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. As 2021 draws to a close, some breweries are in full swing hoping to open before the holiday season, whilst others are spending their time working on development applications and building work ahead of opening in the new year.

---

Find out where new breweries are opening in your state:

• Victoria
• New South Wales
• Queensland
• Western Australia
• Tasmania

If you haven’t seen your brewery on recent editions of the Brewery Radar, get in touch with us – clare@brewsnews.com.au.

---

Brewmanity’s plans for their first venue in Melbourne have been delayed slightly by a few COVID-related and building challenges, but the team is on track with the build.

The venue, located on Tope Street, South Melbourne, will include a 12hL brewkit, was discovered after a painstaking location search, and the team received council approvals back in July with the aim of opening in February 2022.

Meanwhile another established brewery, Kaiju Beer, is set to very soon open its Huntingdale brewpub.

Located in an old mechanic’s shop in Huntingdale, Kaiju’s new venue “ticked all the boxes”, according to Kaiju’s Callum Reeves, who is hoping to open the new brewpub before Christmas.

The venue, which is close to Monash University, Chadstone Shopping Centre and Monash Medical Centre, was clearly never intended to be brewery, and this proved to be the biggest challenge for the team.

“Honestly, it would have been easier and much cheaper to just build something from the ground up, but the building has such a great personality and adds massively to the welcoming character when you walk in. Now, spending time in the space, you can really feel how worthwhile it was for We Are Humble (our architects) to bring the character of the building into the design.

“After a few little hiccups at the start, the City of Monash Council have been really great,” said Reeves.

“We worked together to find a middle ground with the planning department so it didn’t take too long to get planning approval. I think it really helped that, unbeknownst to us, council had a precinct plan for Huntingdale that our use fits really well.”

The Cantina will be offering pizzas and local Victorian wine and spirits alongside Kaiju’s beers.

“That really makes me so happy – that we get to support other local growers and makers who have been a massive part of my journey from food lover, to wine expert, to brewery founder. It’s such an awesome extended food and beverage community we have in Victoria, you just don’t have to compromise,” Reeves said.

While the venue is focused on food and hospitality, Kaiju is moving its pilot brew kit over and putting its six fermenters to good use.

“This is where we’ll be continuing our innovation and collaboration brewing and putting the results into consumers’ hands straight away to get that immediate feedback. I can’t wait to see what the brewers come up with!”

A builder has been appointed at Bendigo Brewing, the brewery has been paid for and the team are waiting on local building permit and international freight to get the next stage of the project rolling.

On Point Brewery in the regional Victorian town of Alexandria is delayed slightly, with plans to open early next year.

According to founder Chris Turner, the brewery has received a conditional liquor licence and the brewery floor has been laid. The equipment, a 10hL 3-vessel system from Brewtique should be arriving from China this December, but inevitably shipping costs have inflated are almost double what was quoted two months ago.

Turner is currently brewing on a 100L pilot system for small batches, and contract brewing through Social Bandit in Mansfield, which is itself up for sale.

CoConspirators Brewing Co. is set to open its brewpub very soon after an equity crowdfunding campaign saw it raise over $618,000, and is currently on the hunt for FOH staff.

Escape Brewing is currently working towards having its Mornington Peninsula taproom open before Christmas.

Founder Beau Curtis left the Sydney corporate life behind to launch The Social Brewers in Sydney’s southern suburbs.

Curtis recently received council approval for the new brewery, located in Mortdale between the likes of Sunday Road, and Slow Lane and One Drop in Botany.

Curtis said he was keen on sourcing trades, equipment and materials as locally as possible for the self-funded brewery.

“My decision to open the brewery is driven by the trend towards ‘local’ we’ve experienced over the last 18 months, as we’ve been forced to rediscover our local communities thanks to lock downs, and the ongoing demand for great beer and somewhere to share it.

“I’m confident the industry will see further strength in local taprooms as a replacement for over-developed pubs and clubs,” Curtis said.

All that remains is the brewery fit-out and commissioning and liquor licence approval, which Curtis hopes will be complete in December.

