Botanic Ale ready to taste

Date posted: 27 October 2014

A limited edition beer made from barley grown in Adelaide Botanic Garden will be tasted for the first time today, Tuesday 28 October.

Botanic Ale is the result of more than a year of hard work and collaboration and marks the final stage of a unique project.

Director of the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, Stephen Forbes says the journey began when the City Crop was planted last year.

“The City Crop in Adelaide Botanic Garden highlights the importance of plants and agriculture in daily life and in 2013 we decided to grow barley, the second largest crop in Australia,” Mr Forbes said.

“Botanic Ale illuminates the technology in cultivating a crop and processing it into food, or in this case beer,

“The Gardens barley was malted by Joe White Maltings and brewed by Lobethal Bierhaus, and the whole project has been made possible through the support of Coopers.”

Coopers’ Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said Coopers had sponsored the barley crop in Adelaide’s CBD to further the objective of the Botanic Gardens to connect the community with plants, agriculture and food.

“Using the barley to create a special one-off craft beer seemed a good way to complete the project,” he said.

“Our friends at the Lobethal Bierhaus were happy to assist and I am keen to see how the beer has turned out.”

Owner and brewer of Lobethal Bierhaus Alistair Turnbull said Botanic Ale would be craft pale ale using some “fun” hops to create a unique beer.

“It’s been fantastic working with Coopers and the Botanic Gardens on this project and I’m looking forward to unveiling the final product tonight,” Mr Turnbull said.

The 2013 City Crop was planted with Navigator barley, a variety developed by the University of Adelaide’s barley breeding program, and was sown and harvested by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), a division of PIRSA.

Botanic Ale will be available from the Lobethal Bierhaus and the Botanic Gardens Restaurant from 29 October 2014.