Craft Beer Guide to Hobart

Craft beer in Hobart: Five of the best spots to visit

Moo Brew 

Perhaps best known for being located inside Hobart’s famous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Moo Brew has started to be taken very seriously among beer reviewers and brewing circles over recent years. So much so that it has upped its production – becoming Tasmania’s largest craft beer brewery – and moved from its spiritual home, beside MONA on the Moorilla Winery estate in Berriedale, 12km up the road and over the river to Bridgewater. You can, however, still do tastings of Moo Brew’s seven core beers (plus an occasional seasonal) at MONA – a highly recommended experience for anybody visiting the art gallery.

Captain Bligh’s 

Hobart’s oldest craft brewery, Captain Bligh’s is a fiercely independent brewery housed in Hobart’s historic Tasmanian Brewery Building. The brainchild of head brewer and founder Steve Brooks, Captain Bligh’s specialises in colonial-style ales, although they also experiment with plenty of seasonal brews and one-off releases. There is no venue or tap room on site, but the brewery’s loading dock transforms into a vibrant tasting room once a month, an event you won’t want to miss if you’re in town. You can also visit the brewery any time to see the process from start to finish – including the on-site distillery, which uses wash from the brewery to make great whisky. 

Hobart Brewing Co. 

With their iconic Red Shed near Macquarie Point on the Hobart waterfront, Hobart Brewing Co. (HBC) is probably the busiest and most visible craft brewery in Hobart. It’s a fun place to visit, with food trucks and mobile hairdresser vans often parked up near the expansive beer garden and colourful outdoor bar space. HBC embraces traditional beer styles from all over the world – including their traditional German mid-strength Altbier, an American-style Cream Ale, and an Extra Pale Ale, full of juicy tropical hops and balanced out by the addition of oats and extra malt. They also do some eye-turning seasonal and limited releases, from a summery Blackberry Sour to a ridiculously dark, decadent and wintry 16% German Eisbock.

Splendid Isolation 

Set up in 2018 by a group of hard-core hospitality hounds who cut their teeth in some of Hobart’s best bars and restaurants for decades, Splendid Isolation knows exactly what it wants to be, and what it wants to offer: the very best of Tasmanian produce, great beer, and a lot of personality. It all comes together into colourful, quirky cans of Tasmanian Red Ale, Kunzea and Apricot Sour, and a textural, Cascade hop-laden Sparkling Ale. Splendid Isolation beers can be found at a number of Hobart bottle shops and bars including the New Sydney Hotel, Alabama Hotel, and Crescent Hotel in North Hobart.

The Winston Brewing Co. 

Spawning out of a popular North Hobart bar and alehouse, The Winston Brewing Co. has recently upgraded their craft beer production and moved into funky new digs nearer that bar on Elizabeth Street, in the heart of North Hobart’s trendy dining and drinking strip. The Winston doesn’t often settle for standard conventional styles, with Rye IPA, Coffee Stout and Pumpkin Ale among their regular range of offerings. They also show a particular dedication to barrel-aged beers and use of big, bold quantities of different hops in their limited-release beers. The alehouse is open every day from 4pm, with food from 5pm.

Boekamp Bier // The Albert Brewery 

The rather abrupt, covid-induced closure of Boekamp Bier at the end of 2020 was a sad shock to the Tasmanian craft beer world. However, like a Phoenix from the ashes, the guys behind Boekamp have risen back to serious prominence through the guise of their new Albert Brewery and Taproom. Like its predecessor – and very unlike the vast majority of other craft-beer start-ups – the Albert Brewery is strongly focused on slow, bottom-fermenting lagers (as opposed to ales). The brewery and taproom is located in the North Hobart suburb of Moonah, and it’s open Thursday-Sunday.

T-Bone Brewing Co. 

One half of a family-run brewing-distilling double act, T-Bone have a buzzing brew pub on North Hobart’s main drag, where the likes of a Nectarine Saison, Rye-barreled Stout and Peanut Butter Porter may sit along some (slightly) more conventional tap rotations. You can read more about T-Bone Brewing in First Light Travel’s broader Tasmanian Craft Beer Guide

Craft beer destinations outside Hobart – worth a trip out of town

The Derwent Valley

Two Metre Tall Farmhouse Ale & Cider 

Two Metre Tall stands head and shoulders (sorry…) above most other Tasmanian craft breweries for their commitment to traceability, sustainability and truth of origin. These guys are farmers in the Derwent Valley who use their own crops (and those of other small-scale, family-run farms around Tasmania). Spontaneous and wild fermentation feature prominently in their process, and the ales you can take home in beautiful, wine-like bottles will continue to develop acidity and complexity over time (check the neck label for info on when to drink and how to store, etc.). Two Metre Tall have their Farm Bar and Cellar Door open every Friday and Saturday from 12pm-5pm, and it’s well worth the 50-minute trip from Hobart for any visiting beer lover.

New Norfolk

New Norfolk, located near Pulpit Rock just half an hour north of Hobart, has an unfairly disproportionate number of great craft breweries for a town of 5,000 people. It’s well worth adding to a Tasmanian craft beer itinerary for any beer lovers visiting Hobart.

The Eleventh Order 

Famously elusive and stand-offish in style, with an almost Nordic mystique about it, The Eleventh Order quietly produce some superb dark lagers and pale ales that have won several awards in recent years. There was a regular pop-up bar on site, as part of New Norfolk Providore. Although Covid19 has made that tough to sustain, you can still visit, and try The Eleventh Order’s beers at one of several local bars, by ordering direct online, or by visiting the brewery site for occasional events and collaborations (such as Oktoberfest with New Norfolk Distillery). 

Welcome Swallow 

Located a few hundred metres from The Eleventh Order just off Ring Road, Welcome Swallow are great at hoppy beers and serious about hops in general, growing their own and celebrating the Derwent Valley’s climate and soils as “one of the best hop-growing regions in the world.” They produce everything in small batches (800 litres and under), which allows for great creativity and seasonality that you can’t taste in any old beers – even craft ones. They also grow their own fruit for seasonal special editions, like a Refreshing Raspberry or Tropical Fruit Sour. Taste their delicious beers straight from the source at Welcome Swallow’s brewery Tap Room, open Friday-Sunday from 1pm.

Other Hobart craft breweries worth a mention (and a visit)

Last Rites (Cambridge) – where hoppy, New-World ales rule the roost. Stop in on a trip to or from the airport.

Fox Friday (Moonah) – where state-of-the-art, brand-spankin-new brewery machinery meets edgy, effortless cool.

Shambles Brewery (Elizabeth Street) – where an outstanding food menu is almost as impressive as a unique beer range.

Ready to hit Hobart and start tasting these delicious beers?

Head to FLT’s dedicated Tasmania blog page for any info you need on visiting the city.

Check out FLT’s guide to planning a Tasmanian self-drive itinerary if you want to get out of Hobart and explore more of the island.