Cover Feature
TALENT ON TAP Independent brewer Stomping Ground has opened its second urban brewpub in Melbourne. And as Sean McGowan discovered, there’s more to pouring a great beer than meets the eye.
After establishing a name for itself with its convivial, neighbourhood brewery and beerpub in Collingwood, Stomping Ground has stepped out of the former heartland of Australian brewing to open a second establishment at Morris Moor in south-east Melbourne.
COMMON GROUND
a new beerpub at Moorabbin, Chilled Solutions was keen to be involved.
Responsible for the beer reticulation and refrigeration systems behind the taps are the dynamic team from Chilled Solutions: Lee Nyssen and Bridie O’Brien.
The iconic Moorabbin site is a former cigarette factory that has been transformed into a mixed-use precinct combining premium office spaces, vibrant food, leisure and retail offerings, and an onsite childcare centre.
The two joined forces in 2018, Nyssen bringing his experience as an apprentice and installs team member at Coca Cola Amatil, and O’Brien bringing her knowledge from the hospitality industry where she had worked with, maintained and trained staff on beer systems.
“The boys from Stomping Ground had such a clear vision that incorporated the Collingwood facility but a little more grown-up and polished – so we had a base concept of how it should look," says Nyssen.
Promoting itself as “a place to enjoy a beer brewed in your local neighbourhood”, Stomping Ground has garnered a cult following. It has also earned industry accolades, being named Australia’s number one brewpub by Beer & Brewer magazine four times.
While Stomping Ground pre-dates the formation of Chilled Solutions, the duo had in the years since serviced many of the brewer’s customer venues.
Taking the concept of their Collingwood brewpub to Moorabbin, founders Steve Jeffares, Guy Greenstone and Justin Joiner have aimed to create a welcoming, family-friendly destination. Indoor and outdoor spaces include a beer garden and sun deck, function room, kids play area, and viewing windows from which to watch the brewers in action. But it’s the pull of more than 25 rotating craft beers on tap that has the punters flocking in. 20
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BEHIND THE TAPS Understanding beer refrigeration starts not at the plant but in the pint, because the pouring temperature of each beer is so important. “Beer is a food and very much alive,” says Nyssen, “and in a lot of cases it’s a heavily crafted and honed artisanal product, so needs to be treated as such.”
“And we had certainly drunk a lot of beers there!” says Nyssen.
Like beer, he says beer refrigeration systems come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.
He says providing beer system installs, maintenance and most importantly staff training is what they love to do.
At Stomping Ground, the system consists of a 5kW 180L glycol tank and a three-phase packaged condensing unit with hermetic compressor running on R404A. This system is controlled by a standard electronic microprocessor controller with LED display, and solenoid valve.
“It’s incredibly important for a brewery to have confidence in the system their beer is poured through.” So when Stomping Ground committed to establishing
October 2021
