A pioneer is a person who begins or helps develop something new and prepares the way for others to follow. If this isn’t the definition of the team at Young Henrys, we don’t know what is!

Like most good stories, theirs started over a beer. Meeting on opposite sides of the bar, Richard Adamson and Oscar McMahon got talking over their love of beer and music, and discovered they also shared the view that the Australian beer scene felt a little stagnant – that it should be more adventurous, innovative and fun. With Richard’s experience in brewing, and Oscar’s hospitality know-how, they decided they should do more than just talk.

Overcoming a tangle of red tape, Young Henrys eventually found a home in a modest warehouse in the backstreets of Newtown. With a few friends, a small brew kit and the maxim to ‘serve the people’, the first Young Henrys beers were brewed in March 2012. 

The idea was pretty simple: brew beer their local community would enjoy and be proud to call their own. As much as they’ve grown, that’s remained fundamentally the same. Only these days ‘community’ goes far beyond the geographical, and has evolved to include like-minded folk throughout Australia, united by the values we hold dear – music, art, culture & community. 

Still young but growing fast, in a blurry landscape of big beer buy-outs and crafty labels, they sit proudly and reliably independent. With the Newtown brewery upgraded to high-efficiency brewing system (HEBS mash press), kegs, cans and bottles are sent to quench thirsts in watering holes around the country. Newtowner – their Aussie Pale Ale and homage to the suburb they call home – has proven a firm-favourite country wide.

At Young Henrys, they brew beer to suit the modern Australian palate and climate. The core range is made up of well-balanced, easy-drinking beers. Free from bells and whistles, these stalwarts best showcase Australian hops and malts wherever possible. 

Limited releases provides the brewers the chance to colour outside the lines, while helping shine a light on the legends who make them.

No strangers to partnering up, collaborations offers a playground outside of the brewing industry, whether it be with a hazy lager for The Foo Fighters or a super-sessionable hemp IPA using a world-first water-soluble hemp oil method with Byron-based clothing label Afends.

Yep, to say they are pioneers doesn’t do them justice, but it’s a damn fine place to start.