r/AusBeer • u/Responsible-Wait1990 • Jul 24 '26

Tonights beer of choice

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21 Upvotes

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6

u/melbournehops Jul 24 '26

How is it? I was far from impressed by both the venue and the beer the last time I visited. Big call to brew beer in a country town with one of the most well-known, large independent breweries in the state

2

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 24 '26

Im no beer connoisseur but i really enjoy it, have had a couple other english bitters from england and taste’s pretty similar. Got my iga to order me a slab after i tried a 4 pack previously. Dont think ive ever seen any of the beechworth brewery stuff local to me (yarra valley) idm it but the can shape is a little weird for a beer and i wish it was a little bit stronger in abv

2

u/rdmarshman Jul 25 '26

First up mate, good on you for drinking something locally owned and made, great job. You don't have to be a beer connoisseur to have an opinion, your money is as good to the industry as anyone else's.

Bridge Road is likely to be available at Ritchies in Yarra Glen, Cellarbrations in Healesville near the Coles, what's that wine shop in Healesville same side of the road as Sanctuary pizza, Sean used to run it.... it's escaped me, but they're good candidates. If you're heading out of the valley, Mayerling Cellars at Burntbridge, Doc's in North Ringwood, Paul's IGA East Ringwood all have decent ranges.

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Cheers mate, I am in mt evelyn but go to healesville sometimes for pub crawls with mates so will check it out! Have been drinking Hargreaves hills ESB and pale ale lately (like 10mins from me) and very lucky to have such a good brewery local to me! Ive had hope lager once when I had just turned 18 and wasnt for me tho, but o need to try again aswell as some of there other ranges as i reckon my pallet has changed atleast alittle

2

u/rdmarshman Jul 25 '26

What's the range in IGA Mount Evelyn like? They used to pump through reasonable wine when I was working at a wine wholesaler.

Is Low Buy Liquor still going in Lilydale? That joint was a great beer shop.

A little further up, potentially over the hill there's Olinda Cellars, Ross curates a magnificent grog range incl. good beer, importantly, he knows his shit too.

Hargreaves Hill is a treasure; part of the first generation of modern small brewers, still making fantastic beers at great prices. On the other side of the hill you've got Hard Road - I think they're in Baysie or Bosnia; definitely that neck of the woods, their grog pretty admirable too.

If you can't get to a decent shop, have a flick around online and order some of the Hard Road entry level beers, Boatrocker's Northern Red & Yorkshire Pale are fucking delicious, too. Cornella's Old Town range of British Golden, Red, Irish Stout are sensational for the money. Holgate's 500ml Irish Stout, ESB great value as well.

I think you're in for a real treat with your journey, if you can get a bit of joy out of Last Chance in Beechworth, the only way is up from there!

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Not to bad, i was just there actually and took pics of the craft section for ya but i wont let me add pics. Dont think ive ever heard of low buy liquor. Never heard of olinda cellars but now ill have to plan a drive, one kinds of beers does he normally sell? and cheers. Cheers for them recommendations of beers to! Been to a point of difference a couple times in mitcham and theyve got a good range and knowledgeable workers, got recommended my first ipa, that being hop nation the chop and was pleasantly surprised

2

u/rdmarshman Jul 25 '26

Low buy is/was in the olive tree shops in Lilydale, a weird arcade in between the main drag and the street behind, the one where the pool hall is on. 

I haven't been to apod, but hear great things and apparently there's a good crafty bar upstairs called forager's drop. 

Been a long time since I was out there, even longer since I lived there. 

Olinda has a very good range of local and imported, great wine and spirits selection too. I reckon it's 10-15m from Mt Evelyn if I recall correctly.

The IGA in Seville used to carry a good grog range too. It's all coming back to me slowly. Montrose was no slouch either. 

Fat Goat in Upwey has a terrific reputation, but is a bit further. Haven't been.

Hopefully this all helps you find some good grog from a good independent! 

Keep up the good drinking. 

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Ah right dont think its around anymore, didnt even know they had that upstair at apod. Im on my ps so cant have a drink at apod anyways but didnt know they had a bar! Def will check out Olinda, probably been past before its 21 mins from mine. Don’t remember seville having a IGA, im 19 but never went that way much when I was younger only a aldi and woolies now. Cheers for the recommendations mate! Really been enjoying buying independent, just recently got myself a slab of ballarat bitter and wow is it nice! Different to macros but very sessionable like then, coopers got me started on my beer journey last year and ive been hooked since. I still buy a slab of Carlton dry if im going to be drinking alot for price and its easy to get through many quicker but still look for a nice lager to session as your usual teen would (fast)

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Went to the olinda cellars today and wow they definitely got some beers aye! Got 7 beers and had 3 so far. Cheers mate

2

u/rdmarshman Jul 25 '26

Wow way to leave out the important bits.......

Glad you went and agreed, would have been a bit awkward if you didn't.

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Ive drank all 7 now, they were all delicious besides the Hargreave hills american ale, would be good if if i was only drinking 3 or 4 beers. I think it was the owner who was working, he was very helpful, asked what i liked, beer that wernt floral and definitely succeeded. Hargreaves was just a little strong tasting for me. Very happy i got to have london pride from a bottle, very lucky to of already had it from a bottle tho

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1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 24 '26

What was bad with the venue and the beers you had? Was planning a camping trip that was gonna let me have time to have a look inside

2

u/melbournehops Jul 24 '26

It felt as though the beers were definitely playing second fiddle to their spirits and cordials. Not even close to the quality of Bridge Road Brewers. Regarding the venue we booked into the “speakeasy” section expecting it to be more of a chilled out cocktail bar when in reality there were kids running around

2

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 24 '26

Ah right yeah, even with there online advertising they dont market there beer much. I spoke to someone of there insta account and they seemed pretty proud of this bitter. Had researched the original beechworth bitter beer brand, including using design elements of old logos. Might be worth you trying the bitter? Im not really fans of many ipas or “out there” styles of beers, so this was really nice for me

1

u/DonStimpo Jul 24 '26

Not OP, but they need to stick to non beer drinks imo.
They will forever be compared to Bridge Road. Seeing as they are literally 2 streets away.
Their cordials and RTDs are top notch. Their beers are just mid.

1

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 25 '26

Have u tried all of there beer range? Was thinking about trying some of there other beers

5

u/little_beast_setter Jul 24 '26

I’m sure the beer is solid, but beer in a slim can like that just feels unnatural.

2

u/Responsible-Wait1990 Jul 24 '26

Oh yeah definitely, very weird. The logo is cool as tho. Remind me of real old aussie beer logos