Sydney’s Northern Beaches lays claim to an impressive number of craft breweries and, as Warriewood's Half-Pace Brewing Company shows, community can often lead to more of a good thing.
Founders Dan Koorey and Deon Rowe met while the former was making beer at Bucketty's Brewing alongside an old schoolmate of Deon's. At the same time, Deon was already making spirits and, while searching for a home for Hang 10 Distillery – the brand he runs with partner Marine Raynard – they hatched a plan to start brewing together too.
“We were just chatting the whole time and it just evolved out of that,” Dan says. “Deon got the space in Warriewood to distil in, and I started brewing.”
Following more than two years of delays – the kind that just about every brewery founder knows all too well – Half-Pace Brewing launched in May as Hang 10 Distillery opened their doors to the public. As such, you'll find brewing and distilling under one roof, with the brewery a true nano setup: Dan makes between 150 and 500 litres per batch that’s largely destined to be drunk by Warriewood locals.
They first welcomed customers just ahead of nearby Surfboat but, while their arrival has seen the suburb go from zero to two breweries in 2024, Dan's not sure the quiet area is set to resemble nearby Brookvale.
“I feel like Brookvale is somewhere people go to party now,” he says. “It’s mainly families and residential around Warriewood; we’re mostly trying to capture the local neighbours and those families.”
At Half-Pace, Dan brings around a decade-and-a-half's experience as a homebrewer; since leaving Bucketty's, he's been working at 4 Pines too, where his day job at time of writing is head brewer at their King Street Wharf brewpub.
Half-Pace’s setup stems from his days as a homebrewer and also doubles as part of Deon's distillery setup. Rarely for a local distillery, Deon makes his base spirit from scratch; rarer still, he uses bread to do so. That decision was born out of a desire to make a sustainable spirit, requiring brewer and distiller to repurpose Dan's old homebrew setup while building a system that would suit them both.
“When I was homebrewing, I really wanted to learn how to make proper mixed fermentation beers,” Dan says, “so I built a pretty big kit so I could split wort, and one thing led to another, and we ended up building our own system.”
While the vast majority of Half-Pace’s beers have been made with regular malt, they’ve already worked on a handful that have combined Dan’s love of mixed culture beer with Hang 10’s sustainable approach.
“I took some finished bread beer that we had sitting around from a batch brewed a while ago, inoculated it with a bunch of Brettanomyces, and let it go,” he says. “It got pretty funky and tasted pretty good.
“Then most of it I transferred onto different fruits, let it re-ferment, and one of them we just left as straight Brettanomyces Bread Beer.”
Having said that, Half-Pace’s approach is broader than funk: the core range features Day Dream’N Hazy Pale and Laid-Back Lager. But the limited releases are designed to push boundaries, move quickly, and make the most of such a small setup.
“I like to play with intense flavours and aromas,” Dan says. “The batch size is set up to be able to make these crazy hoppy IPAs that I know can move in a couple of weeks so they aren’t sitting around.”
And, of course, as Hang 10’s lineup broadens, so too can Half-Pace’s.
“Deon’s about to pull his first whisky out of barrel so I’ll brew an imperial stout we can put in that barrel,” Dan says. “That’s the kind of cool thing we want to do.”
To find out more about the Half-Pace and Hang 10 stories, the three founders joined us for our latest Who Brews? story.
Half-Pace Brewing Co
Who Are You?
Dan: Co-founder and head brewer of Half-Pace Brewing Co, an experienced professional brewer by day Dan and head brewer of a busy Sydney brewpub.
Having worked on many different size systems over the years, I helped design and put together the brewhouse with Deon, a small system capable of producing 150 to 500 litres of beer or spirit wash at a time. The aim was to build something that was super cheap overall, yet just as effective and efficient as some of the more pricey kits out there. I love brewing on simple setups that fundamentally do the same as all the fancy ones; technology can be a bit overrated he reckons and is often not all that necessary.
Deon: Co-founder of Half-Pace Brewing Co, co-founder and head distiller at Hang 10 Distillery. Along with Marine, Deon runs Hang 10 Distillery.
Years ago, I decided to leave the corporate world of acoustic engineering to start my own distillery after getting inspired by a few Tasmanian distillers. However, I didn’t start the business until I could make the spirits in a sustainable way. In 2019, I put my money where my mouth was and the process to open a distillery started as I found a way to use leftover bread to make the base spirit. It has been a slow and long journey, but the passion for making a difference and creating delicious spirits makes it worth it.
Since making spirits from scratch uses pretty much the same equipment as making beer, I thought why not join forces with Dan and create some awesome beers too.
Marine: Lead designer at Half-Pace Brewing Co and co-founder of Hang 10 Distillery.
I joined forces with Deon in 2019 as the creative director and co-founder to create from the ground up the branding, product design and all things digital for the distillery. I have a strong background in advertising, lifestyle, and travel industries, working as a graphic designer for many years and running my own design business. My love for surfing and the ocean constantly inspires me for Hang 10 Distillery’s branding and to be as sustainable as possible wherever I can.
Where Do You Brew?
In Warriewood at 48/5 Ponderosa Parade. The location is Hang 10 Distillery’s space and Half-Pace Brewing Co is lucky enough to be able to share the equipment. Some parts of the brewhouse and cellar belong to Hang 10 and some to Half-Pace; we both use the equipment around fifty-fifty so the arrangement works well for both of us at this point.
