Burleigh Brewing Company celebrates 20 years of craftsmanship - The Shout
The Gold Coast’s Burleigh Brewing Company is this month celebrating 20 years of brewing, community and craftsmanship. Founded in 2006 by Peta and Brennan Fielding, the brewery began at a time when the craft. . .
The Gold Coast’s Burleigh Brewing Company is this month celebrating 20 years of brewing, community and craftsmanship. Founded in 2006 by Peta and Brennan Fielding, the brewery began at a time when the craft beer scene in southeast Queensland was almost non-existent. Since then, the couple has pioneered award-winning beer, created a successful taproom, employed nearly 200 people in two decades and brewed enough beer to fill more than 250,000 bathtubs. While a bathtub metric might seem like a strange way to measure her life’s work, Peta said she is incredibly grateful for the scale. “To every person who has ever sipped a Burleigh Brewing beer, to our team past and present and to Brennan, who has been obsessing over the beer since day one – thank you. To the Gold Coast, Queenslanders and even those national drinkers, thanks for backing us and never letting go. “When we poured our first lager in 2006, we took a very long-term view, but honestly, picturing two decades ahead was beyond us,” she toldBeer & Brewer. For Peta, the 20-year milestone highlights a significant amount of trust developed with customers over time – something that has ultimately been the key to ongoing success. “Nobody lasts 20 years in this industry on hype. You last on what’s in the glass, so that’s where our obsession has always lived. ”Brewing expertise, consistency and a strong sense of brand identity have also played a part in shaping Burleigh Brewing as it’s known today. “We’re Queensland owned and operated, we brew beer the way that it’s meant to be brewed – even if it takes longer and costs more – and we’ve never chased a trend that didn’t fit us. They’re not flashy answers, but they’re the true ones,” said Peta. A 20 year journeyLooking back on the journey since opening, Peta toldBeer & Brewerthat several milestones stand above the rest. Winning gold at the World Beer Cup in 2012 for HEFBrewing Czech Matesin an Australia-first collaboration with Budvar Beer CoBrennan being asked to brew a special batch of Duke Premium Lager for a lunch hosted by Princess Anne, then scoring an invitation to the lunch. “But my honest favourite is smaller than all of that,” she added. “Our original KPI was seeing someone rock up to a house party with a six pack of Burleigh. Today, we’re still proud to be the beer people are proud to bring along. ”Kicking off a month of ongoing celebrations, last weekend the brewery hosted line dancing, free trivia and closed out Sunday with beers, BBQ and live music. With the community altogether, Peta said it was the best way to celebrate. “Having the community at the centre of it felt exactly right, because they are the reason we exist. When we started the idea of an independent production brewery on the Gold Coast was perplexing to most people we spoke to. “This community backed us anyway, and 20 years later they were in our brewery dancing and drinking with us. You can’t manufacture that, you can only earn it, one beer at a time, and we don’t take a single schooner of it for granted,” she said. Evolving with the marketSince Burleigh Brewing’s first batch came off the production line it’s no secret that the industry has changed significantly. Having been at the centre of the craft beer boom, Peta says the most significant changes have been the market scale and shifting consumption habits. “We were the first dedicated production brewery the Gold Coast had ever seen, and independents were rare right across the country. Since then, around 20 beer brands have appeared on the Gold Coast alone, and nationally the scene boomed and then consolidated hard. Image supplied by Burleigh Brewing Company. “Drinkers are evolving too, and low carb and mid strength have gone mainstream. What hasn’t changed is people want beer made with genuine care by people they can look in the eye. And funnily enough, we’ve never actually called ourselves a craft brewery. We’ve only ever called it what it is, beer, properly brewed. That hasn’t needed updating in 20 years. ”Today the industry also continues to face pressure from rising costs and excise, with Peta describing the current operating environment as the most challenging yet. “I won’t dress it up. This is the toughest stretch I’ve seen, and longevity offers no immunity. We feel every cost rise and every excise increase like everyone else. What’s kept us moving is discipline. We’ve stayed focused, we keep a tight range where every beer earns its place, and beers like Bighead no carb meant the shift toward moderation found us ready, rather than caught out. ”She continued: “And independence genuinely resonates – people increasingly want to know who makes the things they invite into their lives. In the end, the breweries that endure are simply the ones people keep reaching for. Queenslanders keep reaching for us, and we work every day to stay worth choosing. ”No signs of slowing downAlthough the team have reached the major milestone, Fielding said it is by no means the brewery’s peak, rather a stop on a much longer journey. “The Gold Coast is our home, and we plan to be here for a lot longer yet,” she said. Looking to the immediate future, the plan is to continue to build on the strong foundations that have contributed to Burleigh Brewing’s longevity. “It’ll be more of what got us here, done properly,” said Fielding. “There’s more beer coming that we’re genuinely excited about, including a couple of things we’ll be able to share later in the year. “We’ll keep deepening our presence, so more people can find a Burleigh Brewing where they gather, keep building the taphouse as this community’s local, and keep backing Gold Coast and Queensland people and events the way we always have. ”She concluded: “The plan isn’t reinvention; it’s keeping our promises. We set out to make beer this city, and this state could be proud of. Twenty years on, that’s still the whole plan. Cheers to that. ”