Little Pete Brewing serves up SA Draught in Langhorne Creek
Little Pete Brewing, a family business brewing an SA Draught, wants visitors to feel right at home at its open-air bar in Langhorne Creek.
Located an hour out of Adelaide, this 20-acre property showcases the best Langhorne Creek has to offer — serene vineyards and paddocks, majestic ancient river red gums – and now, quality craft beer.
Little Pete Brewing co-founder Warren Burgess told CityMag that bringing the bar to life took about three years.
“Originally we wanted to have the venue up and running in 2023, but of course with everything that’s been going on, unfortunately, families are having to tighten their belts, and we’ve had to do the same with some of the plans that we did have.”
They opened the doors two weekends before Christmas and Warren says the bar has already been embraced by the community.
“It’s just been fantastic to be able to get the doors open and have people coming to the venue, and most importantly, they’re enjoying the beer, so yeah, it’s been a journey,” he says.
Before launching themselves into their brick-and-mortar venture, Warren and wife Beck Burgess turned their hobby and love for beer into the Little Pete Brewing family brewery, wholesaling beer into various venues across the Fleurieu and metropolitan Adelaide including Goodwood Cellars and Langhorne Creek’s Lake Breeze Wines.
You might like
“Little Pete was the nickname of my great grandfather, but his name was Harry, so we’re not quite sure where Little Pete has come from,” Warren says.
“He served in the British Army in World War I, and some of the photos we saw of Harry with his unit in France he had the big moustache that they had during those times. The character in our logo, with the Peaky Blinders cap and the big mo… we drew inspiration from Harry.”
Seven signature craft beers later, Warren hopes the Step Road venue will hero the South Australian brews, and redefine an area known more so for their wineries and cellar door experiences.
Warren and Beck have turned their back-shed hobby into a South Australian enterprise.
Warren is proud that in the short time since launching, the new addition is drawing a different type of visitor to the regional town.
“It’s been pretty exciting that each weekend, we’ve had at least one group who have never been to Langhorne Creek before, and while they’re here, we talked to them about the local wineries, and they ask, ‘can you recommend where we should go next?’”
Warren, a former agronomist, and Beck, a consultant within primary industries, are guided in their business by the gastronomic philosophies of “paddock-to-plate” and “grain-to-glass”. It’s their connection to the agrarian process, and passion for spotlighting local produce that has inspired their food and drink menu, including build-your-own platters curated with locally sourced produce, and wines from the vineyard just next door.
Subscribe for updates
Warren hopes the location will evolve to provide a larger array of menu options that headline South Australia’s finest ingredients, and a comprehensive rotation of seasonal beers.
He is also exploring the potential of growing his own malt barley, saying South Australia boasts “some of the finest malt in the world”.
“That is a project of ours to really provide the drinker who comes here with a product that, when you look at that glass, you think, that’s 100 per cent South Australian,” Warren says.
The opening of the Langhorne Creek establishment coincided with the launch of Little Pete Brewing’s flagship SA Draught.
According to Warren, this lager should cater to craft beer enthusiasts and novices alike.
“The flavour and aroma of the [SA Draught] is one of the beers from a bygone era in that it’s very much more of a malt-driven Australian lager beer.”
“A number of [people] have said to me that it tastes ‘like a beer’, and I know what they mean by that. It’s not the tropical, fruity craft beer — it’s an Aussie lager.”
“It’s great that on a Friday afternoon, when local grape growers and farmers are calling through for a Friday knock-off, they’re going straight to an SA Draught.”
Little Pete Brewing’s latest Australian lager, the ‘SA Draught’.
Warren values family and connection to land, which drove him to start the Little Pete Brewing business with his wife, embed the legacy of his great-grandfather into its name and image, and now, offer up his property to patrons.
“We want people to feel like you’re going to a friend’s house,” he says.
“It’s a relaxed atmosphere, beautiful backdrop, and we’ve deliberately established the venue in such a way that people can immerse themselves in Langhorne Creek, and in this setting, but also to sit back, relax with family or friends, and have a couple of beers and a laugh.”
Little Pete Brewing’s open-air bar is located at 543 Step Road, Langhorne Creek, and is open to the public on Friday and Saturday from 11am-6pm, and Sunday until 5pm.