Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Marrickville Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre - Bars + Pubs

It's ale we ever hopped for.

There’s a brand new brewery coming to Sydney suburb Marrickville, with Hawke’s Brewing Co set to open the doors to a new flagship venue tomorrow.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

The beer company, which was famously co-founded by former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, will unveil its newly-built 2100 square metre brewery – dubbed The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, in honour of its namesake – on Thursday March 31.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

The venue can host up to 300 guests, with a full service bar, fronted by 10 taps pouring Hawke’s core range of beers, and a rotation of new ‘One Hit Wonder’ limited release styles.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

Enveloped in Old Parliament House inspired wood-panel motif, the venue is described as ‘a love letter to Australiana and the cosiness of familiarity’, with spaces like The Public Bar, The Patio and The Lucky Prawn Australian-Chinese bistro forming a romantic homage to the past.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

Meanwhile, the separate Pool Room area, featuring a museum-like collection of memorabilia and photos of the former Prime Minister, was modelled on Bob Hawke’s own pool room, where the founders spent much of their time during their visits.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

“The genesis of Hawke’s came out of a conversation between two mates, who were living in New York but missing Australia like hell,” says Hawke’s co-founder, David Gibson.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

The venue’s Chinese-Australian bistro, The Lucky Prawn – which was developed in collaboration with Nicholas Wong – will serve up clean, contemporary takes on the nostalgic 1980s Chinese-Australian food experience, with shareable dishes like Lucky Prawn Toast, Sang Choi Bao (pork or vegetarian), Honey King Prawn, Sizzling Beef & Black Bean, Special Fried Rice and Deep Fried Viennetta Cake.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville

Despite all the quintessential 1980s pub nostalgia, the brewery has its feet firmly in the 21st century. It’s powered by a 100kW rooftop solar farm and utilises a carbon capture system developed in partnership with UTS Tech, which uses CO2 from the fermentation process to grow plants and vegetables for use in the venue.

Hawke’s Brewing Co opens Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville