With its winged horse logo flying high over the Princes Highway as you approach Warrnambool from the east, the Flying Horse Bar & Brewery is both a gateway to the city and the western frontier for Victoria’s craft brewers. The brainchild of local boys Matt Monk and Matt Stewart, it combines a little bit of everything: brewery, large restaurant, outdoor entertainment areas, sports bar, art gallery and kids' play area.
The brewery side of the business came from nowhere to pick up the gong for Champion Porter at the 2009 Australian International Beer Awards. Their Dirty Angel, a nod to the cheeky nickname for the city’s war memorial, beat 39 other entries to the title less than a year after the Flying Horse opened its doors.
Since then, the brewery has been upgraded and expanded from 600l to 1,000l and a new brewer, Matt Doswell, has been flown in from top Scottish microbrewery West. He’s brought fresh ideas with him, beefing up their Whale Pale to a level that rivals the biggest, most aromatic American Pales and introducing new seasonals, all unfiltered and made using 100% Australian malt.
Along with Prickly Moses and Red Duck, it ensures the beer lover is well catered for when heading through Victoria’s west, although with a greater focus on spreading their beers far and wide, you’re as likely to find the Flying Horse touching down in bars and bottleshops in and around Melbourne too.
Flying Horse Bar & Brewery Beers
The Regulars
The Specials
There are no specials
Regulars
Dirty Angel
The most westerly of Victoria’s breweries had barely been open when it stunned everyone at the 2009 Australian International Beer Awards by walking off with the prize for Champion Porter. The Dirty Angel, named after Warrnambool’s infamous statue, is based on the 18th London style porter. It’s full-bodied, pours a dark brown with a beige head and delivers a velvety mouthfeel that melds rich chocolate fudge with roast coffee and espresso flavours.
Awards: Champion Porter AIBA 2009, Gold AIBA 2009 - Draught Ale Silver AIBA 2010 – Bottled Porter, Bronze AIBA 2010 – Draught Porter
Style: Porter
Strength: 5.8%
Whale Ale
An Aussie / American Pale Ale hybrid, this beer underwent a reinvention under current brewer Matt Doswell, becoming an altogether bigger, ballsier beast. A heavy dose of Australian and New Zealand hops give it a powerful, fruity, citrusy aroma with a hint of sweet malt that’s matched by the almost chewy mouthfeel full of hop bitterness and layers of biscuity malt.
Awards: Silver AIBA 2009 Silver AIBA 2010
Style: American Pale Ale
Strength: 4.6%
Wollaston Wheaty
A traditional Bavarian hefeweizen, or wheat beer, of the type that has seen a renaissance in Germany in recent times, it’s made with 60% wheat and a special wheat beer yeast. A refreshingly fruity beer that pours a hazy pale orange with a frothy cream head, you’ll find everything from cloves and bananas to bubblegum on the nose and a smooth, dry flavour that’s tangy, sweet and sour.
Style: Hefeweizen
Strength: 4.6%
Lady Bay Lager
Another German style beer from the Flying Horse, this time based on the traditional German Zwickelbier. It’s brewed in accordance with the world’s oldest existing purity law, the 16th Century Reinheitsgebot, from the finest pilsner malts and Tettnanger hops imported from Germany. Unfiltered, naturally carbonated and conditioned for months at subzero temperatures – the way lager was originally made – it’s a pale yellow straw coloured lager with subtle malts and slightly spicy hop aromas and a light, crisp taste.
Style: Kellerbier
Strength: 4.6%
Savage Seagull
The first brew made for the Flying Horse’s sister venue in Port Fairy, this is a hybrid Celtic Ale based on Scottish and Irish beers. Warm fermented using a special Irish Ale yeast and conditioned at subzero temperatures the Savage Seagull contains a blend of caramel, biscuit and roasted barleys that give it a honeyed flavour and auburn colour.
Style: Celtic Red Ale
Strength: 4.8%