Vegemite Hooch!!!

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Mornington Islanders beat grog ban by brewing Vegemite

JOHN ANDERSEN

February 2nd, 2009

THE Mornington Island canteen closed early last year and since then ingenious locals have turned their hand to making hooch from Vegemite.

Not only do you get gloriously drunk, but it's good for you as well! Mornington Island is a dry community but locals looking for an alternative to commercially brewed products have become brewers themselves. Mornington Islanders are making their own illegal rocket fuel. Vegemite spread is made from leftover brewers' yeast so it's a lay-down misere it's going to be used to make something that would run the engine of a Caterpillar D8. Senior Constable Troy Sullivan from the Mornington Island police said that while islanders like Vegemite as a base ingredient because of its yeast content, they also use bread, which of course also contains yeast. Fruit and vegetable peelings do the job just as well. On Mornington the brews are commonly fermented in 20-litre drums. Often this is down out in the bush, away from prying eyes. While the pub closure might have led to the manufacture of Vegemite liqueur, Senior Constable Sullivan said it has also led to a downturn in domestic violence and public drunkenness, and an upturn in residents taking more pride in their homes and gardens. He said the amount of litter in the town's streets, the one thing that makes so many indigenous communities so aesthetically ugly, has also reduced. Senior Constable Sullivan gives the Mornington Island community the thumbs up and reckons the fishing is great.