A new Boutique Brewery is planned to launch by December in the historic rail yard building in South Lismore.

Two Mates Brewing is the brainchild of former Kookaburra, Olympian and Casino local Grant Smith and his business partner and best mate Andrew Newton.

It is hard to picture the finished product yet as the work is only just beginning on the historic rail yard shed on Engine Street, South Lismore. 

Presently, it is a bit of an eye sore but if you can imagine a community hub that produces local beer during the week then provides a space for people to come and enjoy a beer as well as lunch or dinner from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening with recreation equipment for children as well as live music, local art and local produce, you start to get a feel for what Grant and Andrew want to create for Lismore.

"We wanted to create a Community hub based on where you can take your family on a weekend" Grant told the Lismore App, "My wife and I have 7 daughters from 18 to 3 and we continually ask ourselves what are going to do this weekend?"

"Sure, you can go to some of the regions recreation areas but the novelty wears off because it doesn't engage parents and children".

The inspiration for Two Mates Brewing comes from a visit to the wineries in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and in Tasmania.

"There is nothing like it NSW", Andrew said.

"We want this to be a space that the community can come together and enjoy, it is not just a brewery".

"We need to get the model right. The evolution can be driven by the community."

"A local artist across the road stopped by and asked if he could showcase his metal art in the area then we thought about car clubs that could display their cars in fact we are open to any suggestion from the community. 

"Everything is determined by where people want to take it" added Grant.

"Local art, local music, local clubs can help us define the public space we end up providing". 

The primary operation of Two Mates Brewing is to produce a local beer that the locals love, embrace and support. A local beer that Grant and Andrew hope will end up a national success which then presents opportunities to market the Northern Rivers region to the rest of the country or world.

For concerned local residents the brewery and truck movements will be kept to a minimum so there will be no 3am deliveries waking people in nearby homes.

As for the public days and times, the proposed opening hours STCA are;

• Friday 12pm to 8pm
• Saturday 10am to 8pm
• Sunday 10am to 6pm 

The site in Engine Street has great historical value to Lismore as the shed was the rail yard building that would service the lead trains following the first official journey on May 15, 1894. This means the 126 year old building does have some heritage listing components and is something that Grant and Andrew want to keep and highlight.

"We want to tell a story about this place. We want people to able to come in and look and learn about the history of the building, the site and its importance to the region". 

"There are some old photographs from the early days as well which will be framed and displayed".

"The owners of the land have done some fantastic work on the building, even getting the old Gantry crane operational again", Andrew said.

"We want to maintain the look and feel of this historical site. We will not touch the original window frames or the original rail yard office"

Even the family area at the rear of the building will be keeping with the historic rail yard look and feel by integrating features like planter boxes, 44 gallon drums and old water tanks for slippery dips, flying fox, swings using old kegs and more. 

"We don't want to put modern with old, it negates the feeling of the building itself", Andrew said.

Two Mates Brewing sounds like it fits Council's Strategic Growth Plan like a glove. May this be the first of many new businesses to hit Lismore. We need more entrepreneurs like Grant Smith and Andrew Walker.

As they put it "we are not a multi-national company, we are two young families having a crack in line with what Lismore is asking for and trying to create a legacy for this region".

On that note, if you want to pass on suggestions to Grant or Andrew on what you would like to see in the public space, contact them via email at grant@twomatesbrewing.com.au.

Two Mate Brewing is planning to open its doors in December 2020.