Built on belief and capability
Founders Jono and Adam were inspired by the natural beauty of Bells Beach and the people and style of Surf Coast, but uninspired by the beer.
In their day jobs, they engineered some of the world’s finest cars, working for Ford Motors in the UK, USA and even Bavaria - gigs that happily provided a wealth of beer drinking experience.
Bells Beach Brewing was built on the belief that they could combine their engineering experience from decades working on billion dollar automotive development programs with their equally experienced tastebuds, to produce beer that could rival any in the world.
The first few years
Following 3 years of up-skilling and experimentation, the boys brought their first beer to market. The Southside Saison subsequently won a Silver at the Craft Beer Awards. Not a bad first effort. Buoyed by positive feedback and early sales, Jono and Adam began expanding the core range by gypsy brewing around the Geelong and Surf Coast.
In 2017 they decided it was time to put down roots of their own, and after approaching renowned sports photographer Jeff to purchase some of his surfing photos, the team gained the third member of the Bells Beach Brewing crew.
Built ourselves a home
Following a long search the boys landed in Baines Crescent, tucked away in the heart of Torquay’s famous surf retail and outlet hub. Then the hard work really started. Full time day jobs meant early mornings and all nighters to brew, package and tweak the taproom. It's amazing what you can achieve on pure adrenaline... and IPA! 6 long months of project management, DIY construction and collaboration later, the doors to the Torquay taproom officially opened in December 2018.
With more taps to fill, the boys got busy working on new brews, while Jeff travelled the region expanding our wholesale footprint. To help resource our growth, we welcomed a team of passionate investors, who believe in our vision and continue to share our journey. Despite the impact of lockdowns, 2020 saw us spread our wings to the big city of Geelong, opening our second taproom in the entertainment precinct of Little Malop Street. With more demand than we could satisfy, we also expanded our Torquay operations - taking over the second building (thanks to Hillbilly Foods for the assist) and enhancing our hospitality footprint and increasing production and packaging capacity.
All grown up
With our venues building a loyal fanbase, and the beers seeing strong sales throughout the state, the team needed to grow. With some changes at the top, we first built up the brewing team, recruiting local legend - and ultimate beer fan - Kevan. Kev has since earned a reputation as the hardest working bloke in the room, and a genuine star of the Australian brewing scene. Of course, all that beer meant more demand, leading us to welcome back our former venue manager Doug as brand ambassador and sales extraordinaire.
Building on this success, we’ve since added Toto and Jace, as well as everyone’s favourite FOH manager Sheds and his taproom team. This crew work, live and breathe Bells Beach Brewing and it’s this passion that makes us unique, and we couldn't make such an awesome product or serve our community without them
The fun continues
Jono and the brew team have been pumping out exceptional limited releases ranging from Triple Hazy IPAs to Strawberry Sours, collaborating with some of Victoria's best breweries and developing an increasingly refined core range.
Ad has rekindled his love of live music, working with some local legends to turn our Torquay HQ into a live bandroom to be reckoned with. From the legendary dub stylings of Mad Professor, to all-day dance parties from some of Australia’s best underground DJs, to blues legend Ash Grunwald and the signature craziness of Bob Log III. With a DIY attitude and a love for raucous live performance, our stage setup continues to expand, and we’re always looking for new talent to platform or regional tours to support.
