Now Open: Wagyu-Butter Pretzels, Ox-Tongue Reubens and Beer Magnums at Zymurgy, a West Footscray Pop-Up by Hop Nation and Navi’s Julian Hills

On paper, Zymurgy (pronounced zahy -mur-jee, meaning the practice of fermentation) is a familiar concept: beer garden and barbeque.

But in reality, the new West Footscray pop-up – a collaboration between Footscray’s Hop Nation Brewing Co and Navi ’s Julian Hills – punches well above its weight. It’s like a summer barbeque at your mate’s place, if your mate brewed boundary-pushing beers and had fine-dining chops.

There’s a focus on all-things fermented and a charcoal-fired menu that Hills cooks on a Brazilian-made grill and rotisserie over red gum and mallee root.

The snacks menu is a mix of meat and veg, but don’t be fooled by the seemingly simple dish descriptions. The hand-cut chips are triple-cooked, dusted with eight different herbs and served with house-fermented miso aioli. The charred-zucchini salad is smoky, citrusy and vinegary, impressing among sexier-sounding dishes. And the grilled sourdough pretzel, lathered in smoked Wagyu butter, is destined for greatness.

More substantial options include an ox-tongue Reuben, warm smoked rainbow trout with horseradish, and charcoal-crusted pork with salted cherries and pickled elderflower.

Ten Hop Nation beers are on pour at the bar, including an organic lager, a tropical mango gose and an oat-cream double India pale ale. There’s also a cocktail tap and a wine tap (currently serving Negroni, and a sparkling white from the brewery’s Site Fermentation Project), plus cans of Hop Nation’s Ray Seltzer and 1.5-litre beer magnums.

The large, laid-back outdoor space is scattered with picnic tables, barrels and newly planted olive trees. And there’s a towering mural of two roosters, inspired by a Hop Nation beer label, by local artist Ling ID. “We wanted [it] to be backyard-comfortable,” says Hop Nation’s Sam Hambour. “We knew, dealing with the demographic of the brewery, that people wanted something casual [where] they could bring their dog and have a good feed with good drinks.”

It’s the kind of set-up the Hop Nation team can’t provide at the brewery, which is currently surrounded by construction for the West Gate Tunnel Project. “At the brewery we struggled to get an outside area, and West Footscray has always been an interest of ours,” says Hambour. “I just walked the street a couple of times pre-Covid, and this came up for lease.”

There are plans to expand beyond the beer garden into the indoor space, which was formerly a Sri Lankan restaurant.

Zymurgy
561 Barkly Street, West Footscray

Hours:
Thu 3pm–9pm
Fri 3pm–10.30pm
Sat 12pm–10.30pm
Sun 12pm–9pm

zymurgywest.com.au