Australia's smallest commercial brewery (44L batch size)

[Feldon]

Australia's smallest brewery gears up for big trade

by Richard Cornish, 5 Nov 2021, The Age

In a tiny former bank in the village of Dean, north of Ballarat, Damien Norman has opened Australia's smallest commercial brewery.

With travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria permitted again, Norman has been working furiously over the past month to make up for lost trade. However, with the total capacity of each brew batch at Bankhouse Brewery just 44 litres (about five cases of beer), production is a slow and steady process.

"It's a hobby that got out of hand," says Norman, who brews and sells his beer in a weatherboard structure built as the English, Scottish & Australian Bank in the late 1880s.

"We were closed for most of COVID, but now the word is getting out. People have heard about this mad bloke making tiny batches of beer in a 130-year-old bank and they're keen to visit."

After leaving his career in electrical wholesale, Norman started brewing to keep himself occupied. "My wife threw me and the brewing kits out of the house and into the shed," he says. "But it snows here in winter so I moved into the old bank because it has an open fireplace."

Norman renovated the dilapidated 20-square-metre building, turning the safe room into the fermenting room and putting a fridge where the teller once stood. It opened for trade in January, but current COVID restrictions mean only two customers can fit in the brewery at a time.

continues at: Australia's smallest brewery gears up for big trade

 

[peteru]

I'm not sure that this is the smallest. There's a very small startup operation in Artarmon that may just be even smaller.

 

[S.E]

I'm not sure that this is the smallest. There's a very small startup operation in Artarmon that may just be even smaller.

Not sure if they are suggesting the size of the building or the 44 litre batch size makes it the smallest brewery in Australia?

I remember seeing an article many years ago about a commercial brewery in the UK that was set up in an old outdoor privy. Don’t remember the brew length but it was probably around 44 litres.

 

[yankinoz]

There was a nanobrewery in Sale, VIC, that sold only through a little Mexican restaurant open Th-Sat evenings. The only beer was a good ale version of maybe Negra Modelo. Malty. Given that most patrons ordered other drinks, including Carlton brews, volume had to be slight.

 

[blacktop™]

I'm not sure that this is the smallest. There's a very small startup operation in Artarmon that may just be even smaller.

Oooo what’s this?

something in colab with beer cartel?

 

[terminal2k]

Oooo what’s this?

I assume he was talking about himself, although being smaller than 44L would mean you only had one fermenter. I have about 60L of brewing capacity myself, but I'm just outside of Artarmon.

 

[blacktop™]

I assume he was talking about himself, although being smaller than 44L would mean you only had one fermenter. I have about 60L of brewing capacity myself, but I'm just outside of Artarmon.

ah right lol yeah me too.
Could pump 66ish litres out of the cheaky peak 95L kettle.
In north willoughby

 

[peteru]

Nope, not myself. I also don't think Beer Cartel is involved at all. The two blokes (Matt & Harry) got council approval to brew out of their garage. I've sampled a few of their sours and these guys are definitely off to a good start.

I can't remember what they named their brand, but I'll ask tomorrow at the Flat Rock Brew Club meeting.

 

[peteru]

Oh, I forgot to post back.

The name is Kawaii Brewers - a Japanese inspired name.