Breweries are always a good time and when news of a new one tickles our earlobes, we are there faster than you can do a shoey on a hot summers day.

New local legends Jarrod Blanning and John Walz clearly feel the same way and happily, the pair are opening Lost Palms Brewing Co. in Miami on November 10th. We sat down for a chat with the pair about pairing beer with the Triple J Hottest 100 and why you should judge beers on how they make you feel.

How long have you lived on the Gold Coast?
Jarrod: I’ve only lived here for about three months. Before that I was commuting down from Brisbane for a few months.
John: I’ve been living in SE QLD for five or six years but on the Gold Coast for about three years. It’s the best place in the world.

What do you love about living here?
John: We moved here for a lifestyle, a work life balance. It’s still a growing city, there’s lots of room for it to change and there’s plenty of space for everyone to move. Why wouldn’t you live here? I was always against living on the beach because I wanted to appreciate my holidays when I had them but why not appreciate it every day if you can.
Jarrod: People are so much nicer here. There’s plenty of clichés, the beach is closer etc. but it’s just a really good change from Brisbane. We were so happy to move down.

Tell us about Lost Palms Brewing Co.?
Jarrod: Lost Palms is really John’s baby, he’s done all the planning, infrastructure and groundwork to see if it’s viable. I previously tried to start something with Jo, our overseas partner, but it fell through. Once John did all the hard work, I jumped on board. We thought the Coast was the best market because it’s a great place to live and there’s more of an opportunity for starting breweries. We’re trying to create that neighbourhood oasis where you can just come and hang out.
John: We don’t want to set up a snobby food and beer matching thing. I don’t care about those rules. Our beers are made for a purpose and an experience, not to a rulebook. We follow guidelines of course but there’s no reason why you can’t tweak things. We make a beer for a purpose and an experience and the food is there to make it an event. We’ll have toasted sandwiches and sliders and in winter we’ll put on slow cookers, there’ll be chips, wings, poutines and things like that. We just want to create a good vibe and a good night out. 

Can you let us in on the types of beer we’ll be drinking?
John: We’re making the beers to certain styles  — from lights to darks and in between in terms of colours and intensity. We started home brewing and experimenting with our own recipes. For the example the Summer, I wanted to make a beer I could drink during the Triple J Hottest 100, from 100 down to one and last the whole day and it’s light and fresh and crisp, it’s a little dry on the aftertaste but it’s not a full bomb going off in your mouth. They’re made for a purpose. Likewise with the APA (American Pale Ale), that one was Jarrod’s baby. We’ve got a Porter, they’re all channels of what I like but we have tweaked a lot after people have come in to give us feedback.

Why did you choose Miami?
John: The other breweries are all south of here, we didn’t want to try and impede on their areas but further north it’s more difficult. We knew we wanted to be close to the beaches and as far north as we could because the tram line will be stopping down here. The area is also good in terms of growth.

How is Lost Palms unique?
John: We’re not trying to reproduce anything, we just want to create an experience. We make a beer to bring the feelings. I ask people not to think about what it tastes like but think about where it takes you. 

When are you opening?
Jarrod: Lock it in for the 10th of November. Our release is the Crafted Beer & Cider Festival. All of our beers will be there so people can sit down and try everything in the one spot for the first time.

Best piece of life advice you’ve ever received?
John: F*#k the rules, do what you want.
Jarrod: A smart person learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes.

Being Gold Coast locals, we have to ask your favourites:
Café: (John) Canteen, Parlour, Bam Bam Bakehouse and Mr Bengel
Restaurant: (John) Burgster is the best burgers, The Collective is a great concept, Greenhouse Bar & Restaurant (Jarrod) Tuesday night ramen at Bine Bar is good
Beach: (John) Palm Beach
What does your weekend usually look like? (Jarrod) John works. I research.

LOCATION: 11 Oak Ave, Miami

HOURS: TBC

For gourmet hot dogs and good times you can’t go past the Wiener Haus.

The much-loved local food truck, offering gourmet hot dogs and sodas with a side of tongue-in-cheek, has put down permanent roots at Stocklands Burleigh.

A stand alone timber and black shipping container is the new home of the Wiener Haus and judging by their opening day crowds, it’s going to be a saucy success.

Offering authentic German Kranskies loaded with a variety of gourmet toppings, the food truck opened in 2013 with the slogan no d*#k jokes.

Their sense of humour, which extends to the menu, has made them household names from Brisbane to Byron Bay.

The ‘Ron Burgundy’ is a traditional hot dog with tasty cheese, red onion and Sauerkraut, the ‘Sanchez’ is made up of sour cream, guacamole, salsa, with jalapeños and corn chips and the ‘Italian Stallion’ is a pizza style dog with tomato and herb sauce, bocconcini, pepperoni and melted tasty cheese.

The Wiener Haus also makes their own sodas in flavours like ‘Granny Smith and Ginger’, ‘Lemon and Lemon Myrtle’ and ‘Pink Lady and Raspberry’.

Exciting times for foodies up and down the coast who need never wait until the weekend for their wiener fix again.

