“ and so it comes to pass that ocean will triumph over river, river over stream, stream over rivulet and rivulet over tear-duct!

…The pumps, mill, augurs and filters are still and quite for now; the shimmering stainless of the Unitanks rests!  It is  bewitching hour at Colonial Brewery…a beautiful and magical time. Midnight!  So, so, so, so, so, so still and silent (do you get my point?). The young bulls in the adjoining paddock, bathed in moonlit milk, nudge at each other’s loins challenging their peers to state their future qualifications  and verify their status within the herd. The spent malt tasted very good today….they like AltBier brew days!

There is just a hint, a whisper of breath out of the North-West…a hint of weather to come! But for now it remains still and quiet; although you can deceive yourself into hearing the rising swell at South Point, as many kilometers away as it might be!!  An owl in a nearby Mallee tree spies the deft movement of field mice, scurrying in anticipation towards the malt shed! His eyes widen with his own anticipation, and thinks to himself…”Who goes there? Who? Who? ” Yes this is a magical time indeed?

The surface of the dam is a mirror and the passing overhead clouds use the opportunity to pause, preen and pose! Can I adequately convey to you dear reader, what a hallowed piece of nature encloses the sanctum that is the edifice -Colonial Brewing Company. I doubt it!!?? But wait and pause, for I lament (a brewers lament perchance?) for I have not as yet introduced myself to you, and it is right and proper that I should!

Indeed, Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary (Please Note: Gary is non-gender specific), Gary, George and Rooprett are safely ensconced in their beds…and that leaves me – ‘Gary the White’ –  omnipresent and omniscient, to guard over Brewhouse and Bar. A brewery sentinel as it were…. a Beer Wraith!! I am the breath that the Gary’s, George and Rooprett draw in everyday as they go about their daily tasks. See Me, Hear Me, Smell Me not…but FEEL me they do! !! And I have been tasked - under cover and cloak of darkness - to surreptitiously reveal to you dear reader, piece by piece, scene by scene, week by week, a living breathing story of trial, tribulation and intrigue! Doubt not this tale will be Bold and Beautiful…for at its heart is the mystical art of turning Water into Beer..…and the revelation that is Gary!

…somewhere ages and ages hence,

I will be telling this with a sigh….

….two paths diverged in a wood, and I…

I chose the path less trodden by

…and ran into Gary …..“

Next Week – Rooprett Reveals Roggenbier Roots