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My wife and I recently went over to W.A for 9 days, from Good Friday through 'til early A.M on the Sunday of ANZAC weekend. We'd never been to W.A before and we're both very impressed with much of what we experienced, but as a home brewer it was the brewery scene over there that struck me probably as much as anything.

Many people would be aware of the popularity of Margaret River wines and the abundance of wineries on offer for the tourist, but there are a quite few breweries over there that are really worth a visit.

Little Creatures was one of the obvious must do things while we were in Fremantle and it's incredibly popular. We managed to get a table for us and our other 6 friends, but only because we got there at 11.30am. If we'd left it much later we would have had to wait in line with the other several dozen patrons who'd come a bit too late.
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One word of warning, they have a strict R.S.A policy, which we discovered, when they refused to serve us any more drinks. We weren't pissed, or showing any of the usual signs of being so, they just decided that we'd had enough.............We were a bit offended at the time, but after we cooled down, we thought it was probably a fair call and if it keeps dickheads from getting smashed and ruining it for everyone, then fair enough.
They do brewery tours, but due to time constraints, I didn't get to do it.

Also in Freo, is Sail & Anchor, we wandered through, but didn't stop. The old building looks great, inside and out, there's also a balcony upstairs which makes for great viewing of the talented street performers below. I got the impression that this place would probably go off.

We had dinner one night at The Monk and as well as the great food and awesome beer, they probably have the best example of recycling of old hardwood railway sleepers you'll ever see in your life.

We would have gone to Matilda Bay, but sadly it's closed, (as is the old Swan Brewery). There's a for sale/lease sign out the front of Matilda Bay and the old Swan Brewery is apartments now, apparently.

A couple of days later, we caught up with some more friends and went to lunch at Duckstein Beergarden in the Swan Valley, they used to brew their beer there but it's now brewed at their incredibly beautiful Brewery and restaurant in Margaret River. After lunch, we stopped off at Feral Brewing for a pint of Feral Hop Hog, before heading to my mates place to get stuck into some of his home brews............................ I'll just say that I'm glad i stopped on the way and grabbed a sixpack of Little Creatures P.A.

Among the gazillion wineries in Margaret River, there are a several breweries. Duckstein Brewery is the standout for design and aesthetic appeal, it's incredibly beautiful and it looked as though they were building something else nearby. I happily sampled a taster tray which included a Hefeweiss, Pils, Dunkel and an Altbier.

I was driving, so my alcohol consumption was restricted to samples and dinner beers.

Cheeky Monkey is nearby and we visited fairly early in the morning when the place was virtually empty, but the place was beginning to fill up and considering the number of tables and size of dining and alfresco areas, I would imagine they fill the place often.

Cowaramup Brewery was another that deserved more time than we had on hand, we wandered around for a look, but didn't stay. It was nearly lunch time and the place was almost full. One thing I noticed, was that they offer growlers for sale and you can fill them to take away.

The last one for me was Colonial Brewing Co in Margaret River. We went to one of the pubs for dinner and it happened to be a pub that brews its own beer. The beer is brewed off premises, in the industrial area once a week, I think that's what the bartender told me.

There are quite a few breweries that I didn't get to and unfortunately of the ones I did, it wasn't always possible to stay and enjoy their delights.

It was great walking up to a bar and being so spoilt for choice of beers on tap, that I almost became a blithering mess.

I'd like to give a big raise of my glass to Western Australia. :icon_cheers:
 
The Old Swan Brewery does now have apartments as well as several restaurants. It also has The Old brewery which has won best steakhouse for four years in a row (or there abouts). They also do some absolutely cracking beers. You missed out on that one! Tell the person who told you that let you down.
 
StalkingWilbur said:
The Old Swan Brewery does now have apartments as well as several restaurants. It also has The Old brewery which has won best steakhouse for four years in a row (or there abouts). They also do some absolutely cracking beers. You missed out on that one! Tell the person who told you that let you down.
Oh well, got another reason to get back there I guess. I won't be too hard on my friends, they we very hospitable and everything they did suggest was well worth seeing.
 
Haha. Yeah, I was just joking. Sounds like they really looked after you and showed you more places than some locals have been!
 
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