Simon’s humble beginnings in brewing kick started back in 2011 by means of small batch home brews in his parents’ garage. Naturally, this side hobby quickly evolved into a full-blown passion, but it wasn’t until September 2015 while on honeymoon with wife Alex that the idea of a brewery for Phillip Island was hatched.
The newfound family-run project saw many months of planning and countless weekend trips to the family holiday home in Cape Woolamai. With a courageous leap of faith, the Bismire family gave up their former careers in Melbourne and launched Ocean Reach Brewing on the 3rd of December 2016.
With everything in place just about, it was Wayne who had a light bulb moment for the name of the brewery whilst walking back from the local surf break, Ocean Reach. The branding was developed by Will a friend of the family, with the simple concept of sun, sand, surf.
Brewing on site in the main strip of Cowes certainly had its pros and cons. But after 18 months it was clear that Ocean Reach was in great need of room for growth. In August 2018 Ocean Reach expanded to a second location, also in Cowes. The production brewery at Harvey Drive pumps out a range of core beers plus plenty of seasonal and experimental beers throughout the year. The Brewers enjoy experimenting with hop forward beers but enjoy all beer styles and believe they are best shared with mates.
Design is something Ocean Reach are also super passionate about and love working alongside the creatives in the craft beer industry. Recently, thanks to Craft Instinct the Tropical XPA can design took out #8 in the inaugural GABS can design awards [2020].
