A fresh pour: Oscar Hunt x Young Henrys

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Young Henrys has a proud Newtown based origins story, can you tell us a little bit moreabout it?

We were looking for a site for quite a while before we found this one. We were after specific zoning, a space big enough for a brewery, and we wanted it to be somewhere we could have local foot traffic and in a community that might care about a little beer business. 

I went to Newtown High School and Enmore Design Centre, so when we stumbled across this somewhat ugly, late 70s brick and corrugated iron warehouse, it was love at first sight.

The Newtown community has always been vibrant, fun and progressive and was the perfect place to start our business as we wanted Young Henrys to be loud, fun, forward thinking and inclusive. If you reflect the values of the place or people around you, amazing things start happening.

What was it that first inspired the creation of the Young Henrys brand?

Richard (Adamson, other co-founder) and I wanted to create a beer company that spoke to our personal tastes and values. We wanted it to have a sense of humour, be welcoming, have a dress sense, a moral code, and to contribute to the cultures/subcultures we felt a part of. 

What part of your original DNA is still present today?

When we were coming up with the idea for the company we wrote out a small list of company values in a Spirax notepad. We have been reading those values to every new employee of YH for the last 11 years. It is really nice going through them these days and being able to honestly reflect that they still feel as valid and current now as they did back then.

If you had to describe the Young Henrys brand in 3 words, what would they be?

Serve the people.

Is Young Henrys driven by a brand purpose?

Yep, see above.

Are there any Australian brands out there that really excite and inspire you?

Ester Spirits are doing great things in liquor; Swillhouse has just released a high quality print magazine which I think really creates a bigger brand space around what they already do; and Groundswell Giving is an amazing organisation as is Tell Your Friends You Love Them. Monster Children are still in print, still at the forefront of cool counter culture and are about to turn 20.

What’s the one drink you create that’s the consummate distillation of Young Henrys?

I think Newtowner would have to be the one. It was originally going to be a one off batch to celebrate Newtown's 150th birthday but after selling a whole batch of beer through one pub in under a week (that had never happened before) we decided we had better brew it again. 10 years on and it is ranged all over Australia and, in many ways, is a good reflection of our brand, our people and our home.

At Oscar Hunt, we talk a lot about being ‘Masters of Craft’, what does that mean to you?

Craft is a proces

How does craftsmanship show up in your day to day?

We are a nearly 11 year old company that still makes beer the same way we did when we started. We have increased our efficiency, our sustainability practices and our quality, but it is still just a bunch of passionate people making things for other people. 

Are there any key principles or guiding thoughts that inform your product development process?

We have a philosophy around balance, quality and value... trying to respect both the ingredients, the end product and the person consuming it equally.

Who from the Young Henrys brand is the ultimate example of a Master of Craft?

Our Head Brewer, Searlsy (Jesse Searls to his folks). He has come up through the ranks of our business, runs our brewing productions on a national level and still wakes up in the middle of the night worrying about dry hop ratios, centrifugal filter parts and how his team are feeling in the workplace. He knows every aspect of our brewery and our beers and lives to the philosophy of continuous improvement.

We’re thrilled that you’re partnering with us - can you tell us a little bit about how you first decided to collaborate with the Oscar Hunt brand?

Good partnerships always need to start with people connecting on some level. I met Chris Edwards at an event, we got talking and saw quite a few crossovers between what both of our businesses do, how we approach our craft and our customers and that we were sure we would have friends and customers in common. The fact that my father in law was a tailor and my name is Oscar also may have been discussed...

What are the 3 things Oscar Hunt and Young Henrys have in common?

We make things well for customers we care about.
We care about quality of product and experience.
We aim to build long term relationships and have a long game mindset.


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