They just launched the Middy, and now they’re set to release the Arvo Ale. We caught up with the boys behind the brews.
Jack Steele and Matt Ford (AKA The Inspired Unemployed) are feeling fresh. “We actually had a very sober weekend,” says Matt. It’s Monday morning and they’re speaking to me from their humble new headquarters in Kiama on the New South Wales South Coast. “Welcome to the little office we just built,” says Jack. “We’re calling it ‘Rehab’. It’s our little oasis.” Not quite the typical address one might expect for Australia’s newest beer moguls, but when it comes to the lads behind Better Beer, nothing ever really is.
A far cry from their roots on the construction site, the new space represents yet another evolution for the pair. “It’s so good to finally be able to separate home life from work,” says Matt. “I hate getting to the end of the day and thinking ‘Fuck, I didn’t leave the house all day.’”
From disillusioned tradies to sharing the stage with mega-celebs like Margot Robbie and Daniel Ricciardo, Jack and Matt parlayed their social media fame into Better Beer in 2021 and the buzz has been deafening, to say the least. Together with co-founder and CEO, Nick Cogger, it seems that these unlikely beer barons have found a recipe for success.
Pissing off craft beer purists with accolades from punters and critics alike (Better Beer Zero Carb placed sixth in the GABS Hottest 100 two years in a row), their meteoric rise suggests these lads are no flash in the pan. And to prove it, they’ve just added a fifth style to their range – Better Beer Middy – with another, slightly craftier fifth one – Better Beer Arvo Ale – on the way (or available now for pre-order exclusively for My Dan’s Members).
Last time we caught up with them, Better Beer was just a baby. So we sat down with Matt and Jack again to find out more about how Better Beer is evolving and what we can expect from their newest releases.
Q.A lot has been happening for you boys. What's gone down since we last chatted?
Matt Ford: “Heaps of shit!”
Jack Steele: “Far out. At the start, we didn’t know what the outcome would be. We had no idea it was gonna sell out like it did. It was a passion project for us to just throw some dirt at the wall and hope it sticks. It did and it has done. Now we’ve got almost six products in the line so that’s massive.”
MF: “Yeah it’s just snowballed. We never really thought it would be this big. We’re still doing our podcast and other things – maybe a TV show soon – but we’re always busy working on Better Beer. We kind of fell into it accidentally, but now it’s this business that we enjoy and love.”
JS: “There’s like nine of us full-time now, and that’s not even including the distribution team. It’s become a bit of a family; a proper legit company. Having a good team is everything and we have an amazing team behind us.”
Q.The success of your content is in its relatability. Is that the secret ingredient to the success of Better Beer too?
MF: “Yeah, I think so. We always wanted to build Better Beer as a community and to make sure everyone who was drinking it was having a good time and enjoying it.”
JS: “We didn't want it to be exclusive or anything like that. That health-conscious side of things was the main factor in doing Better Beer. We didn’t want to create something just for your hipster craft-beer drinkers or blokey blokes. We wanted to create a beer for our audience and for us, which is just an everyday beer that you can smash without feeling heavy and bloated.”
MF: “Yeah we’re very health-conscious now. We’re those weirdos that look at the back of a packet to see how many grams of sugar something has. We’re trying to look after our bodies a bit more, so doing a low-carb, low-calorie beer was obvious.”
JS: “It really is the future. I feel like if we’re doing it then everyone’s doing it. The idea came from seltzers. We’d sit around and drink a few and really enjoy that feeling of being light. But we don’t like seltzers. We like beer, so that’s what we made. We’re not saying it’s healthy, but it’s definitely got less shit in it than other beers.”
Q.You guys have just released Better Beer Middy. Why was it important for you guys to bring out a classic mid-strength?
JS: “We were always gonna do it, but we speed-tracked it because everyone in our DMs was asking for it. We just thought ‘let’s get this fucking thing out’. Even just for us. I’ll probably drink the Middy more now. Plus, the majority of humans that love a middy buy a lot of beer and you’ve gotta keep them happy.”
MF: “We wanted to go after the big dogs! I don’t go for high-alcohol beers so I’ll usually have one anyway. Craft beer really had its place a few years ago, but I think people are slowly phasing out of that. Everyone around us and all of our mates are going, ‘Fuck, I just want a lager – a proper beer’. And everyone wants to look their best for Instagram these days. Maybe middies are part of a more holistic lifestyle?”
Q.What’s the secret to a good middy?
MF: “It’s got to be clean, refreshing and approachable.”
JS: “Fucken oath. Easy and smashable.”
MF: “That’s the word! Smashable.”
Q.Better Beer Arvo Ale is coming out soon. So tell us, what is an arvo ale anyway?
MF: “It’s sort of like our take on a pacific ale. Arvo Ale is something we wanted to make from the very start. We still love the taste of a good craft beer so we’ve been pushing hard for this one for a while. It’s got the same zero-sugar base as the original, but then we add extra hops to create a light, refreshing ale.”
JS: “You find some crazy craft lovers that will rip on it, but we're not going after someone who drinks one beer and then feels sick for the rest of the day. It's got more hops and plenty of passionfruit and citrus flavour, but it’s not so heavy. It’s light for a craft beer, but it’s still got that good haze.”
MF: “Fuck, it’s gotta have the good haze!”
Q.So now that we know what Arvo Ale is, how does it fit into your ultimate arvo?
MF: “For me, it’d be having a surf followed by watching the sun gown down from the headland and talking shit over a few beers.”
JS: “Yesterday was a good example! I went for a skate, got some food and then played golf. We didn’t have any beers though! Some Arvo Ales would’ve been perfect.”
Q.Last question. Snog, marry, dump: trade, comedy, beer?
MF: “Dump trade, you’d snog comedy, and you’d marry beer.”
JS: “You normally snog a beer. But we are married to it. We’re in a lifelong relationship, anyway.”
Q.Anything to add before we let you go?
JS: “A massive shout-out to the Better Beer staff. They’re number one!”
MF: “Yeah for sure. And a huge thanks to all the legends that enjoy Better Beer too.”