It has been one hell of a journey for Two Mates Brewing since owners Grant Smith and Andrew Newton decided South Lismore was the spot to launch their new enterprise in July 2020.

Since that date, there have been issues with Lismore City Council, Councillors, COVID-19 and the February 28 megaflood that ripped through South Lismore like a tsunami. Nothing has been easy.

The resulting damage was enough to test the resilience of any person with the large brewing vats strewn around the Engine Street shed, the electronics ruined and some kegs found kilometres away. The bill to get back online and brewing again is in the six figures, this on top of opening their Brewhouse doors to the public for the first time on 17 December 2021.

Most people would see all of these obstacles as a sign saying "it's just not meant to be" but Grant, Andrew and their family's attitude is "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

In a turning point, Two Mates will begin brewing their own beer in their own vats once again by the end of the month. Since the flood, Two Mates have relied on help from the brewing community so contract brewing.

Andrew explained, "There's four to five different breweries juggling our beers at the moment from all over the North Coast and into the Gold Coast. We've got Black Hops who have done two beers for us, we've got the Stone & Wood boys who have done beers for us, Wandana at Mullum, the boys at Seven Mile at Ballina have done a couple for us with one in tank and another going in next week and we're just about to put some beers into Slipstream in Brisbane as well."

That gives you an indication of how Two Mates has had to do business in the last six months as well as clean up their site in the old railway shed on Engine Street.

As is typical with Grant and Andrew, they take a bite and chew like crazy. As part of their journey north to source brewers and then manage the brewing of their beer range, they saw an opportunity for a taphouse in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast.

(Grant and Andrew out the front of the new taphouse in Varsity Lakes)

For those that are not familiar with the area well, Varisty Lakes is near Bond University and not far from Robina so a ready-made clientele.

"We were up there buying a little brew system that we found on Gumtree and saw the building and thought this is a taphouse presence for us on the Gold Coast. There's a lot of breweries on the coast but you come back towards Robina, which is where we are at Varisty and there's not much at all," Andrew explained, "It gives us brand presence in a good space."

There is a bit of tidying and a small fit-out to do before opening on the 22nd of October.

"At the moment it's a restaurant with a bar area but we want to transform it into a taphouse so it's all about the beer and some cool food."

The difference with South Lismore is Varsity Lakes has a full kitchen so food will be cooked on the property not brought in via food trucks.

There is also a small pilot system to brew 'play' beers. This will be the same system set-up for South Lismore as well.

Pilot systems allow Grant and Andrew to experiment with the types of beers they can make, in many cases, they can be inspired by local produce.

"A guy came in with some fresh local peaches and asked what we could do with them," Grant said, "We can put that challenge to the brewers then they can come up with a little brew of a peach beer. That is just one example. It allows us to have a new unique brew each month for people to taste. If they like it we can make a bigger batch and if they don't we can move on to the next one."

Two Mates is open today from 11am to 8pm and tomorrow (Sunday) between 11am and 7pm, you will find them on Engine Street, South Lismore. On a weekend that will see the sun shining and warm spring temperatures, the beer garden out the back is also open and available for you to take your beer to enjoy.

Another case of a local business doing big things.