Craft beer set to be on Parade

Craft beers, Bali-style buffet breakfasts and Sunday session entertainment is on the menu for a popular Bunbury pub under new ownership.

The now-named Parade Taphouse is brewing to become the city’s go-to craft beer venue with Old Coast Road Brewery owner Andrew Harris taking over the reins of the waterfront property.

The recently-renovated pub, restaurant and hotel will now feature specially crafted beers made specifically for the taphouse by the popular Myalup brewery.

Mr Harris said expanding the brewery’s brand had been in his sights for a while.

“I’ve been looking around for a couple of years for a pub that I could buy the freehold of … so we could hold onto it for a long period of time as an avenue to get some of our beers from Old Coast Road Brewery out into the market,” Mr Harris said.

“Not that we’re actually going to have Old Coast Road Brewery branded beer here, we’re making special beers for here.

“But that was really the driving force behind it and this one became available and ticked all the boxes.”

After several years of owning the waterside venue and spending what is thought to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Gatti family have sold the iconic pub to Mr Harris.

The Gatti’s invested time and money to bring the venue back to life after it was closed in mysterious circumstances in 2015.

“The Gatti’s had it for ages and ended up spending quite a bit of money. . .they did a really good job,” Mr Harris said.

“It really is an opportunity for us to take a pub that’s been well set up and take it to the next level.

“Maybe take it back to some of what it had in the past, but not exactly the same – we really need to get a lot more excitement and activity happening here.”

He said Sunday entertainment was definitely on the horizon along with plans for the old boat house on the property and possibly even a decked area upstairs near the accommodation.

He said while some of the most popular commercial beers would still be available, craft beers would be the drawcard.

“They’ve got 16 tap points here which is really good – we’ll bring in some craft beers which we’ll probably rotate and change around to give people a bit of variety,” he said.

“That’s why we changed the name to Parade Taphouse to try and give people the idea that beer is a bit of a focus for us.

“I’d like to become, if we can, the beer specialists in town – have the best range of tap beers, that’s where we want to go.”

He said the way Bunbury had evolved in the past few years played a part in his decision to buy the venue.

“I think there’s a real vibrancy and Bunbury’s really set up,” he said.