Jervis Bay Brewing Co is celebrating its 6th birthday and a major Gold Medal win at the NSW Tourism Awards. Discover how co-founders Paul Walker and Oisín Sweeney built the region’s leading community hub, known for its award-winning beer and deeply ethical commitment to the Bay.
There are two reasons to celebrate Jervis Bay Brewing Co – host of the Santa Ride after-party and Bands on the Bay pop-up at Vincentia Sailing Club this month, sponsor of many a community group, venue for art shows and talk fests, and of course, brewer of award-winning beer – a Gold Medal at the NSW Tourism Awards and their Sixth Birthday. We caught up with two of the four founders to find out how they marked the occasion, how they became embedded into the heart of the Bay, and what’s next on the horizon for this iconic craft beer brand.
Last Thursday at the NSW Tourism Awards, the gold medal went to … Jervis Bay Brewing Co! While that accolade may be no surprise to the craft brewery’s many, many local fans, a lot that went into their award entry than you’d think. It’s not just their multi-award-winning beer, although that is a given; it’s not just the exceptional customer experience at the Taproom in Woollamia that their staff create. It’s a long-term, whole-of-business effort that started before they had even brewed a single beer.
Over the past six years (an extraordinarily short time if you think about all the ways that the brand has become part of the fabric of Bay life), Jervis Bay Brewing Co has worked tirelessly to feel ready to enter these awards.
The fact they won the top gong on their very first try is down to the consistent hard work they put in, every day behind the scenes.
Paul Walker, co-founder and head of marketing for the brewery, says this award will help them with greater visibility with the broader tourism industry – a vital element of survival for craft breweries who have all been doing it tough in the past few years.
“We wanted to raise the bar in terms of the experience in the Taproom. How do we make it the best brewery taproom in NSW? Someone said, how do we measure that? Let’s enter the NSW Tourism awards.”
This kind of goal setting and striving for incremental improvements is baked into the DNA of this organisation.
More than Beer. More than Money
“I would say the thing that has made our work relationship and also friendship work the best is that we have shared values on what the business is based on,” says Paul, who founded the brand with head brewer Oisín Sweeney along with Christian Wood and Ben Hutchings in 2019.
Oisín agrees: “We talked about what we wanted even before we raised a penny or brewed any beer.”
The foursome wanted more than money; they wanted the community, the environment and their staff to be equal pillars in the venture. Oisín says: “We didn’t have any employees [yet] but the foundation stones were there.” In peak seasons, the brewery now employs up to 25 people.
Deep Roots into the Bay
They have put down deep roots into the Bay community, starting from the 20 local investors who provided the capital to launch the venture, and branching out via philanthropy, sponsorships, collaborations and simply offering their venue as a community hub.
Oisín says, “Community ownership was embedded right at the start so it made perfect sense to be very community focused, and in hindsight, it’s the best thing we were did.”
The business model put the local community at the centre, with financial goals set around local business, not seasonal tourism dollars (which Paul says, are the icing on the cake).
In the Zone – setting a precedent
The locals-first strategy was also pretty important given their location off the beaten track in the industrial zone of Woollamia, on the bushy outskirts of Huskisson. Over the past six years, many other businesses have taken their cue from the brewers, and the zone is now starting to be referred to as a “makers precinct”.
In the same four-block estate, the brewer’s neighbours now include such local luminaries as the Jervis Bay Shellfish Market, PhycoHealth seaweed innovators, Kraken Sourdough, Jervis Bay Distilling Co and of course, their peers in beer, Flamin Galah.
“It was a risk,” says Oisín of the decision to base operations exclusively in the estate. “But we needed the space as it’s manufacturing, not retail.”
The founders say they came across the location with a bit of luck door-knocking around the estate in the early months of 2019. By that November, they were ready to slide open the giant doors of the Taproom.
Staying Small (ish)
Oisín says, “The difference between a brewery and a pub is that the product is manufactured there and people like the whole ‘grain to glass’ approach now. They like to know where their food comes from and who’s making it. If they ask, we can tell them exactly where the grain comes from, down to the paddock in the Riverina where it was grown. I’ve met a load of the grain growers, I’ve met a load of our hop growers. I’ve stood in the paddock where our organic Nelson Silvan [hops] was harvested.”
Paul quips: “He likes to go on jollies to New Zealand.”
Jokes aside, staying small, being intimately connected to the provenance of their ingredients, and being able to have one-on-one conversations with their customers about their beers is part of the essence of the organisation.
Paul says, “The best way to get, we call it ‘liquid on lips’, for people to try your product is in an environment that matches the brand, and where you can talk to the customer.”
Festivals, Pop-ups and Partnerships
To that end, Jervis Bay Brewing Co likes to venture out of the Taproom and pop-up at as many festivals across the south coast and NSW regional areas as they possibly can. Twice a year, we now eagerly anticipate the Bands on the Bay partnership with the Vincentia Sailing Club, which is due to take over the beachfront zone at Plantation Point again on Saturday 27 December until 4 January, where live music, a range of food trucks and of course, great beverages will enliven the area from 12-8pm daily, including raising funds for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
“It’s an institution now,” Paul says rightly.
One of the most significant initiatives of the past two years, started at the Sailing Club po-ups, was the introduction of re-usable cups – drinkers pay a deposit for a cup to use for their session, and get the money back when they turn in their cup before leaving.
