Phillip Island might be best known for penguins and beaches, but spend a little time there and you’ll soon discover an abundance of riches waiting to be enjoyed away from the crowds.
In particular, the island boasts a wealth of local produce: freshly-caught seafood; farmgate fruit and vegetables; world-class cheese, meats and wine; and, these days, multiple breweries too.
Helping to champion those local ingredients are Phillip Island Brewing Co and the man behind the business, Neil Gillin, whose long background in booze combined with a desire for a sea-change first brought him and his family to the island.
In 2010, they took over the Rusty Water Brewery & Restaurant, located on the island’s busiest road and thoroughfare, the appropriately-named Phillip Island Road. It’s a location that puts their venue close to some of the island’s top attractions, including the Koala Conservation Reserve and the neighbouring A Maze'n Things.
After taking over Rusty Water, Neil launched the Phillip Island Brewing Co lineup of beers and, while he’s long worked to build an onsite brewery (of which more below), those beers were brewed elsewhere as the venue continued to operate under its original name.
The beers have always championed the island and life by the sea, both through the choice of names – Pinnacle Amber references the popular cliff-side hike; their IPA is inspired by The Speke Shipwreck – and by celebrating local produce: their Black Cockatoo Shiraz Porter was created with the Purple Hen Winery down the road; the Chicory Stout highlights the locale’s farming history that stretches back to the 1870s.
Although best enjoyed on the island, the beers have become a regular sight throughout neighbouring towns and the wineries, supermarkets, venues and local bottleshops of the wider Gippsland region. They’re complemented by a lineup of Phillip Island Distilling Co gins, which make their way into the venue’s unique selection of cocktails.
Like the beer, the food features local produce wherever possible, changing with the seasons to make the most of Gippsland’s finest fare. Depending on your wants and desires, there are light snacks to enjoy before a game of mini-golf next door and larger plates to enjoy, well, maybe save those until you’ve sunk your final hole-in-one.
Fittingly for a beer space that sits besides such popular attractions, the family-run Phillip Island Brewing Co boasts an atmosphere designed to suit all ages, and plays host to many of the tourists that make their way to the island all year round.
A roaring fireplace keeps things cosy during winter, while there’s plenty to like about pulling up a pew on the front deck and gazing upon vast swathes of eucalyptus trees. That said, at time of writing, change was afoot: work is set to begin to bring Neil’s dream of brewing onsite to reality midway through 2024.
Once complete, the 500-litre brewhouse will be easily spotted from both within the venue and the road, and will give the team greater flexibility to brew to their needs and provide the tank-to-tap experience Neil has long desired.
Given the Gillins took over the joint almost 15 years in the making, that’s one lengthy gestation period, yet it also feels somehow fitting. After all, Phillip Island is a place most people come to relax, unwind and take things slow. And sometimes the best journeys are those that take the longest.
Will Ziebell
