Cheers to Local Brewers
Buy Local Christmas Campaign 2025 – Tasmanian Irrigation

Did you know that you can buy premium beers that are 100 per cent grown and brewed on a single Tasmanian farm?

Will Tatchell is very proud to confirm that he grows the barley and hops, malts the Schooner barley and brews a considered mix of modern beer styles and traditional European inspired ales - all crafted on his Evandale farm under the Van Dieman Brewing brand.

Up to 10 hectares of barley and about 300 hop plants, all under irrigation from the Lower South Esk Irrigation Scheme, underpin each 12-month cycle of beer production.

“When we started 16 years ago, there were about 40 craft breweries in Australia. Now there are 850 to 900,” Will said. “Growing the barley and hops on site, as well as making the beer, is our key point of difference in a pretty competitive market.

“This was a challenge that we started to explore about 10 years ago. It was a bit of a hypothetical that if Bass Strait closed down and we couldn’t get our ingredients in, could we produce a beer entirely on our farm.

“It was a case of merging my agricultural science education at uni and my professional brewing experience to achieve a real closed loop effort – ground-to-glass, paddock-to-pint.

“The difference to most farm businesses is that we’re not growing crops as a commodity, they are ingredients for our beer.”

Whether a pale ale, pilsner, IPA or a barrel-aged wild ale, Will brings his overseas brewing experience and love of farmhouse beer to every single release, some of which are barrel aged for up to three years.

As well as the home-grown barley and hops, and his passion and expertise, Will identified two other vital factors that underpin Van Dieman Brewing’s success – sales support from the local market and high surety irrigation water.

“We wouldn’t have had the confidence to modernise our farm or to grow both these crops without access to Tasmanian Irrigation water,” Will said.

“Hops are incredibly thirsty and we need to be sure that we can get our harvest off and have sufficient yields for the next year’s brewing.

“We couldn’t do that without a reliable supply of irrigation water.”

Will and his wife Kalie, and their three children Ned, Oscar and Max, are regularly photographed picking medlars for their wild golden ale, raking patterns through germinating malt, helping with hop harvest or creating names for the next brews, such as Willy Wanka Choc Porter, Rodeo Goat Golden Sour or the Ragged Jack Pale Ale.

Their farmhouse focus is increasingly recognised by the local market, with Tasmania now accounting for about 95 per cent of sales.

“We urge all Tasmanians to be adventurous this festive season and try a beer that is a little bit different. Much like exploring new foods at Christmas, it’s a chance to lean into richer, more flavoursome beers - beers shaped by the farm, the season and the moment they were brewed.” Will said.

“We’re not a brewery chasing mass-produced refreshment. We’re a farm brewery turning barley and hops, water and yeast into something with real story, flavor and soul.

“That’s the challenge we set all Tasmanians – be open to trying and enjoying something different.”

Van Dieman Brewing will be launching a new website in 2026, so keep an eye out at www.vandiemanbrewing.com.au.

For more information about the Lower South Esk Irrigation Scheme, please visit Lower South Esk - Tasmanian Irrigation.