BREWING IN SURFERS
THE co-owner of a flash new Gold Coast brewpub has placed his faith in Surfers Paradise, adamant the suburb will soon boom.
BOBs Beer chief operating officer Dhi Vig believes Surfers is already on the up and he expects his venue boasting 16 taps and “sophisticated” restaurant fare will help drive further investment.
He pointed to development of oceanside Cali Beach Club, due to open early this year, as another example of the changing face of the party precinct after the coronavirus crisis hit.
“A lot of new businesses are coming. Things are changing,” Mr Vig said. “I would say in a year or so a lot more will be happening in Surfers Paradise.
“There’ll be more venues like us, giving an experience no one has in Surfers now.
“I see people say Surfers Paradise needs rejuvenation, that things are not great – but I see locals here all the time already.
“Surfers Paradise is known around the world, not just Australia, and when people talk about the Gold Coast they talk about Surfers Paradise.”
BOBs, on the corner of Elkhorn and Orchid avenues, is due to open on Monday after the COVID-19 crisis resulted in delays.
“They (Gold Coast City Council) were very accommodating and the approval process was easy but the build was difficult considering the size of the equipment,” Mr Vig said.
“We also had COVID, so we had to stop construction during that period and that slowed things down.”
BOBs (best of beers) will split its taps — eight will be used to pour craft beers from New Zealand and Australia and eight will be dedicated to creations by BOBs head brewer Ryan Fullerton, who moved from Victoria in late 2019.
The former Clifton Hill Brewpub worker has relished the chance to create his own brewhouse for the first time.
“It was a massive undertaking. There’s been challenges and setbacks but now it’s set up this brewery is running like an absolute dream,” he said. “It was winter in Melbourne when I stepped off the plane, 22C here and I just thought, ‘yeah, I could get used to this’.
“You have to have the passion for high-quality beer and talk to people drinking it. There’s just a piece of glass here between me and the people drinking my beer – I hope they come and say g’day.”
About 35 workers have been employed at BOBs, which will be open every day from midday to midnight.