Brewing for a better world

“If you said to me ‘you’ll be looking into microbiomes in cows when you’re 50’ I would have thought you were crazy,” he says. 

But that is the natural next step for the co-founder of lauded Sydney-based independent brewery, Young Henrys, who has been named as a finalist for the UOW Alumni Award in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Since co-founding Young Henrys with Oscar McMahon in 2010, the brand has become a household name in craft beer. Its motto, Serve the People, goes beyond pouring the perfect drink, with an ethos built on social and environmental sustainability.

“Starting in Newtown, our customer base had that environmental focus. As a consumer, you want to align your purchasing decisions with your values, so that played a huge role in our decision making,” he says. 

Since their first brew, 100 per cent of spent grain has been donated to local farmers, and in 2016 their Newtown site was fitted with solar panels to become completely renewable. 

In 2019, Young Henrys teamed up with researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) for The Algae Project, which uses algae to absorb the brewery’s CO2 emissions. 

The sustainable approach continues in Beer Positive, Richard’s latest venture that aims to help breweries offset their carbon by growing algae in their operations, to then supplement cattle feed and reduce methane emissions.

^{Richard and Young Henrys have become household names in the craft beer industry. Photo: supplied}

Career beyond beer

Richard’s career path has been varied and unique and is a far cry from his humble beginnings as an arts, psychology, and education student at UOW. 

A musician from the Sutherland Shire, Richard was drawn to Wollongong for the strength of its arts faculty and was hooked on the rotation of bands that came through the UniBar. 

“The whole 90s music scene was huge. I was playing in bands at the time and remember some of the acts that came through,“ he remembers. 

“The whole cultural aspect of campus was amazing, and the great thing about arts is that it was so modular, you can choose different areas which has really helped me [throughout my career].”
Graduating in the 1990s, Richard landed a job in IT which was “the new thing at the time.”

“It was really about communication, and a little bit of the psychology [I learnt at university] because people get stressed in that environment too,” he says.

“I wanted to do something new and something that would make people happy, rather than be dealing with people’s problems. Beer seemed to fit into that.” 

In 2005, he founded contract brewery Baron Brewing before starting up Young Henrys in 2010.

Today, Young Henrys is one of Australia’s most recognised craft beer brands, producing up to 8 million litres of beer ever year. Richard admits the brand’s multiple accolades still feel surreal.

“There was a year we came fourth in the GABS Hottest 100, which is a national beer competition. The same day, we went to the Foo Fighters concert because we were contracted to provide the drinks for their tour. That day felt pretty big,” he says. 

Harnessing the educational skills he learnt at UOW, Richard also helped develop the TAFE certificate to get young brewers certified, which he has been teaching for the past six years.

”We've taught over 300 students, many of them are working in the brewing industry, and I don’t think you can go into any brewery in New South Wales without seeing one of our students, which is a really proud moment as well.”

Despite his successes, Richard says he still gets imposter syndrome and is adamant that young people don’t have to have a solid plan to achieve their goals. 

“I didn’t get into brewing until I was in my 30s and didn’t start Young Henrys until I was 40. Anything is possible and it’s important the ability to be agile in your thinking and having a grounding in education, to research on your own, take in information and act upon that,” he says. 

“I think arts degrees are often denigrated, but education really should be cherished. The applications are broad and varied and you really don’t have to have it all figured out. You live step by step.”