North west Brisbane’s first craft brewery opens doors after years of planning from owners

In the middle of a global pandemic where they had no idea if they would ever be able to sell a beer, the owners of Brisbane’s newest brewery have taken possession of the keys to their new site.

Nine weeks ago when Cheyne Meehan and Jarrett Bravo got the keys to what was going to become Happy Valley Brewing Company they did not know if they would ever be able to sell a beer.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic they decided to temporarily pivot from brewing before they had sold a single beer. They began selling their ingredients for homebrewers to use.

“Everything was on the line,” Mr Meehan said.

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Happy Valley Brewing Company founders Jarrett Bravo and Cheyne Meehan at their new brewery in Stafford. Picture: Richard Walker

“We didn’t know if we’d be able to open. But we figured everything happens for a reason

This week Happy Valley Brewing opened to the public on Wolverhampton St in Stafford.

Mr Bravo was once the senior brewer at Brisbane craft beer icon, Newstead Brewing.

Mr Meehan said the two met when he was working as a crane operator on a construction site next to Newstead Brewing.

“I had been home brewing for a few years by then and I’d take a taste of whatever I was making and I’d go to Newstead and I’d ask the brewer to tell me what I was doing wrong – and that was Jarrett,” he said.

Happy Valley Brewing Company was named after the original name of Stafford – Happy Valley. Picture: Richard Walker

“We both really wanted to do something on our own, to start a brewery that was ours.”

The brewery is named for Stafford’s original name – Happy Valley.

“Stafford’s original name was Happy Valley. Stafford Rd was called Happy Valley Rd,” he said.

“But the area reminded Sir Thomas Brisbane of his home in Staffordshire in England so it was renamed.

“We went through heaps of names, but they didn’t work for whatever reason. Then I was online reading about the history of Stafford and I saw Happy Valley and I knew we had a name.”