When Daz Harry and wife Jem felt the need to return to Western Australia when the pandemic hit, there was only one place they wanted to call home: the state's South West. The region – rich with great hospitality and fine breweries – seemed the perfect spot in which to launch their own venture.
The decision wasn’t made on a whim. Over a number years, Daz had dialled in his knowledge as a business operator in retail, building the skills and capital to return to hospitality roots that date back to the early 2000s live music scene in WA. And, in 2022, an opportunity arose in the form of Dunsborough’s Pour House: a local icon in need of a revamp to return it to its full potential and former glory.
The venue has been a part of Dunsborough’s drinking and dining scene for well over a decade. Now, under Daz's stewardship, it has once more homed in on its offering as a top tier craft beer bar, establishing itself as one of South West’s finest spots for a good beer. Throw in good food and great service and the two-storey former diving shop comfortably accommodates just about every drinker and diner in what Daz describes as a “boutique tavern”.
“The reasons people come to The Pour House is because we're doing something different with our drinks and food,” Daz says. “It’s not just beer: we’re also doing really good cocktails and local wines – people reckon we have the best Tommy’s Margarita in the South West! And we have 22 wines by the glass.”
The key focus, however, is on local craft beer: the recently upgraded tap system showcases 16 different beers, including limited releases and collabs featuring input from the venue staff. Locals including Rocky Ridge, Eagle Bay, Margaret River Beer Co, Beerfarm and Cheeky Monkey feature on the reg; on any given day, you’ll find a good mix of core range beers and harder-to-find drops. Daz often goes above and beyond to secure kegs not typically available for wider release.
“There’s been so many standouts [in terms of limited release beers], and you’re always disappointed there’s only limited supply,” he says. “Rocky Ridge’s Ghost In A Can white stout was exceptional, and Cheeky Monkey’s Surf Break range has impressed. We even nabbed some really limited stuff released exclusively for the South West Beer Fest.”
The Pour House’s food offering leans approachable and tavern-esque with some global influence. Think fried squid, fish and chips, and steak alongside sticky beef short ribs glazed with gochujang or fiery jerk-spiced chicken burgers. On weekends, brekkie and good coffee is also on the cards – and conveniently just a ten-minute stroll to the famed Dunsborough beach.
“The goal is elevated pub food,” he says, “somewhere in the middle with pub pricing but better quality. Bring your mates and drink beers, share platters, that kind of thing.
“We don’t want to be run of the mill. Even with our brekkie, there’s a point of difference doing things like steak and eggs or chicken waffles.”
Daz and his team also run local haunt Har Bar: a dive-style, nautical-themed small venue more focused on live music and cocktails than beer, with karaoke and sea shanty singalongs adding to the unique offering. So, to find out more about his approach to running his venues, we invited him to feature in The Beer Slingers.
Daz Harry
Who's involved in the business?
So many people! It takes a lot of like-minded people to run a successful hospitality business. Me and my wife, Jem, are the owners of the business and have shaped the identity of what The Pour House is today. We have an incredible leadership team: Bruno, Margaux, Shanon, Pablo and Carla are the faces of the venue, and our kitchen crew lead by Chef Sajee keep our tables booked solid and our customers belly's full.
My job is to work "on the business" while these guys make the magic happen "in the business".
What are your backgrounds?
Both Jem and I have a background in hospitality. I was the bar manager of the Grosvenor Hotel during its glory days of being the premier live music venue in Perth: the days of great Perth bands like Jebediah, The Sleepy Jackson, Eskimo Joe...
When the Grosvenor was told to give live music the flick – apartments across the road caused noise issues – myself and the then licensee of the venue Kevin Robe moved on to The Rosemount Hotel in North Perth. A complete reno of that venue was undertaken to turn it into the venue it still is today: a live music Mecca with a small bar at the street front.
While hospo was my passion, I was acutely aware of the financial limitations of the industry. My dream was to own my own venue and I wasn't going to be in the financial position to do that without selling my soul the banks while working hospo. So I moved into the retail industry, in particular Harvey Norman. I had heard that you can earn your way to your own franchise within this company so I set my sights on that, and achieved it a few years after joining the company.
In my time at Harvey Norman, I owned five different franchises in both Western Australia and Victoria, and spent ten years over east. I was very successful in this business and spent a significant amount of time on national committees and travelled the world with the company meeting with senior executives from global companies like Samsung, Sony and LG.
My time there taught me a great deal about how to run a successful business, from marketing to purchasing, negotiations with suppliers, and leading large groups of people. Two long years of COVID restrictions in Victoria prompted me to make the change and follow my dream of owning a hospitality business, and moving my family to the place we loved the most: South West WA.
What first got you into craft beer?
I have been a craft beer fan from the moment I walked through the doors of Little Creatures in Freo when it first opened. From that moment on I made it my mission to try as many different beers and styles as I could.
I bought my own brewing kits for home and experimented with different styles of beers, and no holiday was complete without a trip to the local craft brewery of whatever region we were in.
What inspired you to open your venue?
The COVID period was an eye-opener for a lot of people. I was no exception. It showed me how quickly things can change, and you can either cruise along with the status quo or you can take a leap and follow your passion.
We already owned Har Bar when The Pour House came on the market, only a few minutes walk up the road. The venue was quite rundown, lacking an identity, and had largely been forgotten by locals. The team didn't have a lot of motivation or direction other than to keep costs down.
