Jetty Road’s Dromana Beer Hall

Plans for a second Melbourne brewpub from Jetty Road Brewery have been submitted, as the brewer accelerates growth plans.

Jetty Road has applied to the City of Port Phillip Council for a brewery and gastropub in South Melbourne.

The site will feature a private tasting room and mezzanine dining room, as well as the microbrewery. According to planning documents, it will fit around 250 people.

Grant Rodgers, co-founder of Jetty Road, spoke to Brews News about the expansion, involvement of craft accelerator Founders First and plans for the future.

Location was key when deciding on the next site, he said.

“Basically we wanted something closer to the water, where people could work their way up towards the city.

“The site is about 250m from the South Melbourne Market, and the closest brewery is Westside Ale Works aroundthe corner and then there’s Colonial in Port Melbourne.”

“[The site has] got to work with what we’re trying to achieve as a brand. People will travel to breweries but if we can find a location that works in the city, even better.”

“I love this aspect of bringing people in and getting them to try and experience locally crafted beers, and we’ll have share plates over which people can discuss the food and the beer.”

The site is 700m from the Crown Casino, he said, with trams and local parking. When approved and completed, it will contain a 500-litre brewhouse with 20 taps.

“Ideally we’d like to look at a collaboration brewery and doing a barrel ageing program too,” Rodgers said.

“If the small batch beers here are good enough we’ll put them into packaging.”

The new venture is a major step forward for Jetty Road, but the founders are hoping to bring the same ethos into the new brewpub as at their successful Mornington Peninsula site.

“It will hopefully have the same vibe. Being a small business, we did it on a budget down here in Dromana and it went pretty well but we’ve got a bigger budget for the South Melbourne site,” he said.

“We’re looking at offering something special beer cocktails, mixologists, and other offers to bring that Jetty Road Brewery experience to life”

Founders First

Following the backing of craft accelerator Founders First at the end of 2017, Jetty Road has been on the expansion trail.

It opened its own production brewery at the end of 2018, and almost a year prior to that opened its Dromana site on the Mornington Peninsula, encapsulating a restaurant and taproom.

“We met Stuart Morton, one of the founders of Founders First when he was in the midst of setting Founders First up. He loved what we were doing and it fitted in really well, he understood our strategy,” explained Rodgers.

“They understand our strategy and business plan, which is essential for us as a small business, Founders First are there to assist with any hurdle we hit which is great.”

Founders First invested at the end of 2017 and it has always been a collaborative approach.

“Business cash flow, bank loans or more equity are the ways we like to go about expansion, however itcomes down to a case-by-case strategy,” Rodgers explained.

Rodgers and co-owner/head brewer Blake Bowden have big plans for the Jetty Road brand, and with the backing of Founders First they can get ahead of the game.

“We like our venue so having a few in each state would be great, that’s the aggressive expansion plan.

“We’re working out how we fund that, and will start by having a strong balance sheet.”

The new venue, at 139-145 Market Street, is expected to be open seven days a week, from 8am to midnight.

Listen to Founders First’s Mark Haysman discuss the Founders First approach