Breweries

As recently as 25 years ago, beer in Australia was consumed more for its thirst-quenching properties than for its flavour or variety. Most breweries pumped out a similar product: ‘pale golden lager of moderate body…designed to be drunk as cold as possible’, as beer writer Willie Simpson puts it.

Times, thankfully, have changed. Australian breweries are booming, with early trail-blazers like Coopers and Matilda Bay Brewing Company joined by a plethora of exciting and diverse ‘craft beer’ operations around the country. Lovers of the amber fluid are no longer limited to boring bitters, but can take their pick from home-grown pilseners, US-style pale ales, cloudy ales and stouts – all of which are worth travelling for.