During the past four years, just over sixty new small-scale breweries have opened across Australia. That’s around four every quarter, on average, and recent months have been no exception. The following is a state-by-state summary of some recent action in the micro-brewery sector, mostly during July, August and September.
Queensland
The new Blue Sky Brewery in Cairns held a preview night at the beginning of August, making its beers available to invited guests. Trading began a couple of days later, and an official opening is planned for early October.
Brewing started in July at the Eagle Heights Brewery in the Gold Coast hinterland, and a soft launch took place in mid-September. The brewery is associated with the Karnak Restaurant, which will become a major outlet for Eagle Heights beers.
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of Tamborine Mountain’s touristy Gallery Walk, the MT Brewery has just obtained council consent to complete the development of its premises (although MT beer has been around for several months).
On a cheerless note, The Brewhouse in Albert Street, Brisbane, closed in September, after three-and-a-half years of successful operation. From 1999 until 2005 the same place operated as Auroras Microbrewery.
New South Wales
Brewing began in July at Sydney’s newest microbrewery, the 4 Pines Brewery, which is situated conveniently close to the Manly ferry wharf.
In the coastal north of the state, at Byron Bay, the Stone and Wood Brewing Company is on target to release its first beers in November. Founders Jamie Cook, Ross Jurisich, and Brad Rogers had almost finished putting their brewhouse together when I visited them at the end of September, and will put down their first brew in October.
Victoria
The Flying Horse Bar and Brewery at Warrnambool had its formal opening early in July, a month after the commencement of brewing.
At Healesville, the long-awaited third component of a bakery/winery/brewery development is now close to fruition. The brewery, to be known as White Rabbit, is owned by Little World Beverages, also the parent of Little Creatures.
Tasmania
Ashley and Jane Huntington, who have been brewing their Two Metre Tall products at the old St Ives Hotel brewery in Hobart for the past couple of years, have now moved their operation to their New Norfolk farm. Early in August the brewery was lifted by crane from the hotel, where it had resided for twenty years, and was trucked to its new Derwent Valley home.
Western Australia
The microbrewery at the historic former Swan Brewery complex in Perth has been revived by new owners under the title The Old Brewery. Brewer Mark Reilly’s new beers went on sale at the bar-restaurant in mid-September.
Swan Valley microbrewery Mash Brewing has recently established a southern branch at an attractive waterfront site in Bunbury. Mash Bunbury is equipped with a tiny (about 120 litre) brewhouse, the first batch from which was close to release when I visited in mid-September.
Bootleg Brewery, at Willyabrup, established in 1994, and the oldest microbrewery in the Margaret River region, is soon to become the venue for a microbrewing museum. It is the brainchild of general manager and brewer Michael Brookes, and will occupy space formerly used as an art gallery.
Not far from Bootleg Brewery, Swan Valley microbrewery Duckstein has established a new, larger brewing operation in a joint venture with Saracen Estates winery. The opulent new facility is due to be formally opened late in October.
And at Fremantle, Little Creatures recently commissioned a new, larger brewery, adjacent to its original Mews Road premises. The old plant has been relocated to the new White Rabbit Brewery, under development in Healesville, Victoria.
Finally, home-brewing pharmacist Andrew Harris opened his Old Coast Road Brewery on a rural site near Myalup, between Mandurah and Bunbury, in March. Included here are a couple of photographs of this family-friendly brewery-restaurant, from my visit in September.
