The Stepney brewery will open a miniature production site inside Tonsley’s Boiler House, bringing a bar, restaurant, café and bottle shop offering to the site.

The opening of a microbrewery at the Tonsley Innovation District has been long-heralded, and now Little Bang Brewing Company is setting up shop at the historic Boiler House.

This will be the fourth iteration of Little Bang Brewing, which originated in founder Filip Kemp’s garage, before moving to Union Street and then Henry Street in Stepney.

Boiler House will be the brewery’s first expansion since being bought by the Duxton Pubs Group, and will act as a site for experimental small batches of both beers and seltzers.

“Creativity and innovation are at the heart of what we do at Little Bang,” said Oscar Matthews, who became co-CEO at the brewery after the Duxton sale, sharing the title with founder Ryan Davidson.

“This expansion for the brewery, as well as the addition of a second location is going to give Little Bang more opportunities to push boundaries with our beer and our brewing operation.”

The Boiler House site will operate seven days, with a café, restaurant, bar and bottle shop all being part of the offering.

The current Boiler House at Tonsley Innovation District. This picture: Renewal SA.

According to a joint media release from Duxton Pubs Group and the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Nick Champion, the pub group has indicated it will also explore opportunities to work with Renewal SA’s Works Program to include an education component at the site.

“The businesses that make up the Tonsley Innovation District are known for their forward thinking and reimagining of services and products for the betterment of the clients they serve,” Renewal SA general manager of project delivery and property Todd Perry said.

“What The Duxton Group has come up with for the Boiler House certainly continues that theme because they will retain the important elements – the raw, utilitarian character of the exposed pipes that complements the historic conversion of the nearby Main Assembly Building – and adapt it into a fresh new space that will service a new wave of Tonsley workers, plus students, residents and visitors.”

The mezzanine level of Boiler House will be used for private functions, culinary training and development and educational workshops and events for the tenants and students of Tonsley, as well as being open to the general public.

Ed Peters, chairman of Duxton Pubs Group, said he hoped the site will feed into the organisation as a whole, functioning as a site for staff training and induction.

“Tonsley’s ethos centres around innovation and we want to be innovators in our sector,” Peters said.

“Our goal is to continue to drive significant hospitality jobs growth, and skills and training development opportunities for South Australians.”

In 2021, our sister news publication InDaily reported the originally touted tenants for the site, Kidd Retail Group — of Lady Burra Brewhouse and Kitchen — were moving off-site as their plans for the precinct fell through.

KRG owner Steven Kidd blamed increasing costs in the midst of the global pandemic had blown the budget, with the company and Renewal SA agreeing to part ways in 2020.