Melbourne Airport is getting craftier with Bridge Road Brewers opening a taproom there on February 4.
The Beechworth-based brewery's newest location sits inside Terminal 1, which is used by Qantas for domestic flights and has housed The Local Taphouse since late 2023. With Stomping Ground operating a venue within Terminal 3 since early 2020, February's arrival will ensure millions of travellers each year will have a better chance to sample beer from independent Victorian brewers as they pass through the airport.
Bridge Road founder Ben Kraus told The Crafty Pint they view the airport bar as more than a space to sell beer – it also gives them a greater ability to tell their story ahead of their 20th anniversary later this year.
“For us, it’s really exciting,” he says. “It means we can bring the Beechworth and Brunswick story to the airport; we will be really talking about our regional story in terms of imagery of the High Country.
“It’s not a massive venture, but it allows us to showcase ourselves there, and for people who already know us, it gives them a chance to enjoy our beers and what we do when they fly somewhere.”
Like many airports and stadium hospitality ventures, the venue is a partnership with Delaware North; Ben says they’ll train staff so they’re completely across the brewery’s story. The partnership follows many conversations and years of relationship-building for Bridge Road who had applied for another space run by the hospo group.
“We’ve been in conversation for a while and looking at opportunities as they come up," Ben says. “Then they let us know about T1 and they wanted us to do something.”
Given airports can feel a little outside the normal flow of time, the Bridge Road venue will combine elements of a taproom and a café. Beechworth Honey will be served on crumpets, while the food menu will also champion pizza and pretzels.
"We will have Maria's pretzels too," he says. "They will be made in Beechworth and finished at the airport. That's quite handcrafted food for an airport; we're trying to bring in a few things that you wouldn't normally see in such a space so it's kind of a more premium experience.
"We’re bringing Beechworth Honey along with us and we’ll have some Beechworth wines on the drinks list too, which are pretty exclusive and are things I’d say you wouldn’t normally see on an airport menu.”
The space will feature aspects that are reminiscent of both their homes; Ben says they've designed it to feel more like a watering hole than a waiting lounge.
“It did seem a bit transactional: a place where you would open your laptop, disengage and drink your coffee," he says. "We wanted to make it a bit more engaging and more of an experience, rather than be a place where you’d have a beer before your flight or a coffee to wake you up.”
Beer wise, they've installed four taps to pour Bridge Road beers, while the fridges will be filled with a wider selection and they're working through a takeaway licence so visitors can carry a taste of Victoria home with them.
Studio Y, the architects who designed Bridge Road Brunswick, have worked with the brewery on the new venue.
"It's got a bit of a Tanswells front bar* feel because of the space that was already there, and then we've mixed in some more bright colours similar to Brunswick," Ben says.
“But we’re not trying to make it the same as what we do in Beechworth. It’s more about paying homage to what we’ve done forever in Beechy and what we’ve been doing in Brunswick more recently."
*For those unfamiliar with Beechworth and its many pubs, Tanswell's is the sprawling old boozer that is located in front of Bridge Road's brewery. It's awesome.
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 in 2018 and in 2024; 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
