Brew brothers deliver with Isuzu

The odds are good that at some point you’ve sat up far too late with friends, having far too much fun, only for someone to suggest ‘we should open a brewery!’

Brothers Adam and Peter Watts of Outback Brewing Co had this very conversation back in 2018. With the astonishing power of follow-through, they’ve built a range of beers and ciders to quench the thirst of many Australians.

With the aid of a Ready-to-Work Isuzu NLR 45-150 AMT Traypack, they’ve been delivering kegs of handcrafted and painstakingly perfected product in the picturesque town of Chittering, which is burrowed into the northern hills of the Darling Range in Western Australia.

Adam Watts, Director and Head Brewer, is a refrigerator mechanic by trade who has used his industry experience to good effect installing the cold rooms and equipment needed for Outback Brewing Co.

“I was working on cool rooms for breweries and doing home brewing myself back in 2005, when I started wondering if we could scale things up,” Adam recalled.

“We got talking with a people in the industry and decided to just give it a go.”

Outback Brewing Co offers a core selection of a lager, apple cider and a ‘token’ ginger beer, and the duo say that adding interesting beverages has proved the key to hits at events like Beerfest Australia where they proudly took home the 2019 People’s Choice Award.

The burden of delivering these fine brews falls squarely on Adam and Peter’s shoulders – a familiar tale for any small business owner – which led them to go in search of a delivery solution to help tackle the enviable problem of customer demand outpacing production.

“When we opened the brewery, we quickly needed something that we could throw the kegs in and use as a run-around vehicle,” Adam said.

“We were originally using a 2006 Isuzu ute with a 3-litre turbo diesel engine from our old air conditioning company but were at 750,000 kilometres with it.

“I thought, ‘We’re obviously going to want to go with Isuzu again with that amount of mileage!"

Adam and Peter visited Major Motors Isuzu in Forrestfield and were instantly attracted to how a truck could add value to the business compared to a new ute. They walked away as owners of a NLR 45-150 AMT Traypack featuring six-speed automated manual transmission, which has both fully automatic and clutchless manual operation modes.

The new truck has helped to increase productivity and they say it’s perfect for manoeuvring into any tight spot that they need it to.

“Everything the ute could do, the truck does better,” noted Adam.

“I used to tow a trailer with the ute, but now I don't need a trailer. I can rock up to a beer fest with everything on the back and unload.

“This means one trip, not two or three, which we love.”

In a short wheelbase, Isuzu’s NLR 45-150 AMT Traypack comes stacked with a nominal payload of just over 2000kg, a 4500kg GVM and 8000kg GCM. This provides sufficient weight for Adam and Peter, who don’t have to worry about overloading the tray with kegs for deliveries throughout Western Australia.

Ticking along under the reliable power of an Isuzu 4JJ1-TCS engine which offers power of 110kW (150hp) at 2800rpm and torque of 375Nm at 1600 to 2800rpm, the truck can also be driven on a standard car licence, meaning there’s no need for a truck licence for either of the boys or friends if they’re helping out with a run.