The Phil Sexton Story: How the Aussie Craft Beer revolution began.

Like so many tales of success, the first signs of fermentation in the tale of Australian Craft beer go back further than you think. In 1984 Australia wasn’t the lucky country when it came to what was on tap at the local watering hole. The country’s dominant lager brewers held sway over what people drank in their favourite venues - almost all of which were male dominated places where men were men, and the only females welcomed were usually pulling beers behind the public bar. All this would change however, thanks to one young man and his vision of a better world.

Phil Sexton was born in Melbourne, but raised in the West. Growing up in wine country left Phil in no doubt he would become a winemaker, but after he took a summer job at the Swan Brewery he became immersed in what was at the time a problem brewers everywhere - how to keep the flavour in light beer. This lead to the development of the Swan Special Light, which was widely regarded as the best light in land at that time. Phil Sexton had arrived.

As you can imagine 1984 Australia held very few opportunities for an up and coming brewer, despite the success of the Swan Special and a degree in biochemistry.

Armed with his success and a new found passion, Sexton took the trail that thousands of Aussies would follow to the UK, studying a masters degree in Biochemistry and specialising in the fermentation of beer. What he found was so removed from the Aussie beer scene that it left a mark that would travel back to our shores with him, and manifest itself as the Anchor Brewing Company.

At that time, Sexton spoke to Phil Jarrat of the Transair Magazine - which at that point was the magazine of Trans Australia Airlines.

“What was going on in Europe was the opposite of the Australian brewing industry, which was a commodity-driven process – an engineering exercise,” he said.

“I couldn’t reconcile why we wanted to keep doing what we were doing rather than become more interested in the craft of beer. I was banging heads with them and decided there was no future for me. There were no other interesting breweries around, except Coopers in Adelaide, but even they weren’t regarded as craft – just different.”

“I thought there might be room for someone to try a different approach, based on the social use of beer in other countries, particularly in Western Europe”.

James Smith - creator of the Crafty Pint Blog, sums up perfectly what happened next.

“The result was the Sail & Anchor in Fremantle, a pub that poured three of its own beers, sold imports from overseas and interstate, and was clean and welcoming to women – all elements unheard of in WA’s “blokey” bars. It quickly gained a following, aided by a few timely occurrences: the local Rajneesh community appreciated the ethos and made it their regular haunt; Alan Bond brought the America’s Cup to Fremantle within months of opening; and Irish and British ex-pats came flooding when word spread they could get hold of Guinness and other European beers.”

“We said we’d do the opposite of what the big breweries and bars do,” says Phil. “Soon we couldn’t keep up with demand; people were thirsty to get hold of interesting beers.”

Australian craft beer was off to the races.

The iconic Matilda Bay was born out of this early success, as Phil teamed up with Perth Businessman (and avid beer connoisseur) Peter Briggs to grow his burgeoning brewery. But it was the Sail and Anchor that was attracting the locals attention with its glass-fronted brewing room drawing drinkers to the window like flies on... well you get the picture. It’s a credit to the foresight and genius of the man, that even 30 years later bars and pubs still have their glass-fronted brewing rooms on show for the public.

Within a few years Phil and his band of brewing brothers expanded to 39 pubs, and began sending their beers to across Australia. As this mid-strength migration took flight, other independent breweries sprang up. The fuse had been lit, it seemed to be only a matter of time before the fabric of Australian beer culture was changed forever.

Despite these significant steps forward towards beer diversity, within the broader context of the industry, they still represented no more than a blip on the beer map. So when Matilda Bay and fellow newcomers Hahn were purchased by the mega-brewers Fosters and Lion Nathan along with others closing down, Australia’s craft beer industry seemed set to lose much of the wind out of its’ sails.

But the Australian beer drinking public had tasted what was was possible, and another wave of Aussie brewing pioneers followed Phil Sexton’s path to European shores - and returned at the start of a new millennium with ideas that would change the industry for good. You’ve probably heard of these second wave pioneer brewers too -  Mountain Goat and more importantly Little Creatures.

Started by the same group that launched Matilda Bay, Little Creatures and their iconic American-style Pale Ale would make a mark like no other Australian beer in recent history. It’s proud and bold hop flavour paid tribute to the brewers and the ingredients. I’m sure there are quite a few current day craft-brewers who can remember this life-altering drop which set them on their own brewing journey.

From around 2005, the dam had burst and Aussie brewed craft beer was out in the open, despite the ongoing efforts of the mega-brewers. Looking back with the 20/20 vision of hindsight it’s easy to see how this story could play out like it has. It’s a classic tale of overcoming the odds, the Aussie battler - fighting for a better beer. But without one of the great sons of the West in Phil Sexton, the craft beer revolution we enjoy today might never have happened.

Maybe we should start a petition - Phil Sexton for Australian of the year.

Now there’s a something I would drink to!