Why Fontaine Launched an Australian Aperitif Range

Why did Fontaine launch a new line of aperitifs?

For me, it was never really about moving away from beer. It was about following my obsession with flavour.

I've always been fascinated by the balance of flavour — how acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma and texture work together to create something greater than the individual ingredients. Before brewing, I worked in commercial food science and chemistry, and I've always been obsessed with food: cooking it, eating it and understanding what makes it work.

That philosophy has always been at the heart of Fontaine.

Our beers are made to complement food rather than overpower it. We look for balance, drinkability and flavour that rewards the palate. Whether it's a beer designed to sit alongside a meal or something more complex and wine-like, the intention is the same: the drink should become part of the food experience.

The aperitifs and liqueurs are simply another way of exploring that idea.

We wanted to create drinks that could sit comfortably at the dinner table, be enjoyed slowly on their own, or have enough character to power through a cocktail. They're not simply sweet spirits designed to deliver a hit of flavour. We're interested in complexity, balance and the way different ingredients interact.

We use Australian botanicals and Australian fruit, combined with techniques and ingredients that come from our brewing background. That gives us a slightly different way of looking at spirits. We're comfortable fermenting, extracting, blending, ageing and experimenting — and we're not afraid to borrow ideas from brewing when they help us create a better drink.

We also barrel-age many of our products in ex-whisky casks. The barrel isn't there just because it sounds interesting; it is another ingredient in the flavour equation. Time, wood, spirit character and oxidation can transform a drink and add layers that simply can't be achieved by adding another botanical.

So the new aperitif range isn't really a departure for Fontaine.

It's the same obsession, applied to a different glass.

Beer, aperitifs and liqueurs are all different expressions of the same idea: make something interesting, make it balanced, and make it work with food.

That is what Fontaine has always been about.