Last month we caught up with Gavin McGrane, Petition Beer Corner venue manager for a chat about independence and quality. We set out to discuss the relationship between the two, what does independence look like and what does beer quality actually mean? In short, it’s a pretty meaty topic, we debate a few things and, of course, occasionally get sidetracked.

Also, a few apologies are needed for the sound. First, Pia clearly forgot she needs to slow down when she’s being recorded so speaks to her usual million miles per hour. Second, we lost a microphone about halfway through the interview so we had to improvise a solution and you may notice a bit of a drop in volume.

Before diving into the topic we started by getting to know Gav better. We find out how he got from Ireland to Petition and how he fell in love with craft beer along the way.

We then discuss quality and Gav walks us through the challenges and measures Petition Beer Corner take to ensure they are pouring great quality beer (they take it pretty damn seriously!). Then we talk about about what else quality means, the difference between the subjective quality of what beers are great and objective quality where a beer is technically well made and without fault. We also debate the merit of integrating objective quality into the Independent Brewers Association independent seal. 

The IBA describe it as a “seal of independence to help consumers easily identify what beers are locally owned by independent Australian brewers,”

IBA Media Release

We find out from Gav that independence still seems to matter to a lot of their customers and we chat through why people are so passionate about it, why some buy-outs seem to elicit a stronger and longer lasting anger than others. Then we dive into what independence means, how we each perceive it, how the IBA defines it and ask is there a difference between big companies and private equity.

Basically, we dive in, the waters get a little muddy and we hope it’s a good chat to listen to!