Newstead to Become Neighbours With A Lion?

In their couple of years of trading Newstead Brewing Co. have become a staple in the Brisbane craft beer and bar scene with an excellent home venue, great food and of course a solid and enjoyable core range of brews (and even a cider!).

In an effort to continuing meeting the hefty demand for their beer Newstead made the decision last year to contract brew out of Sydney with BrewPack. This was taken somewhat controversially by a lot of people in the beer community especially those that would be considered to be in the 'hardcore' end of the beer geek pool.

Whether you liked the contract brewing decision or not it was a smart business decision that has led to Newstead's beer going state and nationwide in stores like Coles owned 1st Choice Liquor.

It makes sense that if you put your roots down in Queensland you would eventually like to bring all of your business back to Queensland as it creates jobs and boosts the local economy so it's a logical leap that Newstead are now looking to expand operations locally to meet the increased demand.

Image owned by Quest

A proposal is currently lodged with Brisbane City Council that could see what would potentially become Brisbane's largest Queensland owned Brewery move into Milton.

The move to Castlemaine St which is just down the road from the monolithic and foreign owned juggernaut that is XXXX could be seen as a challenger entering the Lion's den or just as an opportunity to expand.

The new venue would encompass a 2300 square metre space with offices, a large brewery and bar, all just a bees dick from Suncorp Stadium making it potentially the closest venue for sports fans to get a tipple.

The idea has been brewing for awhile and whilst it has not passed council yet it has has recently been brought to light publicly by way of an article in a Quest Community Paper.

I'm sure like the decision to contract brew, the idea of a new, large local brewery and bar will create some controversy and discussion.

Personally I feel it's a good thing to create jobs and inject cash into QLD and is just another sign that good beer, made locally is in demand and the growth of the Australian beer industry continues.