Moon Dog to open 1500-capacity brewpub in Docklands

In what will come as welcomed news for lovers of craft beer and hospitality alike, Melbourne brewing dynamos, Moon Dog, will open a 1500-capacity “brewpub” next to Marvel Stadium in 2024.

Located at 685 Latrobe St, as part of the Home Docklands build-to-rent precinct, the venue will include a 100- to 200-capacity pub and restaurant open to the public throughout the week, transforming into a vast brewery-sized venue for game days, major events, and functions.

Co-founder Karl van Buuren told Docklands News while the fit-out and finer details were still to be confirmed, this iteration of the growing Moon Dog empire would be like “nothing they’ve done before”.

“Getting a venue like this in Docklands will be a great win for the area,” Mr van Buuren said. “It will be a different to Preston and our upcoming venue in Footscray, because it will have a much higher capacity focused around Marvel Stadium event days, large corporate events, along with industry and Moon Dog special events.”

“It’s essentially two venues in one, when you consider its design. There is an upstairs mezzanine terrace area called The Terrace Bar that will be open all the time for lunch and dinner, with all of our beers on tap and table service.”

“Then there will be our larger, ground floor venue that will be jungle themed, with sprawling boardwalks and water features, 80 taps on the bar, full kitchen and unique food offering.”

The news comes as the perfect antidote for an adjunct of Docklands which has been bereft of a venue to wet the whistle since the sudden forced closure of Central Pier favourite, The Woolshed, more than four years ago.

The Moon Dog team is hoping to increase capacity to 1600 patrons, if licensing allows them to do so.

According to Mr van Buuren, walking into Moon Dog will be a “wow” experience, “feeling like you’re stepping out of Docklands into a jungle.”

“Every time you come back, you’ll experience something new,” he said.

Docklands Chamber of Commerce president Daniel Hibberd said it was “fantastic that we are seeing new businesses coming into the area and showing confidence in Docklands.”

“It’s a really great story to showcase … a local business, brewing local beer. Venues of this type have the greatest potential to bring crowds to the area, and we see first-hand how other businesses benefit from it.” •

Caption: Moon Dog co-founders Jake Uljans, Karl van Buuren and Josh Uljans.