Hopping between the best inner west breweries, trying out Sydney‘s best craft beers and ciders, is one hell of a good afternoon! For me enjoying beer is highly related to the circumstances I’m drinking it and these cool craft beer bars did the trick for me. I would not expect you to trust my beer tasting pallet though, so I tagged along on an inner west brewery tour and my resident beer tasting panel, aka the other guests on the tour, most definitely approved of a good Sunday Bevvie.
In this article, we discover the best inner west breweries that are serving Sydney’s best craft beers in a beautiful setting.
Why is the Inner West the best location for Craft Beer in Sydney?
The Inner West of Sydney is the ultimate hipster destination of Sydney. Rental prices are cheaper and warehouses are begging to be converted. The Inner Western Suburbs that we are focusing on for this article are all within walking distance from Newtown. If you are not a local, you will most likely have heard of hipster-central Newtown, but you might not have heard of Alexandria, Camperdown, Glebe, Erskineville and Marrickville. The latter in particular is famous for its abundance of excellent craft breweries.
Sydney is unique from other cosmopolitan cities in that you would not notice these hip establishments when walking past. It took me around three loops back and forth around the block to find Willie The Boatman (one of my favorite breweries mentioned below)! The suburbs tend to be quite industrial and therefore less appealing to the eye. Once inside the building, however, it is a whole other story!
The 5 Best Inner West Breweries
The Inner West is bustling with great craft breweries so I asked Jared, who runs inner west brewery tours to share his favorites with us and show me around. Here are my 5 favorite inner west breweries for you to explore:
Willie The Boatman: A must-do to the bar space downstairs
While Willie The Boatman is well-known amongst Sydney beer lovers, I wouldn’t call it a famous bar. Although that might change once you lay eyes on how gorgeous this microbrewery is! I bet you that they won’t stay under the radar for much longer. Head here for plant heaven and a backstage tour where you will find out exactly how craft beers get made.
The complex in which Willie The Boatman is located, Precinct 75, is also home to a gorgeous coffee shop, Sample Coffee Pro Shop, a hairdresser, DD+Co, a homewares store, The Society Inc, and much more. One of the 70 businesses operating out of Precinct 75 is even an axe-throwing space!
Willie The Boatman
Precinct 75 Suite 601, 75 Mary St, St Peters NSW 2044 (access easiest to find via Edith Street)
Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Yulli’s Brews: the best vegan pub food you will ever have!
The one brewery that I will take all of my future guests to is Yulli’s Brews. This brewery does not only serve amazing beers, but the food is fingerlicking delicious, with one small secret, everything that you can buy at Yulli’s is 100% vegan! You would never guess that from the hordes of tradies that frequent the bar! Yulli’s Brews looks and feels like your normal craft brewery, but being completely vegan made me fall in love with it even more!
Yulli’s Brews
75A Burrows Rd, Alexandria NSW 2015
Open Wednesday – Sunday
Wildflower Brewing & Blending: Some of Sydney’s best Belgian-style sour ales
Wild yeast foraged from the natural landscape of New South Wales? You heard it right! The Wildflower Brewing & Blending team actually goes looking for natural sources of yeast and uses this to make their beers.
Their beers have a reputation that proceeds itself and you are guaranteed a unique flavor. Head here for a once in a lifetime beer experience.
Wildflower Brewing & Blending
11-13 Brompton St, Marrickville NSW 2204
Open Friday and Saturday
Take-away beers available 7 days
Open Friday and Saturday
Take-away beers available 7 days
Sauce Brewing Co: The best Beer Garden of Sydney
Sauce Brewery Co is touted as the best beer garden in Sydney and is, therefore, the perfect stop on a sunny day in Sydney. As an independent microbrewery, they have a flagship Pale Ale and several other award-winning beers. You also just gotta love a place that serves a beer called the Piss-weak Sauce!
Sauce Brewing Co.
1a Mitchell St, Marrickville NSW 2204
Open Thursday to Sunday
Batch Brewery Company
Batch Brewery Company was my first introduction to Sydney Craft Beers. You will rarely find Batch Brewery Company empty as their American pale ale and IPA are beloved by many Sydneysiders (people who live in/come from Sydney). Don’t expect to have the same craft beer twice though! They change their range every two weeks.
