If you’re after a venue that chooses its staff based on personality and a passion for craft beer and whisky, say howdy to Ball & Chain, Fremantle’s “newest old pub”.
The recent opening of this space is a joint venture between Ball & Chain and Matilda Bay Brewery. It has opened the corner hotel again after 20 years of dormant office occupation. Craft beer and whisky enthusiasts who enjoy good quality pub grub and an old colonial feel will be at home here.
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The menu consists of sliders, skewers, crackers, hot dogs and jalapeno peppers, to name a few. All the serves are easy to order in conjunction with other items and designed to share. The sliders are served on brioche buns, and there is a vegetarian option with roasted pumpkin, beetroot and goats cheese. Favourites also include the spicy lamb sliders with one giant onion ring and homemade tomato relish.
For drinks, the pub likes to keep it local. There is Matilda Bay Little Ripper Sparkling Lager and Fat Yak, along with many other Matilda Bay craft beers and ciders. Another favourite drink is the local Limeburners Single Malt Whisky. It can be served neat, or on the rocks with an ice sphere, or with a side of water in a little milk bottle. Ball & Chain boast a floor-to-ceiling selection of whisky that staff access with an old school sliding ladder, which is worth visiting just to see for yourself!
Ball and chains were literally dragged through here. The heritage-listed building was home to the very first 75 convicts that arrived in Western Australia in 1850. They stayed in what was then warehouse space until it was turned into a hotel. The pub was called Hubbles: a meeting place for the working class to drink and watch or participate in boxing tournaments held out the back.