Why Do You Brew?
Dan: Over the past 13 years, brewing has become ingrained in me. Starting out as a hobby to try and make some tasty beers, it quickly became an unrelenting creative outlet and passion.
I love the broad range of beers that can all be made by using the same ingredients and then the more out-there and experimental beers that can either be built off a base style or designed from scratch. I guess the ability to be able to create something new and interesting and incrementally keep improving on what you've already put down is ultimately what keeps me brewing the most, kind of like an infinite chase of what's possible in the final product.
Was There A Beer Or A Moment That Set You On The Path To Becoming A Brewer?
Dan: Back in 2011, Little Creatures Pale Ale; I had tried many great beers whilst travelling overseas but this was definitely the beer that made me think, "Wow this really is something special, I want to learn how to make this stuff."
Another influential beer from around the same time was Feral Hop Hog – how good were both those beers back in the day?
What's The Inspiration Behind The Brewery Name?
Dan: Half-Pace is a name I came up with a while ago: it's a play on my outlook on brewing, the way I brew, and the way I feel craft beer should be enjoyed. I generally take my time, don't rush through any part of the process, and feel more often than not the finished product comes out better for it.
I'm also generally pretty slow at most things, taking forever to get things done, and often the bloke people are waiting on to hurry up and get finished! So it's also a bit of a play on that too haha.
What Beer In Your Lineup Best Represents You And Why?
Dan: It's all gone now, but will return soon... The Sun Don't Shine Forever, a barrel-aged imperial stout. This beer represents what we're all about as a brewery and the path we really want to go down, definitely not as a core range but as periodic offerings.
It's a big, bold beer that is barrel-aged and heavily adjuncted; it's on the more adventurous side of brewing and allows us to express what we're about all the way through the process from recipe formulation to brewing and final execution.
If You Could Have Any Person In The World Join You On A Brew Day Who Would It Be And Why?
Dan: I don't mean to sound so beer, beer, beer or even a little man crushy haha but probably Julian Shrago from Beachwood Brewing Co in Long Beach, California. I've learnt most of what I know in brewing through reading and listening to podcasts; every time you hear Julian speak he always drops some sort of gem on making modern beer especially modern hoppy beer.
I've visited the brewery and blendery a few times – their beers are always insanely good, especially the IPAs and barrel-aged beers.
I'd love to just put down a No BS Beachwood Style West Coast IPA with the OG brewer and co-founder himself.
If Anyone Drops In On Brew Day What Are They Most Likely To Hear Blasting From The Speakers?
Dan: Anything from the 90s and early 2000s: hip hop to rock and a little blues.
What Beers Are In Your Fridge Right Now?
Dan: Grifter West Coast IPA, Mountain Culture and Range Hyper IPA, 4 Pines Japanese Lager, 4 Pines Bract to the Future IPA, La Chouffe Blonde.
What Would Be Your Desert Island Beer Of Choice?
Dan: Rodenbach Grand Cru; it was the first proper barrel-aged sour I tried, it blew my mind at the time and still does almost every time I have it these days.
It’s just got it all going on, it’s kinda sweet but then also sour, complex and super refreshing. I’d go as far as saying it just knocks you over the head with how good it is!
Which Local Beers Have Blown Your Mind In Recent Weeks?
Dan: BentSpoke Bract IPA, Fox Friday West Coast IPA, Wildflower Field Work, Squinters Cakes and Candles, and One Drop Liquid Riwaka.
Is There A Particular Style Ingredient Or Trend In Beer You'd Like To Explore Further?
Dan: We’re definitely always exploring new and modern techniques across the board from the brew house to fermentation and cellaring.
We kind of have to in order to make the beers we want to make on our simple kit. We’re also super excited about all the advanced hop products that are now available and can’t wait to start using them in our beers. I guess exploring intense hop aroma and flavour is probably top of our list at the moment.
Where Can People Find Your Beers?
Currently pouring at the taproom in Warriewood. We have five taps usually pouring our lager, hazy pale ale, a fruited sour, a Belgian ale and some sort of bigger IPA of varying styles. We also offer takeaways of our lager and hazy pale ale in cans.
Where Do You Hope Your Brewery Will Be Ten Years From Now?
Hopefully, we can slowly grow into a bigger space with a bigger kit, maybe ten or 15 hectolitre system or something like that. Still doing the brewpub model, focusing on unique and tasty beers that can be enjoyed in a laid-back and cool space for the locals and whoever decides to make the trip down.
Maybe having around 12 taps at that point pouring a range of different beers, takeaway in cans and bottles depending on style, and some limited local distribution. That'd be enough to keep us happy and stay close to our passion and what we're all about as a local brewery.
Right now we're on a journey: we started out small with intent and hopefully we can grow organically into all of this.
Visit Half-Pace Brewery at 48/5 Ponderosa Parade, Warriewood. It's open Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons.
While you're there, use The Crafty Pint app to check out all the other breweries and good beer venues around the Northern Beaches (and the rest of Australia).
All photos (except for the two of Dan and Deon) are by Darcie Collington.
Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.
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Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.
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Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."
The last beer you enjoyed:
Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.
Three things that represent you:
- Bruce Springsteen
- Ken Burns
- The State Library of Victoria
