grows.

"We are trying to reuse everything, the packaging, trying to make sure that everything is recyclable, another reason cans were decided on," Richard said.

Canning on site, Frogs Hollow Brewery said the next step was to be able to invite people to share in their brewing experience.

"The plan is to have a little tasting room at some point, hopefully next year or so," Mitchell said.

Currently enrolled in brewing courses, Richard said he was looking forward to expanding his knowledge with the potential of offering tours another possibility.

Coming into winter, Frogs Hollow Brewing Co was looking to bring in oatmeal stout, part of its core range, as well as a surprise limited release winter ale.

"It's going to be a nice amber ale with chocolate and vanilla notes and a little bit of toffee, which will be a winter only addition," Richard said.

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