THE VILLAGE BREWER

If you've spent any time in Byron Bay, chances are you've driven past it more times than you could count. That long stretch into town, sun flashing through the windscreen, the familiar signage appearing like a landmark on the roadside; for locals, Stone & Wood Brewing Co is just as much a community meeting spot as it is part of the rhythm of the place itself.

On any given weekday the brewery hums with life. Laptops are open across communal tables, meetings drift between sips, and in the courtyard there's always someone enjoying a midday beer without apology. It's relaxed, unpretentious, distinctly Northern Rivers. A working brewery, yes, but also something closer to a modern village square.

For Kurtis Day, venue manager and a devoted convert to everything Stone & Wood stands for, that balance is everything. Originally from Canada, he arrived in the Northern Rivers and found in this brewery a business model — and a community ethos — he simply couldn't walk away from.

"When I first came here, I thought, ‘this is how a business should be run.’ The beer is world-class, but the heart of it, the community, the giving back, the way it sits within this region, that's what made me stay."

He takes his role seriously. Brewery tours run three times a day and regularly sell out. Kurtis knows that for many visitors, including devotee beer lovers who have travelled across the country (and sometimes the world), stepping through these doors is a genuine bucket-list moment. Some arrive already sporting Stone & Wood tattoos.

"We also see people walk in who've been driving past for years," he says. "They finally stop in, do a tour, have a beer, and realise this place has a whole life of its own. The reputation precedes us, so our job is to make sure the brewery experience lives up to that. Every single time."

That sense of care is not accidental. It has been there from the beginning. Back in 2008, founders Brad Rogers, Ross Jurisich and Jamie Cook were not chasing scale or national recognition. They were chasing something far simpler, and at the time, far less certain. Having worked together in the beer industry, they shared a vision to create something that reflected the Northern Rivers lifestyle they loved.

They bought a shed. They started brewing.

The question guiding them was not about trends or market share. It was about feeling. What is the taste of Byron Bay? What is the beer you reach for after a surf, sun and salt still on your skin?

The answer became their now-iconic Pacific Ale. Light, cloudy and bright with tropical notes, it captured something of the region in a glass. Nothing too heavy. Something full of fun. A beer that felt unmistakably like this part of the world. Those early years weren't easy; the craft beer boom hadn't yet taken hold, and building a following took time and patience. But by 2011, after years of refining the brew and quietly building a community around it, the tide turned. A high placing in a national craft beer poll put Stone & Wood firmly on the map, and demand began to surge. That little brown shed and simple vision had found its audience.

By 2016, those founding values had been formalised with B Corp certification, embedding environmental and social accountability into the way the business operates — from reducing water usage below industry standards, to repurposing spent grain for local farmers through Murwillumbah business Coastal Feeds, to long-term supplier relationships built on partnership rather than transaction.

Even as the brand grew, the ethos did not change. At its core, Stone & Wood has always seen itself as a "village brewer". It is an old-world idea, where each community had its own local brewery. A place to gather, to share stories, to mark time. That thinking remains embedded in how the Byron site operates today. "Our job is to hold onto that village brewery spirit," Kurtis explains. "No matter how much things grow elsewhere, this place has to stay connected to the community. It's not just about the beer. It's about what happens around it."

And a lot happens around it.

The Byron Bay brewery is the experimental heart of the operation. Purpose-built and architecturally striking, it is where smaller batches of around 10,000 litres are crafted for on-site enjoyment. Seasonal releases, trial brews and limited specials rotate through the taps. Ginger beer, the much-loved Little Dragon, and playful small-batch creations appear and disappear with the rhythm of the year. If you want something you cannot get anywhere else, you come here.

Larger-scale production happens out of the Murwillumbah facility, where flagship beers like Pacific Ale are brewed for wider distribution. Together, the two sites create a dual identity. One meets growing demand, while the other stays grounded.

But perhaps what defines the brewery most is not what is in the glass, but what flows outward from it.

The Ingrained Foundation, established in 2018, formalised something that had always been part of the brewery's DNA. Built to support grassroots environmental and social initiatives, it directs funding into the communities where the team lives and works. Since its launch, more than $2.8 million has been directed to meaningful causes. It is a quiet but consistent extension of the values the brewery was built on.

That commitment also plays out in simple, visible ways, like the annual Dog Adoption Day held in partnership with Willow Tree Sanctuary. The brewery transforms into a haven of wagging tails and hopeful connections, with proceeds from sales in the following month going directly to the sanctuary’s rescue and rehoming work.

“Those days are special,” says Kurtis. “People come in for a beer and leave having connected with something bigger — sometimes even a new best mate. That’s what this space is for.”

Then there is Festival of the Stone.

Now in its twelfth year, it has become a beloved fixture on Byron's music festival calendar. Each winter, the brewery transforms into a gathering place for live music, limited-release brews, food and shared experience. It is equal parts celebration and fundraiser, and it draws a crowd from near and far.

At the centre of it all is Stone Beer, a limited-release winter porter brewed using heated stones in a traditional method that dates back to the brewery's very first year. The beer brewed on Stone Brew Day is tapped publicly for the first time at the festival. It’s part theatre, part tradition, and deeply tied to the identity of the brewery.

Importantly, the festival also gives back. In 2025, it raised $24,554 for Fletcher Street Cottage, Byron Shire's community hub supporting people experiencing homelessness and hardship. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $100,000 for local charities. A valuable reminder that celebration and community care can exist side by side.

For locals, Stone & Wood has long been a meeting place — somewhere to drop in for a brew and a meal with mates. For others, it’s a familiar marker on the road into town. But step inside, and it becomes something else completely: a working brewery, a reflection of the region it calls home. It is where a beer can be as simple as a cold drink on a warm day, or as layered as the story behind it.

Despite an ownership change and national expansion, Stone & Wood has stayed true to its origins. Because for all its growth, recognition and reach, it has held onto something rare: a sense of place and a genuine commitment to community. A business that understands its role not just as a producer, but as an active participant in the life around it — exactly like the village brewer it always set out to be.

And for those who have driven past a hundred times without stopping, perhaps it is finally time to pull in.

stoneandwood.com.au