Byron Bay’s Stone & Wood Brewery has announced a ‘gentleman’s agreement with London’s Camden Town Brewery to distribute each others beers.

Camden Town Brewery is the brainchild of expat Australian, Jasper Cuppaidge and boasts former Little Creatures head brewer Alex Troncoso as its chief beer maker. You can hear Jasper talk about his brewery in our Live from GABS podcast, just forward to 35:54 of the audio.

I spoke to Stone & Wood’s Jamie Cook this morning who said there were real similarities between the two breweries.

“We see that there’s a lot about their approach to beer that is similar to us,” Jamie said.

“I think Jasper seemed to be zigging when everyone else in London was zagging. He started making high quality and interesting lager when everyone else was doing hopped ales.”

“He’s also trying to cope with capacity issues as he grows. It will be good to work with someone who is also dealing with this stuff to work with and learn from.”

Jamie said the volumes going over would be relatively small, “a small container” rather than “containers”, and that they were please with how the beer held up last year when they sent the beer by refrigerated transport.

Importantly for Australian beer drinkers, the Camden Town beers will be available here in mid-summer. [MK]

Media Release

A Gentleman’s Agreement Between Stone & Wood Brewing Co And Camden Town Brewery

Stone & Wood Brewing Co and Camden Town Brewery have entered into a gentleman’s agreement to support each other’s beers in their respective markets.

The relationship is similar to a twin town or sister city, where there is an alignment of ideals and ethos, and it provides the opportunity to introduce each other’s beers into the respective local market. The locales of Camden Town and Byron Bay share a like-minded alternative culture, and Stone & Wood Brewing Co and Camden Town Brewery see themselves as “Brother Breweries”.

What this means is that we will be distributing each other’s beers: Stone & Wood will have Camden Town beers on their trucks in Australia and Camden Town will have Stone & Wood on their vans in London.

The brother brewery idea came to fruition after Stone & Wood Brewing Co whet the thirst of the British beer scene with some bottles and kegs last summer and then this year Jasper Cuppaidge took a handful of Camden Town beers to Australia for Good Beer Week in Melbourne.

Although both brewers are working hard to keep up with demand in their local markets they recognise that in this new brewing era there is a global beer village developing. The brother brewery approach is a step away from the traditional brewer and importer/distributor model and is more in line with the collaborative culture that exists within the independent brewery community.

It’s not about world domination, but we know there are people who are keen to try our beers and we both believe that having the support of a fellow brewer to introduce our beers to them is the best way to go. The agreement allows us to focus on quality without the commercial pressures of volume from a traditional distribution relationship.

We both have a healthy respect for the success that each brewery has achieved in a relatively short period of time in their home markets, and believe that their success is largely due to the focus on the quality of the beer being brewed. It is that quality that we are both looking to protect as we ship the beers across the world. Knowing that a quality-focused brewer is nurturing your beer is very important for us.

A shipment of Stone & Wood beer is on the water at present and is due to arrive in London in August –they’ll be pouring on tap for the first time at Climpson’s Arch, E8 3SB, on Saturday 17 August from 12pm. A mix of both kegs and packaged beer will be distributed across London from mid-August. The next shipment of Camden Town Brewery beer is due to arrive in Australia in time for summer.

Jamie Cook
Stone & Wood Brewing Co P/L

Jasper Cuppaidge
Camden Town Brewery Ltd