Tucked away within the unassuming suburban streets of Page, there’s a hidden gem for craft beer aficionados. Page Bottler isn’t your ordinary bottle-o.
It’s a passport to beer heaven, run by a pair of Canberra brothers, Tim and Harry Rasheed.
“We’ve been focusing on craft beer since 2015, when it was just starting to take off here in Australia, and in Canberra particularly,” says Tim. Beginning with a humble offering of 20 craft beers, they gradually worked their way up to the whopping 500 options to choose from today.
By Tim’s estimate, you would have a hard time finding more than 70 per cent of the Page Bottler range anywhere else in Canberra. He started the Bottler in 2014, slowly building up a loyal customer base of those in-the-know.
“A lot of our customers have been shopping with us for the best part of nine years,” he says.
“We know them by name, and we know what they like. They’ve really supported us. It’s a great community that we’ve built up here.”
Every week, their free Friday arvo beer tastings, to celebrate the end of the work week slog, entice new customers off the streets of the Page Shops to come on in and “try before they buy”.
“We try and cycle through as many different breweries, give them an opportunity to show off what they’re doing and give customers a chance to try something they may have never thought of trying before.”
Before setting up shop in Page, Tim spent 10 years working for a big box liquor retailer, where he noticed a gap in the market. “There’s one thing that the big boys can’t do, and that’s limited release beers,” he says.
Today, the Page Bottler stocks everything from mainstream offerings to a local wine selection, hard-to-find liquors and Australian-made gin and whisky. But the star of the show is their craft beer cool room.
“A lot of people will walk into the shop and head left straight into the cool room to grab their beers for the weekend,” says Tim.
“On average, we get in 30 new beers a week. We keep it fresh, which is a massive factor when it comes to craft beer.”
Beer is for every night of the week, which is why the Page Bottler fridge of ‘non-alcs’ is nearly as popular as their craft beer cool room.
“Non-alcoholic beer has been a big thing for us, and just the industry in general, over the last 18 months,” explains Tim. “A few people who might have potentially overdone it during lockdown are looking for non-alcs that still have great flavour.”
The alc-less fridge is always healthily stocked for their midweek customers, including with the “massively popular” Heaps Normal beverages. “They probably kicked off the revolution and have been a mainstay in our fridge for a couple of years now,” says Tim.
The Page Bottler ethos is quality over quantity, whilst also ensuring there is “something for everyone’s budget”.
“With the cost-of-living crisis that we’ve got going on, we always make sure to have six or seven of what we like to call ‘value for budget beers’.
“Still craft, still independent, our value for budget beers compete with the big guys, with prices that are every bit as good, if not better,” says Tim.
With top breweries cranking out multiple speciality beers a month, it can be difficult to keep up with the coolest releases. Page Bottler makes it easy with their Beer Subscription Service.
“It’s one of our most popular services that is unique to us. You can get 16 different beers every month, or every two months.”
Available for delivery or pick up, “You select the styles, and you never get the same beer twice.” Learn more at pagebottler.com.au/shop/subscriptions/
“If you haven’t been down to the shop yet, come down, have a chat, and give us a go,” says Tim. Your journey beyond ordinary beers awaits.
Find Page Bottler at the Page Shops, Shop 2-4 Page Place. Open Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 10am-6pm. Phone 6254 7969 or visit pagebottler.com.au
