MELBOURNE | Local Brewing Co. was founded in 2019 by mates Claudia Mitchell, Chris Cefala, Hugo Mylecharane, Sam Harris and Nick Campbell. They met at university, bonding over a love of craft beer an social enterprise. After operating without a space to call their own in the early years, they opened their long-awaited Clifton Hill brewpub in 2023. I was recently invited to take a look.
I’ve been a fan of what Local Brewing have been doing since I first heard about them in 2019. They’ve teamed up with SecondBite, an organisation that rescues food from major supermarkets and passes it on to hungry families. For every four/six pack and pint of beer sold, they provide a meal to someone in need. To date, Local Brewing have donated over 200,000 meals.
As well as donating meals, Local Brewing also try to minimise waste by using surplus ingredients from partners like fruit and bread, to brew some of their limited/seasonal beers.
The brewpub follows the classic template, being located in an old warehouse. There’s a few communal long tables out the front, and capacity for 75 inside on a combination of long, high tables, and smaller tables. Upstairs, there’s a mezzanine level which can be hired for events.
There’s 10 taps behind the bar where you’ll find Local Brewing’s core range of beers; limited, venue-only releases; and guest beers from breweries that the team love. Beers are served in pots and pints, and you can have a little taste of anything that you’re interested in before committing to a glass. I’m a big fan of the Hazy Nectarine, a 4.5% ABV Pale Ale made using surplus nectarines and day fresh bakery bread that have been diverted
from reaching landfill, showcasing Simcoe, Galaxy, and El Doardo hops.
If you’re not a beer drinker, there’s a small, diverse list of local wines from across the flavour and style spectrum, as well as a page of seven house cocktails, with classics available on request.
To eat, it’s pizzas made from the permeant food truck out front. An airy sourdough base with flavours like the ‘Luigi’ (potato, pork and fennel sausage, smoked scamorza, radicchio, and leek oil), and ‘Gino’ (whipped goats curd, roast peppers, rocket, prosciutto, and parmesan). There’s also a few snacks like chips, a cheese plate, and Chappy’s chips.
Local Brewing Co.
3 Hilton Street
Clifton Hill
Victoria 3068
Australia
Telephone: n/a
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Wed – Thu: 3:00pm to 11:00pm
Fri – Sat: 12:00pm to 11:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm to 10:00pm