Charlotte Freeston to reignite Feral’s bold brewing spirit

Feral Brewing has appointed Charlotte Freeston as its new Head of Brewing and Innovation, marking a bold new chapter for the iconic WA brewery, which returned to independence in late 2024.

Freeston joins Feral with more than a decade of experience, having first cut her teeth at London’s Beavertown Brewery, where she led the Tempus Barrel Program specialising in mixed fermentation and barrel-aged beers. At Feral, she has been tasked with driving the brand’s experimental edge and reinvigorating its reputation for fearless limited releases.

Speaking with Beer & Brewer, Freeston shares how her artistic background and passion for experimentation will drive Feral’s next era, from reviving its limited release culture to embracing mixed fermentation, all while honouring the brewery’s fearless DNA. Here, she speaks about creativity, risk-taking, identity, and what the future holds for one of WA’s most iconic breweries.

B&B: Charlotte, you’ve described Feral as an opportunity to be “unapologetic and bold” – how do you see that philosophy playing out in the beers you plan to create?

I trained as an artist before I became a brewer and this way of thinking also applies to my approach to making beer.

I am looking forward to reviving Feral’s limited release culture, to making beers that surprise and excite people. Making beers we really want to drink. Trying things without being afraid to fail. 

B&B: Having led Beavertown’s Tempus Barrel Program, how will your experience with mixed fermentation and barrel-aged beers influence Feral’s direction – can we expect more of that style here?

Absolutely, I would love to see us find a dedicated space for this and lean into both Feral’s history of barrel aging and mixed fermentation as well as using my skillset there too. I would love to start working with local farmers and maltsters such as LOAM (a new artisanal maltster in WA) to create beers with a sense of place, as well as experiment across category.

At Tempus we brewed and blended mixed fermentation and barrel aged beers, experimenting across beer, wine, sake and spirits in oak, stainless, and terracotta. I can’t wait to come back to this space – being inspired by fermentation in general and having a sensitivity for your materials and ingredients – I think it shared a lot of similarities with art. Then a bit of luck, and science.

B&B: Feral has a strong legacy with iconic beers like Hop Hog and Tusk – how will you balance innovation with preserving the DNA of these fan favourites?

I like that phrase – preserving the DNA. And that’s definitely key here. Beloved favourites won’t go changing too much, of course I’ll be looking at quality and how we can make these products better, but nothing drastic – just asking, are these beers are as good as they can be?

I think the diehard OG Feral fans, and their love of those products has kept this brand alive through tougher times and if anything, I want to thank them. I also think despite a whole new Feral, it’s important to honour the past and Feral’s history is an important part of who we are today.

Things like Tusk has had various iterations over the years. Tusk day isn’t just about drinking beer at its freshest, it’s really about community and saying thanks to those who’ve supported us over the years. It’s great that a beer can do that, and this year’s Tusk will honour what it’s always been, and hopefully be a memorable and delicious year for Tusk.

I do have a few goals, like modernising our core range offering with a focus on quality and creating a more complete range that’s in line with modern tastes while still being distinctly Feral. Our current offering is iconic, but not for the faint hearted, so there’s room for us to expand on that.

B&B: Now that Feral is back in independent hands, how has that changed the creative freedom you feel in the brewhouse?

Being able to look at things with quality and flavour at the forefront as opposed to price point makes a difference. Of course, pricing is important, but that’s not leading our decision making in terms of how we make our beers the best they can be. There’s definitely a commercial balance to achieve but coming back to creativity and delivering on flavour and quality is key.

There’s some great energy and excitement in Feral’s newfound freedom. It means being able to move forward while also coming back to the best of what we were as a brand – one that could innovate and have fun and create some pretty fearless beers.

The creative freedom fuels its own momentum, I think the more creative you can be the more creative you continue to be.

B&B: The two keg-only limited releases (both available from today) – an Oat Cream IPA and an Imperial Stout – are already sending a signal. What can these first beers tell us about the new era of Feral?

For my first few limited releases I reflected on some of the hits we’ve had in the past and created things I think both Feral fans and those that need a little convincing will love. It’s the first truly new release we’ll have had in a while, so I wanted something that was different, but that I knew would go down well.

I think these limited releases say – we’re finally out of hibernation. And the new era of Feral is going to be delicious. That we can do the big hazy juice bombs and well executed imperial stouts. The next two will also show a bit of range then people can expect to see small playful limiteds, larger can and keg limiteds to play the hits, some R&D around the evolution of the core range – which is also a big focus.

B&B: You mentioned Feral speaks to the part of you that feels like an outsider – how do identity and personal values shape the kind of brewer you are?

In some ways that outsider feeling might have got me here today, it was the part of me that needed to try really hard to be good at what I do. Women aren’t always afforded to make mistakes in the same ways men can, and I’ve definitely had to be more qualified and experienced than male counterparts to get the same roles as them in the past so in my 20s I had a bee in my bonnet and was out there to prove something.

Being a woman in a production environment can be challenging. Sounds simple but I’ve grown out of the ego I had in my 20s, I’d rather collaborate than compete and as long as I’m showing up in the world as a good person, I try not to care what anyone thinks. I’d mostly just like to be known for being kind and trying my best.

I would like for the beer to have the legacy as opposed to it being about me. Feral already has a history that so many people in this industry have been part of, I’m just a chapter in that story.

Having said that, I hope my chapter tells a good story.

B&B: With more breweries than ever competing for drinkers’ attention, what does it mean today to make a beer that’s ‘risky’ or truly different?

I think being risky means not trying to please everyone all the time, all this competing for attention is driving people to be more and more similar and I think that just gives us a chance to stand out.

For me, being true to who we are as a brand is what makes us unique. I think people want to try new things and want to drink things that are delicious, and that we can offer beers for everyday drinking, beers for occasions, and beers that can challenge or surprise.

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