The science of brewing: Teacher-owned Chinchilla brewery Mayne Street Brewing set to open

Construction of a new Chinchilla brewery is getting to the pointy end, with the site expected to be a tourist hotspot when it opens later this year. Find out more here.

The project to convert the Chinchilla News building into a microbrewery is an extension of the Convent Brew Club, a hobby brewing club started by a group of local school teachers two years ago.

Chinchilla residents won’t have long to wait to enjoy cold, locally brewed beer with Mayne Street Brewing just weeks away from opening its doors.

The passion project of four physics and chemistry teachers Brad Hubbard, Brian Hobson, Glen Ivers and Steve Johnson the site is the second of two microbreweries being built in town with Charley’s Creek Brewing Co under construction at the Clover Hill Ranch tourist park.

Situated in the former Chinchilla News building, Mayne Street Brewing will seek to maintain the building’s historical heritage while producing delicious beers and boosting the town’s tourism potential.

The project to convert the Chinchilla News building into a microbrewery is an extension of the Convent Brew Club, a hobby brewing club started by a group of local school teachers two years ago.

Brad Hubbard said the quartet had been hard at work renovating the interior of the building since January.

“It's going pretty good, we've got three main areas at the site, we've got the brewing area, the front bar and back bar and what we are doing at the moment is rebuilding the building from the inside out,” he said,

“We aren't far off from having the front section open, so we are probably at the stage where we will do a bit of brewing and in a month and we can host private functions.

“We are hoping to be able to host Christmas parties here.”

Mr Hubbard said the community had thrown their support behind the project.

“One of the great things about the project is people have been so interested, we are referring to them as friends of the brew club, they are donating a lot of the materials because they are interested in supporting and being a part of it,” he said.

“We are about to put a new ceiling in the front area which will look outstanding and one of the local builders is going to do that for us.”

Mr Hubbard said they would be offering a variety of full-flavoured beers for guests to enjoy when the doors opened.

“They are going to taste really good, our beers have a lot of body to them and a lot of flavour,” he said.

“They’ll feel heavier in the mouth compared to a normal beer, if you drink our beer and then go taste other beers they’ll taste like water.

“We’ve got a really good pale, pacific lager, we have a stout, it's flavour is similar to a Guinness but it's easier to drink, we have an Irish red, our own ginger beer, we also have a range of ciders both apple and pear which the ladies really enjoy.”

The project to convert the Chinchilla News building into a microbrewery is an extension of the Convent Brew Club, a hobby brewing club started by a group of local school teachers two years ago.

Mr Hubbard said the community was excited for the brewery to open.

“With the other brewery also starting up there is an opportunity to work together, if you’ve got two breweries here it’s a reason to make the trip out here,” he said.

“We are also talking about having a few weekends where people can have a hit of golf or tennis in the morning and come tour the brewery in the afternoon.

“We keep hearing from the community ‘we can’t wait to have a beer, how you going down there?’

“It’s a slow process but we are getting there, because we are doing all the work ourselves in the long run it will be rewarding, it’s a sense of achievement and saves money.

“We are building as fast as we can and we can't wait to open.”