South Australian wine producer, Atlas Wines, has teamed up with ICON Brewing to take the company to a new market. After a crowd-funding opportunity via Naked Wines allowed the winery to create a new product of its choice, Atlas decided to craft its very own beer. Rabbit & Spaghetti Brewing Co joins Urban Craft Brewing Co as ones to watch out for in 2016.

Contract brewing with ICON, Atlas has released the Rabbit & Spaghetti Brewing Co ‘The Fox’ Hop and Rye Lager. Testing the market waters, the brew has been available exclusively to Naked Wines (home of the Rabbit & Spaghetti wine brand) for the past year. However, seeing the brew’s success, ‘The Fox’ is now being rolled out to venues and retailers across all states.

Of the new product venture, Adam Barton, owner and winemaker at Atlas Wines, said, “We are very excited to be taking a place in the emerging craft beer market as it has a vibrancy akin to the wine industry in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, which was an exciting place to be.”

Barton told drinks that Atlas Wines has considered the potential possibilities available if it were able to control the whole brewing process, with mention that Atlas has begun exploring the prospect of its own brewery.

“That said we are very cautious about making sure that our plan for growth is carefully considered so that we are best able to balance the demands of a diversified beverage business.” Barton continued.

Not the only new brewery taking advantage of the gypsy brewing method, Urban Craft Brewing Co is also contract brewing with various partners, allowing the young company a capacity of around 15,000 to 20,000 litres per week.

Founded this year, Urban Craft Brewing Co is a division and vertically integrated unit of Urban Purveyor Group located in The Rocks, Sydney.

The brewery’s inaugural range of just four craft beers launched in January, available on tap exclusively at Urban Purveyor Group’s ten Bavarian Bier Cafés and two Munich Brauhaus venues across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Since then, the Group’s portfolio has rapidly expanded to include 12 unique beers. Urban Purveyor Group Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Pash, says there’s room for further growth for the brewery’s near future, including the addition of new seasonal brews and the development of a Crafty Brew Co brew pub.

“This month we are launching ‘Blonde Moment’, ‘Butcher’s Bride’ and ‘Devil’s Daughters’ in bottle format for on-premise enjoyment at Urban Purveyor Group restaurants, and off-premise sales at the new bottle shop adjoining our Fratelli Fresh in Alexandria. We’re also in discussions with retailers throughout Australia about stocking our bottled beers.

“We expect our beer volumes to grow to around 40,000 litres within a year. We’re also working on plans to build our first Crafty Brew Co brew pub and tasting room in 2017.” Pash said.

For more information, visit the websites: www.rabbitandspaghettibrewing.com and www.urbanpurveyor.com.

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