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By
CASSIE
HOUGH
The
last
thing
Gary
Leonard
expected
when
he
answered
the
phone
over
the
weekend
was
to
have
the
Federal
Member
for
Gwydir,
John
Anderson,
ringing
to
tell
him
that
the
Mudgee
Brewing
Company
had
been
awarded
a
$97,170
grant
under
the
Australian
Tourism
Development
Program.
The
Mudgee
Brewing
Company
is
expanding
from
wholesale
boutique
beers
to
include
a
café/restaurant
and
bar/tasting
facilities
on
site.
The
grant
will
be
used
to
complete
stage
two
of
the
business
plan
to
fit
out
the
café/restaurant
and
bar,
and
for
construction
of
the
kitchen
and
office
facilities
and
renovation
of
the
building
façade.
"This
will
really
help
us
to
develop
the
building,"
Mr
Leonard
said.
"We
would
particularly
like
to
do
the
building
up
in
heritage
style
to
display
some
of
the
convict
bricks
and
other
historic
parts
of
the
building,"
he
said.
The
entrepreneurs
also
want
to
create
a
beer
garden
down
the
side
of
the
building,
in
the
old
wool
drying
shed
-
opposite
the
Regent
Theatre
on
Church
Street.
Mr
Leonard
said
that
so
far
support
from
the
local
community
has
been
outstanding,
with
both
Mudgee
Tourism
and
the
Mudgee
Wine
Grape
Growers
Association
both
lending
their
support
to
the
brewery.
"We
are
extremely
grateful
to
everyone
out
there
who
has
helped
us,"
Mr
Leonard
said.
The
feedback
on
the
beer
that
they
brew
has
been
largely
positive,
according
to
Mr
Leonard.
"The
Wheat
Beer
has
probably
been
the
most
popular
so
far
and
it
has
been
hard
to
keep
up
with
the
demand
at
times,"
he
said.
With
the
Mudgee
Brewing
Company
matching
the
grant
money
dollar
for
dollar
it
is
hoped
their
restaurant
will
be
up
and
running
some
time
early
next
year.
The
Mudgee
Brewing
Company
will
be
displaying
at
the
Mudgee
Small
Farm
Field
Days
in
the
Mudgee
section
this
weekend.
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