Sip through Sydney's craft beer trail
Say the words “Australia” and “beer” in the same sentence and there’s only one thing that comes to mind. Yep, that sweating, oversized blue can and its catchy tagline, “Fosters, Australian for Beer,” have seared themselves onto the collective American mental image of Australia. But you’ll hardly find a can of the stuff anywhere in Australia, from Perth to Sydney, Darwin to Hobart. The locals don’t drink it and, well, importing it Down Under is a hassle.
After all, Foster's isn't made in Australia. Yet the beer Aussies have traditionally enjoyed hasn’t been much better, thanks to a near monopoly of industrial lager brands. In a country that has earned a rightful reputation as a carefree, beer-and-shrimp-on-the-barbie kind of place, the beer — unlike the views — have been completely forgettable until recently.
The latest statistics show that Aussies are drinking less beer than they have at any time in the last 70 years. That said, they used to drink a lot of it – routinely making the list of top 20 beer consuming nations (per capita) in the world. So, even with decreased beer consumption, they’re still a nation that likes a frosty one. These same stats reveal that a rapidly increasing (albeit still small) proportion of the beer that continues to be enjoyed in Australia is craft beer. Aussies might be drinking less overall, but they’re drinking better stuff, which is good news for beer-loving visitors. Small, independent and traditional are the characteristics of “craft beer” as defined by the U.S. Brewers Association that also seem to define the great craft breweries springing up in Sydney.
It’s arguable that no Australian city has gone as craft beer crazy as Sydney in recent years. It’s now home to more than two dozen craft breweries (and counting), according to Dave Phillips of Dave’s Brewery Tours. That’s a lot in a country that has less than 10% the population of the USA and is much newer to the craft brew business too. Phillips says Sydney is “about a decade behind the USA, but I personally think we're catching up real quick. The local beer scene is exploding in all the right ways, besides the blinding growth rate, the quality and range of beers being produced is improving too.”
The new breed of Aussie craft brewers is making exciting, experimental beer that’s anything but watered-down lager. Local beer tastes have started to align with what’s going on overseas, and the big Australian brands are increasingly competing with a number of independent craft breweries that prize local high-quality ingredients (like Tasmanian hops) and flavor, over simply volume.
"The development of brewers, brands and the [craft beer] industry as a whole has been a combination of market forces and our local beer community willing it along and applying all their might into building a strong industry thus driving enthusiasm and interest for local craft,” Phillips says.
In Sydney, you can still find yourself drinking a smoked Porter or Australian IPA elbow-to-elbow with the actual brewer in an industrial hangar-turned-brewpub (or “cellar door”, as the Aussies call their tasting rooms).
“The vast majority of [craft breweries] are less than 5 years old," says Tim Charody of The Beer Pilgrim. "And many are no more than one or two years of age.”
Food trucks are on rotation at some brewpubs, like Wayward, while others, like 4 Pines in Manly, have established kitchens that churn out delicious burgers alongside things like steamed river trout. Craft brewer Modus Operandi creates limited-run cans of pecan-tinged brown ales while Batch Brewery does a pickle sour ale on the other side of town. This might all sound alarming to the IPA diehards, but rest assured, there’s plenty of great hop-forward beer being produced alongside the more whimsical stuff, and most of it is delightfully drinkable.
Indeed, Phillips points out that much of the character of the beer that’s produced in Australia is “about our climate and our market's palate driving production towards drinkability through more sessionable beers.” Meaning, along with the wilder stuff, you’ll still find brews like summer ale and hoppy pale ale, which aim to refresh on a hot Sydney summer afternoon.
Additionally, you can sip your way across many brewpub and hotels without having to get behind the wheel of a car (or hop on a plane). Two Sydney areas in particular — the Inner West and Northern Beaches — are hot beds of craft brewery activity and neighborhoods that tourists wouldn’t traditionally get to visit. In the Inner West, travelers can visit four breweries in a couple of hours.
“Many of our local breweries have popped up in fringe suburbs and gentrified industrial areas," says Phillips. "Getting out there and exploring our local beer scene is a great way of expanding any Sydney experience and getting under the city's skin.”
Browse the gallery above to plan your authentic Aussie beer trail with craft breweries, beer-centric hotels and guided tours available.
The best cuisine across Australia: Ultimate ways to eat down under