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 a host of breweries are renewing their efforts to get their brewpubs and taprooms open by the end of the year as confidence in the hospitality sector is renewed.

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New South Wales

Thirsty Messiah is in progress in Greater Newcastle after founder Thomas Delgatto brought in a consultant to help with planning approvals.

Delgatto has settled on a brewery supplier, choosing Brewtique, and its pilot brewery is set to land in a week.

Future Brewing in the Sydney suburb of Newtown is well on the way after the team found their location, a heritage building on the south end of King Street.

The building was vacant for 10 years, but Future Brewing has now signed a lease, so pending the development application process, the new venue should be given the go-ahead this year.

Modus Operandi Brewing’s Newcastle venue is well on its way and set to open this winter. Construction only commenced in January this year.

On the Coffs Coast, Woopi Brewing Co. is set to open in August, a little later than its forecast July opening date, as it is waiting for its brewkit.

Common People Brewing Co. is coming soon to Bangalow, with its development application close to completion. Once the DA is through and brewkit installed, the team will begin brewing, with the aim of opening in the last quarter of the year.

King Tide Brewing’s new build converting a former mechanics garage into a brewpub is progressing and brewing equipment is being unloaded on site in Coffs Harbour in the first week of June. The 250-seat brewpub is projected to open in Spring.

Spangled Drongo Brewing Co. has been founded by former Balter and Stone & Wood brewer Brian Kiss von Soly and business partners Tom Cornish and Steve Murphy.

“Tom, he’s a powerhouse, he’s the brains in the backend of the business, he’s started business before and is a civil engineer by trade,” Kiss von Soly said.

“Then there’s Steve, he’s in charge of events, and does a lot of skate events for Volcom.”

The team are in talks with suppliers regarding brewkits, but they are focusing on getting their development application approved.

“But even before that, what we want to do is contract brewing so with a bit of luck we can get the ball rolling and get a product out there.

“Once the DA is approved we can push the button on ordering equipment.

“It’s an amazing location we’ve got, it will be more of a brewpub vibe, we will max out the space to put heaps of fermenters, the biggest ones we can in the site, but I’m assuming we’ll outgrow it pretty quickly.”

Victoria

Hawthorn is welcoming its first brewhouse, after new brewery Ramblers Ale Works signed the lease on a 349 sqm building at 96 Riversdale Road earlier this year.

Fitzroys Agency manager Tom Fisher negotiated the five-year deal at $100,000 per annum on behalf of a private investor.

Ramblers Ale looks set to open this year after a revamp of the former mechanic workshop, fashion furniture and homewares store and care.

Fitzroys said that the change of use of property was indicative of the strength of hospitality operators, which ‘dominate’ retail leasing in Melbourne.

Good Land Brewing Co. is set to open in Traralgon in Victoria in the second half of the year.

Founder Jimmy Krekelberg said the Gippsland brewery was on track with the first brew in tank at the start of May.

“That was a huge milestone for us and a huge weight off my shoulders to get that through,” he said.

Good Land’s first beer is a lager, which will sit in tank for six weeks, with another three brews lined up.

The building permit for the venue has been signed off and the team are hoping to be opening in six to eight weeks’ time.

“As the social media and the word has gotten out there, we’ve had a lot of local businesses, cafes, bars, pubs get in contact and wanted to support us and stock our beers as soon as we’ve got beer packaged,” Krekelberg said.

“It’s such an awesome feeling that other people are getting just as excited as we are to taste our beer.”

Western Australia

Busselton is set for another new brewery following the launch of Shelter earlier this year, after a new brewery was approved at a development on Dunn Bay Road, Dunsborough.

Northbound Brewing is in planning and set to open up in the Swan Valley near Perth next year, with its own on-site hop farm.

Founders Caren and Richard Jardine are hoping to open next year after receiving development approval for the site, which also includes an agricultural component.

“We’re hoping to be trading next year, we’ve already got development approval, which was quite challenging and the next phases will see us get working drawings prepared, then we can get quotes.”

Northbound is finalising equipment lists with Spark Breweries and Distilleries, and work has already begun on the associated hop farm, which has not been out of its challenges.

“I don’t think it’s true they require a cooler climate, [our test hops have] done okay. We’ve had a few issues with pest management, and wind control stuff, but hops used to be grown in a suburb near here 150 years ago.”

