Ashley Huntington of Two Metre Tall farm brewery in Tasmania has been heading down this path for longer than most. For his latest ale, Two Metre Tom (or Tom is Tall), made in collaboration with Barossa winemaker Tom Shobbrook, the brewer filled one of the winemaker's leftover empty barrels with wort, and the yeasts present in the lees at the bottom of the barrel started the ferment. The result is fascinating, with distinctly fruity, vinous aromatics leading onto a very beery, malty flavour on the tongue.

At Bridge Road Brewery in Beechworth, north-east Victoria, Ben Kraus has been making a small range of beers in a similar vein for the past couple of years. The latest release of three similar but different ales is called Pale de Wilde: the same initial wort was separated into batches and each was brewed using yeast collected from chardonnay ferments from three leading local wineries, Giaconda, Sorrenberg and A Rodda. It's makes for a fascinating taste comparison that seems to me to reflect the nature of the chardonnay produced by each winery: the Giaconda ferment is the fullest in flavour, with a distinct savoury edge; the A Rodda ferment is the most upfront and fruity; the Sorrenberg is the finest and most subtle, with a floral character.

And at La Sirène brewery in the Melbourne suburb of Alphington, Costa Nikias is trialling all sorts of non-mainstream techniques such as souring beers with the brewery's resident bacteria and adding wild-fermenting red grenache grapes to wort to produce a kind of wine/beer hybrid. He's also one of a handful of breweries with a koelschip, or "coolship", a large, shallow tray that can hold a batch of fresh wort that attracts wild yeasts and bacteria as it cools, initiating fermentation.

All these brewers are interested in creating beers with a sense of place, whether it's the unique regional characters in the Beechworth brewery/winery project, the wild yeasts collected from the Alphington air at La Sirene or the unique bacteria found at Two Metre Tall on the Derwent River.

This is also why Topher Boehm makes a point (unlike most other brewers) of highlighting on the labels of his new Wildflower beers which of the ingredients come from NSW. And why he's planning to take it even further.

"I'm gearing up for an entirely NSW brew," he says. "One where everything is local – the malt, the hops, everything – and the ferment is 100 per cent wild. I mean, what does it really mean to be making beer in this country if you're not using all Australian ingredients?"

What I'm drinking: beers of provenance

Wildflower Amber [Marrickville, Sydney]


The first two releases under the Wildflower label are a rather lean and nutty Gold ale which I think will benefit from a few more months of bottle conditioning, and this rich and creamy-textured Amber ale, with a good copper colour, some complex aromatics of cracked grain and flowers, tangy acidity and a savoury funky yeasty finish. Drink with something really gutsy, like braised tripe. 750ml $20 wildflowerbeer.com

Two Metre Tall Derwent Aromatic Spelt Ale [New Norfolk, Derwent Valley]

As well as having lovely earthy, wholemeal grain flavours thanks to the locally grown spelt in the mash, this ale also has a refreshing tartness created by the naturally occurring souring bacteria in the brewery. Drink with a rustic game terrine, served with the best, most authentic, slow-fermented sourdough bread you can find. (500ml) $13 2mt.com.au

La Sirene Wild Trippelle [Alphington, Melbourne]

To produce this beer, wort was poured into a "coolship" and left overnight, allowing wild yeasts to settle on the sugar-rich liquid and start fermentation. The resulting beer, aged in barrel for eight months, is strong, richly fruity (think overripe apples and cumquats) and super satisfying. Drink it with something sweet, sour and spicy, like a good laksa. (375ml) $15 lasirene.com.au