Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury

Brewer

Name
Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury
Address

53 McCarthy Road
Salisbury
QLD 4107

Open Hours

Thursday: 4pm to 7pm
Friday: 3.30pm to 10pm
Saturday: 1pm to 10pm
Sunday: 1pm to 7pm

When people talk about the growing craft beer scene in Brisbane, more often than not they’re talking about the inner suburbs of Brisbane. Certainly, few, if any, would have expected an award-winning brewery to pop up in Salisbury.

It’s in an industrial area, with rows of cloned steel warehouses used during World War II to produce and store munitions. But now those armaments are long gone, one of those lifeless, empty metal shell warehouses has been repurposed as Ballistic Beer Co. And, since its opening in April 2017, it's fair (if a little cheesy) to say its popularity has exploded.

A large chunk of its immediate appeal comes from the community-focused cellar door. When you approach the entrance of the mammoth building, you might be skeptical to see people sitting on white lawn chairs out on the grass, nursing beers while their kids run around (suburban bars, eh?). Then, when you step inside, you get it.

Ballistic has breathed new life into this behemoth of a factory. The steel girder ribcage is exposed, but softened by the reflections of the sky blue brewhouse floor. When you front up to the bar, you’re met with a cold and slick expanse of polished concrete, but when you return to your seat you’re surrounded by timber and flourishing green plants. On your left, the shiny brewhouse gadgets send out the message: “We Mean Serious Business…” but, on your right, the dominant view is an illustrated banner of airships dropping keg-bombs that says: “But We Don’t Take Ourselves Too Seriously”.

It’s easy to see why Salisbury locals – and beer lovers from further afield – flock there every Thursday to Sunday, sipping from the 13 taps, munching on the food truck offerings and tapping their feet to the live music.

Fair question, though: is it just some backwater tavern that’s only popular with the locals because it’s a convenient place for them to get booze, irrelevant of quality?

Honest answer: nope.

After living in Salisbury for more than a decade, co-owner and founder David Kitchen decided that if he wanted a place to get great beer in his suburb, it was up to him to make it happen. Which meant that, while he wants to connect with the people of the neighbourhood and become a centre in Salisbury for people to gather together, any gathering will be happening over damn good beer.

On that front, he picked well when he hired Lachy Crothers to be head brewer when the business launched. Lachy cut his teeth brewing for Gage Roads in WA for five years, did a short stint at Camden Town Brewery in London, then zipped back to the right side of the globe to bestow his brewing gifts upon Brisbane. His time as a brewer and beer judge has given him a particular passion for making consistent beers – beer that's both made and treated well from start to finish.

As he puts it: “It doesn’t even have to be ‘full of flavour’, as such. Just good. There’s so much noise around the craft brewing scene saying that ‘good beer’ needs to be full of big flavours and heavy on either hops or malt. I think we need to take a step back and try to appreciate the subtlety of beer and take notice of beers that are well balanced and expertly crafted.”

With this in mind, Ballistic customised its brewhouse to the extent they use water that’s gone through their own reverse osmosis water treatment plant to remove any undesirable chemicals and minerals. Lachy and his team then work their wonders with a 25 hectolitre three vessel steam system before transferring the nectar to their tank farm of fermenters. After the yeast has magicked that into delicious beer, it all goes into their monster cold room – a whopping 77 square metres and intentionally oversized so every single drop of Ballistic beer will fit in there, stored under 2C and remaining in its freshest state. It’s a privilege not all breweries can afford, but one Ballistic can pull off in their giant space.

The result of all this? Four excellent core range beers, two of which won gold medals at the 2017 Australian International Beer Awards (Pilot Light Table Beer and Dirty Word Lager) just a few months after the brewery’s opening, as well as a few taps always pouring seasonal and specialty beers. Depending on when you call in, these could take the shape of everything from Espresso XPA, Cold Brew Coffee Brown Ale, Belgian Golden Ale and Stout through to single hop IPAs (their Fortnight IPA also brought home a gold medal from the 2017 AIBAs) or something else entirely. You can take home growlers and squealers from the brewery and, before the end of 2017, you will be able to find Ballistic beers in cans at good beer stockists too.

Yet, while the Ballistic team goes to painstaking lengths to use the best processes and produce the best beer it can, at the end of the day, they shrug and say: “Most people just want a place where they can get a good beer.”

And Ballistic sure fits the bill.

Mick Wust

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Stories featuring Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury

Core Range

Ballistic Beer Reef Red Ale & Reef XPA
Red Ale & XPA
Both 5.5%
Ballistic Beer Keepin' It Low Cal Ginger Beer
Ginger Beer
3.5%
Ballistic Beer Low Ha
Low Carb Pale
4.0%
Ballistic Beer Reef Pale & Reef Lager
Pale Ale & Lager
Both 4.2%
Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze IPA
Hazy IPA
6.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Cold One
Mid-Strength Pale Ale
3.5%
Ballistic Beer Pale (2020 onwards)
Pale Ale
4.6%
Ballistic Beer IPA
IPA
5.8%
Ballistic Beer Lager
Lager
4.4%
Ballistic Beer Co Brewunity
Aussie Pale Ale
4.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Hawaiian Haze Pale Ale
DDH Pale Ale
4.8%
Ballistic Beer Co Oaked XPA
Oaked XPA
5.5%

