10 of the best craft breweries in Victoria
The modern beer industry in Australia was born in Western Australia, but when the craft beer scene we know today started to explode into life it was Victoria that took the lead.
A number of breweries either side of the 20-year mark call the state home – the likes of Mountain Goat (now part of CUB/Asahi), Holgate, Bridge Road, Red Hill, Red Duck and Hargreaves Hill – and all helped cement acceptance of craft beer. The country's two biggest beer events, Good Beer Week and GABS (the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular), were conceived in Melbourne, putting the city on the global map for beer.
For a taste of the industry they helped build, this diverse line-up is a good place to start.
Bodriggy Brewing Company
They launched with a white IPA – a style most brewers would view as commercial suicide – and their branding features a character seemingly cooked on acid, yet the team behind Bodriggy have carved an increasingly successful path. Their froffs range from lagers-for-the-masses to flavour-forward flights of fancy, and their Abbotsford home has a claim to be the best urban beer venue in the land. Their conversion of an old LP gas warehouse into a multifaceted, party-starting joint, complete with late-night upstairs bar Stingrays, disco ball and delightful Johnston Street-facing front bar, is simply brilliant.
Beer to try: Speccy Juice – it's a hoppy mid-strength so you'll be able to keep going late into the night.
Banks Brewing
Originally known as Mr Banks before becoming Banks Brewing in late 2021, the Seaford operation founded by Chris and Penny Farmer is a paid-up member of the country's "hype brewery club". They gained membership on the back of a series of lauded high ABV (alcohol by volume) IPAs and pastry stouts, but the couple behind the beers are far more down-to-earth than the reactions their beers elicit. What's more, their core range of "normal" beers is totally on point if you don't fancy a calorific overload.
Beer to try: Hazies like Cake Eater attract the hype, but ignore the noise and grab a four-pack of Foam pilsner instead.
Deeds Brewing
Few breweries have evolved further in their first 10 years than Deeds. Originally making beers at the safer end of the craft beer spectrum, by the start of this decade Deeds had beer geeks clamouring for insanely hopped IPAs, double digit ABV wheatwines, and barrel-aged imperial stouts. Then, after a long, drawn-out battle, they finally opened their venue in Glen Iris last year – a sleek, ultra-modern affair you should check out even if you don't like beer.
Beer to try: Juice Train – one of the first local NEIPAs to get the style right.
Molly Rose Brewing Co
In the grand scheme of things, it's not too hard to get good flavour and aroma into a beer. But getting the structure, the finish and the texture right to ensure it dances across your palate just-so is more challenging. Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery has that knack and applies it to lagers, IPAs, mixed ferment, barrel-aged, fruited and wine hybrid beers with aplomb. He loves cooking as much as brewing and is opening a second, more food-focused venue complete with chef's table next to the original Collingwood brewpub. Molly and Rose were his grandmothers, by the way.
Beer to try: Kuro – a Japanese dark lager featuring sweet cherrywood smoked malt and kombu that's as delicious as it sounds unlikely.
Dollar Bill Brewing
A tiny operation in Ballarat that recently got the go-ahead for a cellar door after going all the way to VCAT. They specialise in barrel-aged and blended sour ales, but also release funky ciders and the occasional off-kilter wine. When they took out Champion Australian Beer for a fruited golden sour with the hip hop-inspired name Gold Teeth at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), they received the biggest standing ovation I've seen in more than a decade of awards dinners.
Beer to try: Learning To Breathe – a pure expression of their art.
Hawkers Beer
Hawkers is neither particularly new, nor does it follow a particularly funky path. It doesn't even have a proper venue at its ever-expanding Reservoir brewery. But the brewery launched by Mazen Hajjar, founder of Beirut's 961 Beer, and Melbourne chef/restaurateur Joseph Abboud just gets on with making consistently excellent beer. More deserving of hype than most hype breweries, but not bothered about chasing it, they took out Champion Large Australian Brewery at the 2022 Australian International Beer Awards.
Beer to try: West Coast IPA – or its occasionally released, higher ABV Double sibling.
Stomping Ground Brewing Co
In the news after the business was acquired by Good Drinks, the ASX-listed company that also owns beer brands Gage Roads, Matso's and Atomic, these venues took the hospitality knowhow the founders had refined at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda and translated it to warehouses in Collingwood (pictured) and Moorabbin, plus a partnership with Delaware North at Melbourne Airport. Under the stewardship of head brewer Ashur Hall they've been going around the country's beer awards to much acclaim.
Beer to try: Gipps St Pale – I was tempted to go with something quirkier but their flagship pale is a stonking example of such beers.
Bonehead Brewing and Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendery
A two-for-the-price-of-one entry here. Bonehead Brewing is a purveyor of modern craft beers presented with a sense of humour, while Sobremesa is the project founded by their head brewer Casey Grieve and his partner Hannah McErlane. The latter's releases focus on delicate farmhouse styles of subtle depth, offering a neat counterpoint to Bonehead's bolder beers.
Beers to try: Bonehead Sweet Pea Melbourne Dark Lager; Sobremesa don't often repeat beers so go lucky dip.
Westside Ale Works and Ida Pruul
Another double-header. Westside Ale Works was launched by Seattle-born Casey Wagner in South Melbourne as a home for West Coast US-inspired beers. Having outgrown his initial space, he moved a few metres down the road to a bigger warehouse where 20 of the 30 taps pour his beers and those of Ida Pruul, a fascinating joint venture with Ben Sewell, of Estonian and Indigenous Australian heritage. They produce barrel-aged beers and wild ales featuring yeasts foraged on camping trips around Victoria. The former recently launched his first spirits too.
Beers to try: Westside Red Roo IPA; Ida Pruul Wild Mango Sour.
FURTHER AFIELD
Noodledoof Brewing and Distilling Co
Dollar Bill aside, we've barely stepped outside the city. Noodledoof Brewing and Distilling Co is bringing the sort of brewpub vibes that would work in Brunswick to Koroit in Western Victoria and killing it.
Beers to try: Noodledoof Lager
ALSO TRY
In Traralgon, Good Land Brewing showcases some of the influences founder Jimmy Krekelberg picked up while brewing and travelling around Europe, including a stint at the revered De Molen. And who'd have thought you'd find hype beers in Cowes? Ocean Reach Brewing in Phillip Island's main town mixes family-friendly vibes with big can limited releases, turning heads around Australia.
Beers to try: Good Land's Pastel Neon sours; Ocean Reach IPA
goodland.beer; oceanreach.beer
James Smith is the founder of The Crafty Pint, an online magazine that has been covering the Australian craft beer scene since 2010.
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