Who Brews FICK Beers?

January 6, 2020, by Matt Aitken

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Who Brews FICK Beers?

Perched on the outskirts of Brisbane’s northside, FICK Brewing have joined the emerging brewing hub of Northgate. Hot on the heels of Aether’s relocation, owners Nadresha Costa and Fabrizio Ceccarelli have brought their European influence to the gateway of Brisbane’s north. 

Taking inspiration from Luxembourg and Belgium, FICK blend their European flair for brewing with food to create a unique experience for locals in what's a typically industry-dominated location. Just weeks into their existence, they've already proven a hit with tradies and white-collar workers alike flocking to the venue, while their beer garden is a great setting to close out the working week.

The European style menu created in the kitchen features the aptly named Luxemburger, French style pizza, currywurst hot dogs and a selection of Australian and imported cheeses, dips and deli meats as well as a collection of boutique spirits and wines.

At time of writing, they had just commissioned their brewery; there were two FICK beers brewed offsite on tap: a Red IPA and a Golden Ale. Filling out the taps are offerings from other Aussie brewers, including Glass House, Madocke and Otherside.

We got in touch with the founders to find out more for our Who Brews...? series.


FICK BREWING

FICK co-founder Nadresha Costa behind the bar at their newly-opened Northgate brewery venue.

 

Who are you?

Fabrizio Ceccarelli was a historian working in museums in Luxembourg and Nadresha Costa was working in business development at an engineering consultancy.


Where do you brew?

We brewed at Glass House Brewery to get some beers in kegs but now onsite at FICK in Northgate (see setup below).


Why do you brew?

Because we love beer, love being creative, and love being our own bosses. 


Was there a beer or a moment that set you on the path to becoming a brewer?

Nadresha: Fabrizio got (unofficially) educated in Belgian beers while studying his degree in Brussels, Belgium. When I moved to Luxembourg, we both shared a love of discovering new beers and ended up created our own nanobrewery – Neudorf Valley Brew. 

Our passion for beers just kept growing and in the end we made plans to move back to Australia to open our own brewery. 

 

The FICK beer garden in action.

What beers have you released to date?

A Red IPA and a Golden Ale. 


Where can people find your beers?

Onsite at the brewpub in Northgate.


What’s the inspiration behind the brewery name?

There was a rundown brewery on the street where we lived in Luxembourg that was originally named Brasserie Henri Funck. It was decommissioned in 1982 and some vandals had changed the remaining letters around to read FICK. 

It stood like that for many years and when we were planning our brewery in Australia, I took it as a sign; it’s an homage to that brewery in its dilapidated state.


What beers are in your fridge right now?

A few Garage Project, a Grifter, and a couple of Green Beacons – the Fathom Series – and a dry-hopped sour.

 


Which beers are found in your fridge most frequently?

It’s rarely the same. There’s a great bottleshop up the road that we go to that stocks new beers every week so we’re always spoilt with new options. Other than that, the occasional repeat Belgian beer that we just can’t pass up. 


Where do you hope your brewery will be ten years from now?

Hopefully nailing traditional Belgian brewing techniques in a tropical climate. 

Apart from that, just fully stocked with our ten taps cranking. We just want to be local and service our local community so full fermenters is where it’s at for us.


FICK is located at 108 Old Toombul Road, Northgate.

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