Where has the year gone! It’s nearing the end of another year, and the clock is ticking on when we can actually open our brewery and taproom.

Development Application (DA) Update

We have submitted our final updates to council, and spent the last few months negotiating with one of our neighbours who opposed our DA application on a number of grounds.  Thankfully after numerous conversations and more consultant reports we were able to get them onside and they have now withdraw their submission. It has been a costly exercise but we believe it will be worth it in the long run.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it continues to be a frustration of mine that some of the general public think breweries are full of drunk people who are going to leave intoxicated and do things like break into buildings and create a nuisance in the neighbourhood etc. We within the industry know that this isn’t the case, but also, I feel that some of the craft beer sector brings this perception on itself with some slightly bogan beer names, artwork, and just general antics. Again, this is my personal assessment, but anyway, I will get off my soapbox (for now).

We are now waiting on Brisbane City Council to finalise our development application and provide final requirements so that we can progress to opening, including changing over our licence from Producer / Wholesale to Artisan Producer that way we can open our Tap Room and start pouring beers and getting some money in the door!

SO WHEN WILL WE OPEN?

It’s the million-dollar question, but we are hoping for a decision from council within the next week or so (fingers crossed).  Even when we get approval, we currently have to wait 20 business days for anyone who has a live submission in relation to our DA to potentially appeal.

The biggest frustration is that the only remaining “live” submissions are people who wrote in to support us – so in reality they won’t be appealing.  We have been madly contacting people who we think may have submitted a letter of support to revoke their submissions to remove the appeal period. Got to love red tape (we will probably brew a beer called red tape when we are open!)

We are down to 2 live submissions (from 7), and we would love to find the remaining 2 people, so that the appeal period will be waived.  So, if you wrote in a letter of support, and haven’t withdrawn it, we would love you to contact us, and we can walk you through the process to withdraw, and that way can open up at the earliest possible date.

So very hypothetically (as we still have no idea), if we get our DA approved next Friday 11^th November, we potentially will be able to open our doors on the 9^th of December (after the 20 day appeal period), subject to approval of our change of licence and other red tape requirements.

We still have a few things to do to make the taproom operational but every day progress is being made to get it ready.

Here is a brief summary

Brewery Equipment

Our brewery equipment is operational, and we have done a couple of test brews to iron out and bugs.  All in all, we are very happy with the setup, and have identified some minor improvements if we had our time over again. We can get these things changed over time, and the current setup will not impact us brewing delicious beers (just saying).

Canning Line

We continue to dial in our canning line and have made some modifications (thanks to the Wellbrewd team for helping dial it in) to get it to a point that we are happy with the quality of the beer in can.  The last hurdle is to get the can seamer to properly seal the cans.  We are very close, and as all brewers know it is probably the hardest (and most important) part of the brewing process to get the packaging right.  You can have the best beer in the world, but poor packaging can kill the beer in no time.  I will do a comprehensive blog post of our canning setup and the changes we have made once we dial it in.

The Bar

Murray and by brother Cam have been a godsent, and continue to apply their handy skills to continue building the bar, tables and benches.  Each weekend brings it a set closer, and it is starting to take shape nicely.

The Toilet Block

The toilet block in nearing completion, it just needs a lick of paint (Lexicon White – Hey Hendo), and the toilets and cubical partitions to be installed.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are a few things that we are looking for to help to get us over the line. Namely:

• Pre-purchase a few items – (we need the Money! lol)

• Participate in the Upcoming Working Bee;

• Spread the Word!

Pre-purchase a few items – (we need the Money! lol)

To be truthful, we are running low on funds – our budget to date has been blown out of the water due to things such as additional time to get up and running, extra consultant reports required for the DA application, costs of trades (well above what we budgeted), and the list of small little things we have had to purchase that have just mounted it.

Our cash flow is extremely tight at the moment, and some of our suppliers have been wonderful in delaying payment of goods and services to help us get to opening.  We have dug deep into our savings to get us this far, and sadly we didn’t win powerball last week (which would have been amazing!)

But the well is nearly dry, and we are now launching 2 products to hopefully bring some cash in the door.

• Our Membership Package – “The Lost Hikers” – in search of delicious beer
• Brew Day Experience

Membership – “The Lost Hikers”

We know we have people that can’t wait for us to open, family, friends and the general public.  So, to help with our cash flow situation, we are launching our OG Membership Package. Benefits of taking our membership will include:

• A Mixed 8 Pack of Beer (440ml Cans) from our first few brews.
• A Hiker Brewing Co. Shirt
• Invitation to our Launch Event
• 10% off Hiker Products for 12 months
• Go into the draw to attend one of Brew Day Experiences (see below); and
• Our eternal thanks!

Note – Membership Packs will be shipped once our Producer/Wholesaler licence has been converted to Artisan Producer, thus allowing us to sell beer on-line!

Brew Day Experience

We know a lot of people who are interested in the brewing process, and would love to get involved in brewing a commercial beer. So, we will be running a quarterly Brew Day Experience for a small group of want to be brewers.

The Experience will consist of:

Prior to Brew Day

• On site and/or on-line meeting to discuss the beer to be brewed, such as the style chosen for the beer, recipe etc.
• Discuss How the day will run, and
• Be given some homework to think about what name to call the beer, and also can design ideas.

Brew Day

• Safety Briefing (Breweries are a dangerous place!)
• Morning Coffee
• Go through the final recipe and ingredients (taste the Malt prior to Milling etc)
• Mill in the Malt.
• Start Brewing!
• Throughout the Brewing Process we will explain what exactly is going on.
• Get involved in all parts of the brewing process.
• Knock Out the Wort into the Fermenter and Pitch the Yeast.
• Lunch will be provided.
• Finalise Beer Name and Design Ideas! – get your name on the label as part of the brew team!
• Kick on after at the Tap Room with a 2 hour drinks package.

Brew Day to Packaging Day

• Be provided with regular updates as the beer ferments – measurements, when dry hop happens.
• Once ready to package, you have the option to come back and help pack, and get to try the beer you helped make!
• Take home a carton of the good stuff to share with family and friends

Working Bee (19^th and 20^th November)

We are going to hold a working bee to help finish of the taproom so that we are ready for opening.  Jobs include painting the toilet block, putting together our tables and benches and a list of other random little jobs we need done. If you are interested in helping get in contact.  Any time you can spare will be appreciated!

SUMMARY

We are extremely excited that all the hard work we have put in over the past 18 months is finally coming together and have been overwhelming by the personal support we have received to date.  We are close, and with your help we will get there!

We appreciate your support, and Daniel and I look forward to having a beer with you

Until then.  Cheers to the journey.

Phil