Hold on! The local craft beer scene is set to explode.
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After a long battle with local council, Gerringong's Prosser family - owners of the Stoic Brewery - will finally be able to start realising their dreams.
The small brewery is set to see a massive expansion completed within the coming months which owner Andrew Prosser says has been a long time coming with many roadblocks along the way.
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The micro-brewing business was given a five-year trial by Kiama Council upon its opening which restricted what the business was able to do.
"We couldn't grow...it was honestly really unrealistic," Andrew said.
"Regulation was really tough, the authorities didn't even really know what a brewery was...they thought the business might have a negative community impact," he said.
The restraint put the business in a tricky and somewhat threatening position.
"It impacted our ability to borrow. As a business that relies on capital investment, it put us in a tough spot."
The purchasing of stainless steel vats, and all the equipment that goes into building a brewery, is very expensive and not something that many people are able to pay upfront.
"It's like building a house for $600,000 and being told in five years you might have to demolish it," he said.
"We have been operating for over three years and from all the great feedback I think we have proven the positive community impact," he said.
Luckily, the new council has viewed the business very differently and has lifted the trial period citing it as "not justifiable".
"The new council has been super positive and I can't speak more highly about them," he said.
"They really saw the situation from our point of view."
The removal of the restraint on Stoic means they can finally start to move froward with the expansion they have desired for so long.
Stoic Brewery entered the craft beer industry three and a half years ago, when Andrew who was an electrician at the time decided to start up the business with his dad Steve.
"We were part of a craft beer club, we would do blind taste testings and by the end of every night, someone would say 'let's open a brewery' and one day we decided, 'why not?'" Andrew said.
"The first year was really about pioneering a craft beer industry on the South Coast. There really wasn't too much around," he said.
"It was confronting. We had a lot of people going 'what even is this stuff?'. It took time to get to the point where it was a common thing."
The local brewery has had to deal with a lot of adversity over the years with fires, floods and COVID throwing a number of hurdles in their direction.
"COVID was absolutely brutal. We lost tourism and we didn't have a cannery until eight months ago, which did help in the second wave to soften the blow but even then the sales weren't great," Andrew said.
The small brewery has shown strong resilience to push through and the expansion should allow Stoic to be in its finest form yet.
The business recently purchased five new tanks which will bring their weekly output from about 2000 litres to 5000 litres.
"We did probably like 90,000 to 100,000 litres of beer last year and now you can times that by four if not five," he said.
The business will also see their capacity expand from 50 patrons to 120, which will assist in cutting down the queue they so often see during their busiest periods.
Now customers will be able to watch the brewing process while enjoying either a beer or coffee which is another market they are moving into.
"That's kind of always been our goal. We've always wanted everyone who comes to the brewery to be able to get the full experience," he said.
This expansion will see the 15 person team expand to 30 as well as opening hours increase from 11-7 to around 8 or 9pm.
Even as the business grows, Andrews says their ethos will always remain the same; to make the best beer possible.
"For us, we aren't trying to launch a new beer every week...every beer we make, we want to make really good. If it doesn't meet our standard we'll go back and brew it until it is," he said.
"It's not about making as many beers as we can. It's just about bringing the best to our customers."
Andrew couldn't say enough great things about the local community of Gerringong and their immense support of their small business.
"The community is so great, they've been backing us from the beginning," he said.
"My dad (Steve) is a 60-year-old local, so we've been a part of the community for a long time."
"They've been screaming at us to expand. They get annoyed when they come down on a Saturday and we are full so they have to line up," Andrew joked.
"If you are visiting and supporting local businesses, then we'll be able to keep the money within the community."
Andrew says Stoic will continue to push the boundaries as a brewer and continue to welcome the community of the Shoalhaven with open arms.
"This right now is the dream and we couldn't be happier."