Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent · A Deep in the Weeds Production

Conna Mallett (Love Shack, Castlemaine) - what’s it like when you’re the one that needs helping?

·25 min·1 clip

The Love Shack became a shelter with dogs, cats, clean water, and no power during the fire emergency.

1. Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent focuses on the fires affecting Castlemaine, Harcourt, and the Love Shack business. 2. Dani Valent hosts Connor Mallett, who runs Love Shack in Castlemaine, and his stock loss matters because the pub-brewery depends on regional storage. 3. The episode asks what happens when a hospitality business that usually helps others needs help itself after a bushfire. 4. Connor says a grass fire started about 20 kilometres from Castlemaine and moved through Harcourt, where the Harcourt Cool Store Cooperative stored products for around 40 producers. 5. He says Love Shack lost stock, packaging materials, spare fermenters, hops, and about $250,000 worth of goods. 6. Connor explains that the cool store had dry, cold, and ambient storage, and that producers shared trucks, stories, and work there. 7. He describes Trevor Peeler as a long-time figure at the co-op who started there at 13 and has stayed involved for decades. 8. Dani and Connor discuss how the co-op functioned as a regional hub rather than just a warehouse. 9. Connor says Love Shack produces beer in Castlemaine, stores kegged and canned product in Harcourt, and then sends it to Melbourne or regional customers. 10. He says the fire means more trips, more fuel, and a likely shift in logistics because there is nowhere local to store product now. 11. Connor says the pub filled with evacuees, dogs, and cats in carriers when the fires were nine kilometres away from the front door. 12. He says the venue stayed open through a six-hour power outage because it still had clean water and a roof. 13. Connor says battery-powered music, eskies, and canned beer helped keep the room steady while everyone waited out the emergency. 14. He says his wife called to report a snake in the backyard six feet from their dog, which added to the same day’s pressure. 15. Dani and Connor talk about how the town went dark so quickly that it felt like nearly 10 o’clock at night. 16. Connor says Harcourt still lacked clean drinking water for days after the fire, even after power returned. 17. The tone is practical, local, and immediate, with Dani asking direct questions and Connor answering in detail. 18. The conversation moves between business logistics, emergency response, and the emotional strain of losing a regional supply chain. 19. People interested in Castlemaine, Harcourt, fire recovery, and hospitality logistics will get the most from this. 20. Listeners wanting light food chat without bushfire recovery detail may want to skip it.

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