The Bintani Brewery Radar keeps the brewing industry up to date with the progress of planned breweries and brewpubs in Australia, where they are in their development process, the installation of brewhouses and proposed opening dates. This month, despite the major upheaval caused across the industry by the COVID-19 pandemic, breweries-in-planning are cracking on and taking delays in their stride.

---

Queensland

Easy Times Brewing Co is still on track to launch in the Woolloongabba area of Brisbane, with an opening set for later this year.

Revel Brewing Co’s second Bulimba site in a heritage-listed building in the Brisbane suburb is also all still going to plan, and the team are full steam ahead with the project.

Bobs Beers, a brewery planned forGold Coast tourist hotspot Surfers Paradise has been hit by some delays unrelated to COVID-19. This means the team will have to push their launch date to mid year at the earliest.

The team say that they have not had to hire hospitality staff which is a blessing in disguise following the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the hospitality industry, and brewer Ryan Fullerton is not putting the extra time to waste.

“I’ve been using the spare time dialing in the core range recipes and giving the boss a crash course in brewing,” Fullerton told Brews News.

Up on the Sunshine Coast in the hinterland town of Nambour, Stalwart Brewing Co is still set to open its taproom by midyear, though it will no doubt be dependent on the continuing shutdown restrictions.

Straddie Brewing Co is still in the works. The team were planning for a late 2020 opening, however delays may prompt an early 2021 opening.

Cauldron Brewing, which isset to open in Hervey Bay, Queensland, said it has been working on contingency plans to ensure it will go ahead.

Inner and outer shells for the tanks have landed, though there will be slight delays in the open due to COVID-19 and general manufacturing delays.

The latest addition to the Far North looks set to be Sydney-based Sauce Brewing Co’s Cairns operation.Owner Mike Clarke, said that they are expecting delays on the opening of its Cairns brewery due to COVID-19 and the travel restrictions.

The fit out of the brewery has been reviewed in an attempt to keep costs down, given the new challenges.

“It will be a more conservative fit out, utilising a smaller area, so we can conserve cash for now,” Clarke explained.

“With Sauce revenue now down 70 per cent I am personally twice as busy, re-inventing the business plan every two days.”

Western Australia

Bailey Brewing Co is set to open before the end of the year. Co-founder Steven Bailey said that despite the effects of COVID-19, their Swan Valley brewery in WA is on track.

“Fingers crossed it remains that way,” Bailey told Brews News.

“Luckily the government has said that construction sites are an essential service.”

Bailey has taken on a general manager and a head brewer, and is now in construction phase, the floor slab is down and steel will be erected this week.The existing buildings on the site are being revamped into toilet and office blocks.

Meanwhile, despite early fears for Bailey’s steel, which was ordered from China before the shutdown, the team are expecting no delays on that front now the county is backup and running.

Steven Bailey said that while it now seems a “crap year” to be building a brewery, there was still hope for the industry and for new breweries out there too.

“Hopefully by the time we are open all this has gone away and people will be thirsty…” he said.

North West Brewing Co opened the doors to its Karratha based brewery on November 21st 2019.

In order to adapt to the changes brought on by COVID-19, it has changed its business model and turned the brewery into a drive-thru for beers and food.

New Busselton brewery Shelter Brewing Co is going ahead and progressing well.

The Shelter team say that they have walls and its roof up, the windows and floors are going in. It is expected to reach lock up stage around six weeks.

Shelter is still planning a September opening date, but it will be entirely dependent on how the situation goes with COVID-19.

New South Wales

Flamin Galah Brewing Co in Jervis Bay has secured its licences and DA approvals, and founders Sam and Claire Hewson called it a rollercoaster 10 months.

However the good news is that the brewery was fully approved and opened a week before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they are playing it by ear.

“We managed to start distributing kegs, locally and in Sydney. That was exciting but the mood quickly changed because now they’re closed!” the Hewsons told Brews News.

“We’ve started test batching, but some important equipment is still stuck in China.”

This includes their chiller and glycol system which was due to be shipped, although this was delayed until a lockdown is confirmed.

“We still have hopes of launching cans but again the possibility of lockdown is a worry,” they said.

“It’s been many months of delays in the set up so in some ways we feel lucky we didn’t open the brewery and a brewpub sooner. Though the prospect of brew pub before the virus seemed positive so we will have to wait and see.”

However the Hewsons said they were staying positive.

“It’s tough times and we sympathise with everyone within the industry.

“We can’t give up, we still plan to adapt (as Aussies do best) where we can and will be seeking investors when life gets back to ‘normal’.”

NSW’s Big Niles Brewing Co officially opened last month after a year and a half planning and development process.

While it has been open and trading for a number of weeks but founder and former BMX pro Cam White says there’s still a few projects to work on, including the beer garden and car park, for which he is waiting on council construction certificates.

He’s hopeful that it will come through before the end of the month.

