Founder and Brewer of Molly Rose Brewing, Nic Sandery incorporates lessons learned from international beer industries and Australian winemaking into his work at the Melbourne brewery and associated venue.
Sandery originally studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry, but decided that academia wasn’t the right path for him. After some reflection, Sandery eventually decided to uproot himself from Brisbane to study a Graduate Diploma in brewing at Perth’s Edith Cowen University.
International influences
Not only did Sandery travel from Brisbane to Perth to study brewing, he has also spent significant time exploring the international beer scene.
“My biggest take away from the trip was that cultures around the world incorporate their local eating and drinking habits into their daily life. The breweries in Germany are just a part of the town, like a bakery or butcher. The tiny eight-seater izakayas in Japan serve the fresh beer from a tiny 10-litre keg and their favourite sake and whiskey drinks to match their crafted food. The Belgians make sure that no matter what time of day or who you are, they will serve you the right beer from the right glass,” he said.
This international experience impacted Sandery’s vision for Molly Rose.
“I wanted to create a brewery where we are the local spot for the community with a tenacity for serving thoughtful food and drink while also respecting the customer, product and service over the transaction of the beer for cash,” he said.
Sandery has also integrated lessons learned from Australian winemakers into his brewing, saying that the two industries actually have a lot in common.
“I grew up in a wine region and from the age of 12 to 17, and my goal was to become a winemaker. I love learning from people who make delicious drinks. All good drinks have the same basic concepts of balance, mouthfeel and finish, along with flavour and aroma components that are complementary to each other and the structure,” he said.
“During vintage, winemakers are tasting their ferments several times a day and being reactive to what they see, smell and taste because every year the grapes are slightly different and they need to help shepherd them into a yum drink. In beer, we are also using agricultural products in hops and malt. They store very well and we can gain experience in using each batch we get and brew every day, making adjustments until we find what we think is the sweet spot.”
Creating customer experience
Hospitality is a central part of Molly Rose, and an area where Sandery thinks the brewery and brewpub particularly excel.
“Our goal is to provide a beer experience that is beyond your expectations. Whether you are the biggest beer geek in the world and have 10,000 untappd check ins, or you have never liked beer but are coming to a brewery because your mate wants to go, we want everyone to walk away delightfully surprised.
“In beer-making ethos, my goal is to make every beer as balanced as possible so that it’s enjoyable for everyone, and not just beer experts,” he said.
The in-venue experience at Molly Rose is enhanced by the knowledgeable, passionate staff.
“Much of this has come from our founding Venue Manager Simon Hall who has a passion for amazing service and experiences. Almost to a person, everyone at Molly Rose loves great food and drink and we love sharing it with other people. The front of house team are at the vanguard of sharing this with the world and do an amazing job of communicating what we love about beer, food and enjoying them together,” Sandery said.
“An old boss of mine at a previous brewery stated, ‘If you can’t have fun in the beer industry, you’re in the wrong industry,’ and I hope that we continue to live by that.”
Innovation in store
Sandery is always looking to reach the next level of quality at Molly Rose. On the brewing side, Molly Rose has recently invested in a rotary evaporator, which is producing distillate for use in both beer and spirits.
“This is a little distillery that allows us to put a vacuum on the still and reduce the boiling point of Ethanol to 10-12C. This means we never heat the still over 30C and it means our ingredients don’t get cooked. So fresh citrus, herbs and fruit flavours are able to be collected in alcohol distillate and blended into amazing drinks.
“We use them on the bar and in some beers, but also have a line of drinks under the sub brand Veraison where we have a few gins, pastis, cocktails and soon to be vermouth, amaro and bitter digestives. It isn’t ever going to be a huge part of the business, but it is lots and lots of fun playing around with a new toy and a new medium for flavour extraction. That’s what I am excited about playing with and learning about for the next 12 months,” Sandery said.
Molly Rose is also about to enter the second summer in its new restaurant and pilot brewery on Wellington Street, and Sandery is looking forward to enhancing the offering there.
“We are looking forward to hosting more people for great food and drinks, running more beer dinners like our chef’s table where we pair fine dining food with great beer and continually improving the quality of our beer.”
