5 Places To Get Your Craft Beer Fix in Newcastle

Located a small stroll from the CBD & restaurant strip, this gem hosts undoubtedly Newcastle’s most passionate craft beer publican, Corey Crooks. Over the last two years this pub has built up an impressive selection of Australian & International beers. The Albion in just the last 6 months have put on their 10 plus taps a rotating selection of rare varieties and scrumptious ales, such as: Murray’s Brewery, Holgate Brewhouse, Bridge Road, Rogue brewery, Little Creatures, Mountain Goat, White Rabbit, James Squires, Mikkeller, 3 Ravens, Stone & Wood, Spaten, HopGoblin & many more. They also do a $10 tasting rack that allows you to try their tapped wares. At last count they had over 150+ different local & international bottled beer catering to most varieties; the full list can be viewed on The Albion website. Some special mentions are; Brew Dog’s (Scotland) “Sink The Bismark” & “Tactical Nuclear Penguin”, Bridge Road (Victoria) “B2 Bomber”, Little Creatures’(WA) “Big Dipper”, Murray’s (Port Stephens) “Shaun’s Fault DIPA”, Epic Brewing (NZ) “Hop Hog” & Rogue (USA) Dead Guy Ale. The friendly team at Albion are quick to welcome you as a local and the fantastic beer selection is complemented by a multi-award winning restaurant.

The Clarendon Hotel has a range of boutique & international beers on tap and bottled. Over the last few years the Clarendon Hotel has been a big supporter of the Little Creatures & White Rabbit breweries, hosting their limited release seasonal ales on their rotating celebrity taps. They offer a beer lover’s night every Monday which entitles you a discount on their wide range of local and international craft brewed bottle beers. They currently have an Aussie craft beer “passport” promotion that allows you to try all of their 22 bottled beers and get a stamp for each one. Once completed you receive a mixed 6 pack of your favourites. A few of their best are the 4 Pines Kolsch, the moo brew pale & the occasional guest appearance of the Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale. The Clarendon Hotel has also bragging rights to being a finalist in the AHA NSW Awards for Excellence 2011 in the Best Boutique Beer Offering category.

Silo has a reputation for its amazing food, wine & service and with a plethora of local and national awards it’s easy to understand why. More recently, Silo won Beer & Brewer Magazine’s Best Beer Restaurant for 2010. The beer range extends to samples from all around the world, with an emphasis on European Influences. Silo is also one of the few places in Newcastle where you can order a 1 litre stein of Lowenbrau’s original lager which flows on tap all year round. Some special mentions are; Hoegaardens Witbier (Belgium), Deus (Belgium), Franziskaner Dunkel (Germany), Brewdog Punk IPA (Scotland), Murray’s Angry Man Pale Ale (Port Stephens). Silo also has one of the best happy hours going around from 4 -6pm featuring $10 pizzas and $3.50 schooners of coopers pale ale; a great excuse for a late afternoon catch up with friends.

Marketing itself as Newcastle’s premier entertainment venue, you may have thought that the “Del” and craft beer wouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence. Well, that was my perception until a recent visit which proved me very wrong. The Delany has a remarkable array of local bottle craft & boutique beer. The Del has a craft beer list that is ever growing showcasing a number of local heavyweights; The Lord Nelsons’ Three Sheets (Sydney) & Old Admiral, Murrays Punch & Judy and a number of lagers from Europe.

The Mary Ellen had boutique and craft beers in Newcastle way before it became trendy. They currently have over 20 Taps on offer ranging from local ales to exotic lagers. My favourites there are the Little Creatures Bright Ale, White Rabbit White Ale and the half stein of Schofferhofer Weizen from Germany. The Mary Ellen has live music and a busy atmosphere most nights of the week & a number of midweek specials at the bistro make it a solid contender for one of the most family friendly locations in Newcastle.

If you're keen on a night in, or want to give your BBQ guests a treat by stocking the esky with craft brews, there's no better place to head than the Warners At The Bay bottleshop. Touting themselves as the best craft beer store in Australia, they boast over 1000 different beers from 50 countries. The latest addition to the store is a purpose built beer dispensing system, which offers 8 different beers which are poured into a 1.89L "Growler". They've also got a great selection of ciders and wines. Open 7 days a week, and with an online store, be sure to set aside some time to check out the range!