In the meantime, Curtis is working with Willie the Boatman for its first release, Striders Session Ale, which will be available for takeaway at the brewery, online and in some local indie bottleshops as soon as licensing is complete.

Bangalow’s Common People Brewing Co. is working furiously towards a mid-December opening date.

Hoppers Brewing Co. has secured a location on the Tweed Coast and the plans have been submitted to council for approval. The team is hoping for a 2022 open date and are currently researching brewkit options.

Thirsty Messiah Brewery in Newcastle has received planning permission from the council, for a maximum of 100 patrons and founder Thomas Delgatto is working through NSW requirements for construction certificates this month, engaging engineers and specialist consultants for the process.

Due to these requirements, Delgatto explained Thirsty Messiah is likely to move its opening date into 2022.

King Tide Brewing opened this month just in time for the busy holiday period.

There’s a new brewery opening in Beaumont St Hamilton in Newcastle, Good Folk Brewing which is currently looking for an experienced head brewer to start brewing on its 20hL brewhouse.

Yard Kings Brewing Co., a new brewery and smokehouse is set to open in March 2022 in Morisset, a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie.

The team are working on the development of a brewery with a 20hL brewhouse, will have a canning line, and are currently looking for a new head brewer.

In Bodalla, Malt Man Brewing is planning to open its brewery in mid-December, according to owner Eric Blue.

The team has also started brewing and has kegged various styles including a pale ale and kölsch.

Maleny’s Brouhaha Brewery has opened its new brewery and venue in Caloundra with a soft opening this week. The team will complete a few tweaks to the site before the full opening later this month.

Revel Brewing Co. hasopened its new venue in Morningside after a long development process.

Gold Coast alcoholic seltzer brand Hard Fizz has opened a seltzer brewery in what it calls a “world first”.

The brand was founded by DJs including Paul Fisher, Brooke Evers and Tigerlily, surfers Laura Enever and Nikki Van Dijk, celebrity chef Hayden Quinn, as well as hospitality professionals, Billy and Jackie Cross.

According to a press release, the brand is already fifth in the seltzer category with $7.5 million in national retail sales.

The brewery has a full complement of brewing gear, including a kettle which is also a blending tank, retrofitted with a mixing paddle.

After an 18-month delay due to COVID-19, Straddie Brewing Co. is well on its way with construction having begun at the North Stradbroke Island site.

Parched in Brisbane’s West End is close to the finish line, with construction and other taproom details due to be wrapped up this month, and hiring for FOH and BOH staff.

Despite supply issues impacting its opening date, the team have 11,000 litres of beer in the tanks.

Madocke Brewing Co. opened earlier this month on the Gold Coast, after two years in development.

Toowoomba’s Four Fires Brewery has faced challenges with getting tradespeople to finish plumbing and wastewater removal activities, but the team are doing as much work as they can and are still hopeful of an early 2022 opening date.

Brewtide Brewery at Craft’d Grounds, the latest lifestyle precinct in the Brisbane suburb of Albion, has opened its doors to the public.

“Today [18th November 2021] we unveil our 20 taps, featuring our flagship Brewtide Lager plus several collaborations including a coffee stout infused with Seven Miles Cat’s Pyjamas blend,” said head brewer Gavin Croft (pictured below right).

Brewtide, the craft brewery, cocktail bar and bottle shop, is open at Craft’d Grounds, 31-37 Collingwood Street, Albion, Brisbane.

Sobah Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which undertook a crowdfund recently is now under contract at a site in Burleigh, which is under construction as part of a new industrial development across the road from Treetops Shopping centre.

The development is due to complete by mid-2022, and the team are already planning Sobah’s 5th Birthday celebrations.

“It’s already been 2 years in the planning so even though there is another year to go, we’re so excited to be seeing this come into fruition!” co-founder Lozen McDiarmid-Schultz told Brews News.

Despite a strong public notice period, delays have pushed back Archer Brewing’s plans to open in North Brisbane, but the team are still making progress.

