Influential craft beer pub, The Local Taphouse, has announced it is opening a new venue in the Qantas domestic terminal at Melbourne Airport this October.

Similar to the popular original European-style pub in St Kilda East, which showcases an ever-changing variety of the best craft beers in a range of styles from around Australia and the world, The Local Taphouse at Melbourne Airport will focus primarily on championing Melbourne and Victorian breweries.

With 60 taps, customers will be encouraged to try beers and beer styles they may not have tried before, many from leading local breweries. There will also be local wines, cocktails and spirit, and a full bar and restaurant for 200 people. A takeaway fridge will allow flyers to grab beers to go too.

“Celebrating a diversity of beers from incredible breweries has always been important to us, so we’re so excited that we will soon be able to share our love of outstanding local craft beer with so many at the gateway to our home city”, explains Stomping Ground’s Director of Hospitality Justin Joiner.

This venue is the second in the partnership between Stomping Ground Brewing Co and leading hospitality and entertainment company Delaware North. The partnership’s first venue, the Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall in Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 3, opened in February 2020, becoming the first working brewery in any airport in the southern hemisphere. It quickly developed into one of the most popular hospitality operations at the airport and was recently awarded the Spotlight Award for a unique and world class offering at the 2023 Melbourne Airport Excellence Awards.

Delaware North’s Managing Director, Gary Brown, added, “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the Taphouse/Stomping Ground team again and know that together we’re going to deliver another exceptional hospitality experience, this time in bringing the best of Melbourne to the Qantas terminal at Melbourne Airport.”

About The Local Taphouse

Opening in 2008, The Local Taphouse is widely recognised as a pioneering craft beer hospitality venue that set the benchmark in Australia. Founded by Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone, and originally managed by Justin Joiner, the venue spawned The Local Taphouse in Sydney a year later and the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS), the hugely successful beer annual festivals that attract more than 50,000 beer fans in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand. The influential GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers poll also started at the Taphouse and their Ale Stars monthly beer club recently celebrated 15 years.

The Local Taphouse has won many awards and accolades and continues to be a leader in craft beer hospitality. In 2018 the founders, now with Joiner as a partner, founded Collingwood brewery Stomping Ground, which in 2022 was judged Champion Australian Brewery at both the Australian International Beer Awards and Indies.

About Delaware North

Delaware North is a global leader in the hospitality and entertainment industry. The company annually serves more than a half-billion guests across three continents, including at high-profile sports venues, airports, national and state parks, restaurants, resorts, hotels and casinos. Building on more than a century of enduring partnerships and a commitment to local communities and sustainability, Delaware North’s vision is to delight guests by creating the world’s best experiences today while reimagining tomorrow. Learn more at www.DelawareNorth.com.