Beer aficionados and downtown revelers will have a new Australian Brewpub to experience late this summer. The new concept, “Where’s Jubes?” Aussie Brewpub & Grill is midway through construction with anticipation of opening doors in late August. The brewpub is located at 277 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
When Australian-born restaurateur, Josh Cameron noticed the Lucky Dill Deli on the corner of Third street and Central Avenue of downtown St. Petersburg, he was transported back to his homeland of New South Wales where many pubs are historic two story buildings chock-full of character. He purchased the deli in 2018 with the dream of opening his very own Australian Brew Pub. Cameron, Principal of Crafty Hospitality, also purchased The Oyster Bar – one of the longest-serving restaurants in downtown St. Pete – and most recently re-invented the old Fortunato’s location into the popular Crafty Squirrel.
For the past year or so, the deli has been vacant while permits were underway. Cameron selected PJ Callaghan, a fourth generation commercial and industrial construction company to take on the project of restoring the hundred year old building while bringing his vision of an Australian brew pub to life. The sixteen hundred square foot pub will feature repurposed poplar from Australia, industrial steel, four brew tanks, and extensive outdoor lounge seating. “It’s a modern, industrial buildout but with the warmth of Boston’s Cheers” says Cameron. At Crafty Hospitality, our culture is customer-first. Warm hospitality and a feeling of familiarity for our guests is what we’re aiming for.”
In partnership with award winning Australian Brewer, Brian Watson, Cameron has spent the last year importing and perfecting the malts, hops, and barleys using SmartBrew technology. He plans to open with eight to twelve varietals, brewing eighty to a hundred kegs a week. Paying homage to Australia, Cameron branded his beers with tributes to his birthplace. Brews will be served in custom glassware at ten and twenty ounces.
Expect beers to be served at Where’s Jubes? like:
Cocklebiddy Porter
ABV: 5.3%
About Cocklebiddy: No one actually knows what Cocklebiddy means, but it’s famous for being home to the longest cave in the world – over 6km long, although 90% of it is under water. A very typical Aussie outback joke, the Nullarbor Links Golf Course is the world’s longest golf course with the first hole in Ceduna, South Australia and the 18th hole 1365 km away at Kalgoorlie.” Surrounded by mallee scrub, the observatory has studied the birdlife of the area for decades and has recorded over 230 different species including rare migratory birds like red-necked stints and ruddy turnstones which travel over 10,000 km from Siberia.
Booti Booti Brut IPA
ABV: 6.2%
About Booti Booti: Booti Booti is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 282 kilometres, by road, north-north-east of Sydney. The holiday town of Forster-Tuncurry lies immediately to the north. It gets it’s name from Buti But, the local Worimi Aboriginal word meaning “plenty of honey”. 654 species of native plants make up Booti Booti National Park, and 17% of the park is classified as rainforest. Park go-ers enjoy hiking, swimming, birdwatching, and in the winter – whale watching.
Pleasure Point Light Pale Ale
ABV: 3.5%
About Pleasure Point: Pleasure Point is a small suburb, in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pleasure Point is 27 km south west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City Of Liverpool. Pleasure Point is a geographical formation on the southern bank of the Georges River which lends its name to the suburb. The only adjacent suburbs are Voyager Point, Sandy Point and Holsworthy. East Hills and Picnic Point are located on the opposite bank of the Georges River. The suburb has been around for more than 30 years.
Shag Point Pale Ale
ABV: 4.8%
About Shag Point: Shag Point is in Central of South Australia on the Southern Ocean. It is in the local government area of ‘Streaky Bay’. The ‘Streaky Bay’ local government area is classified as a ‘District Council’. For thousands of years, the area around Streaky Bay has been inhabited by the Wirangu people.
Crackenback Wheat
ABV: 5.0%
About Crackenback: Called the “snowy mountains”, it’s a small New South Wales Rural Location within the local government area of Snowy Monaro Regional, it is located approximately 378kms from the capital Sydney covering an area of 84.542 square kilometers.The Crackenback Range is located within Kosciuszko National Park and the outskirts of the Thredbo River Valley between Jindabyne and Thredbo.
Bong Bong IPA
ABV: 6.0%
About Bong Bong: Bong Bong was a small township in the Southern Highlands in New South Wales, Australia. It is also the name for the surrounding parish. All that remains now is the Church, called Christ Church. In the Christ Church cemetery is buried the Australian explorer Joseph Wild. A railway station known as Bong Bong opened on the Main South railway line in 1878, closing in 1913.
Barangaroo Pilsner
ABV: 5.0%
About Barangaroo: Barangaroo is an area of central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district and the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Used by indigenous Australians prior to colonization, Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. The city is in redevelopment, adding a cultural space, hotel, and casino.
Spanker Knob Pacific Pale Ale
ABV: 4.5%
About Spanker Knob: The etymology of this hill’s marvelously dodgy name isn’t definitive. But the theory is that it came from the enjoyably high quality of the drive past it a spanker of a run”. Spanker Knob is a mountain located near the South Pacific Ocean within the State Forest in the southeast of Victoria. Spanker Knob is at an altitude of about 285m above sea level.
Iron Knob West Coast IPA
ABV: 6.4%
About Iron Knob: Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. It is a historic iron ore mining town calling itself the ‘Birthplace of Australia’s Steel Industry’. Prior to the arrival of Europeans this harsh desert area was sparsely populated by the Banggarla Aboriginal people. The Visitor Centre includes a Mining Museum which has old mining equipment and a large selection of mineral specimens, taken from the mines in the area.
The food menu development is underway in the test kitchen.