Slipstream Brewing Co. lifts the lid on its Yeerongpilly brewpub extension
Brisbane’s craft breweries have carved out a unique niche in Brisbane’s drinking and dining landscape, with many evolving into the go-to local for folks wetting their whistle on a weekend. Slipstream Brewing Co. in Yeerongpilly has established itself as one of these neighbourhood watering holes, luring in families and friendship groups with its range of sip-worthy sessionable beers. After more than four years of operation, Slipstream brewing has reached a threshold – it has become too popular to stay small, but too intrinsic to the community to pack up and depart for larger pastures. The Slipstream team has found a happy medium – taking over a neighbouring mechanic’s warehouse, the crew has expanded its Yeerongpilly footprint, opening a spacious brewpub and beer garden with its own kitchen (and a larger bar, of course). The new-look Slipstream debuted last week – take a look inside this sudsy superstar’s fresh digs!
One of the biggest testaments to the strength of Brisbane’s craft-beer scene has been the steady maturation of its second-wave operators. When Aether Brewing grew beyond the confines of its Milton brewpub facility in 2019 it relocated to a larger warehouse space in Northgate. Last year Newstead’s Range Brewing extended its reach to Melbourne with a chic taproom in Abbotsford. Salisbury’s Ballistic Beer Co. bolstered its footprint with a satellite taproom in West End in 2018, following it up one year later with a new alehouse and brewery in Springfield Central. Yeerongpilly’s Slipstream Brewing Co. is the latest independent brew crew to reach the expansion threshold, having grown by leaps and strides since opening its Wilkie Street headquarters in 2017. For Slipstream’s owners Deale and Elisa Stanley-Hunt, relocating wasn’t on the cards. The brewery and taproom had become a community anchor, of sorts, with locals often picking the spot as their go-to weekend hangout. That being said, Slipstream’s set up – housed within an inconspicuous warehouse shielded behind an industrial mechanic workshop – wasn’t ideally suited to accomodate the amenities and production gear needed to take operations to the next level. Enter craft drinks accelerator Mighty Craft, which invested $1.5 million into Slipstream’s expansion, allowing the team to acquire the mechanic’s premises and instigate the construction of a brand-new brewpub.
Design studio Charlie & Rose was enlisted to help communicate Deale and Elisa’s vision, which has been informed by the couple’s travels along America’s West Coast (California’s hop-forward beers are a core inspiration of Slipstream’s own recipes). Work on the build commenced in December 2020 and encompassed the installation of a brand-new kitchen (complete with an Italian pizza oven and smoker), a lengthy bar (boasting 20 taps) and dining space for 250 patrons spread across the interior and street-side beer garden. An industrial aesthetic – softened with greenery, timber joinery and colourful furniture – has been applied, with some tasteful quirks paying homage to US diners. Slipstream’s spacious indoor layout includes various high and low tables and plush banquettes, as well as a cluster of cushy couches that overlook the shaded outdoor space and kid-friendly cubby houses. The brewery equipment still sits at the rear of the space (another warehouse next door is now used for packaging), however some new tanks are being installed with the intention of boosting the brewery’s production capacity.
Where Slipstream previously played host to a rotating roster of food trucks, Deale and Elisa are now looking to extend creative control over what’s on the plate as well as what’s in the pint glass. With chefs Adam Healey (formerly of Brewdog’s Dogtap) and Karma Garung (The Smoke BBQ) at the helm, a menu was crafted that offers a little bit of something for everyone across grazing plates, burgers, mains, pizzas and sides. Californian-inspired eats like battered barramundi tacos with pico de gallo and chargrilled flank steak with chimichurri share menu space with barramundi ceviche with sweet potato crisps, popcorn cauliflower with ranch dipping sauce, grilled barbecue tempeh with vegan chipotle slaw and six kinds of pizza. The smoker will dispense a rotating selection of slow-cooked meats, served with slaw, fried and special BBQ sauce. Over at the bar, the team is pouring Slipstream’s six core beers (plus a crisp apple cider from Sparkke), alongside a range of limited release brewery-exclusive brews made in the small-batch system, including the likes of the Fruit Cart passionfruit sour, Yerongpils Pilsner, Hazy IPA and Banoffee Pie Pastry stout – all available by the schooner, pint or as part of a tasting paddle. A new commercial hotel licence also allows Slipstream’s bar to stock a selection of Australian wines (including a pet-nat chardonnay from Victoria’s Range Life) and a clutch of Australian-produced small-batch spirits.
Slipstream Brewing’s new brewpub is up and running! For operating hours and contact details, head to the Stumble Guide.
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