With a (Not So) Little Bang, The Boiler House, a Microbrewery, Restaurant, Cafe and Bottle Shop, Is Opening at the Tonsley Innovation District

Ryan Davidson has an ambitious goal for Little Bang ’s new microbrewery.

“I’m putting a checklist together in my head to see if I can make this the most sustainable microbrewery in the country,” co-founder Davidson tells Broadsheet.

Sustainability is more than just a buzzword at the Tonsley Innovation District, the sprawling state-of-the-art area that will be home to the brewery’s pint-sized production facility, The Boiler House, due to open in mid-2024.

The Tonsley precinct was launched more than a decade ago on the site of an old Mitsubishi car manufacturing plant. Now an industrial hub, the space is home to more than 1700 employees across multiple companies and even produces it’s own renewable hydrogen gas.

For Little Bang, which will still operate out of its Stepney home, and Davidson, the new site – which was quite literally a boiler house used to power the assembly lines – represents a “little incubator” where the team can road test new ideas and embrace sustainability.

“What Tonsley will be about is versatility, so that we can produce any style of beer we choose, or any hybrid style we come up with, on-site and really efficiently,” Davidson says.

Beyond experimental beers and seltzers, Davidson is keen to implement a raft of eco-friendly energy- and time-saving measures. “I really want to tap into the green hydrogen they produce on-site, and I think the sky’s the limit for what we can achieve together.”

Since the Tonsley redevelopment began, the boiler house space was always expected to become a hospitality venue. Under Little Bang’s current plans, Tonsley’s old boiler would house, along with a microbrewery, a cafe, a bottle shop and a restaurant with a mezzanine that can be used for cooking classes and private functions.

While a chef is yet to be attached to the project, the Little Bang team is keen to explore woodfired pizzas and an on-site cafe that will offer grab-and-go coffees and lunches for those working nearby, as well as catering.

Davidson says he wants to retain the look and feel of the space, which he says resembles a “1950s art deco nuclear power plant”.

The Boiler House development is the brewery’s first major venture since it was acquired by Duxton Pubs last year.

“I think what’s probably exciting about Boiler House is that unlike so many microbreweries... this has really been built from the ground up,” he says. “It’s a huge investment, and we’re going right back to square one.”

The Boiler House at Tonsley is due to open in mid-2024.

littlebang.com.au
@littlebangbrewing