In an Australian first, a co-operative brewery has launched in Sydney’s inner west. Hopsters will open their bar and brewery to the public on Enmore Road in January.

As Broadsheet reports, the idea behind Hopsters came from Marco Vargas who saw the success of co-op brewery in Seattle called Flying Bike and decided that could happen in Sydney. After taking the idea to a Facebook group dedicated to craft beer in Sydney, 10 members signed on and helped write the Hopsters constitution.

Now the brewery boasts 300 members who are all able to access brewing equipment, discounts on Hopsters products, and will be the first to take a seat at the new bar when it opens. Head Brewer Charlotte Mackay oversees the operation and brewing classes, then members take what they’ve learnt to their home-brewing kits.

A committee selects the best beer from the home brews and put that recipe into production. The first beer produced by Hopsters is the Founders Pale Ale. You can try it at a bunch of bars around Sydney ahead of the Hopsters flagship bar opening next year.

The bar will open where Azzi’s Fruit Market once stood on Enmore Road just past the Enmore Theatre. It’s expected to be running by the end of January 2019, until then you can find a list of venues pouring their beers on their site, and order some of their Founders Pale Ale here.

Management of the bar will go to ex-Batch sales rep Mitchell Hobb who explained there’ll be twelve beer taps with eight of these being Hopsters products. “Some of our members are part of other breweries too, so we’d like to support our members. We’ll also have some wines and spirits too,” he says.

You can join the Hopsters co-op here.