Astone barn at Hatherleigh now houses sophisticated brewing equipment operated by a retired army officer.
The building is estimated to be around 120 years old but its contents are state-of-the-art.
After a 35-year decorated career with the Australian Defence Force, David Smith has been looking to develop a long-time hobby as a craft brewer.
Some consultancy work and board memberships occupy a few days of each week and this allows David time to fine-tune the brewing process.
Along with his wife Selena and her parents John and Lis De Koke, they moved to the Hatherleigh township dwelling last October and renamed it “Thyme Cottage”.
Selena, John and Lis are artists and part of the stone barn is given over to their studio and gallery.
When the renovations and extensions are completed and the various regulatory approvals and licences secured, the gallery will complement the craft brewery.
The public will be welcomed at various licensed functions and will make good use of an al fresco area with outdoors pizza oven.
One of their first tasks was to start growing hops which are an essential part of the brewing process.
For David, the path to becoming a craft brewer began around 30 years ago when he purchased a basic home brew kit sold by a major Adelaide brewer.
The results were not to David’s satisfaction and capping the bottled beer also had its difficulties.
Raising a family and a busy army life with numerous overseas and Australian postings then made heavy demands on David’s time.
His interest in becoming a craft brewer was maintained through study and experimentation.
Along the way, David gained the Graduate Certificate in Brewing from the Federation University in Ballarat.
While living at Eganstown in central Victoria in 2020, David began crafting beers under the original name of the town.
Blanket Flat Brewing began with four styles of beer and then three more were added.
All were named after hotels in that area.
When the move was made to Hatherleigh in 2022, the brewery name was retained but the beers were renamed.
They are now known as the Limestone Coast American Pale Ale, Thyme Cottage Imperial Pale Ale, Hatherleigh Stout, Mount Burr Pale Ale, Wattle Range Weizen and Southend Kolsch.
The barn now houses an old-style display refrigerator which was formerly at the Grand Hotel in Millicent.
David hopes Blanket Flat Brewery will be fully operational within a year and an additional four varieties of beer will be added to the range.
“My brewing philosophy is to craft traditional styles of beer which appeal to Australian tastes,” David said.
“They will be brewed in small batches and there will be a focus on the local community.
“We have to finalise the set up and get the necessary development and liquor licensing approvals.
“A ruling from the Australian Taxation Office is also required.
“My business model has me running interactive brewing sessions here by appointment as well as crafting small batches of beer for sale at local pubs and clubs.
“We also plan to stage community events here at Hatherleigh.”
The SE Voice attended one of David’s interactive brewing sessions which coincided with a South Australian Living Arts exhibition staged by Selena, Lis and John.
