62 | T H E B A R O SSA M A G
“I guess that’s my philosophy...
It’s like gee, one day I’m going
to be dead, so I might as well
enjoy and make the most of
what I’ve got while I’ve got it.”
- Brenton Rehn
>> Local brewer, Brenton Rehn.
Explaining how he “enjoyed the
process” of making beer, even at this
simplest of levels, he soon joined the
local brew club where he learned more
about his new found hobby. He also joined Langmeil Lutheran
Church.
“That’s when I started brewing what
they call ‘all grain’...the basics. I thought
that was even more fun because you are
then writing your recipes and selecting
your own ingredients as well.” “I only started going to church when
I met Robyn, but I always thought I had
a spiritual connection there - I always
believed in God.”
A whole new world had opened up
to this once troubled youth whose
formative years growing up in his
hometown of Murray Bridge once
led him down a path of self destruction.
The tattoos on his arms are part
of the healing process.
“I got them back when I was driving
trucks. They cover a lot of probably
dark memories from when I was
young… My childhood wasn’t the
happiest one you might say.
“I’ve dealt with that. For a lot of years,
especially in my teens, there was drug
use, alcohol abuse rather than use.
I think I was self medicating to try
and forget about what happened.”
Those days now firmly locked in
history, Brenton’s life changed the
moment he drove his truck into
the Barossa Valley.
It’s where he met his future wife,
Robyn who was employed at the same
wine tanker company he was working
for at the time.
“We got married and we had
our daughter Caitlin.”
“I’m a Christian, but not a very good
one!” laughs Brenton.
Brenton stopped driving interstate,
conceding the punishing hours kept
him away from home too much.
The lifestyle change gave him more
time to hone his brewing skills and
he entered his beer into home brew
competitions. Angaston Show was
his first, then Tanunda where positive
results inspired him to enter brews
further afield.
“Sure, it’s nice to win… but the good
thing about all brewing competitions
is you actually get judge’s feedback on
your beer. If you are trying to improve,
you get better by having your beers
judged at that higher level,”
says Brenton.
“I must have brewed some good
beers because I won trophies in
South Australia and nationally.
“People were starting to notice. Robyn,
by then, had started working for Carl
Lindner. He’s a person who was very
driven and supportive and used to have
occasional get-togethers... Carl started
asking me to bring my beer along, then
people started asking me where they
can buy it. I’d reply, you can’t, I make
it in my back shed! They said this is the
Barossa mate, everyone started in their
back shed - that’s no excuse!
“It sort of started to resonate with
myself and Robyn. It sort of became
my dream.”
In October 2012 the duo began their
“little outside stall” at the Barossa
Farmer’s Market and during that 4½
year period, more trophies ended up
on the mantle piece, he “went back
to school” and put himself through
brewing courses to further his
knowledge.
“I think it was in May 2015, I’d
entered some beers in the Australian
International Brewing Awards, that’s
one of the three biggest brewing
competitions in the world and our
extra stout got a gold medal in the
same class as Cooper’s extra stout
- we had finished in front of Cooper’s!
“We were in the running for a trophy...
We ended up virtually third in the
world, so that was pretty good. That
stopped us from giving it all away,
even Robyn said we can’t stop now.
This is vindication and we need to
give it our best shot!”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Planning for their boutique brewery
and Cellar Door began in 2016 and
by the end of October, 2017, they had
opened for business.
“At the moment, we are only running
at half capacity, if that, but it gives us
room to grow,” Brenton says.
“The best thing about having our own
brewery is being able to sit here and
say this is ours, we built it. Everything’s
done here, we are actually a proper
production brewery.
“We order in the raw ingredients,
we make our own recipes. We brew the
beer, we ferment the beer, we package
the beer into bottles and kegs. We even
hand label every bottle.
“It’s all our product - 100 per cent
Rehn Bier, right here in the Barossa,
that’s what we are proud of.”
Sure there’s been challenges along the
way, but tax laws and legislative issues
pale into insignificance when you hear
what this 54 year old has endured.
“September 29, Grand Final Day, I had
my left kidney removed. Three weeks
before we opened this place,” Brenton
reveals.
“I had been getting lower back pain and
I thought it was because I was working
long hours and working hard, over-
doing it.
“I went to the doctor...had an MRI and
I had a tumour that was starting to block
one of the main veins from my kidney.”
Brenton was diagnosed with Renal
Cancer and urgent surgery followed.
“I went back for my six month scan
and there were some little nodes on
my lungs. So I started a course of oral
chemo which only lasted six weeks
because that nearly killed me.....Anyway,
the oncologist put me on a new form of
chemotherapy called immunotherapy.
It works on the immune system rather
than the cancer itself.
“It’s been 12 months on this new stuff
and I don’t take pain killers any more.
I feel good....and while it’s good
it’s good!”