Oisín estimates they have already saved around 20,000 disposable cups from landfill, and only wishes they could extend the program even further.
“Unfortunately no festival will mandate it, so we have to have a little sign up when we do it ourselves, and explain it 500 times a day.”
The repetition, however, is well worth it. As Paul adds, “It’s those little things we’re doing to try to influence the industry.”
Community Spirit
The brewery has supported a charity of the month from the outset and set a target for 1% of their revenue – a portion of every beer sold – to go to charity, which is a massive target for any business. Oisín says that targets are a way for the organisation to strive to become incrementally better, every day – another part of their unique DNA.
In recent months, their philanthropy has supported Médecins Sans Frontières in their work in the Middle East; Good Surf, an adaptive surf school that teaches disabled people to surf, and sent local champ Grace Kennedy to the World Championships (“She came third, I watched it at 5.30am, it was unreal,” reports Paul); Wildlife Rescue South Coast, which has a relentless job of triaging, nursing and re-wilding injured native animals.
Paul adds that they try to support a broad range of charitable organisations, including those focused on mental health. They have hosted “Meet the Candidate” events prior to several elections, offering a forum for people who might not normally become engaged in the political process to ask questions, or simply listen while enjoying a beverage.
They have hosted arts sector talk fests, marine conservation talk fests, local art shows and consistently provide independent musicians with regular paid gigs.
Fires, Floods, Pandemics
Speaking of mental health, within months of opening, the world was plunged into lockdown just as we were coming to terms with catastrophic fires and floods across the South Coast (and beyond).
As good fortune would have it, the dire circumstances actually proved a boon for the brewery.
“Covid was a massive business boost to anyone who was outside a major city in Australia because the lockdowns were bad, but as soon as they were over everyone flocked to regional areas, “recalls Oisín.
Paul says, “We had queues around the corner to get in, we had someone at the gate managing people coming in and out.”
They arranged food trucks such as takeaway pizza, specials on takeaway beer, efficient queues for people to have their re-usable glass containers filled at the taps, and even waiting in line became a social event for many people – and it’s still talked about with gratitude in local circles.
We Haven’t Even Spoken About the Beer!
Half-way through our wonderfully long interview with Paul and Oisín earlier this week, Paul suddenly exclaimed, “We haven’t even spoken about the beer yet, and the beer we make is really, really good. It’s award winning.”
Of course it is.
“We always have beer goals,” Oisín says. “We want to get a minimum of bronze for every beer we enter.” They are still aiming for the coveted trophies but have scored several golds in acknowledgment of their core product.
“No Dickheads” Policy
At the very first business meeting of the four co-founders, two post-it notes were stuck at the top of the whiteboard: “no dickheads” and “when it stops being fun, we stop”.
These two founding principles still underpin the organisation, which has also achieved a coveted accreditation for the ethical operation of their business: B Corp Certification.
This is a designation for businesses who meet very high standards of environmental, social and accountability performance. Jervis Bay Brewing Co received the designation about 12 months ago, after many years of striving to meet the strict criteria and having set the goal at the outset – a natural fit for their shared values as a team.
“It was one of the things we agreed at the very first meeting [to apply for B Corp certification]. It was massively important,” says Oisín, who was “happy enough” working as an ecologist for an NGO when the opportunity arose to create the brewery.
“I didn’t want to just move into a business and start being a hypocrite on everything I’ve always stood for.”
The four partners were totally aligned, and the five-year journey to B Corp certification was realised last November.
“It’s not just a rubber stamp,” adds Paul, “We have to reapply again in three years to prove you deserve it.”
The certification requires organisations to change their Constitution and include a Purpose Statement and a Stakeholder Clause that impacts on the governance of their business at every level. “It doesn’t mean you’re perfect,” says Oisín, “that’s the whole thing. There’s still impact from what we do, like we have to use gas for our water, but B Corp means you are always trying to be better, it’s incremental.”
It means the directors are making decisions that are better for the people and the community as well as the business, and the environment.
While there is no immediate impact of a B Corp certification for their customers, Oisín says it adds depth.
Paul says, “The first way in to a customer is not B Corp, it’s where you’re from, the strength of your brand, the quality of your product. But then they go deeper into the brand, they find out more and more, then there is value in it. We’re walking the walk.”
What the Brewers Drink
Both Paul and Oisín are quick to point out the immense quality of producers across the South Coast, from their fellow brewers who they like to pop in and visit, such as Dangerous Ales, South Yeast and Husky Brewery, and of course their neighbours, Flamin Galah, as well as Old Salt Distillery and Tara Distillery – who incidentally were awarded for the best poitín in the Australian Spirits Awards (“You wouldn’t drink it in Ireland,” says Oisín, “it’s essentially moonshine.”).
They love to visit other craft breweries and boutique producers both in our region and when they travel, probably even more so.
“If I was still in Ireland, I’d be drinking Guinness,” says Oisín, who also admits to having iconic South Australian brand Coopers in the fridge at home.
The Next Horizon
“There’s plenty of headroom to grow,” says Paul, of the capacity of their setup, which currently produces around 250,000 litres of beer per year. But the plans – especially in the current difficult climate for craft beer – is to consolidate their position for the future, to ensure they are around for the community for many years to come.
Summing up the past six years, Oisín says: “Stress and pain!” and Paul, “Rewardingly stressful!” But they would do it all again, if given the chance.
Here’s cheers to the next six years! Congratulations!
