| Dream Factory |
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The most famous face in Hobart isn't Errol Flynn's or even Ricky Ponting's flashing blade, it belongs to the facade of Casa de Cascade. Nestled at the base of majestic Mount Wellington, Australia's oldest continuously operating brewery (since 1824) has a magic even Willy Wonka would envy (the Cadbury factory is down the road for chocophiles). The building started off as a sawmill but when Peter Degraves was released from jail (he served five years for debts incurred back in England) he was granted 20 convict men as a workforce to convert it into a brewery. By 1832, when Hobart Town had 55 licensed pubs for a population of 10,000, the first Cascade beer arrived - the Pale Ale still in existence today. It was the same sustaining drop Cascade gave away free to the unemployed during the Great Depression (the only rule: one glass only and you had to bring your own mug). As the photos on display within the brewery today testify, wild bushfires devestated the brewery site and most of south-Hobart in 1967 but a taskforce of thirsty workers rebuilt the brewery in the space of three months and one day, no doubt enthused by on-site delights at knock-off.
Today, the grand old dame of Australian breweries stands at the base of majestic Mount Wellington, three acres of landscaped gardens replete with floral hop flowers growing along its perimeter, and the Derwent River whispering nearby. Here, you can grab a picnic hamper and kick back in the Woodstock Gardens - a playground for beer lovers dotted with old brewery wagons and beer barrels and a reflective pond once heated by the brewery's boilers. Better yet, toss down a few bumpers inside while perusing the museum or touring the only brewery in Australia producing its own malt on-site. We "appreciated" so much of Cascade's amber-hued ambience we spied a thylacine swimming in a vat of this year's First Harvest... or was that head brewer Max Burslem in his pyjamas?
Cascade Brewery |
In the misty mountains of Hobart there's a magic castle turning water into beer.
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