Combining Melbourne’s vibrant design culture with an appreciation of high-quality produce, has never looked so good. SAMPLE is a beer that’s targeted towards today’s design conscious and discerning individuals, offering a premium product as an alternative to commercial beer.
Aptly titled; Fine Beer, the classy brews are developed through experimentation and refinement. Working hand in hand with Melbourne’s emerging designers and talent, you’ll find SAMPLE not only at some of the city’s sweetest spots, but also at gallery openings, design exhibitions, and fashion launches.
Ex-architect and founder Vedad Huric launched SAMPLE in 2013, creating a unique product, with the aim of design becoming an inherent component. And if you’ve checked Instagram, magazines, TV, even (bless), Facebook lately, you’ll see it’s not too big a leap at all. ‘At no other time in history has food and beverage been so aestheticised and perfected’, says Huric.
All SAMPLE batches are brewed under the Reinheitsgebot, because let’s face it, Germans smash design. Oh? That’s not what that means? Well, sort of. The Reinheitsgebot is an old German purity law from the 15th century, stipulating a strict ingredient list of barley, hops, water and yeast, ensuring the product results in being as natural as possible.
SAMPLE is pushing those purity boundaries even further, with every bottle being unfiltered, unpasteurised, and preservative and additive free. Again, like great design, it’s about pure, undiluted talent, in… you know, a bottle.
Purity is a huge component to the SAMPLE ethos. ‘You could say our beers are as pure as the face of Andrej Pejic,’ says Huric.
Through the initial experimentation in Collingwood, the SAMPLE team endeavour to uncover new flavours. These are released in the form of limited edition batches, on a regular basis, setting them apart from the stagnant stout scene. These special SAMPLEs are always ‘challenging the status quo’, says Huric, ‘to make sure we don’t always remain in boring lands’. To do this, SAMPLE collaborates with like-minded individuals (designers, duh) such as Mathery Studio, to explore the ethos and representation behind each beautiful brew.
SAMPLE’s visual direction is a result of collaboration with art photographer Phebe Schmidt, and inspired by a William S Borroughs quote, ‘When you cut into the present, the future leaks out’.
With two current flagship products that reflect today’s design-affluent society, try one of SAMPLE’s Pale Ale or Gold Ale, and see what the aesthetic fuss is all about. An up and coming Lager will be launched in September, too.
You may just be after a Sunday sipper, or you may want a push in the right direction to get those creative juices flowing. SAMPLE beers are designed not only to be simple brews, but for those who value the combination of taste, quality and design. Aiming to encourage the exploration of ideas, this is no plain-Jane beer folks. ‘If you’re sitting in your studio trying to give birth to the next big thing, have a SAMPLE. We’ve made it to inspire you,’ says Huric.
So where do you go when you’re craving a creative epiphany in the form of liquid loveliness? SAMPLE currently stock around Melbourne, ‘in all the good places’, says Huric. Meaning, Tonka, Supernormal, Union Electric, Sweetwater Inn, Leonards House of Love, and many more.
Where are they going to be stocked? ‘ We offered a couple of cases to the Mars One project’, says Huric. ‘Haven’t heard back yet but we’re hopeful about having SAMPLE up there with a whole new colony.’
The next inspiring idea from SAMPLE—apart from, you know, work rest and play—is that the final stages are underway for their most recently planned release. A new age Lager will be added to their select offering, possessing ‘one of the most sought-after hops in the market’, says Cehic. With a year spent getting the recipe right, the SAMPLE team is pretty excited to see your reactions.
Currently hunting around Collingwood to bring a physical manifestation to the slick streets, SAMPLE are also aiming to open up a bar, brewery and experimental design platform to realise their full ambitions, and yours of course. Their ultimate goal? To inspire ideas in people, through always being exciting, fresh, and ambitious.
This writer is sober and already feeling inspired.
SAMPLE BREW
PO Box 1016, Collingwood,
[email protected]
samplebrew.com.au
instagram.com/samplebrew
facebook.com/samplebrew