Two mates, Matt Bebe & Malcolm Mclean, were celebrating Hawthorn’s 2008 when an idea struck them; “Why don’t we open a brewery?” Unlike most, they followed through. Months of work on a business plan followed before they convinced a group of 20 family & friends to back them to the tune of $1 million.
The brewery opened almost 2 years to the day from it’s conceptualization; on Grand Final Day 2010. Housed in the old exploding golf ball factory on Watt Rd, in a small industrial zone half way between Mornington Racecourse & the town itself, it quickly became one of the hottest breweries in Victoria & was one of the first to nail the modern taproom experience. Brewer Andrew Gow, better known to some of you as “AG”, was making every post a winner. So much so that expansion to a second production site (Latham St) followed but by 2018 the business had reached a crossroads.
Brewery Type
Physical
Region
Mornington Peninsula
Tasting Room
72 Watt Rd, Mornington
The 20 family & friends had taken the business as far as they could, the business required serious capital investment to take it to the next level, while some wanted a return on their initial investment. That confluence of factors led to the decision to sell to Tribe Breweries (who own brands like Stockade & Wilde amongst others particularly in overseas markets).
Once Tribe completed their $35m brewery in Goulbourn, NSW production of the Mornington Peninsula core range beers were moved there. Some would argue this doesn’t make them a Victorian brewery anymore, however it’s my site & I respectfully disagree. The production facility (Latham St) was sold to Hop Nation in August 2020.
Prior to that, in January 2020, an interesting change was afoot. Matt Bebe & original brewer AG were back in the original Watt Rd facility operating under the name Tar Barrel – a famous hill in nearby Red Hill. Matt realized his passion was more aligned with running a brewpub than a nationally distributed brand & with agreement from parent company Tribe, they set about doing just that.
It really is quite similar to what it was before; there’s still the courtyard as you walk in, there’s still the woodfired pizza’s & there’s still the mezzanine area overlooking the stainless steel (one of the best places to have a beer in the Victorian scene). You can even still find the Mornington core range there, supplementing the more experimental stuff being put out under the Tar Barrel label. They’ve also added a distillery, which is something to keep an eye on into the future.
I’m not going to lie, I agonized over whether Tar Barrel needed it’s own entry. As things stand, I’m considering them a sub-brand of Mornington (similar to Mayday Hills at Bridge Road or Coaster at Kaiju). If that changes in the future, & rumours are that it will, I will be sure to update this entry to reflect that.
When I think Mornington, there’s only one beer I think of; Brown Ale. I have loved this little beer for years & I still love it, despite the love it or hate it rebrand they concluded at the end of 2021. You can probably tell which camp I’m in… I’ve loved it for so long that it is one of the beers that inspired this blog way back when. The Brown is an English style Brown Ale with lots of caramel, chocolate & nuttiness coming from the malts. It’s got slight hints of red fruit, moderate carbonation & is one of my go to beers every winter. I will never understand why people don’t find Brown Ale’s sexy, it’s as complex as you’ll get in a 5% beer without being at all pretentious.
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
