Brisbane’s Ballistic Beer Co has signed the lease and is set to start work on its third site, this time in Springfield Central, a developing suburb of Ipswich.

The site will open in October after a major refurbishment which will include an 800-litre microbrewery on site to brew limited edition and seasonal beers

The 350-seat brewery and bar will be housed in the building of a former pub, the old Springfield Central Tavern in the Education City area.

It will complement Ballistic’s existing Salisbury brewing site and its West End Alehouse & Kitchen, offering 18 Ballistic-brewed beers.

David Kitchen, owner of Ballistic, spoke to Brews News about the opening of the new site, saying the building was in “desperate need of love and good beer”.

“When we first looked at it we were a little skeptical. But plans for Springfield and what’s gone on there in the last 10 years show that growth has continued in an immense way, and the area is underserviced in terms of non-chain places to eat and drink,” he said.

Kitchen said that part of the appeal of the site was that it has a large green square, which he says worked well for their Salisbury site.

“We’ll be able to replicate the Salisbury site up to a point for Springfield families, creating a space where children can play and parents can relax and enjoy themselves.

“Being able to have the whole family present is a really good thing and builds community as well.”

The site will include an eight-hectolitre brewery from Chinese manufacturer Tiantai, with which Ballistic have a partnership to supply all equipment, and will specialise in limited edition and seasonal beers. 30 people will be employed at the site, bringing Ballistic’s employee numbers up to 60 across the three venues.

“Our core beers will come from Salisbury but we’ll have a brewer out there every week making interesting beers.

The site will have a brewery and bottleshop on site, and a focus on a solid food offering, Kitchen said.

“It’s got a fully operational kitchen, similar to West End site and will offer high quality ‘beer food’, if it’s a burger it’s a bloody good burger.

He said that the brewing scene in Brisbane has exploded in recent years, which had enabled the expansion, and it’s partly down to the camaraderie of local brewers.

“We’ve got some really high quality breweries, not just Brisbane but the whole of Queensland, including some champion small and medium breweries.

“We’ve got a lot of enthusiasm, and we might be coming to the party a bit later but hopefully that makes us smarter.

“We’ve still got the dynamism of a new and exciting space, and there’s more energy in the beer industry here than down south.

“There’s a bit of that artisan mentality in beer brewing and people help each other. What goes around comes around, and there are lots of issues starting up a brewery.

“I love it. It’s unequivocally a very collegial industry. I hope that that doesn’t fall apart as competition continues to grow, and I don’t think it will.”

To mark the occasion, Ballistic has brewed a Springfield Pilsner, a 4.5% abv European pilsner made with Australian ingredients.

Brewery openings are presented by Spark Breweries and Distilleries, the finest in-venue and production brewing systems available, with local design and support.