Long-awaited Geraldton microbrewery set to open on Fitzgerald St in August despite setbacks

Geraldton residents will not have to wait much longer for their first taste of a highly anticipated microbrewery set to open in August.

Batavia Brewing Company owners Dennis and Lynette Healy began work on the business in late March after a last-minute objection was overturned.

Mr Healy said great progress had been made on the project since then and they were looking forward to opening the doors at 60 Fitzgerald Street.

However, customers may have to wait a while longer to drink the Batavia Brew as the owners are facing issues with the brew system which are unlikely to be resolved by the opening date.

“We will certainly be ready to open in August, there’s no doubt about that, but whether we’ve got our own beer at the time is going to be the issue. Of course, a microbrewery without its own beer isn’t really a microbrewery is it,” he said.

Despite the setback, they plan to push on with the opening next month.

“It may be that we can only open up with some limited supply of our own stock like ginger beer and cider,” Mr Healy said.

“Everything else will be working so people will be able to come in, have a meal and other people’s beer, not ours. It’s a little disappointing from that point of view, but we’ll get there in the end.”

Patrons can look forward to woodfired pizza straight out of the state-of-the-art oven along with modern bistro food.

Mr Healy said they had received a lot of positive feedback from the community and were keen to keen to open sooner rather than later.

“It’s very exciting but it’s also a little bit dejecting as you can understand when we know we can’t make beer at the moment. I was hoping to be making beer about now so it was ready to serve in early August,” he said.