Enjoy a pre-flight pint at Newstead Brewing Co.’s new Brisbane Airport taphouse
For many of us, it’s been a while since we’ve set foot on a plane. As things slowly inch towards normalcy, the prospect of travelling – at least within Australia – is becoming more of a possibility. If you’ve been lucky enough to catch a flight out of Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal recently, you might have spied a gleaming new addition to its complement of eateries. Newstead Brewing Co. has opened a taphouse right near the gates, offering jet-setters the ideal spot for a pre-flight beverage and returning Queenslanders a suitably local welcome.
Beyond XXXX, few beer brands have such a strong connection to Brisbane than Newstead Brewing Co. As one of the first brewing operations to kickstart the local craft-beer scene, Newstead’s ales will always hold a soft spot in our hearts. The family-owned business (which includes its now iconic Doggett Street brewpub and popular Milton expansion) has managed to cement itself as a quintessentially Brisbane operation, so when Airport Retail Enterprises – the team behind many of Brisbane Airport’s food and beverage outlets – began the search for an experienced operator to partner with on a new Domestic Terminal bar concept, Newstead Brewing Co. seemed like the ideal candidate. With an operational ethos that is fiercely pro-Brisbane, the Howes family jumped at the opportunity to position itself as the introduction and farewell to travellers entering and departing the city. After some COVID-related delays put the kibosh on travelling, Newstead Brewing’s taphouse finally opened at Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal (just beyond security near Gate 38) on Tuesday June 22. Opting to create a venue that was different from its sibling locations while still retaining the essence of the brand, the Newstead team have fashioned a 300-sqm space centred around a sturdy bar and kitchen hub. A steel facade is softened with pops of colour (the same hues used across its core range), neon signs and hanging planter boxes. Roughly 120 guests can pick between stools at the bar, large tables, low-set leather seats or along the window bench, with every seat in the house offering a vantage point of the planes taxiing to and from the runway.
When it comes to the offering, Newstead Brewing Co. is eager to showcase the flavours of its range and circumvent common perceptions and stigma surrounding airport food. The bar’s 12 taps are dedicated to showing Newstead’s core beers, limited-edition brews and two drops from guest brewers, while cocktails (including a spritz based on the Polar Opposite tropical sour), wines and coffee from Toby’s Estate are also on offer for those after something a little less sudsy. The team has concocted an exclusive beer for the Domestic Terminal’s offering, with the Tailwind Ale – a sessionable beer available only in tins – able to be purchased to takeaway and enjoyed at home or at your destination. When it came to fashioning the taphouse’s food offering, the Newstead crew was careful to ensure it not only efficiently catered for a time-poor all-day and night crowd, but also had something for every taste. Given its unique position as a welcome point for folks new to Queensland, the kitchen team has utilised as much produce from local suppliers as possible, resulting in an offering unique to the airport that side steps the low expectations, high-cost association often attributed to airport food. This is pure gastropub fare with a Queensland twist – from the Moreton Bay bug rolls on bakery made brioche and crispy Newstead-beer-battered Queensland mackerel to the crispy mushroom burgers and 90-day grain-fed local Thousand Guineas shorthorn rump. All-day breakfast options, grab-and-go cabinet goodies, salads, pizzas, burgers, mains and a kids menu are available here. If you are travelling sometime soon, we reckon arriving for your flight a little bit earlier than normal might not be such a bad idea.
Newstead Brewing Co.’s taphouse is now open at Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal. Head to the Stumble Guide for more details.
The Stumble Guide is our comprehensive Brisbane dining guide with more than 2400 places to eat, drink, shop and play.