Meet the Brain Behind Your Favourite Beer
Behind every Cheeky beer is someone who's spent far too much time obsessing over what ends up in your glass. Introducing Adam Grey, our Head Brewer and that “someone”. Equal parts crazy scientist and professional beer tinkerer, Adam's the bloke making sure every pint that leaves the brewery tastes exactly as it should.
As if he wasn’t busy enough, we shot a few questions his way to find out what makes him tick.
Quick-Fire Round
Adam's Cheeky Motto
Gravity goes down, ABV goes up!
Favourite Cheeky Beers
Juicy IPA, SW Coast Pilsner, APA
Perfect Beer Moment
Beach and camping beers
Ultimate Food + Beer Combo
Pint and a parmi
The Full Pint
The Best Thing About Brewing
I really love the blend of creativity and science in brewing. You can take the same ingredients, tweak a process, use raw materials differently, or change a fermentation and end up with a completely different beer. I love that there are very few definite "yes" or "no" answers in brewing. It's usually "yes... but" or "no... but." There's always another way to approach a problem, another process to tweak, or another ingredient to push a little differently to create something unique. That's what keeps it exciting.
What do You Froth About the Industry?
Everyone's chasing the same goal, making good beer. Most brewers are more than happy to share knowledge, bounce ideas around, lend a hand, or just talk brewing over a beer. It's an industry where everyone wants everyone else to make better beer, because we all get to enjoy it.
And honestly, working in an industry with a community of absolute legends beats being stranded in Iran running reverse osmosis systems to make drinking water. After more than 10 years in my previous career, that was the moment I realised I needed a change and wanted to make beer.
If you had a blank canvas, what would you brew?
Barrel-aged beers. Time, funk, wood, wild fermentation, complexity and enough blending to feel like a mad scientist to then confidently pretend it was all part of the plan.
Also just lagers!
Wildest Beer You've Brewed
Most of the craziest beers I've ever made were while working with Chris and Gab at Sailors Grave. Whether it was foraging for wild weeds, smashing up oysters or sea urchins from the local reefs, adding sourdough cultures or even gravy to fermenters or fermenting the beers with wild yeasts, wine and sake lees, it was always super interesting.
The best part was that there was always a reason behind the madness. It wasn't just about throwing random things into a tank. It was about exploring flavours, using what was around us, connecting with the community and environment, and seeing where the beer could go.
Put Adam's Obsession to the Taste Test
Turns out all those hours in the brewery really pay off. Grab one of our core range beers, or see what Adam's been cooking up in the latest limited releases.
