- Local Loves
What the locals are loving: Stomping Ground Brewing Co
From the crack team behind The Local Taphouse and GABS Craft Beer Awards comes Stomping Ground, champions of inclusivity, sustainability and great beers.
Stomping Ground Brewing Co in Collingwood, Victoria, has a big legacy to live up to. Back in the 1850s, the suburb was teeming with breweries but over the decades it became a beer wasteland. “We were the first brewery to open in Collingwood in over a hundred years. We felt we were bringing brewing back to its original stomping ground,” co-owner Guy Greenstreet says of how the brewery landed its name.
The name also talks to a sense of community. “A stomping ground is a place people feel at home,” Guy explains. “We wanted our brewery to be a hub where people could enjoy each other’s company.”
The Stomping Ground crew has a long history of creating spaces for people to celebrate beer. Before this brewery, they opened The Local Taphouse with locations in both Melbourne and Sydney and started the GABS Craft Beer and Cider Festival. In those days though, they were selling other people’s beers. When they opened Stomping Ground in 2016, they started to make their own. “We wanted to create amazing beers but with a view to bringing everyone along for the ride,” the brewer says. “Our brand values are about being inclusive and celebrating diversity.”
That inclusivity means there’s a beer for everyone. “We have a whole range of beers from things that are very accessible to the more pointy beers,” he says. “We really want Stomping Ground to be for everyone, no matter where you are on your beer journey.”
Beer you can feel good about
Beer isn’t the only thing that the Stomping Ground team is passionate about. “We’ve got a social conscience that’s very loud,” Guy says. “We like to support things we feel strongly about.” That includes partnering with organisations such as the LGBTQIA+ Midsumma Festival, and SCARF, a social enterprise that helps get young asylum seekers into jobs.
Stomping Ground is also working hard in the sustainability space, from food waste and ethical sourcing initiatives in its venues to making better choices around energy use, packaging and freight in the brewery. “We’re doing everything we can but I think you just have to continuously look for ways of improving,” Guy says.
At the cellar door
As well as a warm welcome, you can also expect an ever-changing roster of beers when you visit Stomping Ground Collingwood. “We have a beer list that’s different every single time you come,” says Guy. “There’s always going to be some staples but there’s always going to be something new and interesting and different, as well.”
Must-try beers from Stomping Ground
Give these cans a go – easy-drinking pale ales, a fruity sour and the Victorian IPA winner of our 2023 Best of Beer Awards.
The Stomping Ground Hop Stomper IPA is a West Coast IPA style with a difference. “It’s a bit more pale than a typical West Coast IPA,” Guy says. “It’s hop-forward with big tropical characters and is super drinkable.”
Guy says the Stomping Ground Big Sky Hazy is very approachable. “Hazy pales tend to be quite aromatic and quite hoppy in flavour without that bitterness that comes through in other beer styles. This one is 4.3% and a real crowd pleaser,” he says.
If you’re a fan of sours, you have to put the limited edition Stomping Ground Peach Smash on your list to try. Made with real peaches, it has a hint of salt and a good hit of sour.
Head to Gipps St, Collingwood, and you can enjoy this pale ale in situ – at the Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall. (You’ll also find it at Stomping Ground Moorabbin and at Melbourne Airport Terminal 3 – the first working brewery inside an airport in Australia). Can’t make it to Melbourne? Buy the Stomping Ground Gipps St Pale Ale in cans and experience the citrus and tropical flavours at home.
Products featured are available from 15/11/23 to 26/12/23, while stocks last. Some products or varieties featured may not be available in all stores.
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