17 February 2022

Five minutes with Tim Martin, Tumut River Brewing Co

| Lottie Twyford
Michael Cichocki and Tim Martin holding beers the brewery

Meet Tumut River Brewing Company owner Tim Martin (right), pictured with events manager Michael Cichocki. Photo: Supplied.

Who is Tim Martin? I’m the co-founder of Tumut River Brewing Co.

Best recent dining experience: Marble and Grain. My wife and I came up to Canberra and we wanted to go somewhere really nice and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was phenomenal. The service and food were both amazing.

Most embarrassing pantry item: Spam.

Marble and Grain

Tim’s best recent dining experience was at Braddon favourite Marble and Grain. Photo: File.

Must-buy ingredient: Garlic or salt.

Next big thing: It’s Tumut River Brewing Co’s Ginja Ninja – it was number 92 in the GABS’ Hottest 100, baby!

Beer

Tumut River Brewing Co’s Ginja Ninja made it to number 92 of the Gabs’ hottest 100. Photo: TRBC.

Favourite place for breakfast in the ACT: U and Co Cafe. It’s a really old-school, unpretentious cafe and all of their food is fantastic.

It’s got that classic big griddle and the guy out the back just smashing out food, and the people there remember everyone who comes in.

My Canberra food secret: Kingsley’s Chicken. What can I say? It’s a guilty pleasure.

Biggest culinary influence: The Smoking Butcher. With my kind of job and life, I often find I’m in a bit of a bubble where I work a lot and don’t often do, think and talk about much else, but after going to an event a number of years back and trying some slow-cooked smoked brisket, it just blew me away.

I’d never tried anything like it, and since then I’ve purchased three different smokers. It’s become a real hobby of mine. If I get a day off, I’ll spend 12 hours smoking a brisket and trying different things.

Favourite cookbook: Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet.

READ ALSO Five minutes with Dino Martiniello, Herbert’s at Evatt

Who I admire on the Canberra food and wine scene: I admire so many people I’ve met on my travels in and around the capital region and it’s hard to pick just one.

I think it probably has to be Richard Watkins from BentSpoke Brewing Co as I don’t think anyone in Canberra has done more for craft beer than him.

Richard Watkins

BentSpoke co-founder and head brewer Richard Watkins is a real inspiration for Tim. Photo: Region Media.

What’s on the menu this week: ‘Amazeballs’ and smoked trout pizza.

We keep our menu pretty simple as we have a small kitchen at the moment. The Amazeballs are what the name suggests – amazing. They are mac n cheese balls made with our beer from scratch in the kitchen.

As for the smoked trout pizza, it’s made with trout from the local river as I really wanted to highlight some of the great local produce to visitors who come through. As for pizzas, well, we do pizza.

It’s amazing, and I’m not a big fan of fish in general.

Where I’m going next: To Eden, to do some deliveries and on a personal trip.

Death row meal: Low and slow-smoked beef brisket with stuffed roast potatoes and a great beer – probably a Bad Mofo since I won’t be driving anywhere afterwards …

READ ALSO Five minutes with Joelle and Sascha Brodbeck, Brodburger and Claystone Meats

COVID-19 response: Well, that’s an emotional one because nothing has caused me more pain, stress, anger and sorrow.

I think I’m just begging for it to go away now as I don’t know how much more we can take.

My really simple recipe tip: Be prepared – timing is everything.

Tumut River Brewing Co is located at 1/5 Capper St in Tumut. It’s open from Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 8:30 pm (ish), Friday from 10 am to 10 pm (ish), Saturdays 8 am to 10 pm (ish), and Sundays 8 am to 8:30 pm (ish).

Original Article published by Lottie Twyford on Riotact.

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