Jardine is currently in IT but started brewing six years ago, and his wife and co-founder Caren is a hairdresser. The dream was to launch a venue to have weddings and functions.

“It will be really complementary to the valley,” Jardine said.

Also in Western Australia is Dandanning Brewery, set to open in the Shire of Mudkinbudin, to the east of Perth.

Construction is underway and the team are using local suppliers for everything from the windows to steel fabrications.

Moore River Brewing Co. last week had its final, amended plans fully approved by the local council for its site in Caraban.

Queensland

Craft’d Grounds in Brisbane is looking at a July 2021 opening date, in the Brisbane suburb of Albion.

Magnetic Island off the coast near Townsville is set for its own microbrewery after an application was lodged with the local council in February.

The microbrewery and bar, at 9 The Esplanade, Picnic Bay, will be located in a currently vacant lot if it is approved. The founders have applied to install a 200-litre kit with six 400-litre tanks with a maximum capacity of 1,200 litres a week.

Warwick is set for its own brewery after an application for a microbrewery at 73 Gwynnes Road was approved by the Southern Downs Regional Council back in February.

The Four Fires Brewery is set to start its life as a Berat-based production brewery, just an hour from Warwick.

Founder Anthony Brand works in the mines whilst his wife and co-owner Sarah works for Telstra.

“My family are from the Netherlands and travelling back to Europe and with my job in the mines, I did a lot of travel around the world getting to drink a lot of traditional western European styles beers and more hoppy American beers,” Brand explained.

“I couldn’t find these styles of beers in Australia back then, so I started brewing them myself. From there my passion for brewing grew and instead of working away from home so much we decided to open a brewery in our little country town.”

The brewery location itself is built with remaining approvals from the ATO and Queensland government due.

To start with, the team are considering a Braumeister 200-litre kit, which will become its pilot brewhouse once Four Fires moves to a brewpub model.

Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co. is set to open this year on the Redcliffe Peninsula north of Brisbane.

Wards Brewing, founded by Michael Comley, said that building work had commenced at the historic site, at the old Ward’s cordial factory in Central Gladstone.

The site can trace its history of drinks production from 1922.

“It’s a really exciting time to be starting Ward’s Brewing Co., Gladstone is on course for strong economic growth, we have an interesting and historical narrative to run off and with the benefit of the new Artisan Liquor Licence and increased beer excise tax rebate surely means the time is now,” Comely said.

“With building works well on the way, sourcing key staff will be next and it is hoped that having a recently refurbished Queenslander house as part of the package will entice a motivated brewer, to take up for the challenge of developing a brewpub from scratch and enjoy a sea change with moving to Gladstone and the Southern Great Barrier Reef.”

A development application for a microbrewery and distillery complex, located at 61 Maryland Street, Stanthorpe has been approved.

Operating under Stanny Brewhouse, the application revealed the complex will have a restaurant, a tasting area, an outdoor dining space, and a children’s play area.

The development was met with some concerns from adjacent neighbours concerning noise, odour and stormwater runoff. However, the application was quickly approved despite these concerns.

There is work going on behind the scenes at Straddie Brewing Co. to award the building contract for its brewery which has been in planning since 2019.

In the meantime, it has been brewing its beers at Ballistic Beer Co.’s breweries, and picked up one silver and two bronze medals at the 2021 AIBA.

Morts Brewing opened in April in the Sunshine Coast town of Nambour.

South Australia

The founders of Bowden Brewing have started brewing on-site, but they have pushed the opening of the venue slightly back to July 2021.

Kick Back Brewing in Aldinga at 11 Old Coach Road is well on its way to completion and the team are looking at opening before the end of the year.

Tasmania

The brewery is fully installed at Communion Brewing and will be commissioned on the 7th June, with slab works being completed last week for the restaurant build.

The team, led by founder Andrew Turner, is set to open in July this year.

Deep South Brewing Co. is close to opening, with co-founder and head brewer Dave Macgill expecting the brewpub to be open by the middle of the year.

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Additional reporting by Vivien Topalovic.

Have we missed any new breweries in your area? Are you planning a brewery or brewpub development and want to be featured on the Bintani Brewery Radar? If so, email clare@brewsnews.com.au.