HOURS: 12pm to 8.30pm daily.

LOCATION: Stocklands Burleigh Heads (next to Nook Espresso), West Burleigh Road.

He’s been slingin’ gourmet hot dogs and good times across the Gold Coast for the last five years and Paddy Skicko, owner of The Wiener Haus, has no plans to slow down just yet.

He travels with The Wiener Haus, one of the Coast’s original food trucks, from Brisbane to Byron Bay catering at huge events like Splendour in the Grass and, just last year, opened a diner (made from a shipping container) at Stockland Burleigh Heads.

We sat down for a chat with Paddy about watching bride’s smash hotdogs in wedding dresses and what it’s like to spend your days elbow deep in wieners.

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
I’ve been on the Coast now for just over 10 years. I’m from country Victoria but I spent a lot of time traveling when I was younger. I did back and forth Europe winters for a few years then moved here after a boy’s roadtrip. We had an epic time and I knew I wasn’t going to go back to Europe for awhile so I thought I’d come here and give it a go.

What do you love about living here?
The lifestyle is just so good; we’re so lucky with this end of the Coast. I live in Nobby’s and love being able to go to Burleigh or ride a bike along the Esplanade. Every morning you can go to the beach and nine times out of ten it’s beautiful. I love the fact that I can nip out to the Scenic Rim and go camping too; it’s only half an hour away and reminds me of home.

Tell us how The Wiener Haus came about?
I started having the conversation about five years ago now; with a guy called Jessie I was friends with at the time. I wanted to get out of working as a labourer and I knew I had the skillset to get it done so we decided to go for it. We worked hard and after about six months, Jessie and myself parted ways and Zac came on board to help me with the side of things I’m not good at, like paperwork and invoicing. From there we started getting stadium gigs, then had the second marquee setup happening and now we have the shop, which I always wanted.

Why gourmet hot dogs?
I was originally going to do a café and I was very close to pulling the trigger on a toasted sandwich shop, because I love toasted sandwiches. I honestly just do things I enjoy and I really like hot dogs. Especially our new one, the Caesar, it’s a good combo, I think it’s the best one I’ve ever made.

Why did you decide to open the diner last year?
I wanted to try and make money seven days a week and I wanted to try and work less, in theory. That hasn’t happened at all, I work way more. I’ve worked in hospitality my whole life on and off and as much as I love working around the busy times, it’s hard to maintain a lifestyle that includes other people who don’t do that. The idea was to try and get some sort of normality in my life while still working in hospo. I wanted to have the opportunity to work every day but not have to always work Friday and Saturday night because I was sick of missing out on stuff. That was the plan and it has happened in some ways. Obviously we wanted to get bigger and keep making money but not always have to be on the grill.

What have been some of the best things about owning a food truck?
I’ve done some huge events. We did the Coldplay gig and the Manny Pacquiao fight, that was huge, game three of State of Origin, we did Splendour in the Grass, which was such a good time. Splendour has been a huge thing for us being the only Gold Coast food truck that goes down there and gets amongst it is really cool and we’re really proud of that. Lately we’ve been doing some cool events like the Beer InCider Festival in Brisbane and we’re doing the Crafted Beer and Cider Festival this weekend. We’ve done some rad bar openings where we rolled up and took the Barbie up on the elevator to cook on the rooftop too. 

How has your life changed since the WH first began?
My phone rings at any time of the day, any day of the week, that’s been something I’m not that keen on. I do get half days off occasionally and my one day off a week but I think that’s just the way it is as a small business owner.

What are your thoughts on the Coast’s rapidly growing dining scene?
I love that there’s competition and I think it’s important that everyone has the right to have a go. I always try and eat at the small business venues if I can because there’s so many. That’s the problem too though, there’s just so many. The food truck game has gone from just The Wiener Haus and one other, nearly five years ago to now there being well over 100.

What’s the plan for you and The Wiener Haus over the next year?
We’re in an interesting position at the moment and we’re just trying to work it all out. We’ve got plenty of opportunities but I don’t know exactly what we’ll do yet. We obviously want to keep on making epic hotdogs, that’s the most important thing. We’re looking at new menu items but also focusing pretty hard on providing a good catering service, that’s our main thing. The shop is great, I don’t know if we’ll get another one but I do like the idea of more of a bar style hot dog shop but at the same time, I enjoy doing catering so I’d like to push harder in that direction. It’s hilarious to see a bride smash a hotdog in her wedding dress.   

Favourites on the Coast:
Beach: Tallebudgera Creek, especially up the creek further on the other side of the bridge. I go kayaking up there and I’m lucky to see anyone, it’s so good.
Café: I go to All Time a lot, really good coffee and Nook is good too.
Restaurant: Goccia in Mermaid is proper Italian food, I’m a big fan.
How does your time off usually look: I’ve got two different time off things that I do and I try and rotate weekly. Definitely getting outdoors is a huge thing for me, I try and go camping at least once a fortnight just to camp and drink beers by a fire. The other thing is Netflix and chill and getting Uber Eats. I think it’s so important to turn off your phone and have that time away.