Lismore Business News Two Mates to start brewing in NSW by Vivien Topalovic
Two Mates Brewing Co. is set to start brewing in South Lismore early next month.
Founded by Grant Smith and Andrew Newton, the pair have been working towards opening the brewery for over a year.
The venue
“For 18 months we’ve been heavily involved in it outside of running our lives and careers, Once the pair decided to open and ultimately it’s taken over, so now we find a brewery, the next step was ourselves full time in the business and we’re to find a suitable venue. at the point of opening the doors,” Smith explained. “The building is 150 years old, it’s an old railway shed, and it fits into that ethos of The idea for opening a brewery first craft beer, so a bit industrial, but it stemmed from a trip the pair took to enables the community to be able to feed Margaret River in 2019. into what we’ve been doing,” Smith said.
With the brewery itself set to be up and running early next month, the team also aims to open its taphouse to the public before the end of the year. While Newton and Smith will handle the operational aspects of the brewery, brewing will be undertaken by Chris Smith, formerly the head brewer of Lost Palms Brewing Co. on the Gold Coast.
“He jumped on board just after Easter and has been instrumental in getting through the Renovating can be difficult in itself, but building phase. dealing with an older building comes with its own challenges, according to Smith, as He’s built a brewhouse and understands other brewers including NSW’s Resin every part of that system and how it comes together and its flexibility,” Newton Brewing have found out. explained. “It’s been a big list, and we’ve had some of the items still sticking around at the In terms of the brewkit, the team settled on a backend, but in terms of power and four-vessel, 15hL Tiantai system.
“We wanted to create a community hub, this region really struggles for places to take your family. I was finding I was taking mine out of the region, there’s loads to enjoy outside from bushwalks and waterholes to beaches and trail rides but no facilities, no place to take your family somewhere after where the kids could enjoy the space,” he said. Providing a family friendly space for the local infrastructure, what we’re putting into the “Everyone we spoke to gave us the advice, to community is the ultimate goal for Two building, we made a concerted effort to enable us to scale down the track, and not Mates, according to Smith. not touch the building. have to, in 12 months, go back and revisit it. “We initially have gone a bit heavy but we’re “Our vision is to let the community determine “Everything we’ve done, happy we’ve done that now,” Newton said. what they want it to be, not just driven by what Andrew and I (or our wives) want, but people can be a part of the business and its direction,” he said.
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maintained all those aspects aesthetically within the building,” he explained. SEPTEMBER 2021 ISSUE
While the team plans to launch with a strong range of core beers in house, they also aim to expand their customer base with their online store.
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