Tiny Mountain Brewery approved for expansion, spirits distilling, beer canning

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a shuttered brewery is making a triumphant comeback with ambitious expansion plans for a big beer garden, spirits distilling and beer canning.

Tiny Mountain head brewer David Mullins and venue manager Tim Bennie toast the Four Point Pale Ale brewed for the State of Origin in Townsville. Proceeds from sales will be donated to Rural Aid.

A large beer garden, spirits production, and a beer canning facility producing up to a million litres of amber goodness, are some of the exciting changes expected after Tiny Mountain Brewery received approval for a triumphant comeback.

Sad punters flocked to the micro brewery in April to say goodbye after former-owners Lion Nathan made the difficult decision to close the establishment, citing a lack of sales.

Hopes of a comeback were rekindled in September after Tiny Mountain Brewery Holdings submitted an application to Townsville City Council to expand its development permit at 11 Anthony Street, South Townsville.

Through Milford Planning, North Queensland property owner Pierre Properties Pty Ltd proposed building a 873 sqm shade structure covering the existing beer garden and part of the on-site private carpark, boosting the venue’s capacity from 150 to 515 patrons.

The extension featured an island bar, dedicated kitchen, more shade and tropical landscaping, positioned closer to Palmer Street to capture more passing pedestrians.

The existing food truck arrangement is out to make way for small scale distilling equipment to produce up to 1000L of gin, vodka, and white can spirit (rum) per week – servicing in-house bars.

Townsville locals were united in their sadness about Tiny Mountain Brewery closing in April. Picture: Leighton Smith.

The brewery operation, which currently exports product in kegs, sought to use a portable canning system within the existing warehouse and boost its production from 220,000L to a maximum of one million litres per annum – supplying additional venues around the region.

A full meeting of Townsville City Council considered the application on Wednesday, where a council planning officer recommended that the application was approved, subject to conditions.

This was despite a submission opposing the development on the grounds of potential noise and traffic impacts.

Pictures included in the Tiny Mountain Brewery Holdings development application.

Pictures included in the Tiny Mountain Brewery Holdings development application.

The officer said these concerns could be countered by imposing relevant conditions such as hours of operation, acoustic control measures, and a traffic impact assessment.

The councillors voted unanimously to approve the proposal.

Councillor Ann-Maree Greaney praised the “great outcome” for Tiny Mountain, saying it, along with the renovation underway at the Pub on Palmer’s (formerly Shamrock Hotel) upgrades to the Palmer Street precinct would be well-received by the community.

Beer fans will celebrate Tiny Mountain Brewery’s comeback. Picture: Tiny Mountain.

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said it was great to see life return to the empty building, saying that it would create jobs and bring more life to the area.

“This will hopefully be a great new offering that will complement all the activity on Palmer St,” Cr Hill said.

“When you get a lot of these restaurants together, you get a lot of movement and activity.

“It’s close to the stadium, so we’re hopeful that people before and after games can use these facilities.”

It is unclear when the upgraded Tiny Mountain Brewery would open.

Pierre Property was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Tiny Mountain Brewery approved for expansion, spirits distilling, beer canning