Breweries are pouring in

Published on 07 May 2024

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Whether you fancy sipping something unique at a start-up brewery or favour a more traditional taste, there’s destined to be a cold one to satisfy anyone’s taste buds in Lake Macquarie.

Now home to a booming craft beer scene, there are a growing number of breweries in the city and three of those reside in Morisset.

 

Jay Beckham, Dale Beckham and Ray Burkett are the masterminds behind Morisset’s new Bread and Brewery, which opened February 2021.

“My wife is from the area and she knew Morisset was up and coming – it’s close to the highway and near the last major train station in the middle of Newcastle and Sydney,” Mr Jay Beckham said.

 

In addition to producing small batches for hospitality venues, the pico-brewery hosts regular beer tastings, pairing brews with the ingredients they’re made of.

And while there are two other breweries close by, the owners say it’s benefiting business.

“The more the merrier is the way we look at it,” Mr Beckham said.

“When it gets to more than two, people make a whole day of it in Morisset and crawl to and from all three breweries, so everybody gets a little slice of the pie.”

Lake Mac Brewing was the first beer house to open in the suburb, welcoming customers from 2020.

Just down the road, The Yard Kings brewery, has quickly made a name for itself.

 

The business is the brain-child of five tight-knit Lake Macquarie families who came upon the idea of creating a brewery during a backyard barbecue.

The venue, which is now the largest brewery in Morisset, offers a spacious tap-house and dining area and is able to produce up to 300,000 litres of the good stuff each year. 

 “The response since opening has been overwhelming,” The Yard Kings General Manager Scott Robertson said. 

“We put the success down the location.

“I’ve lived in Lake Macquarie my whole life and saw Morisset growing, with people getting out of Sydney, and we saw more potential through future plans for development.”

And there’s no signs of slowing down.

“We would love to expand to do wholesale at local bottle shops and put our kegs into local restaurants in the area because our main goal is to build and support local.”

   

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