Brisbane brewer swoops on Ipswich site

A SUCCESSFUL Brisbane brewery owner is making his first inroads into Ipswich, starting with a makeover of a Springfield venue.

HOME BREW: Ballistic Brewery owner David Kitchen has launched the new Springfield Pilsner ahead of the new venue's opening in October. Picture: Rob Williams

A SUCCESSFUL Brisbane brewery owner is making his first inroads into Ipswich, starting with a makeover of a Springfield venue.

Ballistic Beer's David Kitchen has taken over the Central Tavern, situated at the USQ campus, with a plan to gut it and rebuild it into a modern mini-brewery, pub and kitchen.

He has employed 4Hearts Brewing founder Wade Curtis to help set up the new family-friendly venue.

With an opening date of mid-October, the next six weeks will be extremely busy for Mr Kitchen and his team as they complete the transformation.

"The number one thing that drew me to this location was the open grassed area," Mr Kitchen said.

"The families can sit out on the open grass, or the kids can run around and the parents can still see them.

"It means families can socialise together instead of just the husband going out for a beer with his mates."

As part of the plan for what will be known as the Ballistic Brewery, Bar and Kitchen, the builders will install a row of brewing tanks, allowing the production of a small range of beers on site, which will complement the production that already takes place at Ballistic's other venue at Salisbury.

The 800-litre brewery will operate alongside the 350-seat pub venue.

An artist's impression of the new-look interior for the Ballistic Brewery at Springfield.

Mr Kitchen has plans to redesign the main bar, rebuild the front beer garden, and remove about 20 television screens.

The new-look bar will feature 18 taps, including six of Ballistic's core line of beers, six limited release beers, and a small number of guest brewers.

Ballistic has launched the new Springfield Pilsner to celebrate the move.

Mr Kitchen founded Ballistic Beer Co in 2016 at Salisbury, and since then has opened a second venue at West End.

Having already employed about 30 people across those two operations, Mr Kitchen anticipates he will put on another 30 staff at Springfield.

There are plans to work alongside an RTO to place hospitality students with the business.

"The growth in craft beer in Queensland has been very rapid and with the introduction last year of the Queensland Government Craft Beer Strategy we have the backing of Cameron Dick, the Minister for State Development and the Queensland Government to expand, make more beer and employ more people." Mr Kitchen said.

Originally published as Brisbane brewer swoops on Ipswich site