Sydney’s Inner West Breweries, A Walking Tour

SYDNEY | For lovers of craft beer, Sydney’s Inner West breweries offer all sorts of great brews, from the familiar and accessible to the unique and experimental. There’s something special about visiting a brewery and sampling beers directly at the source. You get a real feel for the place, there’s often something interesting on tap you won’t find, or haven’t seen, elsewhere and quite often you get to talk to those with a passion for the brewery who are directly involved.

Thanks to convenient proximity and great weather, a walking tour of Sydney’s Inner West breweries is something that’s completely feasible, and something we’ve done several times in recent years. Here’s where you want to be visiting to experience the best in beer that this part of Sydney has to offer – we’ve listed the pubs in the best order for walking. If it’s craft beer pubs and bars you’re after, check out our guide to Sydney’s Best Craft Beer Pubs.

Willie The Boatman

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

Willie The Boatman was founded in 2012 by Pat McInerney and Nick Newey and is where they have turned their passion for brewing beer into a business. The St Peters brewery, housed in a former Taubman’s Paint Factory still retains a very industrial feel with a bit of a beach shack theme. More importantly for punters, the brewery is home to a tasting room that serves 8 of the brewery’s beers on tap, all of which are named after local legends and the brewers mates.

The entire core range of beers can be had, as well as a rotating selection of seasonal beers and special one-offs. You can go for a tasting paddle, or the usual pint or middy depending on what you feel like. The beers are all served with a small bowl of bar snacks which is a nice touch.

Willie The Boatman

202/75 Mary Street
Tempe
New South Wales 2044
Australia

BlackFont Brewhouse

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

BlackFont Brewhouse is a brewery that’s a bit of a hidden secret. To find it you need to walk through a super industrial part of Marrickville, away from where the rest of the action is happening and down a lane way through the garage door of what was a printing warehouse. Staff are really keen to talk about the brewery and each of the beers, and soon enough you won’t know which beer to try first. Thankfully, the staff can also help with that – our advice is to get a tasting paddle which gives you four very generous pours of whichever beers you choose.

All of the beers are produced in small batches, 50 to 200 litres, and there’s a lot of experimentation with all kinds of styles going on. There’s no core range as as such here, just a selection of interesting beers across the 12 taps.

BlackFont have temporarily closed their taproom, and plan to reopen in the first quarter of 2017, so double check online before walking here.

BlackFont Brewhouse

92 Meeks Road
Marrickville
New South Wales 2204
Australia

Batch Brewing Company

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

Batch Brewing Company is in a great warehouse space with a variety of table and seating options and offers some of the best craft beers in Sydney. The core range is outstanding (we love the American Pale Ale and Elsie the Milk Stout), and the rotating beers will differ depending on when you visit. Two of our favourite seasonal beers here are the “In A Pickle!” (Cucumber and Sorachi Ace Sour) and “What A Melon” (Summer ale with El Dorado and pressed watermelon).

There’s generally a food truck parked out the front too, the exact truck differing depending on the day. So this could be a good option for a lunch stop on your walking tour.

Batch Brewing Company

44 Sydenham Road
Marrickville
New South Wales 2204
Australia

The Grifter Brewing Co

sydney inner west breweries craft beer
Despite being housed in the shell of a warehouse, the bar at the Grifter Brewing Co feels like a Sydney pub with its old school logo, menu board and welcoming atmosphere. The tap list contains Grifter’s 4 core beers – a pale ale, pilsner, IPA and oatmeal stout, along with a few seasonal and one-off beers along with beers from other local brewers and gypsy brewers. If it’s on tap when you visit, make sure to try the Demon Lungs, a porter made with hops that have been smoked by LP’s Quality Meats.

There’s no permanent food setup beyond jerky and sauerkraut yet, but there’s always a food truck or someone popped up at the brewery taking care of food, and patrons are more than welcome to bring in their own food.

The Grifter Brewing Co

1/391 Enmore Road
Marrickville
New South Wales 2204
Australia

Young Henrys

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

Young Henrys is located in an old warehouse and as soon as you enter you feel like there’s something a bit special about this place. It’s always full of locals from all walks of life, and it feels like there’s a real community spirit about the place. Kind of like a backyard party where everyone’s invited.

It’s all about a core range of solid, accessible beers, along with a few experimental, limited brews on the taps at any given time. The core range consists of the Real Ale, Natural Lager, Hop Ale, Cloudy Cider and the Newtowner. Keep an eye out for the collaboration beers too. Young Henrys often team up with local artists and restaurants to brew special beers and you never know what you might find. Past collaboations include AC/DC, PVT, Frenzel Rhomb, and You Am I to name a few.

There’s no food available, but there’s generally a food truck or stall outside to order something from if you’re hungry.

Young Henrys

78 Wilford Street
Newtown
New South Wales 2042
Australia

Wayward Brewing Co

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

Wayward Brewing Co is lively yet cozy space with seating for 150 people, space for food vendors out the front and a band out the back. On the taps are 12 beers, containing Wayward’s core range, rotating seasonal and one-off beers as well as a few taps to showcase other Sydney breweries. In particular we like the Sour Puss Raspberry Berlinerweiss – a perfect example of a low ABV beer done well and a great gateway for those who aren’t yet sold on the idea of sour beers (or may want a bit of a breather at this stage of a Sydney Inner West brewery tour!).

When it comes to seasonal beers, on of our favourites is the Chockywocky Doppelbocky, a smoked chocolate and sour cherry beer aged in oak that’s well worth trying if you see it on the taps.

Wayward Brewing Co

1 Gehrig Lane
Annandale
New South Wales 2038
Australia

Staves Brewery

sydney inner west breweries craft beer

Staves Brewery is located down an unassuming side street next to Broadway Shopping Centre in Glebe. Step inside and you’re greeted with 8 rotating taps of local Sydney craft beers (not just their own), along with occasional brews from the rest of NSW and Australia. Staves are a microbrewery in the truest sense of the word, and you can see all of the brewing equipment right behind the bar.

It’s an accessible venue where everyone will be able to find a craft beer they like whether they’re new to craft beer or seasoned hop heads. There’s a pizza kitchen upstairs, and live music in the afternoons and evenings.

Staves Brewery

4-8 Grosse Street
Glebe
New South Wales 2037
Australia

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