Inside the limestone walls of a lovingly restored 1875 historic church, Little Blessings is a one-of-a-kind brewery offering ales and an immersive journey through history.
For three years Cat and Craig Blesing travelled from their home in Two Wells north of Adelaide searching for a property they could run their business from but also live on the premises.
“We were drawn to country communities,” says Craig.
“We kept returning to the Southern Flinders Ranges in particular to Laura and Wirrabara.
“We like Laura’s close knit community.”
Finding the church
In 2022 while staying in the Laura Caravan Park the couple were asked about their ideal dream home.
In the past, Cat had mentioned to Craig she’d love to live in an old stone building.
As a joke Cat said, “We’d love an old church, and we’d call it Little Blessings.”
They were told the Baptist church across the road from the caravan park was coming up for sale.
“We nearly fell off our chairs,” says Cat laughing at the memory.
“We knew that church was exactly what we wanted.”
They purchased it in August 2022.
Church renovation project and the local trades
Although the church had been neglected for many years, the pair recognised it had good bones.
“We decided if we are going to fix it properly we need to take it back to the stone and start again,” Craig explained.
The couple did most of the work themselves, with the help of a few trades.
They found local stone mason, Romanian, Ernie Schulz.
“At almost seven foot tall, he had an impressive reach,” said Craig.
Eleven trailer loads of render were removed from the walls.
“Our electrician, Andrew Trott, went above and beyond,” said Craig.
“Any time we needed electrical work, he would squeeze us in, because he felt our project was great for the local community.”
The original 150 year old baltic pine church floor sloped from the middle to the back door. (For the congregation sitting in the back to see the sermon.)
The floor was jacked up then raised.
“Russell from Spencer Floors spent an extra two and a half days working on the floors to give the timber the respect it needed,” Craig said.
They found an old boot while working under the floorboards.
“Apparently that’s something Europeans did to ensure good luck. We left the boot under the boards, but we’d like to build a viewing window so people can see it.”
The project took 18 months. They renovated the chapel, replaced the church roof, converted the old Sunday School into a one room apartment, built an amenities block, a shower toilet, an access toilet and then the brewery.
The overgrown yard was cleared, ready for 500 square metres of lawn.
A call was put out to the community for help with laying lawn and 13 people turned responded.
One of them was John Barberein, a 76-year-old Laura local.
“John returned every day to look after the lawn until we opened,” said Craig, appreciatively.
“John is retired. He’s actually a diesel fitter, but became a general builder later in life.
“He saw our struggles with our undertaking such a large project and wanted to help us open on time.
“His building skills and knowledge were invaluable. So whenever John stops by for a drink, it’s on the house.”
To help pay for the renovations, Craig, (reluctantly) sold his beloved Ducati motorcycle collection.
“The business has been time consuming, so I wouldn’t have time to ride them anyway,” said Craig on reflection.
“I may have lost my beloved motorcycles, but we’ve gained a special community in Laura.”
Brewing for years
Before Little Blessings, Craig had been distilling for 10 years.
He added brewing to his repertoire around five years ago. Craig designed his Little Blessings Brewery, sending the drawings to China, where it was manufactured.
Ten weeks later it arrived in Australia. The church wasn’t big enough to accommodate the brewery, so a large shed was built behind the Sunday school.
You can’t see the brewery from the tap room, but inside the church a video storyboard runs during opening hours.
“Its our story, showing the full renovation, the building of the brewery, and the transformation of our little house,” Cat explained.
Best Seller
Little Blessings best seller is one of Craig’s brews, the ‘Laura Lager.’ It’s an easy drinking German style lager – a nice multi beer, clean and crisp on the palate.
Craig uses local grain malted by Coopers.
“I use their malt because our local farmers supply to Coopers – it’s part of the circle of life.”
To involve the community they held a competition to name some of their beers.
A local came up with ‘Ale Mary’. The ‘Rocky River Red Ale’ was another winner, named after the river that flows through Laura.
In addition to their own beer, they offer other locally sourced beer and spirits.
They carry wines from the Clare valley and Blesings Garden Vineyard in Bangor. (David Blesing is Craig’s second cousin.)
Cat and Craig try to be sustainable. The spent grain (left over after the brewing process) is sent to a local farmer to help feed sheep and goats.
“Because everyone’s running low on hay, the farmer is grateful for our grain,” Craig adds.
The yeast that’s a by-product of the brewing process, once dry, is used to supplement the sheep’s feed.
The wow factor
When people enter the church the first thing they see is the bar.
“We’re often asked if it’s the original pulpit,” said Craig.
“Catherine designed it to look like a pulpit using pressed tin on the bar and the tap splashback.”
At all stages the couple has tried to be respectful of the building and its history.
Each window has a memorial about prominent people from the church or town.
“With the help of the locals, I’ve researched those people,” said Cat.
“I’ve created a commemorative window board explaining each window’s history.”
Little Blessings opened the weekend of the Laura Fair (13th April, 2024.)
Since opening they have been busy.
“Thursday and Fridays are comfortable but our Saturday, Sunday trade is overwhelming,” Cat exclaimed.
Food trucks are organised for most weekends. (Saturday is usually steak sandwiches, Sundays Asian Food.)
The Future
Little Blessings is a two hour drive from Adelaide and two hours from the Outback.
“I’m trying to promote the motto: ‘Don’t pass through, come and stay on the way, see all the beautiful things we have in the region and then continue’,” Cat added.
The biggest challenge is people travelling between Adelaide and the Flinders Ranges taking Highway One, on the other side of the range, which completely bypasses Laura and the Southern Flinders Ranges.
“We would love it if people turned off at Crystal Brook and came this way, because it’s such a beautiful part of South Australia. And you’ll find the only church brewery in Australia.”
Little Blessings Brewery is open Thursday to Sunday until 8pm and Friday and Sat open until 10pm
