Queensland’s North Stradbroke Island is set to welcome a new craft brewery in 2020.

Straddie Brewing Company, located at Dunwich, was granted development approval earlier this month after submitting a development application for a craft brewery to Redland City Council in June 2019.

The 622 square metres of space on Junner Street will be converted to a three story microbrewery, with a taproom and roof deck.

The plans, first revealed back in August, reveal that the craft brewery production area will occupy the ground floor, with eight on-site car parks beside the building.

The first level will feature an ancillary taproom for beer tasting a small food service, as well as back-of-house facilities.

The top floor features two multiple dwellings and a roof deck area for private functions with a total approximate capacity of 150 people.

The brewery is owned by Troy Beavan and Kylie Taylor. Andrew Sydes, formerly general manager at Brisbane’s Catchment Brewing and before that Green Beacon, will be head brewer and general manager.

Sydes said the brewery will feature a 10hL, three vessel direct-fired brewhouse with 150hL cellar capacity, as well as a 1.5hL pilot kit.

Sydes explained that the brand’s point of difference will be bringing the Island flavours and stories alive through their beers.

“We’ll have six beers in our core range, all named after some of the iconic places on Straddie; Dunwich Saison, Point Lookout Lager, Amity Pale Ale, Myora Springs Gose, Jumpinpin IPA and Causeway Mid.

“We’re looking forward to experimenting with native ingredients to create some truly unique, island crafted beers.

“In addition to our own beers on tap we plan to showcase other local, independent brewers -especially those that have helped us on our journey – as well as a curated selection of wines and spirits.”

Sydes also said they plan to stock quality non-alcoholic options including the non-alcoholic craft beers from Indigenous-owned Sobah, which undertook a share sale earlier this year to support its growth.

“Kylie and Troy chose our home in Dunwich out of a desire to be the ‘island brewery’ for those that call Straddie their home, as well as being the important first, last and in-between stop for local, national and international tourists.”

Sydes believes that the craft beer sector has significant potential to generate a tourism boom as the wine industry witnessed in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

There are plans to capitalise on the thousands of tourists Straddie sees ever year, working with businesses to promote local produce and enterprise.

“We plan to run brewery tours on a regular basis during peak periods and by appointment at other times. The tour will cover all aspects of the equipment, ingredients and process that goes in to making our beers,” Sydes said.

“We will be working with them [tour operators] to tailor the right ‘day trip’ experience to Straddie.”

Kylie Taylor said the team intend to pay attention to sustainable practices in everything they do, including using renewable solar energy and providing opportunities for social enterprise initiatives.

Taylor said when it comes to spent grain they had to look for alternative avenues given there are no livestock farmers to coordinate with.

“A Dunwich resident who is a permaculturalist has agreed to take all our spent grain for farming purposes – growing mushrooms and compost. Kitchen scraps from our taproom will be collected in the same way.”

The team held two community engagement sessions, in March and May 2019, to ask the community what they wanted for their island and how Straddie Brewing Co could contribute, beyond simply employment opportunities.

Sydes said that, so far, the response from the community has been positive and they are yet to receive a written objection to the development application.

“We break ground on the build late October 2019, and we’re currently in the process of getting our pilot brewery up and running to start product development,” he said.

“Our goal is to open in time for whale season, which is historically the low season for the Island, so anytime from late May to early September 2020,” Sydes said.

“We want to make Dunwich our home and the future success of the community is as important to us as the beer we craft. Our goal is to create a product and build a brand that becomes bigger than the destination, while retaining the island soul,” Troy Beavan finished.

Straddie Brewing Company will be open in mid to late 2020.

Brewery openings are presented by Spark Breweries and Distilleries, the finest in-venue and production brewing systems available, with local design and support.