Australia's reigning Indies Champion Brewpub has new owners, with All Hands Brewing House snapped up by Signature Hospitality Group last week.
Signature, which counts TGI Fridays, The Sporting Globe and Foresters Restaurant and Bar in Brisbane within its portfolio, purchased the brewpub for $20 million from Red Rock, owner of venues including Melbourne craft beer pioneer Cookie, the PJ O’Brien’s Irish Pubs and others in Perth and Cairns.
Signature CEO James Sinclair told The Crafty Pint the group was excited about their first move into brewing, particularly given All Hands’ location overlooking Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
“With a strong heritage in craft brewing and a passion for high-quality food and sports entertainment, All Hand Brewery House aligns with our values,” he said.
The site has a long history as a brewpub, initially opening as a James Squire brewhouse in 2004. It later become aligned with Bluetongue Brewery before becoming King Street Brewhouse, which was home to the Red Tape Brewing Company beers brewed in-house.
More recently, Red Rock undertook major renovations and installed a new brewery where, under the All Hands banner, head brewer Sam Clayman's beers saw them claim Champion Brewpub and Champion NSW Brewery at the Independent Brewers Association’s 2019 awards.
“The site’s rich heritage in craft brewing was very impressive and attractive to us,” James says. “We’ve seen craft beer boom over the past few years and are excited about the award-winning beers being produced on site.”
As for what’s changing, he says not much. Sam is staying on as head brewer and, while you might start to see more All Hands appears in other Signature venues, James says the focus for now is on tweaks to the Darling Harbour brewpub.
“We’re currently looking to enhance the alfresco and dining areas alongside the craft brewery but it’s still business as usual,” he says.
“Our brewers always have a few ideas up their sleeve, but you’ll have to wait to find out.”