Cool craft beer dens with wittily named brews on tap have steadily multiplied around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. But when the Kanaghines brothers – Damien (above), Sacha and Ben – were ready to launch their own in Surfers Paradise just over a year ago, they wanted to inject a bit of fun into what can be an earnest idea.

The result is House Of Brews, a bar with plenty of ales – 32 to be precise, with about a quarter on rotation – but also lots of reminders that we are in the heart of the tourist glitter strip. The beers are ordered alongside pimped-up cocktails, often served in wacky vessels, and there are Instagram-ready shenanigans like clouds of fairy floss that are delivered to tables in oversized martini glasses.

It’s the kind of scene a dive bar enthusiast might shake his head at, but the Kanaghines siblings have succeeded in attracting a happy tribe of followers. Soon they will add a second level upstairs.

The brothers have wide hospitality experience. In the mid-90s they had an Australian-themed bar in Romania, which was responsible for one per cent of the beer turnover for the entire country by the time they closed in 2001. They opened restaurants in Cyprus before returning to the Gold Coast and launching Nonna’s at Harbour Town. That venue will also undergo an extensive refurbishment before the end of the year.

And there are plans for another venue in 2017 on the Gold Coast, but it won’t be in the sizzling- hot southern stretch.

“There are plenty of operators already doing amazing things down there,” Damien said.