When Dad (John) and Dave Dumay brewed their first commercial batch in 2012, they found themselves at a curious crossroads.
“We gypsy-brewed 600-odd cases of pale ale and thought ‘we're either going to sell it and make a business of it, or we’re going to have a lot of beer to drink with friends’,” Dave says.
Thankfully, their gamble paid off, the cases sold out, and now they have both a thriving business and plenty of beer to drink. With 20 beers on tap, award-winning food and a sunny beer garden (weather dependent, obviously), their taproom has become a compulsory stop on the booming Brookvale beer trail in Sydney’s north.
Fittingly, John and Dave’s brewing adventures started in the family kitchen, motivated by some smart beer maths.
“I was 19 and working as a first year chef’s apprentice, getting paid seven bucks an hour,” Dave recalls. “Then I’d go to the pub and pay seven bucks for a schooner, so it cost an hour's work for one beer. I remembered Dad used to homebrew when I was kid so I started to save a few dollars.”
Bitten by the brewing bug, they both enrolled on a short course at Ballarat University and later completed the full graduate course by correspondence. In 2015, they took the plunge and opened a small brewery and cellar door in Brookvale, joining the likes of 4 Pines and Nomad in the emerging “Brewvale” scene that at time of writing also includes brewery venues operated by Bucketty’s, Freshwater, 7th Day and Broken Bay.
Along the way, Dad & Dave’s has become a true family affair, with mum Jenny handling payroll and HR, brother James starting their distilled spirits side-project Wildspirit, and Dave's partner Kelly driving the website and social media.
In 2019, they moved to a bigger site two blocks away and installed a new brewhouse and canning line to up their own output and contracting capacity. Just as importantly, the new taproom meant they could finally welcome the public as they’d always wanted: with friendly service, live music and their own food truck serving tacos, dumplings and Australia’s best burgers (as voted by an Opentable poll in 2022).
“We’re a family business and when you come to our brewery we want it to feel like we’re welcoming you into our home,” Dave says.
More than a decade on from selling those first cases of pale ale, the bar now offers everything from the traditional (lagers, pilsners, IPAs) to the more daring (fancy a yuzu sour, oak and whisky porter, or a Banoffee Pie-PA?). If beer isn’t your thing, there’s also seltzers, ciders and cocktails made with their Wildspirit gin, vodka and vermouth.
“We pride ourselves in having something for everyone,” Dave says. “Everything we sell, we brew or distil here for that full craft experience. It’s fun for us too because we’re not just brewing the same six beers – there’s always something new to try.”
And while there’s plenty of reasons to visit, Dave’s even keener to promote Brookvale itself, given there’s now a clutch of breweries within one kilometre and a buzzing community spirit.
“Everyone’s got their own style and unique venue so you’ll never drink the same beer twice,” he says. “We all get along, we share ingredients and, on busy nights, our bar managers will send groups of people to each other if one brewery’s full.
“You can easily spend a day in Brookvale exploring the breweries, even a whole weekend. Come and check us out.”
Jason Treuen
