Murray's Brewery launches the Candy Bar Range of craft liqueurs - and a popcorn vodka

It's an exciting time for brewery owner Murray Howe, who employed culinary experts Carl and Kelie Kenzler to help him chase the silver linings so often overshadowed by the COVID-19 cloud.

They have been quietly working away at Murray's Brewery and have developed three liqueur flavours based on old-school candy favourites - Jaffa, Musk and Spearmint Jubes. They've also nailed the salty, buttery essence of popcorn - in a vodka.

It's serious scientific business but a lot of fun, too.

"COVID has thrown us and everyone else a curveball, and we identified very early that the pandemic required our vision for our beverage and hospitality group to pivot," he tells Weekender.

"By this I mean bringing forward some projects, like a greater move into craft spirits and a re-invigoration of our vineyard and wine business at our Bobs Farm headquarters.

"Craft beer is still our heritage, however COVID restrictions have hit all beer producers hard. Our focus over the next six months will be more local and experimental in our drinks production.

"We see the distillery side of Murray's as being one of growth, going forward, and we are super excited to be a part of the craft spirits movement in Australia."

This is where the Kenzlers come into the picture. You might remember their hatted Nelson Bay restaurant, Ritual, and its focus on molecular gastronomy.

"I thought Carl and Kelie were very brave operating a fine-dining restaurant in a back street of Nelson Bay," Howe says.

"Their vision for exploring flavour and what a food experience could be blew me away at the time, and we got to know each other better when they started pairing their food with Murray's beer.

"Once we decided to push forward our craft spirits program I knew that we needed a strong creative team at the helm, and Carl and Kelie immediately came to mind.

"They understand flavour and that's what Murray's is all about."

The Kenzlers were surprised to hear from Howe in March, just as COVID-19 hit.

"It was a random phone call," Kelie says.

"We knew Murray through Ritual as we had done some degustations with him so I was expecting the phone call to be about food. And then he said 'What do you think about making spirits and gin and beers?'."

Carl chips in, laughing: "And we said 'Not much'."

Always up for a challenge, the pair began reading everything they could about making beers and spirits. They knew of Empirical, a Copenhagen-based distillery founded by Noma alumni Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, and were intrigued by the chef-led fusion of culinary and scientific principles being applied to the distilling process.

So was Howe.

"We love looking at the science of flavour, and how we can do something a little different and creative," Kelie explains.

"We broke it down to basics and as we were doing our research, we realised that it's all just fermentation.

"Alcohol is fermentation, at its core, and we love fermentation. It's really fun.

"Murray's already has the infrastructure in place, and now we get to play. And we're still playing, learning and creating."

So far, the Kenzlers have developed four Australian-inspired flavours as part of the Candy Bar Range at Murray's.

The aim was to have a little fun with the flavours by evoking childhood memories and bringing some colour back into what has been, for many, a gloomy six months.

"It's meant to be fun and lighthearted, not serious. It's not the kind of drink you'd enter in a competition," Kelie says.

"Rather, it's like going to the movies as an Australian back in the day; flavours that we know.

"It's also really tasty, like drinking a liquid lolly."

Just as they used to design their menus at Ritual, when creating liquid flavours the Kenzlers decide on a theme and then run with it.

"We need direction. A focus. And from there we create," Carl says.

"We come up with a theme and we break it down, look at the science behind it and the flavour combinations, and what's in season," Kelie adds.

"We have discussed a seasonal range coming into summer. We've looked at some of our local produce like Bakkers' peaches, they're absolutely amazing, plus Anna Bay tomatoes and Myall Lake prawns.

"We will be creating different gins, liqueurs and spirits that enhance and match those flavours."

They'll also be playing around with bitters, botanical vodkas, aperitifs and digestives. Talking about their plans, the Kenzlers sound like kids in a candy store.

"We liked the idea of creating a popcorn-flavoured vodka. We basically created it just because we could," Carl says.

"We know flavours and we know fermenting. Different ethanols means we can use different fruits or styles or yeasts. We have a lot of options."

Coming up with names and labels for their creations has helped the Kenzlers hone their focus, too.

"We have a graphic designer, Kelly Walker who is Newcastle based, and she's very quirky and very fun. She's done all our label designs," Kelie says.

"I suggest things and send her a theme board and she just draws these amazing designs, which makes it easy for us to create. It can even send us on a different tangent."

Howe's aim is for Murray's Brewery's Bobs Farm headquarters "to become an experience for anyone curious about craft beer, Australian wine and craft spirits".

Kelie says it's all about "creating passion in people".

"In each different area of Murray's we'd like to have people who are passionate about what they do," she explains.

"The long-term plan is to look at a more circular, holistic feel for Murray's. Sort of Grounds of Alexandria meets The Farm Byron Bay.

"That's where we're heading."

And while the Candy Bar Range is lighthearted and fun, other ranges won't necessarily follow that lead.

It's very much a case of watch this space.

"It is such a huge compliment to have someone [Howe] have so much faith in us," Kelie says.

"This range is definitely fun, but other ranges will be different again.

"We've actually pulled a spirit off a Fred Beer and the aroma is the most intoxicating I have ever smelt."

Adds Carl: "We need a reason to create. When we started out there was musk just sitting there and it's like, 'Right, it's a bit lonely, what can we do with it?'. And then we came up with the Candy Bar Range.

"We might take a much more serious and scientific approach to another range.

"We want to change the focus of Murray's from just being a brewery and highlight all its elements - distilling, fermenting and blending."

Known for its craft beer, Newcastle is fast developing a reputation for its spirits.

At the recent Australian Gin Association awards Newcastle and Hunter Valley distilleries held their own, some taking home several trophies.

Classic Dry Gin: Magpie Distillery, Murrurundi Dry Gin (gold); Newcastle Distilling Co, Dry Gin (silver); The Antipodes Gin Co, Antipodes Gin (bronze).

Contemporary Gin: Styx Brewery, Amato (gold); Ironbark Distillery, Cascara Gin (silver); Ironbark Distillery, Wattleseed Gin (bronze); Newy Distillery, Signature Gin (bronze); Styx Brewery, Achilles Gin (bronze).

Matured Gin: Earp Distilling Co, Gin 8 Barrel Aged (bronze); Earp Distilling Co, Port Side Barrel Aged (bronze); Newcastle Distilling Co, Bathtub Gin (bronze).

Australian Navy Gin: Styx Brewery, Achilles Gin - Bullock Island (bronze).

Flavoured: Magpie Distillery, Orange & Saffron Gin (bronze); Newcastle Distilling Co, Infusion Gin - Strawberry (bronze).

The Amato Gin, by Styx Brewery at Carrington, was actually a collaborative effort with Nagisa Japanese Restaurant at Honeysuckle.

Nagisa's Taiyo Namba says it's "a beautifully hand-crafted small-batch gin using locally-foraged kumquats and mandarin, blended with sencha tea, sansho pepper and juniper, to be enjoyed neat or with soda water".

The label was designed by Newcastle artist Ineke Higgins.

"Earlier this year we revealed our new exclusive Nagisa Gin and asked the community to help us name it," Namba explains.

"The winning name was Amato, which was shortened from Amaterasu. This is Japanese for 'heavenly rock cave' which is a story from Japanese Mythology. A collaboration dinner was held last month to celebrate the gin's release."

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