News location:

Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

This week in beer… Where to buy the good stuff in Canberra?

plonk

I think its fair to say that Plonk in the Fyshwick markets is Canberra’s leading craft beer bottle shop. Anthony Young, owner of Plonk recently told me that they are currently stocking a staggering 1,300 varieties of beer. Open Thursday to Sunday from 9am till 5pm, it should be your first stop for quality craft beer in Canberra. But what if you want a craft beer on a Tuesday, or at 7 o’clock, or if you’re nowhere near Fyshwick? The intention of this article is to open readers eyes up to some of the other quality independent craft beer bottle shops scattered around Canberra.

A definite number 2 behind Plonk is Denman Cellars, located at the Chisholm shops. With a contemporary fit-out, Denman Cellars features a host of great and rare craft beers, including brews by Victoria’ s Blackheart Brewery and the award winning 3 Ravens. Another very impressive aspect of Denman cellers is the range of imported craft beers they carry. These include US craft beer darlings Dogfish Head, Alesmith and the craft beer king, San Diego’s own Stone Brewing Co.

Another of Canberra’s leading craft beer locales would have to be Ainslie Cellars located at the Ainslie shops. This fantastic, bright and wide open shop highlights their extensive range of wine, with a strong focus on the Canberra region wine. However, what we want to know about is their beer selection and with an ever increasing range of craft beer now including brands like Moo Brew, Manly’s 4 Pines and the always impressive Holgate, this is a great place to stop by to get your craft beer fix.

A new spot creeping their way into the world of craft beer is Urban Cellars in the Curtin shops. Their ever-evolving craft beer list boasts a number of rare and exciting beers including the Stone & Wood Stone Beer, Quiet Deeds Vanilla Porter and the delicate saison style Bridge Road Chevalier. Owner operator Paul Cains uses Facebook to get the word out about what’s happening in his store and told me how pleasing it was to see a steady flow of customers walking past the traditional lager fridge and delving into beers by craft brewers Matso’s, Bridge Road Brewing and 2 Brothers Brewery.

Finally, James Kelly, a sales representative for Holgate Brewhouse harped on to me incessantly about how impressed he was with Canberra’s local liquor stores and their craft beer range. So with that, I took a drive to the far side of Black Mountain and checked out Local Liquor in the IGA supermarket in Cook. With a surprising selection of quality craft beer, my mouth watered even further with the large range of quality imported craft beer available from their store. It’s also important to note a fine range of craft beer at local liquor stores in Griffith and Narrabundah.

So I hope this article has helped give you an idea of where to shop for your next craft beer. I’m always open to suggestions so if there’s somewhere I’ve left off the list, please tell me on twitter and I’ll help to get the word out about it. And please, keep enjoying craft beer.

What’s impressing me?

  • Plonk; Get into the World Cup with beers from almost every country! All at Plonk!
  • Stone & Wood Jasper Ale; Looking for a lighter tasting dark beer? The Stone & Wood Jasper Ale is for you and is on tap at Honkytonks in Civic.
  • Holgate Brewhouse Temptress; Big, black 6% chocolate porter and its on tap at The Durham Castle Arms, Green Square, Kingston.

    Adrian Moran has been pouring beers for over nine years and runs a weekly podcast devoted to craft beer
    Twitter: @ausbeerjourney
    Website: www.ausbeerjourney.wordpress.com

    Who can be trusted?

    In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

    If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

    Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

    Become a supporter

    Thank you,

    Ian Meikle, editor

  • Share this

    Leave a Reply

    Related Posts

    Wine

    The local fiano that punches above its weight 

    "The Collector fiano was perfect to drink on a hot day: crisp, textural and with an element of preserved lemon. It is not a low-alcohol wine with a nudge above 13 per cent alcohol by volume," writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.

    Lifestyle

    Two words and you may be off to Jamala Lodge

    Here's a special advertising feature with a twist of April Fool's Day fun and the chance to win a free night's accommodation for two, valued at $1850 at the award-winning Jamala Wildlife Lodge at the National Zoo and Aquarium.

    Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews