Whitfords Brewing Company to be home to one of WA’s longest bars

TALK about a key plank.

Hillarys is to boast one of WA’s longest bar tops with enough bench space to line up about 260 pint glasses if you’re drinking from the 8.5cm-diameter variety.

The 22m service area is a major talking point for Whitfords Brewing Company, which opens on September 21 as part of the Whitford City redevelopment.

The craft brewery has attracted unprecedented interest from locals, with owners Beerland achieving the biggest response in company history when they put a call out for community support during planning.

The bar’s initial batch of beer will be prepared at sister venue the Northbridge Brewing Company.

Master brewer Ken Arrowsmith, best known as the bearded face of the former Emu Bitter logo, expected about 300 kegs on hand to cater for the 750-capacity venue’s debut.

“I’m just hoping that it will last long enough for us to finish commissioning the new brewery and get some beer coming out of the pipes up there,” he said.

The pub’s first in-house brew is due to begin flowing during October.

It is the only brewery between Perth and Mindarie in the northern suburbs.

Beer swillers can expect a core range of IPA, lager, wheat, pale ale and kolsch offerings to match that of the Northbridge venue.

Special releases would follow.

“We’re going to be looking at the more traditional English styles,” Mr Arrowsmith said.

“If the demand’s there… I can easily see an ESB (extra special bitter) or an English mild becoming part of the core range.”

He said Beerland had been looking for expansion options since it opened its Northbridge venue in 2014.

The plans for Whitfords had been about two years in the making.

“It’s very difficult to find the combination of the right location, the right landlord and the right premises,” he said.

In keeping with its theme of craftsmanship, the bar features wood recycled from Fremantle Foundry, Perry Lakes Stadium and Dalgety Wool Stores.

Some of the timber is more than 120-years-old.

The venue has landed the services of Kevin Luke, formerly of The Royal in East Perth, as its head chef.

A skydeck, which can hold about 160 people, has views to the ocean.

The pub will be offering opening specials of $9 tasting paddles, $9 CANimals (1L takeaway cans) and $20 pizza and pints.

A 6-7pm happy hour will run every day until the end of the Queens Birthday long weekend.

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