oh yeah forgot about foghorn, that is in king st. You will have to eat there if you want a beer, last time I tried to go in for a beer they said something about licensing meant you had to be eating a meal.
I am not a big fan but I went there in the first week or two they opened, food was ordinary and the brewery was still getting dialled in I would say.
Happy wombat is great, love that place. It is owned by Luke Tilse, his family have the cider company of the same name but he is all about the beer. The staff know their stuff and are always friendly.
Not sure what is closed Mondays sorry.
edit: There are a few places to stay around hunter/king st, free bus or $10 cab will get you to hamilton or merewether. You would be walking distance to albion, happy wombat, star and a few others around there. Merewether has the prince, beaches, surf house, burwood and mary ellen. The burwood is pretty good actually, it has come a long way since this post was originally up.
If the weather is good you could start at surfhouse/beaches in the afternoon and make your way back through the burwood and price or mary ellen then back into town.