Family behind Townsville Brewing Co reveals plans for brewery complex in Idalia

The family behind Townsville Brewing Co are hitting copy-paste with an exciting new project featuring a distillery, brewery, sampling room, and drive-through bottlo. See where it will go.

The Bredhauer family has revealed plans for a new brewery project in Idalia. Pictures: Supplied.

A fixture of Townsville’s hospitality landscape for decades, Townsville Brewing Co is working on an ambitious expansion plan to replicate its winning formula in the fast-growing commercial precinct of Idalia.

After purchasing the building known to many as “The Brewery” in 2020, the Bredhauer family spent $1.3 million on a large parcel of land at 55 Lakeside Drive in May 2024, where they planned to build a distillery, brewery sampling room, drive-through bottle shop, brewery, and bottling / canning facility.

With assistance from Dillon Architects Pty Ltd, the family’s Post Office Brewing CO company lodged a development application for the complex with Townsville City Council last August, which has now reached the public notification phase – seeking community feedback.

Post Office Brewing CO co-owner Philip Bredhauer said they had initially been looking to purchase an established commercial space for a bottle shop before they came across the parcel of land, which represented the “perfect opportunity”.

Philip and Tristan Bredhauer are looking forward to expanding their successful brewery venture into a new location at Idalia. Picture: Supplied.

“I actually live in Idalia and recognised a need for (a venue like) that out there. There are a couple of other bottle shops there in the shopping precinct that are impossible to get in and out of, especially on weekends,” Mr Bredhauer said.

“I felt that it was perfect. You’re actually overlooking the water, it all made sense from that point of view.”

Dillon Architects’ application said the project would be an extension of the existing brewery on Flinders St and delivered in four stages.

Plan for Post Office Brewing Co at 55 Lakeside Drive, Idalia. Picture: Dillon Architects.

The first stage would involve constructing a bottle shop (stocking the family’s beverages and others), the brewery sampling room and the distillery, which would initially operate as a warehouse.

A drive through area for the bottle shop would be delivered in the second stage, the third stage would see the warehouse area converted to a distillery, with associated packaging, storage and ancillary spaces, while the final stage would see the brewery completed.

The development would also include 30 long-term parking lots and 10 bottle shop drive-through car queuing spaces.

Proposed location for the new brewery project at 55 Lakeside Drive, Idalia. Picture: Google Maps.

Unable to confirm a dollar value for the project at this stage, Mr Bredhauer was optimistic that construction could begin on the first stage as soon as mid-year, and be completed by early 2026.

Given that they were yet to hit capacity at the brewery, Mr Bredhauer said the production facility was still probably a few years off.

“We’re actually expanding quite a bit and the footprint here, it’s just too small to house the equipment we need,” he said.

“(The idea) started as a production facility, but evolved into this mini project.”

The family recently exported their first shipment of alcohol including beer, seltzers, ginger beers, and cocktail margaritas to Singapore, with strong demand expected to push the construction schedule forward.

With the block positioned next to a tidal waterway, he confirmed that it was above the flood line and they would further mitigate any flooding potential during the construction phase in compliance with the council’s requirements.

Plans for Post Office Brewing Co at 55 Lakeside Drive, Idalia. Picture: Dillon Architects.

“After council approves, (liquor) licensing will begin their thing, and they’ll take about five months to approve a new hotel licence … which will hopefully allow us to put a few more bottle shops out that way,” he said.

The public notification period will run until February 5.

To provide feedback, visit the council’s website.

Originally published as Family behind Townsville Brewing Co reveals plans for brewery complex in Idalia