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Campus Brewery
Brewery
Draught & Bottles
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Beer Labels
Crownseals
| The Regency Campus Brewery at TAFE SA’s Regency Park campus has played an important role in the development of South Australia’s modern craft beer industry. Established in the early 2000s as part of TAFE SA’s Certificate III Brewing course, the brewery became one of Australia’s first dedicated brewing education facilities and trained many brewers who later entered the state’s rapidly expanding craft beer industry. The brewery was established after TAFE SA invested in a modern small-scale commercial brewing system designed to provide practical brewing education alongside classroom training. At a time when independent brewing was still relatively uncommon in Australia, the Regency brewery gave students direct hands-on experience with commercial brewing equipment, fermentation systems, laboratory procedures and packaging operations. The facility quickly gained a strong reputation within the Australian brewing industry. Two of the key figures involved in establishing the brewery were Stephen Nelsen and Simon Sellick, both of whom had previously worked at the Port Dock Brewery Hotel. Port Dock Brewery had itself been one of South Australia’s earliest modern microbreweries and brewpubs during the 1980s and 1990s, and both brewers brought significant practical brewing experience to the TAFE operation. Under Nelsen and Sellick, the Regency brewery quickly evolved beyond a simple teaching facility. The brewery began producing commercial beer and undertaking contract brewing for small independent beer companies that lacked their own brewing equipment. This allowed a number of emerging South Australian beer brands to enter the market using the Regency facilities while developing their businesses. However, the commercial brewing activities soon attracted controversy. Concerns were raised within the South Australian brewing industry that a government-funded educational institution was competing directly against privately owned microbreweries. Criticism centred on the belief that the TAFE brewery could undercut commercial breweries due to its government backing and educational funding arrangements. According to later accounts, at least one complaint was made regarding the brewery’s contract brewing activities and pricing structure. The issue created tensions between sections of the independent brewing industry and the state government. Some breweries believed the Regency operation had an unfair commercial advantage despite its primary role as a training facility. The controversy became particularly sensitive given the relatively small size of South Australia’s craft brewing industry at the time, where a limited number of breweries were competing for contracts and market share. The Port Dock Brewery connection added another layer to the story. Port Dock Brewery had been among the pioneering modern brewpubs in South Australia, and both Nelsen and Sellick carried significant industry credibility from their time there. Their experience helped shape the Regency brewery into a highly respected training ground, but it also demonstrated how closely intertwined the early South Australian craft brewing community remained during the period. In 2008 Stephen Nelsen and Simon Sellick left the Regency Campus Brewery to establish Brewboys Brewery, one of South Australia’s most influential independent breweries of the modern era. Despite their departure, the Regency brewery and brewing course continued operating, with Nelsen later returning to TAFE SA in 2012 to continue brewing education and industry training. Over time the Regency Campus Brewery became widely recognised as one of the foundations of South Australia’s craft brewing industry. Numerous South Australian brewers and brewery owners either trained at the facility or used the brewery for early contract production. Breweries connected to former students and contract brewing arrangements included Beer No Evil, Left Barrel, Libation Army and Suburban Brew among others. Although the controversy surrounding government involvement in commercial brewing created difficulties during its early years, the Regency Campus Brewery ultimately proved highly influential in developing brewing skills and supporting the long-term growth of South Australia’s independent beer industry.  |
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