Seabourne, Blackflag and Woodstack ignite coast’s industrial bar scene

In a Noosaville industrial area, a distillery awaits a final council green light for its bar application and in Coolum Beach, smoked meats and local beers are on offer in industrial areas.

An award-winning Noosa distillery in an industrial area is facing its final council hurdle before it can open a bar, the latest to do so after a raft of venues across the region brought life to business parks.

A little further south, in the Sunshine Coast Council region, slow-cooked meats and local beers are on tap in an industrial area once dedicated to paint shops and mechanics.

On the other side of the Sunshine Motorway in Coolum Beach, in a neighbouring industrial estate, Blackflag Brewing opened its first venue.

The Seabourne distillery was founded by Hayden Weir, a 31-year-old with a passion for spirits and a self-described “realist” who understood his talents were not in the concocting of liquid in the copper stills.

“There are people who want to be distillers and there are distillers,” he said.

The Blackflag Brewing crew at the grand opening of their Coolum Beach brewery. Front row: Ross Holloway, Clin Hagerty, Steven Barber, John Coumessos, Ben Baker. Back row: Greg pieris, Connor Aldridge and Nicola Cosmann. Picture: Sam Turner

Mr Weir opened the Rene St, Noosaville, business in mid-2021 after enticing head distiller Thiago Lopes from another brand.

The pair is pushing flavour boundaries, and have scored international awards in their first year of business, and the Noosa Council will consider the business’s request to open a bar during its next general meeting.

Seabourne's head distiller Thiago Lopes.

The council’s planning and environment committee has already recommended the approval of the bar with 25 conditions.

It is another piece of the business puzzle for Mr Weir who wants a place to showcase his spirits in cocktails and paired with food.

If approved, he aims to have the bar open by mid-December.

“We want to turn this into more of an experience than a bar,” Mr Weir said.

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For Mr Lopes, a 32-year-old Brazilian-born mechanical engineer who has a passion and the palette for distilling, his lab at Rene St is where the spirits’ flavours first start to come together.

He said the pair had created “a couple of gins and an aperitif” so far.

“The aperitif was very interesting to create because I’m using all sorts of flavour extraction process,” he said.

“It’s a very complex recipe to make but the result we end up getting is just outstanding.”

In Coolum Beach, on Greenoaks Dr, Gregg Modlin has started firing up a meat smoker at Woodstack on Friday and Saturday nights after first opening for the morning coffee crowd in March this year.

Gregg Modlin has started smoking meat and opening on Friday and Saturday nights at his business, Woodstack, in a Coolum Beach industrial area.

The owner smokes beef brisket, pork shoulder, garlic for the aiolis, mushroom for a vegan option and much more.

He said they mostly used iron bark, which was the main timber in Queensland.

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“It’s tradition to use the timber from where you are,” Mr Modlin said.

He said opening a business in an industrial area meant cheaper rent and a community was nearby.

He buys Sunshine Coast and Noosa beers and tries to source almost everything he uses from the area.

“We wanted to bring something to the Sunshine Coast that no one else is doing,” Mr Modlin said.

He said the lower rent meant it was easier to experiment with the menu without the pressure of overheads and that people may not appreciate a smoker in a more built-up place.

“Probably our main thing is that we’re not just trying to sell meat, we’re trying to make a community atmosphere where people can meet, families can meet up,” Mr Modlin said.

Originally published as Seabourne, Blackflag and Woodstack ignite coast’s industrial bar scene