Feeling a bit peckish? Batch Brewery Co always has an excellent food truck parked outside as well. It really is one of the best places to spend your lazy Sunday!
Batch Brewing Co.
44 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
Open Tuesday – Sunday
Craft Breweries and Bars in the Inner West organized by Suburb
While the above breweries are the five favorites that I would take visitors to, they are definitely not the only ones. For your easy reference, I gathered all the best craft breweries into a list divided by suburb. If you think I’m missing one, make sure to drop it in the comments and I will add it in!
Alexandria’s craft breweries:
- Yulli’s Brews: 100% vegan brewery with the best (vegan) pub food that you will ever have! Open Wednesdays to Sundays.
Camperdown’s craft breweries:
- Wayward Brewing Co.: Several ales with seasonal beers
Glebe’s craft breweries:
- Staves Brewery: Claimed to be the best micro-brewery in Sydney
Marrickville’s craft breweries:
- Batch Brewery Company: Try one of the beer paddles! This place is never empty. Open Tuesdays to Sundays.
- Wildflower Brewery: Some of Sydney’s best Belgian-style sour ales. Take-away beers are available 7 days of the week. If you would like to visit the brewery, they are only open on Friday and Saturday.
- Willie The Boatman: A must due to the bar space, aka plant heaven, downstairs (on the border of Marrickville and St Peters). Open Thursdays to Sundays.
- Sauce Brewing Co: The best beer garden in Sydney, great for a large group! Open Thursdays to Sundays.
- The Grifter Brewing Co.: Special batches and experimental brews
- Stockdale Brew Co.: Multi-award winning craft beer brewery
Newtown’s craft breweries:
- Young Henry’s: Most famous brewery in the Inner West. Expect a crowd!
Erskineville’s craft breweries:
- Hive Bar: A highly loved bar by locals with 4 taps and bottled craft beer
An Inner West Brewery Tour: The Perfect Activity For a Rainy Day in Sydney
As most Sydneysiders spend the majority of their time outdoors, they struggle when it is raining. I’ve never seen a city -and nightlife- as empty as Sydney on a rainy day. People don’t come outside, they simply don’t!
Therefore, when I find a great activity to do on a rainy day, I want to share it with everyone. An Inner West Brewery Tour is definitely one of those activities. Start your tour at your venue of choice and plot a course that is within reasonable walking distance apart. For example, a combination of Batch Brewery Co, Wildflower Brewery, Willie The Boatman and Sauce Brewery Co. will take you in a nice 5km loop as you can see in the map below.
Should you book an organized Inner West brewery tour?
As I mentioned above, you can find a few breweries that are within reasonable walking distance. However if you don’t want to put in the time to plot out all of the breweries, do your research into which brewery is the hippest at the time and, most importantly, don’t want to sacrifice a sober driver, an Inner West Brewery Tour could be the perfect solution for you.
That is where our guide of the day, Urban Legends Tour Co., comes in. We were kindly invited to tag along one Saturday and gratefully accepted the invitation. We were greeted by the owner, Jared, who started this small tour company only two years ago and still runs most of the tours himself.
He goes through a great deal of effort to provide all of his guests with the best experience and will even tailor a tour based on your group’s personal preferences. I never would have known about most of the breweries above if it wasn’t for Jared’s guidance.
As I’m always honest with you guys here, I do want to say that you can, of course, go to any of these breweries by yourself. Jumping on a tour is just a great way to spend a day without having to worry about where to go next, without anybody having to drive and having a guaranteed fun day!
Stay in the Inner West?
Don’t want to walk too far after your inner west brewery pub crawl? I hear ya! I would always recommend staying in Newtown as there is plenty to do for kicking-on later in the evening or going for brunch in the morning. There are, however, plenty of options in this area. Have a look at the below map to find your accommodation of the night!
Loving these inner west breweries? Don’t forget to pin them!
Disclaimer: This tour was provided by Urban Legends Tour Co. Most alcoholic drinks were purchased myself, although a few drinks and the backstage tour of Willie The Boatman was included. Thank you, Jared, for having me, I had an awesome day!
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