Healesville’s Matilda Bay pub officially opens its doors Boxing Day
If you’re feeling thirsty, you might want to think about popping down to Matilda Bay pub for a pint and a woodfired pizza, conveniently located in a top Yarra Valley tourist town.
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The brand that started the Aussie craft brew revolution more than 30 years ago is relaunching in Healesville on Boxing Day.
With 12 of the country’s best craft beers on tap, the Matilda Bay pub — having taken over from Giant Steps cellar — will have the pots and pints flowing from December 26.
Master craftsman Phil Sexton has moved the cellar to a bigger site in Gruyere.
However, the pub won’t be serving its own brew on tap just yet with parts for its brewery still coming from overseas.
Mr Sexton said the brewery would be set up by mid-January when the magic would begin to happen.
Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader previously reported the brewery would continue putting out classics including Redback and Dogbolter, but also a new range.
The Matilda Bay venture is a partnership between Mr Sexton, who started the small batch brew in 1983, and Carlton United Breweries, which bought the public company in 1990.
Bookings are only being taken for larger groups, with patrons encouraged to wander in for a pint whenever they want.
He said the Matilda Bay brewing team had selected — in their opinion — a dozen of the best craft beers in Australia, until their own begins to flow.
For those who want to grab a feed with their brew, you can’t go past the woodfired sourdough pizzas, made with fresh seasonal produce sourced from the Yarra Valley.
Or if you’re buying a round there are some tasty snacks on offer including fired chicken wings, wood-grilled lamb ribs, tomato and chilli mussels, or crunchy squid and spring onion.
“This is the 44th pub I’ve developed and opened in my career,” Mr Sexton said.
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“We’ve been working on it for about a year and it feels very sweet.”
He said with the amount of traffic through Healesville, it was the perfect location for the pub and brewery.