COFFS HARBOUR HAS THE BIG BANANA, WOOMBYE HAS THE BIG PINEAPPLE, & NOW MORDIALLOC HAS THE BIG TINNIE!
That's right, the great Australian fascination for all things BIG continues with Wolf of the Willows Brewing who have just converted their brand new Malt Grain Silo into Australia's biggest Beer Tinnie*!
Located at the brewery's Taproom in Mordialloc, the 9 metre tall Big Tinnie is actually a 32 ton grain silo which was installed as a brewery upgrade in November this year. Co-founder of Wolf of the Willows, Scotty McKinnon - “We just figured that if you're going to install a huge silo, you may as well have some fun with it, so we painted it up like a big beer tinnie, arranged a ribbon cutting ceremony, and invited the local Mayor. Luckily for us, he’s got a sense of humour, but is also very interested in local businesses like ours and was keen to come down and see how we’re investing in the future of our business through production efficiencies, and sustainability”.
Moving from using multiple bags of grain, across to the bulk grain in the silo will deliver much better quality control for the brewers, as well as producing less packaging and reducing the brewery's carbon footprint with a significantly reduced frequency of shipping required. Scotty is excited about the where the brewery is headed, "We're always looking for ways to bring efficiencies into the brewing process, and if we can do that in a sustainable way that delivers less waste and a lower carbon footprint, then we know we're doing our part for the environment which is important for all of us.
As well as upgrading the silo, the local bayside business has been investing in upgrading their production facility, employing new staff, and improving the taproom in De Havilland Road. Scotty continues; "We'd had limited production capacity before we got to Mordialloc, so when we moved into a larger brewery in late 2019, we were getting really excited to finally start moving forward at a solid pace. The events of the past 3 years have obviously hindered that, and now as we move into 2023, we've finally been able to implement some of the investments and initiatives we'd had planned back in 2019."
The formal Big Tinnie ribbon cutting was held with great pomp and ceremony by the honorable City of Kingston Mayor Hadi Saab and State Member for Modialloc Tim Richardson, Friday 23rd December 2022.
As for the tinnie itself, it’s set to become an iconic part of the Mordialloc skyline, and with the runway for Moorabbin airport just at the end of the street, there's sure to be a few pilots and passengers getting a sudden thirst for a beer as they go by!