Bottler Of A Lemonade
The Age
Monday September 12, 1994
First it came on tap. From today, the alcoholic lemonade called Two Dogs will be available in bottles. HEATHER BRITTON reports.
WHEN Two Dogs was but a pup it came only on tap. Now, a year after its creation, it's available in bottles. A world first, according to patent lawyers, Two Dogs Alcoholic Lemonade is the brainchild of Adelaide publican Duncan MacGillvray and brewer David Pahl. Necessity, indeed, was the mother of invention.
Last year, when MacGillvray's orchardist neighbor in the Adelaide Hills asked what he could do with a surplus of lemons, MacGillvray advised: ``Brew them."
``Why not?" said Pahl, who phoned his mother in Queensland for the family lemonade recipe, which he adapted. After minimal dabbling with various yeasts, they came up with the prototype and tested a keg of it in MacGillvray's Adelaide pub, the Bull and Bear Ale House.
By November's Grand Prix, they knew they were on a winner and were being wooed by publicans. It's still a source of pride for MacGillvray that there was no selling on his part. Two Dogs is now brewed under licence in each state. The Sydney Liars Club Hotel in Flemington and the Sherlock Holmes Inn in Collins Street are among the 10 Melbourne pubs with it on tap.
Recognising a need for wider distribution, the pair teamed up with the giant Inchcape Liquor Marketing and signed a 15-year national contract. While they're not bound contractually for international distribution, it has not gone unnoticed that Inchcape operates in 80 countries.
Discussions with their agent led to an increase in alcoholic content from the original 3.6 per cent to 4.2 per cent, which puts it in the same league as premium beers and ciders.
The increased alcohol level has done away with the cloudiness of suspended yeast in the original brew and, being less bitter, it is now more appealing to the female palate.
Be warned though. Behind that fresh lemon tang and the hint of sweetness is a deceptive kick. It's just the drink for dog-day afternoons.
Two Dogs has come a long way since the first 40 boxes of montacute lemons were sliced up for the first brew. ``We're now a serious player," says MacGillvray. ``By the end of the year we'll be doing about 1000 tonnes of lemons a year."
Three semi-trailer loads of Two Dogs have just been released in Melbourne in time for its launch at the Geebung Polo Club in Auburn tomorrow.
Initially, 25,000 to 30,000 cases a month will be brewed at Patritti Wines in Adelaide, then bottled and packaged at Coopers.
The quirky name comes from an old joke about an American Indian boy asking how he was named. Elaboration is not possible in a family newspaper. Suffice it to say the phrase, ``Why Do You Ask?" with two bulldogs imprinted on a lemon, was registered as the logo. Like the designs on the 10,000 T-shirts sold to date, the logo was MacGillvray's creation.
Expressions of interest in Two Dogs have come from the United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy and France and 100 cases from the first bottling have been sent on trial to Hong Kong.
© 1994 The Age