One of Australia's major craft brewers has unveiled plans to set-up a business in Merewether.
Mona Vale-based Modus Operandi recently lodged a development application with City of Newcastle to establish a site across two blocks in Merewether Street.
Planning documents show the award-winning company wants to re-purpose a light industrial building, previously used by a spray-painting business, to create a brewery and hospitality venue.
Owners Grant and Jaz Wearin told the Newcastle Herald they had settled on the premises after "years" of looking for a Newcastle site.
Mr Wearin, who has Novocastrian relatives, said the couple had actually wanted to start their craft brewing venture in Newcastle when they first established the business in 2014.
"We started nearly six years ago, and it was going to be in Newcastle, but we stumbled across our current site in Mona Vale so it sort of delayed our plans," he said.
"We've had our eye on Newcastle but it's more site specific, we needed the right site."
Mr Wearin said they had selected the Merewether premises as it allowed for operational "flexibility". Mrs Wearin described it as "the perfect location".
"It's an old spray-painters," Mr Wearin said. "It's a unique site.
"We've got some exciting architectural stuff to put in place there and really spruce it up, but it also suits the purpose of being a working brewery as well.
It's a great location, 500 metres from the beach and similar to our current site in Mona Vale.
Modus Operandi owner Grant Wearin
He said the plans followed somewhat of a "trend" of hospitality businesses establishing venues in light industrial buildings and in suburbs outside the city centre.
"It's a format that's familiar to us," Mr Wearin said.
"It's gives you the flexibility on your offerings. We're really, really excited."
Mrs Wearin said it was important for the company to be able to have its brewing completed on site.
Modus Operandi was launched in 2014 and now distributes nationwide. A humble Mr Wearin said the company had "stumbled into a few national awards".
"We've grown significantly from what we started with," he said.
"We were brewing sort of once or twice a week if we were lucky and serving it all out of the pub.
"We've won three of the last five years of Champion Independent Breweries.
"We started with four staff and now we've grown to more than 30."
The couple, who will relocate from the northern beaches to launch the Merwether venue, hope to gain development approval and open by late 2020. The site will have about 20 staff.
Mr Wearin said Modus was a "100 per cent, green-energy brewery" and aimed to have "a carbon footprint as small as possible".
