“Itʼs been a long time coming, but the Trial Brew, also known as Batch #15, has finally been dubbed and officially launched. Trial Brew began its life in a plain bottle appearing as a silent sponsor of music, fashion, and art events during the latter months of 2008. At these events, as well as through a website and special information postcard, we gathered feedback from creative types (approximately 1,000 of them) regarding the look, taste, and possible names for the beer. This information was then collated in a neatly labelled ring binder and sent to our brewers and various other important people. After analysing this information the educated types made a few minor changes to Trial Brew, resulting in the Nelson we see today.
First up the nameless one was christened. Up till this point we had managed to keep the project completely BS-free, so we didn’t see any point in starting here. The hops used to brew Nelson come from an area of New Zealand called – you guessed it – Nelson. This region of the country (located on the north coast of New Zealand’s South Island) imparts the beer with many of its distinct characteristics, so it seemed fitting that it should also lend the beer its name. Nelson had also proved to be a popular choice with consumers.
Finally the emperor received some new clothes. A brief was thrown out to a few Australian based illustrators, graphic artists, and artists to bundle together some ideas for the bottle. Deciding on a final design wasn’t easy, but Sydney-based design duo Sonny Day and Biddy Maroney eventually won the day with their piece entitled: Sneaky Rafter. Since then Nelson has shouldered its way into a choice selection of bars across Melbourne”
