The Queenscliff Brewhouse opened in late 2016. It’s a side project of the Otway Estate Brewery, the brewers of the Prickly Moses range, and is similar to their Great Ocean Road Brewhouse with one small difference; Queenscliff has an onsite brewery!
Admittedly it’s a small brewery at only 300L. Mattias Isaksson, one of the quartet that make up Old Wives Ales, is the head brewer at Queenscliff. Unlike at Old Wives where he pushes the boundary of what can be done in a beer, at Queenscliff his focus is on producing consistent, easy drinking products that attempt to convert the locals to craft beer.
Brewery Type
Physical
Region
Bellarine Peninsula
Tasting Room
2 Gellibrand Street, Queenscliff
The brewhouse is housed in a wonderful old pub, that dates back to the 1880’s & was known as the Esplanade Hotel until it was purchased for this project in 2016. We sat in the front bar on a cold Saturday lunchtime, however the beer garden at the rear looked like it’d be a fun space in the warmer months. It’s a welcoming environment, with a menu that won’t intimidate anyone & plenty of different seating options. It’s the sort of place you’d take your whole family for a big lunch.
They have a core range of 4, easy drinking beers, as well as the odd limited edition release. The market is slowly becoming more accepting of craft flavours but it’s been a work in progress. It’s not just beer at the venue, downstairs they have a still & have been producing a range of spirits since its installation in 2019. Upstairs they have a whisky bar, featuring over 400 of the best spirits from around the world.
But we’re all here for the beer. I settled in with a pint of their Steam Ale. It doesn’t pour like a Steam Ale, with a more amber coloured body than I would normally expect. However, despite its unusual appearance, the beer is appropriate to style. There’s a good balance between hops & malt and it drinks well (even if the drinker was quite hungover…).
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
