Heads up, Sunny Coast! There's a new ex-beer-ience coming with The Malt Shovel Taphouse and live music venue.

An emporium of beer discovery is set to open soon at Stockland Birtinya. The Malt Shovel Taphouse will be the first venue of its kind in Queensland featuring a range of 16 thirst-quenching, cracking and flavour-packing craft beers on tap.

The focus will be on intimate customer service experiences from ‘beer guides’ and the authentic stories and flavours that make craft beer so unique. It will have a changing roster of great beer combined with great people and great food. With private beer tasting zones, roaming brew crews spreading the joy of craft beer, tasting flights and beer appreciation classes, it will be more than a pub- it’s an exbeer-ience.

Featuring 16 rotating craft beers from brewers such as Malt Shovel, White Rabbit, Eumundi, Byron Bay Brewing, Furphy, Kosciuszko, Little Creatures, Brooklyn Brewery and Panhead , the Malt Shovel Taphouse Beer Guides will take customers on a journey into a brave new world of flavour. On the menu expect free range Elgin Valley chicken in a craft beer marinade, Bileola sustainable pork belly, and rolled Sovereign lamb with a wild thyme rub, all slow cooked on a custom-built rotisserie in an open kitchen. Provenance, Sunny Coast produce and beer pairings are at the heart of the kitchen.

The design of the venue has a modern industrial aesthetic with an authentic coastal feel. With bold visuals, large scale murals, fresh greenery, naked timber and aged copper, it has been designed as a modern take on the traditional craft beer venue for the local Sunshine Coast beer lover. Malt Shovel Taphouse will be a casual yet sophisticated backdrop for afternoon drinks, weekend craft beer tasting sessions, special occasions and Sunday sessions.

With live music, bespoke beer events and family entertainment, the venue is set to bring the neighbourhood of Birtinya to life. There is also a 400 capacity events and function space, there is scope for functions, live music concerts, fundraising and signature events.

It will be the first Malt Shovel Taphouse in Queensland and will be operated by award winning hospitality and event outfit Food Focus Australia under a license agreement with Lion.

“Following the very successful launch of the first Malt Shovel Taphouse in Adelaide in late-2018, we are excited to bring a Malt Shovel Taphouse to the Sunshine Coast,” said Gordon Treanor, Lion’s General Manager of Craft.

“Malt Shovel’s fantastic range of beer brands will provide the ultimate ‘exbeer-ience’ for locals and tourists alike, with a great mix of domestic and international craft brews to be available on tap.”

Lead designers for the project Ignite Architects is behind the design and Project Director Jason Marriott said:

“Neighbourhood inspired the venue has been created to be the premier family entertainment destination in Birtinya. With extensive experience in leisure and entertainment venues Ignite has tailored this venue to be non- pretentious to align with the relaxed Sunshine Coast lifestyle.”

Managing Director, Ian Van der Woude said: “It will be a vibrant space celebrating what great beer and food is all about. It will be a meeting place for beer lovers, families and friends and a home for locals to have unique and authentic experiences around craft beer.”

The Malt Shovel Taphouse will open mid-September 2019 and will trade seven days a week with lunch and dinner menus, live music and bespoke events around craft beer.