Almost a year ago to the day, we were sent a tweet from someone who had spotted a sign on the wall of a warehouse in Croydon. The sign read “The Public Brewery” and led to a few responses hoping that this meant craft brewing was about to stretch its tentacles of little further into Melbourne’s outer reaches.
These hopes were not in vain, with The Public Brewery’s opening as imminent as imminent can be. And not only is it almost here, but it’s also rather unique.
As well as operating its own microbrewery setup, it will have eight 50 litre kettles offering “brew on premise” for people wanting to come in and make their own beer, making it something of a kindred spirit of Brisbane’s Bacchus Brewing. And, on top of that, there is a bar with dining hall, a bottleshop, which opened a month ago stocked with beers from independent micros all over the country, and a selection of Victorian wines from the Yarra Valley.
The owners are on the hunt for a head brewer to head up their own production and offer guidance to anyone that wants to come in to brew their own beer (see advert here). And they took time out to tell us a little about their plans.
The brewery and venue is located in a converted seed and grain warehouse. They plan to run the first batch of beer through the system this week and estimate that their kitchen, which will focus on share plates and pizzas, will be ready in three weeks time, with the small batch kettles following soon afterwards; currently they are en route from Italy.
So why did they choose Croydon?
“One of the owners, Dale, has been based in Croydon running a cafe for the last nine years,” says Michael, “and has seen it grow and develop into an area where people are looking for something a bit different.
“Since we opened the bottleshop, there has been some great feedback from the public who are looking to try something new. We’ve been selling a range of products including Two Birds, Holgate, 3 Ravens, Hawthorn and Hargreaves Hill.”
For now, Dale will run The Public Brewery alongside his cafe, while Michael has left Dan Murphy’s after 13 years to handle buying and operations. Their plan for the bottleshop is to focus on independently owned breweries and change stock regularly. And the plan for the bar reflects that approach: once they have their own beers, they will share the taps with beer from fellow Australian brewers.
Not so long ago, criticism could be levelled fairly that Australian craft beer tended to be centred around the inner suburbs of the major centres or within popular wine/tourist regions and with little to be found elsewhere. Look around the country over the past year or so and it’s a situation that is changing rapidly. In fact, it’s becoming almost impossible to predict where the next microbrewery or craft beer bar will rise.
It’s a fantastic situation to witness as for better beer to become truly established it needs to be available to all and not seen as the preserve of inner cities or something you do while on holiday. So the best of luck to Dale, Michael and their team out at The Public Brewery. And don’t forget, if you’d like to be part of that team, they’re after a head brewer.
The Public Brewery is at 13 Lacey Street, Croydon.
Dale and Michael and beer
Dale, the owner & director described himself as an “interested beer consumer”.
Michael, the manager professes an “interest in small batch boutique beer”.
As for their favourite Aussie beers (before theirs are ready, of course)
Dale – Stone & Wood Pacific Ale, Two Birds Golden Ale
Michael – Two Birds Golden Ale, Hargreaves Hill Hefeweizen
