Revel Brewing Co Archives - Morningside News

Rivermakers Heritage Quarter: Brisbane’s Newest Riverfront Precinct Holds Exciting Open Day

Mark your calendars! The Rivermakers Heritage Quarter in Morningside is hosting its official Open Day packed with BBQs, beers, live entertainment, and fun for the whole family and pets!

On Saturday, 9th of April 2022, come down to the heritage-listed gem sitting on 30 hectares of riverfront land to dine, drink, or dance. See and experience what this unparalleled destination has to offer Brisbane’s east side.

The exciting Open Day at HQ will kick off at 11:00 a.m. with a slew of live music on the lawn, DJs and pop-up bars overlooking sweeping views of the Brisbane River. The whole family can discover a lineup of workshops, art showcases and guided brewery tours with food trucks and cocktail vans lining the heritage-listed walls.

Rivermakers Heritage Quarter — Photo Credit: Supplied

This is Morningside’s answer to James St Food & Wine Festival!

Children are free to roam the green spaces, play in the jumping castles at the Heritage Playground, or join in the lawn games.

Revel Brewing Co, which opens its second digs at HQ after the success of its Bulimba outlet, will impart some tricks of the trade through their guided brewery tours and tasting sessions running throughout the day. The site is well equipped with a production site, beer garden and eatery serving up modern pub bites.

Incidentally, the Revel team is pouring for the cause, donating a share of the proceeds from their Sunset Haze IPA to support flood relief.

Next door to Revel is the soon-to-open Bavay Distillery, which will be offering the first sip of their artisan spirit range with tasting paddle specials inside their moody, century-old stillhouse. They’ll be rolling out their pop-up gin bar to get their outdoor space cranking.

Gourmet BBQ and butcher Low n Slow Meat Co are pulling out all the stops with free sausages from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Throughout the day, Low n Slow Meat Co will conduct yummy steak workshops, hamper giveaways. and all their low n slow-style meats being sold to the hungry punters.

Finally, tap into your creative side at the stalls for the mother/daughter duo behind Mas & Miek Ceramic House and the brother/son team of Jesse-Jack De Deyne, the Indigenous art curator behind A Secondary Eye.

History buffs and Morningside natives can sift through memories of a bygone era in the HQ archives exhibit, plus information sessions will be available throughout the morning, where the community can have their say and give input into future plans for Rivermakers.

Donations during the Open Day, which will go towards the flood relief efforts in Queensland and NSW, will be welcomed. The proceeds will go towards flood relief (QLD & Northern NSW).

This is just the beginning of a series of events at Rivermakers Heritage Quarter! For more information head to the official site.

Revel Brewing Co Now Open in Morningside

Nearly 18 months since they announced their expansion plans, Revel Brewing Co’s newest brewery and eatery, their second after their hugely successful Bulimba launch, is now open at the Rivermakers precinct in Morningside.

Located at the century-old former site of the Commonwealth Acetate of Lime Factory, the brewery-cum-eatery is next door to Low ‘n Slow Meat Co and Bavay Distillery.

Though it’s in a heritage building, much of Revel Brewing Co Morningside, officially known as Revel Rivermakers Restaurant, is in keeping with the original Bulimba outlet, with plenty of communal seating outdoors and steel tables decked with planter boxes indoors. The old building’s brick and timber, however, have remained untouched, lending more character and a cosy atmosphere to the restaurant.

*Photo Credit: Jayden Cluff/Google Maps*

History of the Rivermakers Precinct

The Rivermakers precinct has several buildings built from 1917 to 1920 across 30 hectares of land, including the Commonwealth Acetate of Lime factory, designed by chemist and brewer Auguste deBavay.

During the First World War, the Australian Commonwealth Arsenal established its own defence factories to ensure the supplies of manufactured goods and armaments. The Morningside site, specifically designed for fermenting and brewing, focused on acetate of lime for the production of cordite used by the military. Auguste deBavay donated his patent process for acetone through fermenting and distilling molasses to the Commonwealth of Australia after the war.

