Howard Smith Wharves’ long-awaited brewery and gastropub finally has a name – Felons Brewing Co is set to open on the site in October.

The 1000-square-metre, 500-seat project is headed up by a couple of Little Creatures alumni: general manager Ash Cranston, who has also done time with Furphy and White Rabbit Brewing; and head brewer Tom Champion, who recently relocated to Brisbane after stints installing brewery equipment for Little Creatures in Geelong and heading up the West Australian brewer’s Hong Kong operations.

“We’re creating a social hub where beer is the hero,” Cranston said in a statement. “The whole family from kids to grandparents are invited to experience the sights, smells and tastes of a working brewery … We wanted to make something special for Brisbane, and then take it to the rest of Queensland and Australia.”

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“The space ... gets right to the heart of our city’s character," Adam Flaskas, director of Howard Smith Wharves, said in the statement. "It’s a laid-back, open-to-everyone spot."

Felons' name comes from the story of Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and John Thompson, commonly regarded as the first Europeans to discover Brisbane River. The four set out from Sydney on March 21, 1823 on a wood-sourcing exhibition but were blown off course and ended up shipwrecked in Moreton Bay.

They explored the area and when John Oxley arrived in the area shortly afterwards to establish a penal colony, the group showed him the river mouth, which Oxley then named the Brisbane River.

Cranston said the story of Phamplett, Finnegan, Parsons and Thompson reflects the core values of Felons. “It made sense to name ourselves after a story linked to the foundation of Brisbane, and the river where our home is.”

Brewery equipment arrived mid-June in anticipation of the October opening, when Felons will join Brisbane’s busy brewpub scene, currently the fastest growing in the country.

The brewery will be an anchor tenant at the highly anticipated Howard Smith Wharves development, the riverside site also set to include parklands, a 164-room, five-star hotel, and various restaurants and bars.