Craft brewer Pirate Life’s new 300-seat taphouse to make Port Adelaide a must-visit destination

A craft brewer’s new 300-seat taphouse and production facility looks set to turn Port Adelaide into a must-visit destination for fans of a good frothie.

Pirate Life’s Michael Cameron, Red Proudfoot and Jack Cameron in the new beer hall. Picture: Simon Cross

Craft brewer Pirate Life’s new 300-seat taphouse and production facility looks set to turn Port Adelaide into a must-visit destination for fans of a good frothie.

It will also expand capacity, giving the brewer a chance to make a strong push into Europe and China.

“We’re really excited about the Port,” Pirate Life co-founder Jack Cameron said of the brewhouse, which opens to the public on March 9.

“Our goal for the next four or five years is we want people to talk about Port Adelaide like they do Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, the Barossa Valley.”

Pirate LIfe’s new brewery and tap house in Port Adelaide. Picture Simon Cross

Inside Pirate Life’s brewery in Port Adelaide. Picture: Simon Cross

The taphouse and eight million litre capacity brewery is set in a 19th-century Dalgety wool store just 80m from the final stop on the extended Port Adelaide rail line.

“Hopefully, with the train line and the addition of new bars and restaurants and a lot more accommodation we might see Port Adelaide being a different place in four or five years’ time,” Mr Cameron said.

“We’ll be another option for travel businesses, including cruise liners, to pull in at the brewery, have a tour, taste a few beers and meet the team.”

Part of the storage facility at the new brewery and tap house in Port Adelaide, which opens on March 9. Picture: Simon Cross

Pirate Life’s cool room. the brewery and tap house will open on March 9. Picture Simon Cross

The brewhouse will be open seven days a week with 24 taps pouring Pirate Life beers and guided tours of the brewery.

“Having a 300-person bar down here finally gives us a spiritual home. We can showcase our core products and we’ve got 48 new beers that we’re making this year so there’ll be five or six new beers on tap here all the time — that’s a really big thing for us,” he said.

“We’ve always had an ambition to come down here and be a bit of a catalyst to really get the Port going,” said Mr Cameron.

The new brewery and tap house opens on March 9. Picture: Simon Cross

The brewhouse will be open seven days a week with 24 taps pouring Pirate Life beers and guided tours of the brewery. Picture: Simon Cross

“It’s such a beautiful part of Adelaide and if we can inspire people to not only come to our venue but to walk around the Port, get to the Port Admiral pub, eat at Low & Slow, and wander by the water I think it’s good for everybody here. It’s an exciting time.”

Michael Cameron, Jack’s dad and also a co-founder, said Pirate Life is looking to produce five to six million litres this year, and is eyeing new markets in Europe and the South East Asian corridor.

“The whole South East Asian corridor is big for us — it’s where the next big play for craft beer will be. I think that’s also where growth is going to come from right across the board over the next two or three years.”

Pirate Life will retain its three million litre capacity Hindmarsh site for experimenting with new recipes.

“We’re aiming to do new beers this year out of Hindmarsh … we’ve also got 20-odd brewers now and they all have ideas and recipes, so it won’t just be about us.”