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The Brewery Bar

Rachel Olding

Crafty move: The Brewery Bar is family friendly and has great pub food.
Crafty move: The Brewery Bar is family friendly and has great pub food.James Brickwood

American (US)$$

Craft beer and Alexandria have both been flavours of the month for a while now, so why not combine them both? And why not do it twice over?

It was more a matter of coincidence that sixth-generation craft brewers Rocks Brewing Company opened two beer venues within a few months and a few hundred metres of each other.

The first, the Brewery Bar, is a schmick metal and wood beer garden attached to their new brewery not far from trendy Alexandria venues such as the Grounds and Kitchen by Mike.

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Some of the options to tickle your tastebuds.
Some of the options to tickle your tastebuds.Supplied

The second is a lo-fi rescue job of the Lord Raglan, one of the many sad pubs languishing on the Redfern/Alexandria border.

Both are all about the beer, obviously, with American-inspired food menus. And both sites suddenly came together at the same time for the company, which now owns three pubs showcasing their convict-inspired beers. ''All the big breweries used to own their own pubs. Tooths might have owned 100 or so pubs back in the the day, so we're going back to how it used to be done,'' says managing director Mark Fethers.

The Brewery Bar is a family-friendly, open-air space trying its darnedest to create a bit of character in a bland business park.

It's great seeing the brewery at work just metres away and practically touching the huge steel vats that nurture the Hangman Pale Ale you're sipping.

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There's bound to be something delicious here to tickle your tastebuds. The Hangman and the Governor Golden Ale are classic and easygoing. The Butcher Porter is the most drinkable of the rich, dark beers with a silky chocolate aftertaste. And the Tilse's Apple Trunk Cider straddles the dry-sweet divide nicely.

The beers are complex yet accessible, made using nothing but barley, hops, water and yeast.

There's also a short and sweet wine list and a salted caramel affogato ($6.50) that's hard to ignore, made with Serendipity ice-cream and Vella Nero beans.

The food is a surprise - reasonably priced, huge portions and tasty. A golden-coloured smoked organic half chicken (with quinoa salad, pomegranate, pistachios, mint, $20) and hearty lamb shoulder ragu (with soft gnocci, $18) impressed me, but my group of beer-sculling brutish mates gave the biggest thumbs up to the waffle fries (chips that look like crinkle cut crisps but are filled with soft, fluffy potato), the huge smoked beef brisket sandwich ($15) and the pulled pork burger ($15). The famous jalapeno poppers ($12) were also a cut above the usual gluggy things. These were lightly crumbed and filled with soft cream cheese.

The kitchen is only just firing up at the Lord Raglan but will do similar American-style fare under the helm of Chris Reynolds.

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It's a much smaller, darker indoor space that looks unfinished from the outside (blacked-out windows, half-done signs including a huge ''NO POKIES'') and feels the same on the inside. They're going for shabby chic but it's awkward and not cosy just yet.

Luckily the brews are delicious and particularly appreciated in an area devoid of craft beer. You can also take a 1.89-litre refillable growler home or just walk the 1.4 kilometres down the road and do it all again.

THE LOW-DOWN
You'll love it if … you're looking for an upmarket beer fix in Alexandria
You'll hate it if … you love a dingy, quiet little local
Go for … Butcher Porter, beef brisket sandwich, jalapeno poppers

ALSO: Lord Raglan Hotel
Address
12 Henderson Rd, Alexandria, no phone
Open Monday-Saturday 11am-midnight, Sunday noon-10pm

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