Yepp Brewing Co. is now looking to open in January or February 2022. The team had to push back the opening date due to a few logistical setbacks but are currently working on brewing its first wholesale beer for local bars and restaurants.

Pirate Life Brewing opened its first brewpub in Perth’s CBD on the 28th October, in partnership with hospitality group Sneakers & Jeans. The venue has 16 taps installed across a 15m main bar to pour Pirate Life beers that are exclusively brewed in Perth and Port Adelaide.

The 12hL tanks on-site will allow head brewer Jackson Purser free reign to try some more experimental brews.

The layout of the venue has the brewery on the small level as the main bar floor, whilst the lower level basement will operate as a private dining and tasting room. This opening is referred to as phase one of two, with another two venues set to be unveiled later in the year.

Caraban’s Moore River Brewing Co. has been delayed due to the impacts of last year, but the team are looking to start the build by February 2022. Initial works including a carpark and water tanks are now in.

Northbound Brewing Co. is working on its associated hop farm, with plans to get investors on board.

Dune Brewing received a grant from the WA government and is currently progressing, with building work set to be complete next year in the town of Albany.

Shag Brewing Company is a new brewery in Donnybrook, which will be opening at 37 South Western Highway right on the main strip of the town in early 2022.

Currently the team are waiting on a building permit, with an expected three-week build period, and hope to be open by February.

Froth Craft Brewing looks to open the first brewery in Bunbury before Easter 2022. Owners Phil, Pete and Tyler have been brewing out of their Exmouth venue for five years and are now looking to expand in WA with a second brewery.

The ‘Bunbrewery’ will be an upgrade in size compared to Exmouth with a capacity of 300 patrons compared to 200.

“The brewery will be able to, at full production capacity, pump out in a day what it takes Exmouth to do in a month,” Tyler explained.

“We have sourced a locally built wooden boat from the early 19th century which we will turn into the huge central bar inside the venue. We’re pumped for that and it should be a real talking point,” Tyler added.

The venue will be located in the centre of Bunbury’s CBD on the former Reef Hotel site.

Spinifex Brewing Co., which recently completed a major crowdfunding round raising $2 million, has released details of its proposed brewery and taproom at 7 Sanctuary Drive, Cable Beach, in Broome.

The 4,500 sqm site will have a 12hL brewery, able to produce 1.2 million litres, additional to the 24hL brewery which is currently under construction in the Perth suburb of Nambeelup.

“As a local resident of Broome, I am acutely aware of the challenges faced dealing with the extraordinary growth in domestic visitation with the booming popularity of Broome and the Kimberley as a tourist destination,” said Spinifex CEO Adam Barnard in a statement to the media.

“Many visitors are simply unable to book into existing venues during the peak season and this creates risk that the destination fails to deliver to the expectations of our highly valued Intra and Interstate visitors.

“With the redevelopments in place and the significant increase to both intra and interstate visitors post COVID we foresee a great future for Broome and the local tourism industry.”

The site in Broome will also have a reserved space to enable processing and cold storage facility for Indigenous entrepreneur Robert Dann and his Bindam Mie native bush foods enterprise, a key supplier for Spinifex.

Dandanning Brewery is one step closer to opening its nanobrewery. While there is no opening date yet, the team has installed its second leach drain on-site (pictured above) and received liquor certificates from the government. They are also in the process of applying for a producer’s licence.

The brewery has also applied for a Regional Economic Development (RED) grant, a state government initiative that invests in projects aiming to support long-term economic growth and job sustainability.

Building works have started in Island State Brewing in Tasmania, the sister company to the newly-opened Penguin Beer Co. venue.

Equipment was expected to leave port in LA this month, but delays in freight have meant that plans have had to be pushed back, with the team, headed by Scott Seymour, planning for a February opening date once liquor licensing is complete.

Communion Brewing in Burnie has faced some delays and was forced to push back its October opening date, but is now open and brewing on a Brewtique 500L brewkit.

---

Additional reporting by Vivien Topalovic.