Rocky Ridge Brewing Co. has never done things by halves. Founded by husband-and-wife team Hamish and Mel Coates on the family’s century-old dairy farm near Busselton, the brewery has grown from humble South West beginnings into one of WA’s most talked-about names in beer. With four brews in last year’s WAGFG Top 25 Beer awards and a cult following that stretches across the state, they’re now pouring their energy into Perth.
First came a northern suburbs outpost in Duncraig, and next up is Burswood, where Rocky Ridge is set to take over the former Fox Fridays site with a larger, family-friendly venue. We sat down with Hamish to talk about why now was the right time to expand, how the farm continues to shape their beers, and what’s next for the brand.
You’ve been busy—opening in Duncraig and now taking over the former Fox Fridays site in Burswood. Why was now the right time to expand?
It’s an exciting time here at Rocky Ridge! We figure there is never a right time, and the old saying goes ‘the best time to plant a tree is yesterday’ — likewise the best time to open a new venue. So we figured why the hell not. We love bringing the freshest, best beers to WA. Since opening Duncraig one of the most commonly asked questions we’ve been asked is: “when are you opening further south?” Well, here we are!
Was opening multiple Perth locations always part of the plan, or did these opportunities just land in your lap?
We’ve always had a mind to having our own venues, so that we can keep a ridiculous amount of Rocky Ridge on tap and flowing (I mean, who else has 40 taps?), though to be honest, this one definitely fell in our lap so to say.
Who’s the ideal customer for each venue? For example, is the larger Burswood site better suited to families and big groups compared to Duncraig?
Our customers are like us — wanting to explore flavours, bring bold ideas to the table and push the boundaries of what beer is. Our venues are designed to become part of the local community. Duncraig is all about connection and being able to switch off while Burswood will be all about families, group events and the afternoon knock-off beers. We’re always happy to adapt, its a huge part of being Rocky Ridge — we are always looking for ways to do things better and to be a better part of the community.
Will each location have its own tap list, events, or vibe, or are you aiming for a similar experience across the board?
Like all of our beers, each venue will have its own vibe and personality but with the Rocky Ridge ‘down to earth’ attitude. You should feel like you’re in your mates backyard or at home and relaxed whenever you visit us. Our tap lists will always be evolving, with each venue having some unique beers . That said, all of our releases will always be available at each of our venues.
One thing will 100% remain common: an unwavering commitment to being the best ‘us’ we can be.
There’s a rumour you’re expanding to the east coast—can you set the record straight?
We’re already there! We set up our Brunswick venue over a year ago, which has been a huge learning experience, but also helped us to fine tune our offerings and learn some new tricks!
Rocky Ridge has a bit of a cult following in WA. How did you build that community, and what keeps people engaged? And if the east coast rumours are true, how would you go about creating that same following over there?
Honestly, it’s incredibly humbling to be considered in that way. We’re just a bunch of misfits having some fun and making products that we believe in, and now also bringing experiences that we enjoy, to a wider audience. We’ve taken a similar attitude to Brunswick. It’s all about growing roots before you grow the tree — a strong base and strong community will always be there, which is why it’s so important to be actively involved at a grass root level.
Do you approach connecting with your audience differently in Perth versus the South West?
We’re just trying to bring a bit of the South West lifestyle to the big city, which means helping everyone to disengage from the day to day, take a step back and smell the… beers. In all seriousness, our job is to make people smile and we take that obligation with all of the weight it deserves. That means that we will be forever adapting, listening to our community needs, and responding to them.
Speaking of the South West, the brewery is on your old family dairy farm near Busselton—what does that connection mean to you?
We’re based in Jindong which is about 15 kms south of Busselton, in the “food bowl” of the southwest — home to some of the most prime pastures you’ll find). It’s our home, and always will be, with our family having recently celebrated 100 years here on the farm. With that comes a huge weight of responsibility — responsibility to protect our lands and natural resources which has in turn shaped our attitude towards environmental responsibility and custodianship being that we all need to make meaningful steps and embrace positive changes such as reducing CO2 emissions, removing plastics, reducing water usage and increasing biodiversity.
When did the dairy stop operating, and how did the shift to brewing come about? Was there anything in between?
The dairy farm has been slowly phasing out over the past 5 years, and has just reached its final closure stage. As with most things, the story starts with a night of too many beers, leading to a lightbulb moment: “We could do that”, and as they say, the rest is history! We now run a beef herd alongside the brewery, with plans to bring much of our restaurant procurement in house.
How does the farm’s history shape what you’re doing today?
Honestly, it’s been a crazy change but one that embraces the farming of tomorrow. Value added agriculture is incredibly important to the future of farms like ours and we are in a unique position to be able to support not only agriculture on our own site, but also farmers throughout the region. From our certified sustainable, carbon neutral, single origin malt from Tolga Farms (this deserves its own story… by working with Tolga Farms we reduced the emissions of our malt by a whopping 70% and this is just one project) to using waste fruit from farmers to add flavours to beer and working with the new and diversified hop growers of the South West and experimenting with our own unique ingredients on site.
We live in a brewers heaven. We can grow almost anything down here, and that means the sky is the limit as to what we can achieve with our beers. Not only this, but we can work in our supply chain directly to minimise the food miles required, maximise the flavour and to ensure that the crops and ingredients we use are farmed in the best ways possible. What’s not to love about that?
Last year, you had four beers in the WAGFG Top 25 Beer awards—what’s the secret to that consistency?
There are so many factors that go into making good (or great) beers. A whole lot of this comes down to being able to use the best, top quality, locally grown ingredients. Working directly with farmers, reducing the synthetic inputs and ensuring that everything that goes into our beer is the best it possibly can be. Couple this with amazing people, who care passionately about the quality of products we are putting out and we believe we have an amazing formula for consistency.
How do you decide which beers stay in the core range and which are limited releases? And is there a particular style you see trending right now?
With great difficulty, but seriously, our core range is ever changing and evolving just like our tastes. We use our limited release series to fine tune ideas, to explore new techniques and flavours to make the next core range releases bolder, and better than the last. We’ve learnt not to be shy when it comes to to trying new things. Ultimately, the worst that can happen is that we get feedback that shapes our next iteration, and our next trials!
The industry is facing pressure with rising costs and taxes, and we’ve seen a lot of craft breweries going into voluntary administration and folding, how do you see this playing out and where do you think the craft beer industry is headed?
Saving the hard hitting questions for last! Wowee. There has been a lot of change over the last few years, and I think we are going to see more in the next few years. I see a lot of this change as a wakeup call — that we (as an industry) need to be more focussed on running smart businesses, that fill a niche or bridge a gap in our communities.
For us at Rocky Ridge, I see this as a need to invest in experiences for our customers. We need to create a journey through local provenance and an understanding of why supporting local artisans is so important because it creates a real connection between farm and table and allows us to weave a narrative through flavour.
Finally, what’s the five-year vision for Rocky Ridge? More expansion, or time to regroup after all the big changes of 2025?
Ask me in 5 years! But in all seriousness, we have some exciting things in the pipeline and are looking to continue improving our production, find some efficiencies and expand on our portfolio of products. I see there being a huge opportunity in the coming years to solidify our connection to our local communities, both here in WA and in Victoria, bringing amazing local beers to a fridge near you!