The Morningside site then became the base of the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War and the Commonwealth Acetate of Lime factory was repurposed as a hostel for immigrants in the 1950s. This has contributed to the growth and diversity of the culture in Brisbane.

By the 1960s, Hans Continental Smallgoods moved his business into the precinct until 2008. The site was undisturbed for many years until 2020, when Revel opened its brewery.

Revel Brewing Co — *Photo Credit: Jayden Cluff/Google Maps*

Setting up During the Pandemic

Meanwhile, Owners Jay Neven and Matthew Flexman said that it has been quite a challenging year leading up to the Morningside venue’s opening due to COVID restrictions but they could not pass up the chance to be part of the urban renewal of this precinct.

Charmed by the site’s historical facets, the Revel team knew that expanding to this location was the best decision.

Though the restaurant opened in early November 2021, the brewing crew has been hard at work at the bigger Rivermarker site, producing more beer than the Bulimba outlet in the last 12 months.

Whilst the first store is known for its perfect pairing of pizza and beer, the Morningside site will be offering more family-friendly dishes from chef Dan Cart, such as the polenta fries, plant-based burgers, cauliflower wings, classic chicken schnitzel, and pan-fried wild barramundi. There’s even a tasty kids’ menu featuring cheese toasties and chicken nuggets.

*Photo Credit: Revel Rivermakers Restaurant*

For the complete menu, bookings, and opening hours, check Revel’s official site. Regular updates are available on the Revel Brewing Co Bulimba Facebook page.

“Awesome new venue from the Revel Brewing team located in Bulimba. I went for dinner on the opening night & had a great evening. Good varied menu & huge selection of beers on tap with their core range & rotating specials.”
Jacqui

“The buffalo wings are absolutely on point. I’ve been all over Brisbane looking for the best wings and i think I have a new favourite. Beers are always good from Revel, but the Vianna Lager on tap is the standout for me atm.”
Aaron

“This is a fantastic venue, I never even knew this building existed and they’ve done a great job of repurposing it. We had the plant based burger and nachos which were both very good, the beers were excellent and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Are they finding their feet slightly? Maybe. But credit where credit’s due this is a fair feat to pull off in a sizeable venue compared to their original location in Bulimba. And it was FULL today so clearly they’re doing a lot right even in the early days. We’ll absolutely go back. And when a few other places open up around it this will be a great little precinct! Credit to Revel for leading the way and setting the standard.”
Stephen

Australian Country Choice in Legal Disputes with New Morningside Businesses

Beef supplier Australian Country Choice is wrapped up in legal disputes against two new businesses, TotalFusion and Revel Brewing Co, over their plans to open outlets on Colmsie Road in Morningside.

Gym in Limbo

TotalFusion Morningside was set to open the biggest gym facility in Queensland on 32 Colmsie Road in December 2020 but a court dispute with Australian Country Choice has caused a major delay, leaving hundreds of staff jobless. About 2,000 gym members anticipating the opening could not yet take advantage of their membership whilst the legal battle is ongoing.

Photo Credit: TotalFusion Morningside/Facebook

Following a failed arbitration, a trial is expected to go ahead in July 2021. Lawyers for Australian Country Choice are contesting the gym’s location in an industrial zone. Until the court dispute is settled, TotalFusion cannot open its Morningside outlet.

Not in This Neighbourhood

In December 2020, Australian Country Choice had also lodged a legal dispute with Bulimba-based Revel Brewing Co, which submitted a development application (DA A005586380) to open another restaurant, bar and brewery along a three-building complex on 82 Colmsie Road.

The beef supplier said that patrons of the brewery won’t likely enjoy dining in an area with a meat processing facility.

In an appeal filed with the Planning & Environment Court, ACC’s lawyers stated that the construction of Revel “will result in, or has the potential to result in, adverse and unreasonable constraints being placed upon the lawful operation of the present and future industrial uses as intended/approved on the land and adjoining industry zoned/designated properties.”

The Council is not commenting on the disputes, citing that it’s up to the courts to decide.