It was a bit of a blank canvas, the potential was there – and it had been a successful venue in the past – so we just got to work rebranding and re-introducing The Pour House to both locals and tourists alike.
What's the story behind the name of the venue?
We didn't name the venue, and truth be told we considered changing its name when we took over the business. Its reputation wasn't overly great at that stage, but we decided to stick with it as we could go to work slowly changing the culture and identity without a huge relaunch and name change.
We are glad we didn't change it, as it suits our brand and identity perfectly.
How would you describe the vibe of the venue?
We describe The Pour House as a "Boutique Tavern". Our in-house motto is "The Pour House is Your House".
It's welcoming, our crew know your name and what you drink, and our chef has elevated the food offering to a level that we are booked solid most nights. Our vibe is very chill, our crew are happy and supported, and our customers feel at home there.
Is there anything you've learned along the way you wish you'd known earlier?
Not really, to be honest. Most of what I thought would happen has happened. Be a good person and good things will come. Understand what your venue is and stick to it. Don't try and be everything to everyone. Zone in on your identity and be the best at that.
If there is a market for what you're offering, you'll be successful if you are true to your identity 100 percent of the time. People will challenge you, ask you to change, complain that you don't have this or that but maybe ... your venue is not for them? And that's completely OK.
Have there been any standout moments in your time as a venue owner?
Heaps of them! From collab beers with Rocky Ridge and Margaret River Beer Co, to expanding our tap offering, to hearing the positive response our local community is giving us.
It's especially rewarding to know that we are an employer of choice for crew coming to town as well. We want to be a place that crew love to come to, both as a customer and as a crew member. It's a source of pride for us: our team means everything.
Which local breweries are impressing you most right now?
We love all our local breweries here in the South West. We are super lucky in this region to have breweries with vision and creativity. That's why our taps are full of local beers.
Our favourites are Rocky Ridge, Eagle Bay, Margaret River Beer Co, Beerfarm and Cheeky Monkey. I also have soft spot for Dainton in Victoria, they have some amazing brews...
How do you go about deciding your tap offering?
We've gone down a different path to most venues. It's pretty hard to walk into a venue and not see most taps taken by either Lion Nathan or CUB with maybe a couple of craft breweries taps – and usually the core range. We have no tap deals with the big guys. The only non-local beers we have on tap are Guinness and Kilkenny, and that's just because local breweries aren't doing cream ales.
We have 18 different beers on tap including rotating limited release beers, so every time you come you can pretty much be guaranteed there will be a new beer on tap. If you're visiting the South West and can't make it to all of the breweries, you can come to us and we've got you covered.
You've got three beers to turn a newcomer onto craft beer: what are they and why?
1: Jindong Juicy (Rocky Ridge). It's super refreshing, just enough fruit to not be overwhelming for a newcomer.
2: In The Pines (Margaret River Beer Co). Award-winner for a reason, tastes so damn good, and is the perfect introduction to a full-bodied, hazy IPA.
3: Rock Candy (Rocky Ridge). Because you have to make a newcomer try a sour, if only to see them make stink face when they can't work out if they like it or not.
Special mentions: Eagle Bay Kolsch, Beerfarm IPL and Cheeky Monkey XPA are all perfect beers to convert a Swanny D drinker to craft beer. They are so easy to drink... I'm reaching for the fridge...
You can visit Daz, Jem and the team at 26 Dunn Bay Road. You'll also find The Pour House alongside hundreds of other good beer venues across Australia in the free Crafty Pint app.
And you can check out other entries in The Beer Slingers series here.
Jono Outred is a food and beverage writer based in WA’s Southwest. He has been involved in craft beer across a variety of capacities over the past 11 years, from beer blogging to production brewing and everything in between. When not immersed in beer, Jono is a cricket tragic, grows grapes and tends to his farm in Nannup.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
That would be would be BrewDog Tokyo, gifted to me by a colleague for my 18th birthday. Its existence alone as a 12.5 percent ABV beer blew my mind; previously I had only consumed Emu Bitter (in excess) at house parties. Discovering that beer led to a visit to the International Beer Shop where, obviously, many more mind-blowing beers were purchased and consumed.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Rocky Ridge Peach Invasion: For me, it's the perfect craft beer. It's big flavoured but perfectly smashable. Interesting but easy-drinking. Bold but balanced. Naughty but nice. Made entirely out of locally made ingredients in WA, you'd be mad not to give it a crack!
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Boatroacker Ramjet: Because THIS is what beer can be. It's massive. You might hate it now but you certainly won't forget it. One day you'll understand and you won't be able to get enough. This beer is everything that is right about crazy, "big" beers.
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Jester King El Cedro: It's American craft beer at its best. A beautiful, bubbly farmhouse ale aged in cedar barrels. We're lucky here in Australia to get our hands on these fantastic American ales and I think Jester King stands for everything we love about beer. Great beer, great story.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Beerfarm Native series Quandong & Samphire Gose.
Name three examples of music/art/culture/sport/travel/other that represent you.
- Cricket – a passion from a young age. A mediocre off-spinner with an U17's club record of 8-30. Currently playing for the Nannup Tigers!
- Punk rock and heavy metal – A passion for over 15 years, from singing in a dodgy death metal garage band as a teenager and being active in Perth's punk and hardcore scene, to mic grabs at Slayer and traveling cross country to farewell I Killed the Prom Queen in Adelaide!
- Food – A chef in a past life, now out from behind the pass and exploring food throughout Western Australia and cooking more at home.
