After closing its city brewpub on October 30, Canberra's much-loved Wig and Pen poured first beers at its new Llewellyn Hall home on Monday 12 January.
Owner Lachie McOmish opted for a low-key launch, heralded by nothing more than a "not long now" Facebook post on January 1.
Eleven days later the Wig opened. And the customers came. "We did about the same business as we would've on a usual Monday at the old Wig and Pen", said McOmish.
On our visit a day later, patrons enjoyed their brews as workers – no longer visible in the bar area – completed the finishing touches to the brewing and storage rooms.
Brewer, Dr Tom Lillicrap, said he hoped to begin brewing at the new site by mid January. Meanwhile, the bar served beer brewed at the original site and kept in cold storage during the move.
Wig and Pen Thousand Monkeys Hefeweizen
$12 pint, $7 half-ping
★★★★★
Dr Tom Lillicrap says he's leaving the Wig for post-doctoral studies. But he's handing over to Frazer Brown and Alan Ball, his collaborators on this delicious wheat beer, infused with fresh plumcots, navel oranges and lychees. The fresh fruit and orange-rind flavours make an already spritely, fruity beer even more enjoyable.
Cooper's Pale Ale 375ml
6-pack $16.50-$20
★★★★½
Cooper's move from niche to mainstream brewer came, surprisingly, without compromise to the style of its major bottle-ferment beers – Sparkling Ale and it's slight less alcoholic offshoot, Pale Ale. The latter continues to deliver easy drinking but with great depth of flavour and the lingering bitterness absent from most mainstream beers.
