It is a long time to work in the one place, but for the last 40 years that is what Cascade’s Head Brewer, Max Burslem has been doing and to celebrate, he’s released one of his best yet, the 2009 Cascade First Harvest Ale.
It’s only befitting that such a worthy milestone is celebrated at Cascade Brewery – Australia’s oldest brewery, with the eighth anniversary of the highly-sought after annual Cascade First Harvest Ale release.
When Max joined Cascade as a junior brewer, fresh from studying food and dairy at what is now the University of Western Sydney he had no inkling of just how far his career would take him. For the boy raised in Kingston, south of Hobart who loved playing cricket and football, the Cascade Brewery seemed like a good place to work, especially as he didn’t mind a drop or two of the good stuff.
As for Max’s crowning achievement, he credits three brews pioneered by Cascade, including Cascade Premium Lager, Cascade Premium Light and the 100 per cent carbon offset beer, Cascade Green.
"When we introduced Cascade Premium Lager to the market back in 1985 it was a completely new concept – we gave beer drinkers a high quality premium beer brewed to international standards here in Tasmania. It has gone on to be one of the mainstays of our range of beers – we were certainly ahead of our time," Max said.
"That in turn saw the arrival of Cascade Premium Light, which again was ahead of the market and went on to create a niche for beer drinkers who wanted a light option, whilst still enjoying the full-bodied taste of a full flavoured beer."
Max said since then Cascade has again demonstrated it is ahead of the curve with last year’s introduction of Cascade Green, a 100 per cent carbon offset beer that not only tastes great but it is 100 per cent carbon offset from the moment the hops are picked to when it is placed in the recycle bin.
"For a little brewery, tucked away in Australia’s most southern state, Cascade has a lot to be proud of and over the years we have certainly punched above our weight," Max said.
Cheers to Max for his 40th anniversary!