In an industry built on precision and process, Jacob Viel is quietly redefining what it means to be a modern brewer. As the founder of Blind Boy Brewing in Salisbury, Brisbane, he has turned the challenges of being legally blind into a deliberate approach to craft brewing that has earned him multiple medals at the Queensland Royal Beer Awards.<\/p>\n
Viel first started brewing as a hobby brewer a decade ago with a plastic fermenter given to him by his father. It sparked a passion that led him to join the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers and join an entry-level Brewing course at TAFE \u2013 but even with formal education behind him Viel faced employment challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can imagine, when somebody comes into a brewery who is legally blind, red flags pop up everywhere and it becomes really hard to create a convincing argument to hire someone with a disability \u2013 primarily due to stigma. I can brew beer, I can do a lot of other jobs in a brewery, but I couldn\u2019t get a job because of the stereotypes and stigmas. It\u2019s always been a challenge for me \u2013 wanting to be in the industry, but never getting that opportunity \u2013 so I decided to do it my own way,\u201d Viel told Beer & Brewer.<\/p>\n
First setting up a microbrewery under his house where he developed and tested beer with friends, an opportunity at community-led small business incubator Food Connect allowed Viel to establish his Salisbury brewery and turn the brand into a commercial vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy decision to start my own brewery meant that I could create the brand I wanted to see out there, that isn\u2019t really represented in the current craft beer industry \u2013 and that\u2019s a really accessible brand with an accessible product,\u201d Viel added.<\/p>\n
Building a brewery on his own terms<\/p>\n
While the processes behind a typical brew day at Blind Boy Brewing don\u2019t differ too much from that of a traditional brewery, Viel has made some changes to make brewing easier, and ensures he always brews with a workmate. Rather than printed materials the brewery uses digital software and large whiteboards, and the brewery has also been adapted with colour-coded labels that make it easier for Viel to see.<\/p>\n
Viel\u2019s approach is proof that great brewing isn\u2019t just about what you can see, but how deeply you can experience every element of the process, and that is reflected in the final product.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the very beginning, accessibility has been at the forefront of the brand. For me to actually brew the beer I needed to have an accessible brewery, so it needed to be an accessible product. A lot of our beers are really easy drinking \u2013 balanced, not too complex, highly drinkable. I wanted to put that idea of accessibility into the actual flavour of the beer, but also bring it into the branding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve created a brand that is very noticeable \u2013 bright yellow with a black font, and that contrast is helpful for somebody who is vision impaired. We\u2019ve made the font dyslexia-friendly and given the brand\u2019s logo a silhouette character, because it\u2019s hard for me to see detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople also love the braille on the can \u2013 we worked with Rallings to produce a number of different versions with tactile dots, because it\u2019s something no brand has ever really done, to make sure that the dots on the can are raised. So the side of our cans have braille that says Blind Boy Brewing and the type of beer \u2013 it\u2019s for people who can\u2019t read, but also a good interaction for people who haven\u2019t experience braille to get an insight into what it\u2019s like to be visually impaired,\u201d Viel added.<\/p>\n
Opening doors for others<\/p>\n
While Viel has leaned into his identity as a visually impaired brewer to shape the story of Blind Boy Brewing, the beers themselves hold their own. His core range took home several medals at the 2026 Royal Queensland Beer Awards, and Viel was jointly named Emerging Queensland Brewer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who has wanted to be a part of the industry for over 10 years and reached a point where I\u2019ve gone and done it myself, standing up there accepting the award, in front of the industry that basically said no to me, was a great feeling. Standing there with my trophy and medals, and the beer I created, in front of the industry that was hard for me to get into, gave me credit that yes I am a blind brewer, but I can still brew very, very good beer,\u201d Viel explains.<\/p>\n
Uplifted by the recognition of those wins, Viel is now focused on something bigger than his own success \u2013 creating pathways for others with disabilities to enter the brewing industry, and making accessibility a bigger part of the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would encourage breweries to just stop and think about accessibility \u2013 how they can make their products more accessible, or their workplace. It\u2019s the idea of believing in the person and not just stereotyping them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people with disabilities that want to work in the industry so badly, and it\u2019s not something that comes easily. But what I do know is that if you hire someone with a disability, with that passion, you\u2019ll get somebody who sticks around \u2013 somebody who takes the time to understand the workplace, because they have to. It might take time, but people with disabilities will find their way and make it work, and I think I\u2019ve proven that by creating my own brewery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also many ways I\u2019d like to influence the way we experience the industry. For me, being visually impaired, just approaching the bar is really hard. I can\u2019t see the taps, the lighting is usually dimmed, and a tiny blackboard away from the customer might be the only way to read the menu. Accessibility means making that available in multiple ways \u2013 maybe it\u2019s printouts, digital format, or colour coding on the decals. It\u2019s about giving accessibility a moment of time and reflection,\u201d Viel stated.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to learn more about Viel\u2019s story and Blind Boy Brewing, the brewery will be hosting exclusive screenings of Viel\u2019s Brewing Blind documentary on Saturday 18 and 25 April. The events will take place from 2-7pm at the Food Connect Shed in Salisbury, Brisbane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an industry built on precision and process, Jacob Viel is quietly redefining what it means to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[197747,197748,111,139,69,18688,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-380172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-blind-boy-brewing","9":"tag-jacob-viel","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-slider","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}