The awards, which have been in existence for more than 30 years, showcase the best in outstanding customer service, innovation and ongoing business excellence from throughout Australia. Winners across 26 categories are selected from more than 200 finalists by a rigorous judging process and the awards are presented in front of 800 industry peers and officials from across the nation.
Among the winners was the Mornington Peninsula’s own St Andrews Beach Brewery who had earlier won gold at the Victorian Tourism awards to qualify. "It’s safe to say we were completely blown away to have won the category for New Tourism Business at the Australian Tourism Awards last night,” says co-owner Andrew Purchase. He may be a little in shock but is rightfully proud of the achievement. "We would like to thank everyone who has visited the brewery over the past 12 months and our incredible staff for all of their hard work."
St Andrews Beach Brewery is situated on a 92-acre property; formerly known as ‘Markdel’ which was owned by the Freedman Brothers, one of Australia’s most successful horse training families. The stables produced over 100 Group One winning horses, including multiple Melbourne Cup, Caufield Cup, Cox Plate Golden Slipper winning horses, and has been transformed into an architecturally designed brewery with a 180 seater beer pavilion, kitchen and event space. It also proudly boasts a veggie patch and exceptionally large orchard of 8000 apple and pear trees planted on what was once a 1,200m grassed race track. This is a unique and sustainable enterprise, so you couldn't ask for a better place to grow hops, fruit trees and let the chickens roam free.
"To even get into the finalists is a huge achievement. There is a lot of competition across all categories so to win you really have to be the best of the best," says Tracey Cooper, Chair of Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism. " Tourism is a key success factor for our region and one we should be rightfully proud of. We are very proud of the St Andrews Beach Brewery team and all they have achieved. It reflects innovative thinking, creativity, vision, and a lot of hard work. We can’t wait to see where this takes them.”
The motivation for the team from St Andrews Beach Brewery is simple; they love making great beer at their Mornington Peninsula home, but understandably with their venue being once a world-class horse training facility, they are not your average brewery. They are proud to be Australia’s first paddock to pot brewery. While they brew on-site using the finest aroma hops and heirloom variety malt to ensure each beer is full of flavour and character, and spend their days crafting and pouring great brews right from the stable doors, it is the whole experience package that makes them worthy national award winners.
You can find St Andrews Beach Brewery at
160 Sandy Road, Fingal Victoria 3939
Open 7 days
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