Next in our ‘Meet the Distiller‘ series, aimed at promoting the hard-working individuals behind Australian craft distilleries and their brands, we meet Brendan Carter of Applewood Distillery in South Australia.
Brendan Carter Applewood Distillery – Photo Credit: Supplied
Tell us a little about yourself, your position, where you work and where it’s located.
I’m the ‘Chief Thinker’ of Ochre Nation – a producer-enclave of Australian-centric beverages – such as wine (Unico Zelo and Harvest Social Cantina), Gin (Applewood), Bitter Amaro (Økar) and Liqueurs (Carter’s Original and Limoncello). I’ve come from a background of studying winemaking – and working across Australia, Italy and France working for some of the most amazingly talented producers – before starting Ochre Nation with my (immensely more talented) wife, Laura – in the Northern Adelaide Hills in 2012.
How did you get started in distilling?
Being a winemaker, we’re intensely fascinated with the land (we’re ‘dirt crazy’) and the pursuit of site expression led us to the wonders of native produce that’s often overlooked or we’re simply unaware of. When it came to trying to convince more growers to farm this produce, we were faced with the ultimate question: ‘well who’s going to buy all of this raw product?’ Valid point…
So we looked at a range of different enterprises that would, by design, take a lot of raw produce and turn it into highly valuable (and preferably non-perishable) product. That’s where distillation has a distinct speciality. We were trained in distillation, so the next steps were fairly easy… get a licence, and a still, and start experimenting. The rest is history.
Tell us a little bit about your distillery, when it was founded, the vision behind it and the spirits you currently produce.
Our distillery is known as Applewood, in honour of the rich heritage of apple-growing in our district (which our historic building is intrinsically a part of). We acquired our still in late 2011 and started distilling formally in 2012. The vision was to assist farmers to sustainably farm native ingredients, and raise the profile of the industry on a global scale by crafting products that are inherently approachable and insightful.
This isn’t exclusively tied to Gin but crosses over to other botanically-loaded beverages too (such as Amaro). We also explore our rich coffee-culture with a Coffee Liqueur: Carter’s Original!
What has been the most rewarding part so far?
The most rewarding part is working within the native ingredients industry. The contemporary native-farming industry has been around since the late 80s (properly) – and still has many characters in it to this day. The ability to start listening to our indigenous cultures and opening discussions surrounding food and flavours that are ironically foreign is always a complete thrill.
There’s simply an amazing sense of ambition and aspiration in what we’re doing.
Aside from taxation, what has been the most challenging part so far?
The challenges are multi-faceted, particularly when considering continuity of supply of some of the rarest ingredients on earth, and the constant concerns surrounding ‘over-foraging’. Further, we have very little remaining knowledge of how to appropriately farm these ingredients, so the challenge of constant change and constant ‘new’ is ever-present.
What advice would you give someone considering distilling as a career?
To become as involved in as many aspects of the industry as possible, as it’s very rare to ever be a 100% distiller behind-the-scenes. You’ll need to get out and converse with the industry, craft genuinely creative concepts, educate, lead, connect and constantly [constantly] learn.
What’s your opinion on the current state of Australian distilling, and is it sustainable long term?
It’s in massive growth and we’re all very excited to see the camaraderie shared amongst producers! The craft is most definitely sustainable but the local taxation that we have inherently means that we have to be either expensive, high-volume or large exporters to survive… I do get worried about new distilleries that don’t have new concepts to share with broader consumers.
Where do you see the future of Australian distilling heading?
I can easily see the growth of aspect of our industry that leverage ‘place’ or ‘terroir’ as a facet of uniqueness. That may be with forging an entirely new category of gin (Australian Gin?) or in Whisky… I would honestly love to see the growth of a strong Brandy industry too – and with it, a resurgence of Fortified Wine styles!
Apera anyone?
Are there any projects in development that we can look forward to?
Yes! Oh Yes! But we’re tight-lipped about them at the moment. We have monthly releases mapped out for the next 12 months!
Applewood Distillery is listed in the Australian Distillery Directory.
In partnership with Applewood Distillery
