The moment you walk into Common People Brewing, a warm feeling washes over you. It’s not just the warm tones of timber, brick and copper. It’s more than the crackling fireplace and drifting aroma of wood-fired pizza – although they certainly help. It’s a friendly, family, neighbourly kind of warmth that let’s you know you belong here even before you’ve spoken to anyone.
This isn’t just clever aesthetics or marketing strategy – it’s the beating heart of Common People.
Owners Jay, Sam and Drew have known each other their whole lives; Sam and Drew are brothers, and Jay grew up on the same street as them in a small town in northern New South Wales. As life went on, they all moved away: one to Sweden, one to Sydney, one to Brisbane. But the pull of the Northern Rivers is strong, and eventually they all gravitated back to start Common People Brewing together.
Nestled in the beautiful town of Bangalow, half an hour inland from Byron Bay, the brewery is infused with the passion of these lifelong friends and their wives: Sophie behind the bar, Janelle behind a laptop.
It starts with a love of people. The taproom is set up to welcome everyone into their close-knit community – locals and day-trippers and tourists alike – and make them feel at home.
Scattered plants, brown brick and natural timber work together to soften the space, aided by the golden glow of festoon lights. It’s still an industrial venue, and yet the copper-clad brew tanks somehow add to the coziness. (You’ll also see a nod to the tanks on the beer labels, where artist Sophie White has incorporated copper highlights into her designs.)
The bar itself is something of a centrepiece: a long slab of black poured concrete, framed by glossy green tiles on the bar front and splashback. Even the toilets are a talking point; they’re some of the most luxurious bathrooms you’ll see in a brewery anywhere.
“We get a lot of comments,” Jay says with a laugh. "A guy came out and said, ‘I thought I was in the Hilton for a minute there!’”
And this is all before you even get outside onto the deck, where you can soak up sunshine while surrounded by greenery that captures the leafiness of the hinterland.
Speaking of the hinterland, Common People is also infused with the owners’ love of the region. The brewery uses locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients wherever possible, both in their food and their beers.
"We focus on trying to get a little bit of a taste-of-the-region type thing happening [for] those customers that are seeking out products of the region.”
People in this area tend to appreciate local produce, and tourists want to try the best the region has to offer. So the team at Common People is only too proud to show it off. From the sand dune-growing native pigface they used in a salty gose, to the berries they source from a local farmer, to the tangelos that a brewery regular grows on his tree at home.
"A lot of it comes from talking to the locals about what we can put in the beer,” Jay says.
They also take any opportunity to welcome the community into the limited beers they brew: one to celebrate the bike path being built along the old train tracks; one to coincide with the annual billy cart derby they sponsor; one they make for the region’s Harvest Food Trail. Because Common People aren’t just in the area – they’re part of it. This place matters to them. It’s their home.
And of course, their love of people and love of local is all held together by one more passion: a love of making and drinking the best damn beer they can.
Common People often start with a traditional style, then put their own twist on it. Think a West Coast IPA driven by Aussie Eclipse hops, or a wheat beer with the easy-drinking dialled up to eleven.
When it comes to limited releases, they look to the strengths of the whole team – one person’s creative ideas, another person’s technical skills – to make the best beers possible. Because their philosophy is that before anything else, the beer has to be great.
“It’s our number one focus, and it always has been,” Jay says.
“With good marketing, you might get someone to try your beers once. But if you want people to keep coming back and drinking your beer, it has to be good.”
To this end, they pay attention to nailing every single beer: no shortcuts or skimping on ingredients. And the result of their hard work is that punters can choose from any of the 15 taps with confidence, enjoying a pizza and stout on the couch, or burgers and sours in the sunshine.
There’s plenty more to say about Common People, from the awards they’ve won for their beers, to their weekly specials and taproom events, to their investment into looking after the earth.
But if you really want to understand Common People Brewing, perhaps this snapshot of closing time at the taproom says it best…
“The last group of the night is always huddled around the fireplace. It’s usually locals; often two groups of people, and they’ll just be chatting away until we kick them out.”
This is a place where visitors feel like locals, and locals feel like family.
Mick Wüst
