Sharing a beer with mates and talking about a dream of opening their own brewery has become a reality for former Lithgowites Gavin McKenzie and Matt Blofield.
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The two now brewers, have joined forces with Newcastle's professional brewer Sean Costigan to open their own craft beer venue called Method Brewing situated in Islington, Newcastle.
"We were down in Marrickville having a beer and got engulfed in it and we kind of said to each other that Newcastle needs what Marrickville has, that similar type model, where you've got food trucks in an old shed and quality beer, and the idea grew from there," Matt said.
Matt has been living out of Lithgow for seven years and hung up his tools as a carpenter to pursue the brewery dream while Gavin left Lithgow 12 years ago and shares a passion for craft beer.
"I went to school with Matt's younger brother and that's how we became friends, we had a similar group of friends who loved sport and beers, from that the love of craft beer grew," Gavin said.
"Matt and I always enjoyed local craft beer or locally brewed, smaller venues where the beer is all brewed onsite," he said.
Method Brewing had been in discussion for five years and to make it a reality Matt went on to gain commercial brewing experience while Gav took on a university course for brewing and Sean was working as a professional brewer.
Gavin said due to COVID, Sean took a redundancy in his former role and that's when things fell into place to form Method Brewing.
"There's been a lot involved and we wanted to make sure we had a bit more knowledge under our belts, Matt's got the practical knowledge, I've got the theory and then with Sean's experience he's been a great asset to have in setting this up," he said.
"It all came together in the end," Matt said.
It's also been a wholesome experience for Sean who worked his first job at the exact site where Method Brewing will open.
"Sean started his first job here in a home brew shop 10 years ago, he's done a full circle back here opening his own brewery," Gavin said.
"And while he may not be a Lithgow local he knows a lot of people from there," he said.
Matt and Gavin said people can expect good quality beer when coming to Method Brewing.
"The three of us have a passion for that," Matt said.
"Our focus is on fresh, high quality beer for all people, locals and anyone that's just a beer lover," Gavin said.
They said the meaning behind the name was because they took a method driven approach to creating their product.
"We don't cut corners because the beer will suffer if we do, we're all on the same page and following our methods, making sure the beer's 100 per cent quality," Gavin said.
"It's very methodical, we stick to the plan and process," Matt said.
Method Brewing is planned to open by the end of June and Matt and Gav said there will be a range of beers that will evolve and change with the seasons.
"The best thing about it it's an open book really," Matt said.
"Because it's ours we can make it. We all have different taste of beers we enjoy so the beauty is we can just brew what we feel like and also just a variety and give people good options of beer," Gavin said.
"It won't be just the one style of beer, we'll definitely be mixing it up and have plans to do collaborations with other brewers as well which will be fun."
The venue is industrial keeping its atmosphere of an operational brewery and will offer a main bar with beer served straight out of the cool room walls and there will be food trucks out the back.
"We'll also offer takeaways and we'll be packaging beers to go out to local pubs and bottle shops," Gavin said.
"What sets us a part from other places in Newcastle is there's not really any places doing rotating food trucks," he said.
"This way we're not tied into one cuisine and rotate to different food vendors locally and around Sydney," Matt said.
The men said they were also open to collaborations with local businesses.
"If there's someone with local jerky, salamis or something on that smaller scaler or if they have a food van and would like to drive up they're more than welcome," Gavin said.
Matt and Gavin encouraged the people of Lithgow to come and visit their new venue.
"We'd love to see you, no matter where you are you can always come to Newcastle for a visit. Drop in and have a beer," Matt said.
"We have so many friends and family in Lithgow who are very keen to come and see the venue. They have all been super supportive, it's great," Gavin said.
"We're proud of it and want to share it - it's been a journey, an exciting new chapter, it's not every day you open your own brewery so it's been pretty cool," Matt said.
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