Limited Releases

Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze Hazy DIPA
Hazy DIPA
7.7%
Ballistic Beer SWYD Double IPL
Double IPL
8.0%
Ballistic & Stone Brewing Neighbourhood Golden IPA
Golden IPA
8.5%
Ballistic & Pasteur Steet Neighbourhood Mandarin IPA & Twang Guava & Passionfruit Sour
Mandarin IPA & Fruit Sour
6.5% & 4.6%
Ballistic Beer Co After 5
Ginger Beer
3.5%
Ballistic Easy Stout, Grandfather Oaked Ale & Tropical Imperial Stout
Stout, Old Ale & Imperial Stout
4.5%, 7.0% & 10.0%
Ballistic Neighbourhood Cold IPA & SWYD Triple IPA
Cold IPA & Triple IPA
7.0% & 10.0%
Ballistic Coup de Grâce Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2022)
Imperial Stout
11.0%
Ballistic Peach Iced Tea Twang Sour & SWYD Trans-Tasman West Coast DIPA
Iced Tea Sour & West Coast DIPA
4.6% & 8.9%
Ballistic Beer Idaho Gem Hazy & West Coast IPAs
Single Hop IPAs
Both 6.0%
Ballistic Beer Sleep When You’re Dead: Juicy Double IPA
Hazy IIPA
8.0%
Ballistic Beer Sleep When You’re Dead: Black IPA
Black IPA
7.0%
Ballistic Beer Black Forest Birthday Cake Stout
Black Forest Stout
8.0%
Ballistic Beer Sleep When You're Dead: West Coast IPA
West Coast IPA
7.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Hazy DIPA
Hazy DIPA
9.5%
Big Shed & Ballistic Beer Oaked Guava Double IPA
Oaked Guava Double IPA
8.0%
Ballistic Beer Bru-1 West Coast & Hazy IPAs
Single Hop West Coast & Hazy IPAs
6.1% & 5.9%
Ballistic Beer Co Coup de Grâce Imperial Stout
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
13.9%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Red IPA
Red IPA
8.4%
Ballistic & Carwyn Cellars & Brewski Raspberry Sour & Sweet Stout
Raspberry Sour & Sweet Stout
Both 4.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Modern TDH IPA
TDH IPA
7.2%
Ballistic Beer Co Twang White Peach & Cold One
Fruit Sour & Aussie Pale
4.6% & 4.5%
Ballistic Springfield Pilsner – SUPERSEDED
Pilsner
4.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Merry Berry Twang
Berry Sour
4.6%
Ballistic Beer Co Follow Your Passion Brut IPA
Passionfruit Brut IPA
5.9%
Ballistic Beer Co Red Papaya Twang
Fruit Sour
4.6%
Ballistic Beer Co Nelson Sauvin IPA
Single Hop IPA
6.1%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA
6.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Mulberry Twang
Mulberry Sour
4.6%
Ballistic & Deep Creek Hybrid IPA
IPA
6.4%
Ballistic Beer Co Ex-IPA HBC 472
Single Hop IPA
6.2%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Nordic IPA
Kveik IPA
7.4%
Ballistic & Collective Arts Down Time Down Under
Mandarin IPA
6.1%
Ballistic Beer Co & Hop Nation Madden's Curse
Mango Milkshake IPA
5.0%
Ballistic Beer Co SHIPA: Simcoe
Single Hop IPA
6.4%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Grapefruit IPA
Grapefruit IPA
7.5%
Ballistic Beer Co El Dorado Single hop IPA
Single Hop IPA
6.0%
Ballistic & Bintani Signature ExPA
Single Malt XPA
5.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Hazy IPL
Hazy IPL
6.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Twang Tropical Sour
Tropical Sour
4.6%
Ballistic & The Dutch Trading Co Imperial Table Beer
Farmhouse Ale
7.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Double IPA
Double IPA
8.3%
Ballistic Beer Co El Calavera Mexican Stout
Mexican Stout
6.8%
Ballistic Beer Co India Brown Ale
India Brown Ale
5.8%
Ballistic Beer Co Centennial Single Hop IPA
Single Hop IPA
6.2%
Ballistic Beer Co Revelation IPA – SUPERSEDED
Australian IPA
6.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Dirty Word – SUPERSEDED
Lager
5.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Putin's Revenge
Russian Imperial Stout
8.2%
Ballistic & 3 Ravens Dick Tracy's Robust Red Ale
Red Ale
5.6%
Ballistic Beer Co Pekko Single Hop IPA
SIngle Hop IPA
5.5%
Ballistic Beer Co Tropical Pale Ale & Toasted Munich Lager & Oaked Citra XPA
Pale / Lager / Oaked XPA
4.5% / 6.0% / 5.8%
Ballistic Beer Co The Ride Red IPA
Red IPA
6.3%
Ballistic Beer Co Ouroboros Oatmeal Stout
Oatmeal Stout
6.2%
Ballistic Beer Co Pale Ale – SUPERSEDED
Pale Ale
5.2%
Ballistic & Dainton Sleep When You're Dead White NEIPA
White NEIPA
Ballistic Beer Co The Grandfather
Oak Aged Old Ale
7.0%
Ballistic Beer Co Pilot Light – RETIRED
Mid-Strength Pale Ale
3.5%