The local council has given the green light to a Melbourne area brewpub, the Frankston Brewhouse.

Set to launch early next year, Frankston Brewhouse is the brainchild of four friends from the suburb; Michaela Boucher, Travis Sannen, Jaime Longhurst and Stephen Murtagh.

The team are launching the brewhouse at 10 New Street in the suburb of Frankston. It will have a capacity of 80 people upon completion.

Boucher said she hoped the brewery would add something new to the breweries already in the region.

“When we first started out on this venture, there was a gap in the market for craft breweries in Frankston and we wanted to fill that void with a boutique experience that Frankston could embrace as its own,” she said.

In the past decade other breweries have been opening up in the area, including Dainton Family Brewery, Mr Banks Brewery, Jetty Road Brewery and St Andrews Beach Brewery.

“Each has their own flare and we are excited to be able to add to the strength of the Mornington Peninsula brewery scene with our easy drinking ‘Socially Approachable’ beers,” Boucher said.

“We called it a passion project from the beginning. We were initially doing it for a bit of fun for our friends and ourselves to enjoy. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the beer that Travis and Steve brewed, so why not make a space where we can do that?”

Travis Sannen, Michaela Boucher, Jaime Longhurst and Stephen Murtagh of Frankston Brewhouse

Head brewers Murtagh and Sannen invested in Tiantai brewing equipment from China, following a visit to its facilities.

Frankston Brewhouse’s three-vessel brewhouse will have a batch capacity of 1,000 litres. Fermenters have been sized for single and double batches with a total capacity of 7,000 litres and an additional 4,000 litres of fermenter volume has been allowed for.

In terms of startup investment, it’s been a team effort.

“Because we’re doing it ourselves we wanted people to be involved who would be financially able to invest and also put in the work with us.

“We’re all chipping in so we’re making the investment as individuals.”

Now that planning permission has been secured from Frankston Council, the team are looking to renovate the formerly vacant wholesaler site.

“We bought it on size. We wanted the brewing operation and taphouse on the same site and also in proximity to the main Frankston CBD,” Boucher said.

“Now it’s all hands on deck, gutting the factory. We’re trying to do as much as we can ourselves and some of our mates are tradies so we’ve brought them in to help on the weekends.

“We wanted to brew on site so it had to be an industrial area, but we’re also at the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula, and we’d like to tap into that tourism.”

While the brewhouse is located in a semi-industrial area due to manufacturing zoning laws, it is still within reach of the residential side of Frankston, which was important to the team according to Boucher.

“We’re all locals, thats why were passionate about it, and the venue is the most unique feature for us.

“When we were talking about where we would want to sell our beer, we realised that there’s nowhere to go on a date here in Frankston. There’s nowhere in between a restaurant and the pub.

“That’s will set us apart. We’re not too industrial, like you’re in a standard brewery. It will be more boutique and a little more put together.”

Brewery openings are presented by Spark Breweries and Distilleries.