It's ten years since the team behind The Welder's Dog first welcomed guests into their original craft beer bar in Armidale, and it's fair to say the New England operation has come a long way since. They now operate multiple venues in the region, and it was at the most recent and largest of these that The Crafty Pint caught up with them as their first decade in beer approached.
Arriving at The Welder’s Dog Brewery and Entertainment Centre in Armidale was much like the TARDIS from Doctor: the modest door opens up onto an expansive venue. It's one that stretches far beyond the cosy stage for live entertainment, on past the bustling brewery, and extends into a back garden where a repurposed shipping container now serves as a vibrant food stall. Certainly, it’s a much larger world than it appears from the outside.
Despite the Armidale heat, when I call in the grass in the garden is a lovely deep green due to recent rain, which welcomes the long benches the boys have been building. Over in one corner is the beginnings of a sandpit for kids. One of the owner's dads scurries around clearing flowerbeds.
You just know that when this area is completed it will be full to the brim with parents and their kids; The Welder's Dog founders had a vision and it's all coming to fruition.
Owners and business partners Dan Emery and Tom Croft watched their original bar flourish after its 2014 opening and recognised that Armidale needed something more: a versatile space that could serve as the brewery’s spiritual home and transform into a venue capable of hosting larger events.
This led to the creation of their Brew Bar and Entertainment Centre (pictured above), which has since hosted acts like Kasey Chambers, The Whitlams, and Ben Lee – who remarked that it was one of the best gigs he’d played in years.
“It’s an intimate venue and the crowd were just into it,” Tom says. “Musos feed off the crowd and they are appreciative of having high calibre artists come through.
“We are now getting enquiries from other promoters and big acts.”
The Welder’s Dog brand has evolved significantly from the days when they first set out to brew a Farmhouse Ginger Beer and their Pea Blossom Lemonade. They describe their initial business model as straightforward: brew a hard lemonade and a low-alcohol ginger beer, then sell them.
“We didn’t want to be a brewery,” Dan says. “We just knew there wasn’t a low-alcohol ginger beer on the market, and something happened, and we were a brewery all of a sudden.”
Tom reminisces about the beer festivals they would drive to on the Gold Coast, setting up stall next to all the craft beer big-hitters.
“We got laughed out of beer festivals,” he recalls. “We’d go up to Gold Coast beer festivals and we’d have lines galore next to the big boys and we’d be smoking them.
“These two country bumpkins with their Coolabah hats on serving this stuff up!”
Dan recalls comments along the lines of: “You can’t sell that shit, that’s not beer.”
Ten years on, as he puts it with a laugh: “Now they are all selling it.”
More than a year on from the venue's launch, plans for the Brew Bar and Entertainment Centre are still unfolding, with Dan and Tom constantly bouncing new ideas off each other.
They envision the venue as a unique community hub, setting itself apart from other local events, which often feature the usual suspects: face-painting fairies, jugglers, bumper cars, and similar attractions. The owners talk of having afternoons for dads and their daughters, building possum boxes out in the back garden, or long wooden tables sitting under the Sunday sun for boozy afternoons as guest chefs provide the food.
They want visitors to Armidale to enjoy the space, bring the family, and have a good time. The team thrives on absolutely nailing the hospitality gig, creating a safe space where anyone and everyone can hang out.
Thursday nights have become a local favourite, recently drawing a crowd – many in their 50s – for a lively performance by a touring French folk band. Just a few nights later, the venue was transformed into a rave supporting a local DJ, thus showcasing the brewery's versatility.
When the security team was unavailable due to illness that night, Dan took over at the door and was stunned to see 250 young people enjoying themselves: listening, dancing, soaking up the beats. Just a few days later, the venue was packed again – this time with 150 rugby union players celebrating for a lively six hours.
“We sell hospitality,” Dan says, “and we looked after them.”
Tom expands on their approach: “We are actually your mates,” he says. “We’ve even put ‘no fruity shit whatsoever’ on the side of our cans for those drinkers that aren’t craft beer drinkers.”
Now summer is upon us, you can expect The Welder’s Dog Brew Pub to be buzzing with visitors from near and far. Who knows, you might even spot a certain Doctor enjoying a refreshing glass of Pea Blossom Lemonade in the corner.
