Home Brew

Jerrybang Lane mimics the undulating slopes of the New South Wales Hilltops region. Roughly 18 kilometres long, the road has recently been graded, and its smooth surface makes for effortless driving. Vast plains of fertile cropping and grazing country hug the lane, with the permanently running Bulla Creek snaking along the western side. The scenery is breathtaking; the drive is picturesque. Home to Steph and Mike Colman, Rosewood sits halfway along the lane. Little glimpses of the granite homestead can be caught from the lane, and so too can Bulla Creek Brewing Co, the brewery in the middle of nowhere that is owned and operated by the couple.

Steph, 37, is the youngest of four children: her parents Mary-Louise and Tony Fowler are the fourth generation to own Rosewood. The 1400 hectare sheep, cattle and cropping enterprise consists of three properties — Rosewood, Mountview and Melrose — in Monteagle between Young and Grenfell. Steph and her three older brothers Richard, 44, David, 42, and Tim, 40, all have fond memories of growing up there.

“We used to play down near the creek, making up games and building cubby houses,” reflects Steph. “Mum and Dad would pack a picnic, and we’d cook sausages on an old plough plate over the fire.” Working in Melbourne for a management consultancy firm, Steph always believed that one day she would return home to Rosewood.

“I always felt this huge pull to return home. I just didn’t know in what capacity I wanted that to be,” Steph says. “We loved Melbourne, and while I always wanted to come home, neither Mike nor myself wanted to run the property, so I just thought life on the land wasn’t going to possible for us.”

But Steph wasn’t the only family member interested in returning home to beloved Rosewood. Her brother Tim was working as a landscape architect and living in Melbourne, a mere five minute drive from Steph and Mike. Returning to the farm was always at the back of Tim’s mind.

“I had thought about it for a long time, but I hadn’t worked out when I wanted to come home,” says Tim.

But fate has a way of making things fall in place. Mike, 38, a structural engineer, was eager to explore the idea of setting up and running his own brewery, a space to brew small-batch beers. It became a light-bulb moment for Steph, a chance for each of them to have what they wanted.

“This was a way for me to move back home and for Mike to get his dream of setting up and running a brewery,” says Steph.

For Tim, the opportunity to move back came when his father Tony and his uncle John were splitting the partnership to enable succession planning for the next generation.

“Since we were kids, Mum and Dad had been in partnership with our uncle John and aunt Mandy. When dad began to set up Rosewood Pastoral, I thought this would be a good time for me to come home and help him take over the day-to-day management of the business.”

In March 2020, after many years of planning while also working full time in Melbourne, Steph and Mike submitted a development application to the Hilltops Council to build a brewery and taproom in the paddock next to the house. Eighteen months later, with the application approved, the couple moved to Rosewood and work began on the brewery.

All those memories Steph had growing up at Rosewood now return as déjà vu as she watches her daughter, Isla, four, and son, Patrick, two, play in the same spaces she did. “It’s such a strange feeling, but in a good way,” she explains. “We have this big arched window in our living room where I used to sit and play with my doll’s house, and now Isla sits there in the same spot and plays with her doll’s house.”

Six months later, Tim and his wife, Clemency, also moved home. They renovated a four-bedroom house on nearby Mountview, where they live with their two-year-old twins, Thomas and Lily. Tony and Mary-Louise are on the third family property, Melrose.

“Even though I helped out Dad a lot as a kid, I had been away for a very long time, so it took me a while to find my feet again and learn about the business,” says Tim. “But we love it. It’s very rewarding to be a part of the family farming history and to be raising our children here.”

In June 2023, Steph and Mike opened the doors of their brewery to visitors. Visible from Jerrybang Lane, the grey building stands on a grassy knoll. Towering eucalypts filter the sunlight that beams through the west-facing brewery while visitors get a front-row view of the sheep and cattle grazing the perennial grasses in the paddock.

In the two years since opening, Mike has been able to leave his role as a structural engineer to manage the brewery full time. The taproom is open every Saturday with up to 12 beers on tap to sample and enjoy. Rotating food trucks provide lunch. You don’t have to look far to see what people think of the rural enterprise. Recent 5 star reviews include: “A great little find in the middle of nowhere!” said Emma; “Great selection of beers on tap… It’s a wonderful setting amidst the farm,” Luke enthused.

“It certainly was a big risk setting up a brewery in a rural location that is not on a main road,” admits Steph. “But, ultimately, there are no other breweries within a two-hour radius of us, and only a handful across Australia that are built on a working property, so we always knew that was going to be a huge drawcard.”

Steph and Tim are a wonderful example of two siblings coexisting on the family farm. Rosewood Pastoral and Bulla Creek Brewing Co are two separate enterprises, but they operate cohesively. Visitors to the brewery get to enjoy the stunning scenery of Rosewood, and Tim, Clemency, Mary-Louise and Tony have the bonus of never having to go too far for a cold beverage.

“There are certainly little things that have changed since we opened the brewery,” Steph says. “For example, Tim and Dad can’t move sheep down Jerrybang Lane on a Saturday any more! But from the moment we put the idea to Mum, Dad and my brothers, they were all for it.”

“It’s funny because the thing we were all most worried about when Steph and Mike told us about their plans to build the brewery has turned out to be the best thing about it: its isolation,” adds Tim. “What Steph and Mike have built has become such a great addition not only to our property, but to the local community. I really hope it continues to do well.”

Find out how to visit at bullacreekbrewing.com.au or follow @bullacreekbrewing on Instagram.