In Partnership with Largo Brewing
These days, when you peer into the beer fridge at your local bottle shop, you’re likely overwhelmed by choice. With so many great options, it can be tough for brands to stand out. That didn’t deter the brothers behind Lime Cordiale, Oli and Louis Leimbach, from taking on the challenge of creating something new with Largo Brewing. In fact, the decision was a simple one.
“As soon as someone approaches you and says, ‘What do you think about making your own beer?’ It’s an immediate yes,” says Oli.
As it turns out, they didn’t need to worry about standing out. Launching Largo at the end of 2023, they’ve created an instant classic by combining their planet-friendly values with easy drinking beers inspired by being backstage at music gigs.
“There’s beers at every show you play, and when you’re playing show after show, you get sick of what’s in your green room pretty quickly. So we wanted [to make] something that resembled a classic Australian lager and had a bit of a taste, but that you wouldn’t get sick of,” Oli explains. “It was pretty catered to us and our backstage area – that was the brief at the start.”
Consisting of a carbon neutral refreshing ‘Clean Lager’ and mid-strength, low carb beer ‘The Dawdler’, the range is a natural extension of the brothers’ laid-back Aussie vibe.
The brand’s foundation is built upon a mutual love for creativity, both musically and environmentally. The inspiration for the name came from surf culture, Oli describes. “‘Largo’ means a ‘Late Afternoon Glass Off’. It’s about having a surf as the sun’s going down and the wind has dropped off.”
“It’s also the slowest marking on a metronome, so it’s that lazy afternoon feel, which is sort of what we’re about. We’re the dawdlers, Louis and I take ages getting anywhere.”
Despite that description, “dawdling” is the last word I’d use for them. The duo are anything but slowing down, with gigs all over the world, a new album release, a documentary exploring the heavy carbon load of music touring, and “a whole bunch of stuff that hasn’t been announced yet” on the way, Oli teases.
Amidst their busy schedule, Largo Brewing has been an exciting creative outlet.
“Largo’s been a really fun and rewarding project, we’ve been learning a lot along the way,” Oli says. For example, the can artwork is something they created on the go, with Louis designing the lino artwork in the back of their tour bus.
Being as carbon neutral as possible is something the brothers are extremely passionate about, so working with their team to make the beers carbon neutral was an important step in the process.
“There’s obviously a big industrialised process that goes into making beer. We put it to the team that we’d like to make this carbon neutral and it’s been really awesome. I hadn’t seen that in the beer industry before,” Oli says.
“There’s a responsibility to be transparent with it. There’s a QR code on the case and the can where you can go through and see everything that we’re doing on the website. I think that transparency is the first step to the climate fight, be open about your flaws and your impact and then make sure that you can do something about it.”
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Speaking to their love of live music and the independent Australian music scene, Oli reveals the dream is for Largo to one day be a big sponsor and supporter of music.
“As Largo grows, we’d like to be more and more involved in music and upcoming bands. In an ideal scenario, we’re a big sponsor of live music and have our own stages at festivals.”
Largo is currently available through Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Jimmy Brings, and at select venues across Australia. “You’ve gotta nag your local pub to get it on tap,” Oli laughs.
Time to message your group chat: who’s keen for arvo beers?
Follow @largobrewing on socials and head to the LARGO website to find your nearest stockist.