In the meantime, Big Niles is open for takeaways at its venue on the corner of Mort Ave and Acacia Close, Dalmeny NSW 2546.

Hopsters Cooperative Brewery opened its doors at Enmore Road on 7th March after several years in planning.

The team even brought in beers from fellow new NSW brewery Flamin Galah.

It now has more than 600 members of the co-operative, but despite having to close its taproom just weeks after opening it, Hipsters is still offering takeaways, and customers can order online.

Gage Roads Brewing Co’s first foray into the east coast venue scene, the Atomic Beer Project in the Sydney suburb of Redfern is due to be complete by the end of April.

However the WA brewer has made the decision to delay its opening in the wake of venue closures by the Australian federal government. A new tentative opening date has been set in August, it told the ASX.

Resin Brewing Co opened in mid-March in a heritage listed building in Bulli, NSW.

Resin’s venue is closed for usual business as it is essentially a pub, but the team are currently setting up takeaway and delivery options so Bulli residents can get their fill.

Mountain Goat’s Sydney site is apparently on track following its approval by the local council, but Mountain Goat has not released any further details about opening dates.

Modus Operandi’s Newcastle venue is still on the cards, and the team will be disclosing further details in the coming months.

In a big move for Bucketty’s Brewery, the team have announced that they will be developing their new brewery in Brookvale, 100 kilometres from their original site in Bucketty, regional NSW.

They haven’t given up their dreams of a rural site for the brewery, but the land they have in Bucketty will be used for a taproom rather than a production brewery, and is being put on the backburner until the Sydney site is complete.

The Northern Beaches suburb of Sydney is home to some of the team, and already has a thriving brewery scene. Bucketty’s won’t be the only new addition to Brookvale either, with Dad & Dave’s Brewing as well as Quaker’s Hat Brewing Co looking to set up towards the end of the year, bringing Brookvale’s brewery cohort to six.

Bull Road Brewery is another addition to the NSW brewing scene. The team are building their brew system themselves, and have spent two and a half years on the project.

Head brewer and co-founder Benedikt Fischer said they were getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, and were hoping to get the brewery up and running before the end of 2020.

Materials are proving more difficult to get during the coronavirus crisis, but the Bull Road team are hopeful that they will be able to successfully complete their unique brewery.

ACT

Wignall Brewery is set to launch at the Potbelly Bar Belconnen ACT.

Co-owner Govinder “Guv” Toor told Brews News that the team are basically ready to go with the nanobrewery, which is attached to the Potbelly Bar. Once the closure orders are lifted the team will fire up the burners.

Victoria

CoConspirators Brewing Co is still awaiting its planning permit for its venue in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, as local governments grind normal activities to a halt. The team say there will be a delay on opening, but everything is TBC at the moment.

It has been a difficult situation getting the relevant liquor licences together to sell direct to customers via online or takeaways, but the team are up and running and getting involved in a number of initiatives, including Carwyn Cellars’ Quarantinnies mixed packs, and Hop Nation’s Communitinnies, with new releases like its Fall Guy Double Hazy IPA available from a range of Victorian bottle shops.

Killer Sprocket opened the doors on its new taproom and production brewery in the Melbourne suburb of Bayswater in late February.

While it had to close down its taproom due to COVID-19, Killer Sprocket’s fridges are stocked and ready for takeaways including growler – visit the Killer Sprocket site for more info.

When mandatory venue closures are lifted, Killer Sprocket is located at 7/375 Bayswater Road, Bayswater North Vic 3153.

Deeds Brewing’s much-anticipated taproom is still in the planning process, and with councils busy with the lockdown it may take a bit more time.

After rallying the locals for support, Deeds’ application is ready for a final vote, following recommendations from the council’s planner.

A meeting this week to discuss the future of the project has been cancelled until further notice, but once councillors do get a chance to vote, Deeds could receive a permit for the taproom development very soon after – so long as objectors don’t force the brewery to VCAT. In this eventuality, 6 month to a year could be added onto the taproom development timeline.

Deeds said that any supporters in the Stonnington Council area should get in touch with their relevant ward councillor and discuss their support with them.

Kaiju Beer is set to open a taproom before the end of 2020, and is currently going through the planning process.

Wolf of the Willows has brewed its first beer at its new Mordialloc based production brewery.

The site currently has a drive through available for its range of beers.

Frankston Brewhouse is still in the works, and is on track for a mid-2020 opening, as is Hop Nation‘s proposed second Footscray site.

Tasmania

Communion Brewing is in the early stages of planning in Burnie on the north-west coast of Tassy, although founder and local business owner Andrew Turner said that the focus at the minute was on his existing business the Chapel Cafe.

Special thanks to Mat Farrington of CanBEERa for his suggestions this month. If you are opening a brewery, get featured on the Brewery Radar by emailing inbox@brewsnews.com.au with your details.

---

The bi-monthly Brewery Radar is brought to you by Bintani Australia, supplying the world’s best ingredients for over 20 years.