Gluten Is Blacklisted at New Collingwood Beer Hall the Freehouse

Twobays Brewing was founded in 2018 by Richard Jeffares (brother of Stomping Ground co-founder Steve Jeffares), a coeliac who wanted to make gluten-free beers accessible. The Dromana brewery works with grains such as sorghum, millet, rice, buckwheat and corn.

While other breweries make gluten-free beers, Twobays is the only entirely gluten-free brewery in the country. It’s grown from offering two pale ales to a core range of more than 10 beers, along with seasonal drops and collaborations with bands. You might have drunk Twobays at the MCG, The Fox Hotel in Collingwood or Bobbie Peels in North Melbourne.

Now comes the brewery’s first bricks-and-mortar presence in town: The Freehouse, which has joined Stomping Ground and Hot Listed Molly Rose in Collingwood.

“Richard had talked about opening something in Melbourne with food mirroring the ethos behind the beer,” Freehouse general manager Kait Oliver says. “It was just about waiting for the right space and the right time – after about two years of searching, this spot in Collingwood came up and it just made sense.”

The warehouse-conversion has room for 170 punters and is divided into a few different spaces intended to cater to different occasions. You’ll find a pool table and a casual bar area up front, a table-service dining area behind it and a bookable private dining room in the rear.

The main pull, as at any taproom, is the beer. Ten taps pour Twobays’ core range of lagers, pale and dark ales, five taps pour seasonal beers and the rest are dedicated to gluten-free ciders and alcoholic seltzers from Victoria. Nothing is actually brewed on-site.

“We don’t want this to feel too much like a brewpub,” Oliver says. “There’s already places in Collingwood doing that really well – the idea here is that we’re a casual place where you can grab a drink and play some pool on a Saturday arvo, come for a great dinner or celebrate a special occasion.”

To lean into the more rounded approach, chef Matt Kennedy – who’s worked at Stokehouse and Vue de Monde – was brought on to create an entirely gluten-free menu more akin to a restaurant’s than the casual fare found at the Twobays brewery in Dromana.

“South American cooking tends to be naturally gluten-free,” Kennedy says. “We started there and built a menu around dishes we loved or had eaten on our travels and then worked backwards, tweaking processes and small ingredients wherever necessary to make it all work.”

Standouts include slow-cooked beef empanadas, roast half-chicken with South American-style adobo paste (as opposed to Filipino style); mini cast iron-baked Argentinian provolone; and crumbed whole snapper, made using gluten-free breadcrumbs.

There’s a particular focus on Victorian produce, which extends to the forthcoming retail section spruiking wine from Dromana label Rahona Valley and gin from Bass and Flinders. Steaks and a cheeseburger are made with Victorian Angus and Hereford beef. You’ll also find Bellarine mussels with salsa rosa and potato crisps on the snack menu; plus, a chorizo sandwich with chimichurri on Otway Artisan gluten-free bread.

“Everything being gluten-free makes sense for Twobays, of course,” Oliver says. “But the point here is that someone could come and have a great meal and a great beer, then leave without even realising it was a gluten-free experience.”

The Freehouse opens on August 27 at 118 Rokeby Street, Collingwood.