Mount Gambier’s very own Little Rippa Brewing Company is set to expand with a licenced brewery and taphouse to be built at Yahl.
Business Owners Lachy and Taryn Mutton (pictured), who also own Sorrentos Café, had been discussing the project for several years and said they were excited to see it come to life.
“We’re so excited, there’s been so much planning going into it over the last few years,” Ms Mutton said.
“To see it all come together is just going to be amazing.”
The couple is hoping the project will be completed in time for summer 2021, with works set to start in coming weeks.
Mr Mutton started brewing beers as a hobby in 2010.
“I started making wholegrain beer, brewing with kit beers as a recreational thing,” he said.
“Then I got more intrigued by it and wanted to learn about making beer from the raw product and the whole grain.”
After encouragement from friends to put his beers on tap at Sorrentos Café, Mr and Ms Mutton obtained the licencing in 2017 to brew beer to sell and Little
Rippa was born.
They started off with two taps, which increased to five taps and an expansion of brewery equipment due to public demand.
The whole product is crafted at their Yahl property, from milling the grain right through to the packaging, which is clean and minimalist and uses recyclable materials.
Little Rippa is made with South Australian grains, Australian hops and yeast supplied through Adelaide wholesalers.
Mr and Ms Mutton have a lengthy background in hospitality and after lots of requests from people wanting to visit the brewery, they decided to take the plunge.
“Especially a lot of the tourists, they want to see the brewery, they want to see where the beer is being made, they want to have that experience of actually visiting the brewery,” Ms Mutton said.
Based in a rural setting just five minutes from Mount Gambier, the brewery and taphouse will be able to cater for up to 150 patrons at a time.
There will be meals and drinks available with a diverse menu which will change weekly and provide patrons with a paddock-to-plate experience.
Mr Mutton said the family-friendly venue would cater for all ages, with indoor and outdoor areas, plenty of spaces for kids to run and play and woodfire-style cooking.
Mr and Ms Mutton plan to incorporate their passion for sustainability into the project.
“We want to focus on local produce, growing a lot of it ourselves and we’re also working on our sustainability with our water usage and that sort of thing,” Ms Mutton said.
Little Rippa is already stocked at various venues around the region including Sorrentos Café, The Barn, Commodore on the Park, Bay Pizzeria, Somerset Hotel in Millicent, Presidential Hotel, Beachport Hotel, the Caledonian Inn at Robe and Naracoorte Hotel.
The range includes a Postmasters Pale Ale, Fat Snooza XPA, Fully Lit Grapefruit IPA, Red Dog Ale, Midnight Porter and a new mid-strength lager.
A Wild Muntries Summer Ale will soon join the list, which is a seasonal beer that uses fresh muntries from Tantanoola.
