While many resist it, change is one of the best ways to bring in something new to your life, or even venue, and it’s proved to be just what The Grovedale needed. After joining his father in managing The Grovedale Hotel, Joel Taylor convinced his dad to reinvent the old sports bar into a beer garden fit for the laneways of Melbourne.
Almost two years of planning lead to the creation of The Juke, a beer garden unlike anything previously on offer at The Grovedale. Earthy tones of brick and wood share the same space, separated by pops of reds and yellows from oil tin seats and bright shades of green that climb up the far wall in the feature garden.
The Juke is part of a series of renovations at The Grovedale Hotel, including a facelift of the exterior, and is all to reinvent the iconic pub. “Often you get painted with the same brush: we’re painted with the suburban venue brush,” Joel says.
“You’ve got to do something really different to get everyone’s attention, and I think that’s the thing with successful venues, what you might like someone else mightn’t so you have to cater for really different styles.”
The reinvention stems much deeper than selecting a colour for the walls, Joel has put just as much thought into the drinks and food on offer as well. Most notably The Juke is one of very few venues in Victoria taking on the duo tank initiative of Carlton Draught.
The duo tank system takes away the need to pasteurise the beer for preservation – like in beers on tap – instead, every glass poured from the tank will be fresh from the breweries – basically beer as it should be.
“They take it straight from the brewery, put it in a tanker, drive it down the highway and fill our tanks up. The same day it’s brewed, we’re serving it,” he says.
Aside from offering fresh beer to customers, Joel has opened up the craft beers on tap. The new selection features beers from Matilda Bay Brewery, Port Melbourne, Mountain Goat at Richmond, Feral from Western Australia and an import lager from Brooklyn, New York.
“It’s just about having something along the gradual steps that people can work through from lightest to heaviest over the night,” Joel says.
Paired with an American inspired bar menu, including sliders, ribs and fried chicken burgers, and original and acoustic covers by local musicians on the Friday and Saturday night, The Juke becomes the perfect place to wind down after work or to catch up with old friends.
“I’m hoping that people can have a relaxed unique experience at The Juke,” he says.
“There are no rules here. I just want people to come in and be able to relax, listen to some good tunes, eat some good food, have a few beers and catch up with friends.”
Looking at the design of the venue, which features a large communal table made from wood from the Point Lonsdale pier – supplied by Williams & Jackson in North Geelong – the idea is to get comfortable for conversation to flow.
If sitting on a table is too formal for you, there are chairs scattered throughout the space, all picked up by Joel from op shops and antique stores.
“I just kept buying stuff and we got to a point where the interior designer was like, ‘You have to stop buying stuff, we’ve got enough stuff’. Then we sort of just put it all in here and it all worked,” Joel says.
Add in a fine piece of artwork – in the form of wall mural by street artist Mike Makatron – and all bases are more than ticked, making it one of the best new additions to the Geelong beer garden scene.
Info: The Juke is at The Grovedale Hotel, 236 Torquay Rd, Grovedale / Ph: 5243 2814 / grovedalehotel.com.au
By Amanda Sherring, Photo by Stefan Young
