Despite the concentration of pubs, beer gardens and beer halls in the northern suburbs, there's been a definite lack of brewing action. But Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone is changing this with the new Stomping Ground Brewing Co brewery they're opening in Collingwood. Slated for a June opening, Stomping Ground will house a massive beer garden fitting up to 250 patrons along with the brewing operation and a restaurant.
Co-owners Jefarres and Greenstone are well-placed to start up a brewery of their own. The pair is best known for The Local Taphouse in St Kilda and Darlinghurst in Sydney, where they tap over 400 craft beers each year. They were also the team behind GABS, the Great Australasian Beer SpecTapular, Melbourne's biggest beer festival that has expanded to Sydney and Auckland and become an industry conference of sorts as well as attracting beer fans.
Despite the northside's history as a brewing centre in the past, Stomping Ground Brewing Co. will be the first brewery in Collingwood in more than a century. The team, with brewer Ashur Hall, are brewing a core range of beers as production begins and first up on the Stomping Ground taps will be their pale ale. There will be more than 20 taps at the brewery's in-house pub, so no doubt the team will also be doing some seasonal and experimental brews.
The brewery is to public on May 15 in time for Good Beer Week, and to celebrate they're hosting 'Breaking Ground with Friends', an event that will showcase Stomping Ground's first beers and eight beers and ciders made collaboratively onsite with some of Australia's best craft breweries including Mornington Peninsula, Stone and Wood and Mash. The onsite bar, restaurant and beer garden is tentatively slated for a mid-year opening.