One Mile is 10!
Brewing beer started out as a hobby for Darwin locals Stuart Brown and Bardy Bayram. From humble beginnings honing home brew in Brown’s shed to today’s operation in Winnellie, these beer lovin’ blokes are still going strong.
One Mile Brewery Co. celebrates 10 huge years this month with one heck of a party, and you’re invited!
By Tierney White
ONE MILE BREWERY Co. was named after One Mile Station, metres from Brown’s shed in Stuart Park where it all began. In the early days, the friends and biz partners spent five years perfecting their recipe before officially launching their liquid gold in August 2014.
Brown and Bayram, a pharmacist and project manager by day, lived double lives to create Darwin’s first local craft beer. In the years since, their brews have occupied the taps of many a local watering hole. But they never really expected things to go this far.
“Look, it was never planned – we never really planned for anything really, we’ve just taken it bit by bit. Even [the brewery], it’s evolved as you’ve probably seen over the years,” Bayram says.
“We moved out to Palmerston there for a couple of years, and we’ve been here [at the brewery] for nearly eight years. Time flies, hey?”
Whatever they’re doing, it’s working. And they’re not afraid to go to the beat of their own drum.
“I think we sort of do our own thing, we don’t really follow trends, we just make our beers to our style and not the style of, say, the judges or anything. It’s a tough industry – the highs are high, and the lows are low – but it’s good.”
The duo is passionate about supporting local organisations, including Darwin International Film Festival and Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival – they even donated their brews to Off The Leash’s brand re-launch party, way back in 2015.
“We always try to give back to the community that supports us throughout the year. They’re great things to support too, you know, it’s great to see that cultural spread as well,” Bayram says.
“It’s really about getting behind those events and supporting them as well, because they support so many others – so many businesses, young groups, bands, dancers – it’s good to see. That does reciprocate through our brand, I think.”
Keen to give beer lovers the full experience, the brewery hosts regular events which have included quiz nights, comedy gigs and sport broadcasts, and they also offer an important space for local musicians.
“We’re definitely trying to grow our music scene. As you can see, the system set-up is pretty intense. We give all the door profits to the people performing … so if they hustle, they can make significant turnover for the night. It’s good to see that industry evolve as well,” Bayram says.
Of course, being a brewery, there’s plenty of food and drink to tuck into. Enjoy a bunch of pizzas and snacks from the menu – including arancini balls, Mongolian beef spring rolls, and hot chippies – washed down with one of their aptly named beers, like the mid-strength Quarter Mile. If beer’s not your thing, sample a ginger beer, cider, seltzer or infused vodka, which is now distilled in-house.
To celebrate their decade milestone, you could say they’re making a song and dance about it, with a bigger-than-ever Territory BAR-BQ Festival.
The birthday fun unfolds at the Darwin Showgrounds over two huge days, with a bunch of barbecue offerings to include smoked meats from different cultural backgrounds, competitions, and bouncing castles for the kids. There’s also one heck of a music line-up, headlined by Aussie alt-rock legends, Spiderbait.
“We thought it’s our 10th birthday, let’s up the ante, let’s bring in a big band. It’s a bit of a pat on the back for us, too – we love Spiderbait.”
Bayram beams as he rattles off the locals, also featured on the line-up.
“We’ve got Dave Garnham, Crystal Robins and her band, Gored Matadors, Jigsaw Collective … they’re all very good!”
Not wanting to hurt the hip pockets of would-be punters, Bayram says they’ve kept ticket prices for the two-day festival as low as possible.
“We’re not charging that much for entry, and we kept that price down so we could get families in so we could sort of give back to the community, as well.”
Head along for two massive days of music, food and fun, and raise a beer, cider, seltzer or vodka to 10 years of One Mile Brewing Co. Cheers to that.
Check out our interview with Spiderbait here.
Territory BAR-BQ Festival
WHEN SAT 5 OCT | 10AM-11PM & SUN 6 OCT | 11AM-6PM
AT DARWIN SHOWGROUNDS
COST $24-$58 | $92-$138 VIP
INFO onemilebrewery.com.au
