Brisbane is a city made for beer lovers, where plenty of craft breweries have set up shop over the last decade.  We love stopping for a good pint on our Small Bars of the Valley and Sundowners in the City tours. And because we are always out walking around, trying to decide where to take our tour guests, we’ve had the very tough job of trying many drinks around town. Here’s our top 5 places to enjoy a cold one this summer.

Best for a night out: Felons Brewing Co

Looking for something refreshing that’s easy to drink, has some interesting history, and is paired with great views and burgers? Look no further than Felons Brewing Co. at Howard Smith Wharves. Established in the summer of 2018 (where they ran out of beer within the first couple of weeks of opening), Felons has four beers that are brewed in-house, each with the name of the four ‘Felons’ that discovered Brisbane across the top of each one. While we love their pale ale, there’s a cider to please even the pickiest of drinkers, and their lager is always a crowd pleaser. You really can’t go wrong with whichever you choose!

Best for local lore: Sea Legs Brewery

Just across the river, in Kangaroo Point, you can find a nautical joint located next to the Story Bridge on Main Street. Sea Legs Brewery is one of the newer breweries in Brisbane, but the five co-owners have been drinking and brewing beer for years, finally making the leap and opening Sea Legs. The brewery’s name is a nod to Brisbane’s nautical history (and apparently one of the owner’s signature strut after he’s had a few). Each of their five brews are tied to a local historical event, like our current favourite the West Coast–style Breakaway IPA, which honours Captain Phillip Gibson, an unexpected hero who prevented a breakaway ship from damming the river in the 1970s.

Best for a light brew: XXXX Gold 

If you don’t know what a Milton Mango is, are you even from Brisbane? Sure, we know that XXXX Gold beer is a mainstream classic here, but for good reason. The award-winning lager is proudly brewed in Brisbane’s very own suburb of Milton. With its signature yellow can and smooth flavour, it is the beer you choose when you really want to feel like a Queenslander.

Best for a biscuit ale: Soap Box Beer

Are you after something just as patriotic, but not quite as mainstream as our Milton Mangos? Support one of our homegrown craft breweries, Soapbox Beer. Located on the fringe of Fortitude Valley, they brew all of the beers and ciders in house (and you can catch a glimpse of the action behind the seating area of their spacious brewery). One of our particular favourites of theirs is their Biscuit Ale, which they’ve created to taste exactly like an Iced VoVo (a classic Australian biscuit!)

Best for IPAs: Green Beacon Brewing Company

And finally, this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Green Beacon Brewing Company. The local brewhouse has been lighting the way for craft beer in Brisbane for almost a decade. Back in 2013, Adrian Slaughter and Marc Chrismas started making beer out of Teneriffe, and today you’ll find Green Beacon on tap at any good pub or bar around Brisbane. You can’t go past their subtly sweet Windjammer IPA, but if you’re after something a little more malty, the Anchor Amber Ale is the way to go.