Broadway Shopping Centre sells many nice things. There's clothes, food, music, mobile phones, paintball experiences, and books, not to mention all your share-house essentials at Kmart. But if you’re looking to drown your need for a new Nutribullet in several middies, or share your concerns about global capitalism over a few jugs, or forget the fact you may have just spent way more on table lamps than you care to admit, then Staves Brewery has just what you need.
Located on Grose Street in an old steelworks site, Staves Brewery has embraced the building’s history with steel girders and concrete everywhere and it lends the brewery a serious air - hard work is undertaken here.
Poured into middies, pints, or jugs, Staves Brewery champions their own creations on tap: and IPA, pale, amber, and golden ales, are just the beginning. Would you care for a dark and malty stout that sits in your stomach like a hearty stew on a winter’s night? Or a sharp and to the point IPA that tastes like payday? Some taps are earmarked for special one offs and experimental brews, plus they save a few for guests beers from local and national breweries because the craft brewing scene is full of community-minded people.
You don’t need a sophisticated palate to enjoy yourself here – it helps if you want to deep dive on brewing practices – and as each is beer brewed on site they have a noticeably clean and crisp flavour; if the beers were any fresher, you’d be munching hops.
The courtyard is full of wooden benches and tables and covered in AstroTurf, giving it that casual backyard feel, and despite no food being sold here, it’s also non-smoking.
The simplicity of the brewery is a welcome relief from the hyper-stimulation you experience inside Broadway Shopping Centre. There are no posters, no flyers, no special offers, no reduced price stickers slapped over one another like a game of patty-cake. Just chalk boards touting how drunk each beer will get you and the name of Friday night’s musical guest.
Slip out of the foot traffic into a glass of something cold and satisfying at Staves Brewery - the perfect sanctuary for shoppers and anti-consumerists to come together for a seriously fresh brew. – Daniel Prior
