No Furphies Here – Geelong Gets Its Own Beer
21 Jul 2014 --- Geelong can now raise a glass of its own amber liquid with the release of Furphy Refreshing Ale, a new beer brewed in Geelong, for the people of Geelong and Victoria.
Now available on taps around town, Furphy Refreshing Ale is brewed using only Victorian ingredients. Working hand-in-hand with local producers, the beer’s key ingredients: water, barley, wheat, yeast and hops; are sourced from regions such as Wimmera and Eurobin and brewed at the Little Creatures Brewery in Geelong, where all the magic happens.
Lion Beer, Spirits & Wine Regional Director for Victoria, Matt Windsor, said: “Well before we opened the brewery just over a year ago, we had been thinking about brewing a beer for Geelong. We wanted to create something that the people of Geelong could proudly call their own – their own beer that comes fresh from their local brewery.”
Furphy Head Brewer, Warren Pawsey said: “We are very proud of this new brew we have created at Little Creatures in Geelong, but we couldn’t have done it without the quality Victorian ingredients we had to work with,” said Pawsey.
“Initial inspiration for Furphy Refreshing Ale started with an Old style German ale which is still brewed in Cologne and called Kölsch,” added Pawsey.
The end result is a clean, crisp, delicately balanced beer with subtle fruity flavours and aromas. Deep gold in colour and slightly hazy, there is a subdued maltiness balanced with subdued hop flavours which leads to a pleasantly refreshing finish.
Furphy takes its name and pays tribute to the Furphy family of Shepparton, Victoria who for over a century have produced water tanks. During World War I, Furphy water carts delivered fresh water supplies to Australian Army personnel. Marked with their trademark ‘J. Furphy & Sons’, the tanks became popular gathering points where soldiers exchanged stories, gossip and rumours – much like the water cooler conversations.
Troops who gathered around the water carts would swap stories, in a similar way, some may swap stories over a beer, except that many of which would become exaggerated along the way and eventually had no basis in fact. These embellished or improbable stories became known as a furphy.
Great, great grandson of the founder and current CEO of J. Furphy & Sons, Adam Furphy said: “We’re feeling very special to have our family name honoured in this way. It’s not often you drink a beer with your name on it!”
“The team has done a fantastic job to create Furphy Refreshing Ale and we are very much in line with the beer’s philosophy – proudly Victorian and supportive of local communities,” said Furphy.
The relationship between the two Furphys goes beyond just a name, with J. Furphy & Sons supplying the beer tanks at the Little Creatures Brewery used to brew Furphy, the beer.
Sam Furphy, great great grandson of John Furphy and director of Furphy’s Foundry said: “You could say that Furphy as a business has played a small role in the beverage industry already. We’re proud to have our family name once more associated with something that brings people together to share a story or two – many years ago it was water however in this case, it’s a great beer!”
In addition to supporting local Victorian industry and agriculture, Furphy aims to support the Geelong community and has some exciting initiatives, which will be announced shortly.
