Page 15 - Food&Drink Magazine Aug-Sep 2021

that it’s a flavour lead category,” says Ulijans.
After the summer of success, Moon Dog wanted to see as many Fizzer flavours available in on-premises venues as possible, but the finite number of taps in pubs and bars was a problem.
The challenge was how to achieve its goal of populating bars with Fizzer without putting publicans under pressure regarding what brews they had going through their taps.
A CROWDED BAR
Ulijans says the idea to use a post mix set-up as an alcoholic seltzer delivery system just popped into his head.
“The three of us were texting each other about how we could make it happen. It was one of those, ‘hang on, what if we do it like this’, moments. It was monumental,” he recalls.
“A post mix made the most sense in terms of ease of distribution and manual handling. It’s a massive blue-sky
opportunity for us to take on a super exciting category and find a solution that doesn’t currently exist in the on-premises market,” says Ulijans.
But an idea is one thing, developing the system was another, with Ulijans confessing it has been a hard project to pull off.
Fizzer’s point-of-difference is that its alcohol base is a fermented, four per cent, completely clear, neutral flavoured beer.
“It is testament to the skill of our brewers that they could produce that. It is fundamental to the flavour profile of the product,” he explains.
But for a post mix system, the base had to be 17 per cent. “To brew a completely neutral seventeen per cent beer is the single most difficult achievement in fermentation. It was bloody hard work and an amazing achievement by the team,” he says.
After workshopping with suppliers and engineers, Moon Dog has developed a post mix
Moon Dog founders Josh Ulijans, Karl Van Buuren, and Jake Ulijans
machine that takes a 15-litre box with a 17 per cent seltzer base. That is mixed with soda to deliver more than 60 litres of four per cent Fizzer.
A box is 25 per cent of the weight of a full keg, pours 20 per cent more volume, and 30 per cent faster than a beer tap. It can be set-up above or below bar with venues providing CO2, water, a power point and drainage.
The project took around nine months to complete. As it
prepares to roll out around 1000 units in the next 12 months (150 venues have already signed on), Mood Dog is looking for foundation partners. It also secured a $350,000 grant in the second round of the federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Fund.
With more than 6000 pubs, bars and venues in the country, Moon Dog is optimistic there will be a lot more fizz to come. ✷
BLUE SKY
INSTRUMENTATION & CALIBRATION PTY LTD SPECIALISTS
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