Stomping Ground Is Opening a Brewery and Bar at Melbourne Airport

Early last month Melbourne brewery Stomping Ground in Collingwood announced plans for a new experimental brewpub in Moorabbin, in Melbourne’s south-east. And now it’s expanding again, this time to Melbourne Airport, where it will open another brewery and bar.

Stomping Ground approached Melbourne Airport around two years ago about opening a brewery and while waiting for a tenancy opened two summer pop-ups there. But operating at an airport poses some fresh challenges.

“You have to be a little bit more organised than you do at a high-street venue. Things like ordering and delivery aren’t as simple. You’ve got to book the loading dock 48 hours in advance,” says Stomping Ground co-founder and director of venue operations Justin Joiner.

“It’s in the Virgin terminal, through security. That’s one of the challenges, every bag of malt and hop will have to be scanned as you would your hand luggage.”

The brewery will be much smaller than the Collingwood and Moorabbin spots; it has a six-hectolitre capacity and can brew around 10 kegs at a time. There will be between two and four beers available that have been brewed on-site, backed up by another 18 or so beers shipped in from the other breweries. Guests can also buy beer to take with them on the plane.

Guests will be able to sample Stomping Ground classics and limited-edition froths brewed on-site. There will be a full menu of favourites from Stomping Ground’s Collingwood brewery, such as salumi boards and twice-cooked lamb shoulder. There will also be a full breakfast from 5am. Also expect the brewery’s beer ice-cream and a stout chocolate brownie.

The new location’s backdrop will be brewery tanks and the airfield. And the interior will look familiar.

“It’ll be similar to the industrial-vintage look we go for. Concrete and timber, marble and a view of the brewery from just about every seat,” says Joiner.

Other developments at the airport include an outpost of chef Scott Pickett’s (Lupo, Matilda, Estelle) Queen Vic Market-based Pickett’s Deli & Rotisserie, and a new venue from Shane Delia (Maha, Maha East), called Moors, among others.

“It’s been a two-year journey,” says Joiner. “We’re just excited to get out there and start serving some beers.”

The new airport venues will begin opening from September. The full renovation is due for completion by December 2019.