Overview
When Scotland's BrewDog made the leap to Australia, setting up its own brewery to pump out its tipples, the beer brand turned a riverside patch of land in Murarrie in Brisbane's east into its Down Under base. That was back in 2019, and it always meant to be the company's first step on the path to boozy Aussie things. The next one? A new three-level beer bar in Fortitude Valley.
Come September, likely towards the end of the month, Brisbanites keen on a BrewDog beer in a BrewDog bar will be able to pick between two locations. That said, BrewDog's Head of Australian Operations Calvin McDonald doesn't expect that it'll be a difficult choice. He loves the OG Brissie venue, and he's already singing the new Valley watering hole's praises — but he also thinks that the Murarrie spot will continue to draw in eastsiders, while the new Brunswick Street digs will appeal to everyone else.
BrewDog's Valley home will definitely be central, taking over the heritage-listed Tranberg House building across the road from the Valley Metro complex. And, it'll be sizeable — nestling into all three levels, all with their own bars pouring brews from 20 taps each.
On the entry level — from Brunswick Street — beer lovers will find a space that caters to 115–120 people, while the big drawcard will be the beer hall-style lower-ground floor that'll fit around 120 folks as well. Then, up on the top storey, patrons will find two shuffleboard tables, as well as a space that'll be able to be used for functions.
Being able to have separate areas, rather than one big setup like DogTap at Murarrie, gets McDonald excited — especially about what it means for events and group bookings. The idea, of course, is that the whole venue is always pumping. Based on how busy BrewDog's original Brissie site gets, plus the Valley locale, that seems highly likely.
"It's been a bit of a long time coming," McDonald tells Concrete Playground. "We didn't want to our second opportunity in Australia to be two years after number one, but the situation dictated that that's which way it had to go."
"Essentially, it's bringing all of the good elements of that [Murarrie] — so a similar food menu, along the lines of burgers and pizzas, and a similar draft lineup — but over three floors."
"It allows us to run things slightly differently to how we do at Murarrie. Even though it's a great venue, it's only one space... So I was really quite proactive in wanting a multi-floor venue, which gives us a lot more flexibility," McDonald continues.
Brews and food-wise, as McDonald mentioned, BrewDog will keep doing what its doing — pouring its own beers, celebrating other local brewers, and sticking with a pub grub-heavy menu that spans pizzas, burgers, vegan eats and the like.
In terms of decor, playing up the heritage features is a big focus. "It's an old listed building. We've been really lucky with the landlord that we've got there, that he's really interested in preserving a lot of the heritage aspects of that," McDonald explains.
"So as much as we can, we're keeping the original frontage, the original walls, the original finishes, a lot of the original brickwork is being preserved as well and the original floors... It's definitely a modern bar, but very much in a heritage setting."
While Brisbane will boast two BrewDog sites within months, the brewery still has plans to expand nationally. Back in June, it was revealed that it is teaming up with hospitality company Australian Venue Co to set up bars around the country — starting at Pentridge in Melbourne this spring, and also including Sydney as well.
Find BrewDog Fortitude Valley at Tranberg House, 235 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley, from sometime in September. We'll update you with an opening date and operating hours when they're announced.
Top image: Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons.
