Mt Pleasant Rd brewery tapping into local market for early growth

The success of a small brewery in Belmont that only opened in February shows how Geelong suburbs can “command their own little niches”.

Mt Pleasant Rd Taproom co-owner Tim Dean. Photo: David Smith.

A boutique brewery in Belmont is funding an extension from its early success, with plans before Geelong council to increase opening hours and patron numbers.

Mt Pleasant Road Taproom opened in February this year and co-owner Tim Dean said the intimate venue had developed a strong culture, particularly among nearby residents, in a short period of time.

“Someone said to me the other day ‘it’s like a cafe where people come and enjoy good company and a good venue, but it sells beer’,” he said.

“That really encompasses what we’re about, it’s not a place where people come and get trolleyed, so to speak, there’s a great sense of community.”

The venue has applied to increase its capacity from 38 to 57 people and to extend its opening hours.

This would include opening earlier on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The latest closing time would remain 11pm, with outside areas shut an hour prior.

“We do not foresee that we will open the entirety of these hours … we are making this request to allow us greater flexibility over the days and hours we can potentially open to meet our customer needs,” the application states.

The increase in patrons would be managed by the opening of a rear courtyard.

It is hoped the changes will come into effect before Christmas.

Mr Dean, who has continued full-time work outside of the business, said growth had always been on the agenda.

“We had to do one thing at a time, so it was always the plan to have the courtyard, but we just didn’t have the time or the money to do it,” he said.

“Now we’re open, we’re established, the business has paid for it, so that’s the great thing about it.

“The community has just absolutely embraced it, it’s taken off, it’s been fantastic.”

Mr Dean said there was a strong community feel among the businesses located nearby and that other areas had the opportunity to “command their own little niches”.

“With our area, you’ve got That Place Patisserie, down the road you’ve got Bistrot Plume, we all feed off each other,” he said.

“I think we all complement each other and people are walking between each, and often it’s people in the area who can then walk back home, that’s the great thing about it.”

Bistrot Plume ranked 16 in this year’s Geelong Advertiser top 100 restaurants.

Originally published as Mt Pleasant Rd brewery tapping into local market for early growth