Known for his love of black beer, Brian ‘Macca’ McDermott has been the friendly face and powerhouse behind the Albion Hotel at Wickham for just short of a decade. Now, as he moves on to the next stage of his life and begins what he is hesitant to label ‘retirement’, he took some time to look back on his career, the importance of being a publican, and how climbing through the window at Fanny’s Nightclub led to a long and happy marriage.
If you spend more than ten minutes at the Albion Hotel, it’s easy to see that the locals love Macca. They greet him by name, with a smile, and are keen to sit down for a beer and a yarn. And while he agrees it's the role of a publican to make the locals feel welcome, for Macca it’s so much more than that; he also loves them back – and it shows.
“It’s a noble profession to be a publican,” he said.
“To have the privilege of being part of the community is a wonderful thing. You can do so much and really make a difference and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
“To have the privilege of being part of the community is a wonderful thing. You can do so much and really make a difference and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Despite starting his career as a public servant, when Macca bought his first pub freehold - the Town Hall Hotel at Waratah in 1998, he knew right away that the role of ‘publican’ was a perfect fit for him.
“Once we started at the Town Hall, I knew without a doubt that being a hotelier was where I was supposed to be,” he said.
“Since then, over the years my adult children have also all worked at the Town Hall and here at the Albion, and I’m proud of what I’ve been able to achieve along the way.”
Before coming to the Albion Hotel, for eight years Macca held the freehold of Lakeside Village Tavern at Raymond Terrace. And it was there that he very publicly shared his love for a schooner of black with then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
“In 2010, she came to the pub as part of a visit to Port Stephens,” he said.
“I got a call from the Trades Hall the night before asking if we could host her and I thought he was joking. But the next day she came in and the place was swarming with Federal Police. I had to walk her around the pub and at one point I asked her, ‘Prime Minister would you like a beverage?’ She asked for my recommendation and I suggested the local beer Tooheys Old. I told her it’s a black beer because it represents the dust and coal from the mines in the valley and the tar and industries of Waratah.
"She asked for my recommendation and I suggest