BALTER BREWING COMPANY

By Rory Switzer.

When we were kids, many of us dreamt of one day being glorified professional athletes. These dreams were slowly but surely abolished by factors out of our control such as bad genes, lack of opportunity, laziness or simply being born in the wrong month of the year (read the book “Outliers”!).

Then came our mid-life dreams, consisting of one day throwing in the towel to our mundane day jobs to open up a sports bar or beer brewery with some mates. For most of us, these too never came to fruition due to factors such as student debts, mortgages, mouths to feed… and the fact that we “invest” lots of our hard earned cash into other bars and breweries (the return being what we drink).

Then come along four guys that have realised both of the aforementioned dreams and are currently living them in our backyard. NOT. FAIR… but good on you, fellas.

Gold Coast legends—three-time world champ surfer Mick Fanning, one-time world champ Joel Parkinson, along with pro tour surfers Josh Kerr and Bede Durbidge have ventured into the craft brew game, and they are making all of us super jelly… and thirsty.

Setting up shop in Currumbin, Balter Brewing Company (“Balter” means to dance artlessly without particular grace or skill, but usually with enjoyment) is located in the heart of the Gold Coast where they will soon be launching tastings, brewery tours, special events, live music, and food truck nights.

The boys are pumped to soon become a part of the growing the Gold Coast craft beer culture, joining the likes of Burleigh Brewing and Byron’s Stone & Wood.

Joel Parkinson, when live on Sunrise excitedly stated, “It’s quite funny that I’ve gone from a dream job as a pro surfer to now a… I guess chief tasting officer here at Balter… I’m not complaining about my lifestyle choices at all!”. He sounds stoked. And we can’t blame him.

The crew are due have their liquid pride and joy hit local taps in March with plans to open their doors to the public by April.

Cheers to living vicariously through these inspiring blokes for another few years!

Balter Brewing Company website coming soon.

Header image: Shutterstock

Social image: Mick Fanning Facebook