THE beauty of the Snowy Mountains is it attracts people from all walks of life, some visit for the snow, some stay for life and others call it a second home.

Famous beer brewer Chuck Hahn calls Jindabyne his second home. Or maybe it’s the Banjo Paterson Inn that is his second home, as on every visit you will find him downstairs brewing beer that flows straight to the tap at the Banjo’s Muster Bar.

Chuck created the Kosciuszko Pale Ale, which by the way is one of the most popular beers now and is a great brand to have for our region. Everyone can associate Kosciuszko with the Snowy Mountains.
Originally from Colorado, he still has a bit of that American accent, although it has been toned down by decades of living here in Australia. He skied and worked as a ski patroller at Loveland Pass, Colorado, hence his association with the mountains.
He is still passionate about his skiing but said he had not ventured out so far this season.

In his home country his claim to fame was creating Coors Light in his earlier brewing days. “The second biggest beer in the United States,” said Chuck.
In the brew house Chuck is in his element, and he rattles of brewing terms one after the other. His passion and enthusiasm for beer easily noticeable. His offsider is Richard Burton from Snowy Mountains Sports, just next door. Richard has been learning the trade from the master brewer and together they fill the vats and proceed through the brew process.

Recently they have developed a brand-new beer, their Kosciuszko Dark Lager, which Chuck says is going well.
“We are always looking at different brands for Kosi, we just had the one Kosi Pale Ale, and that has just grown like everything.”
“Nowadays little breweries are having five or ten different beers, we always had just the one, we are always experimenting. Way back we did a pumpkin ale for Gavin (Gavin Patton), and we did some hefeweizens, we did that for a couple of years.”
“We thought we try a dark cloudy mountain lager to see how that goes, and it seems to be going fairly well,” said Chuck in early August, a few weeks after the first dark lager brew.
“The beauty of that is it looks dark, but it tastes like a much lighter coloured lager.”

Describing one of the differences with the dark lager was they added the hops during the fermentation process with the yeast present. “You solubilise the alpha and beta acids in the hops during the fermentation process to produce that pleasant fruitiness without the normal kettle boiling and isomerisation which creates the bitterness.”
“I am just toying up a new recipe now for a Czech Republic style pilsner, so it will be a rich tasting pilsner.”
“Making a good beer is all about balance – aroma, body, alcohol, finish and drinkability. And of course, the beers are better at Banjos.”