Prickly Moses

For most people, being in the wettest part of Victoria would be cause for complaint. Not for the team at Prickly Moses Handcrafted Beers, who have an impressive water harvesting system and a pair of 150,000l tanks at his disposal to capture the rain. And it's with this they brew Prickly Moses beers.

Initially brought to life alongside the existing Otway Estate Winery by brewer Luke Scott, who moved on after thirteen years in 2020, the brewery has taken a multi-pronged approach: a standard range of approachable beers under the Prickly Moses label, ranging from an organic pilsner through to a stout, the seasonally released "Otway Trilogy" of French and Belgian Farmhouse Ales available in longnecks, plus occasional short run specials.

When Otway Estate's owners decided to build the brewery, it was seen as something that would complement their wine production. These days, with its beers playing their part in Australia's craft beer revolution as one of the longest established operations in Victoria, the brewery is taking the lead. Prickly Moses beers and ciders are found in pubs all along the Great Ocean Road as well as in Melbourne and further afield.

The brewery, which takes its name from a native plant local to the area, is well worth a visit. Sat on the edge of the beautiful Otway Ranges National Park and less than 50km from the Surf Coast, it has three holiday cottages onsite with views over the rolling countryside as well as a "Brewery Outlet". If you want to go a step further, you can sign up for residential beer courses and learn to brew hands on.

You can also find the full range of Prickly Moses beers at the company's two brewhouses. The Great Ocean Road Brewhouse opened in Apollo Bay in 2015 and a second followed in Queenscliff. They combine rows of taps featuring the brewery's full range with more than 100 other craft beers in their fridges.

Beyond that, if you head to many of Australia's beer festivals, look out for the Prickly Moses bus...

Name
Prickly Moses
Address

10 Hoveys Road
Barongarook
VIC 3429

Phone
(03) 5233 8400
Open Hours

Fri, Sat & Sun: 11am to 5pm


This is a directory listing. To find out more, head here

Prickly Moses Regulars

Prickly Moses Rolling Mist Hazy IPA

Published November 28, 2022
As one of the elders of the Victorian craft brewing scene, Prickly Moses have been around since the days when you didn't need much more than a pale ale, a wheat beer and a porter or stout to differentiate yourself from the middle of the road. And, while the industry has grown and mutated over the past decade and a half, they've stayed pretty true to their roots: focusing on servicing the wider region around the Great Ocean Road, the Otway Ranges, and the Bellarine Peninsula with beers and ciders… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.5%

Prickly Moses MiD

Published May 27, 2022
Over the past half decade or so, the world of the mid-strength has changed markedly. Not only have such beers become far more central to most breweries' thinking, but in many cases it's become a space in which brewers have strived to replicate the character of much bigger beers – whether via flourishes of hop-derived fruitiness or greater bitterness. To that you can add the arrival of fruity sours, many of which sit below 4 percent ABV, not to mention the growing trend to go even lower and make… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Golden Ale
ABV
3.4%

Prickly Moses The Raconteur IPA: A Love Story About Hops

Published June 4, 2011
Back in 2011, Raconteur was Prickly Moses' first IPA. It's a beer that had then brewer Hendo hot under the collar, hot enough to describe it as a beer that "tells the classic story of American India Pale Ale with hops the protagonist. A hop driven beer in every way, hops are added throughout the entire brewing process from the mash tun to the kettle and even the fermenter." The hops in question are the classic "Three Cs" - Centennial, Chinook and Cascade - and contributed to… Read more
Style
US IPA
ABV
6.4%

Prickly Moses Otway Stout

A mainstay of the Prickly Moses lineup from back in the days when the brewery went under the Otway Estate banner, this is a deeply dark beer inspired by traditional dry stouts. As such, it's lighter on the palate than many of its Aussie peers and has a refreshing sharpness to its texture too, yet this lighter body doesn't mean it lacks layers. There are coffee and gentle roasted characters at one end, caramel and sweet milk chocolate at the other, with the result akin to a carbonated double shot… Read more
Style
Dry Stout
ABV
5.0%
Awards

People's Choice Winner – Stouts Microbreweries Showcase 2009/10
Silver – AIBAs 2010

Prickly Moses Otway Pale Ale

The beer formerly known as Otway Ale is at the maltier end of the pale ale style, pouring a clear, light amber with a white head that clings to the side of your glass. It's subtly complex, with the aroma mixing an almost sherbet like sweetness with a touch of malt and the grassy, floral bouquet of classic English hops. Upfront caramel flavours soon give way to a steadily building hop bitterness to create the sort of beer enjoyed in English pub gardens for years.… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.9%

Prickly Moses Red Ale

One of the longest-lasting members of the Prickly Moses lineup, this Red Ale is a traditional Irish ale that's steadfastly stuck to its guns, refusing to bend to contemporary craft trends that have seen red ales typically land hopped to the eyeballs. Thus, here the emphasis is firmly on the malt character, with the amber nectar serving up toasted caramel and nutty aromas and flavours, a touch of treacle, and some earthiness from the hops.… Read more
Style
Irish Red
ABV
5.0%

Prickly Moses Spotted Ale

If you're reading this website, then clearly you like drinking craft beer. How about drinking it for a good cause? If you pick up a Spotted Ale then you can. Each beer purchased sees money raised to help support research into and conservation of the endangered Tiger Quolls native to the Otways where the brewery is based. The beer is created in the mold of Aussie summer or Pacific ales, pale golden in colour with hops of the tropical and citrus fruit variety set against light, sweet honeyed malts.… Read more
Style
Golden Ale
ABV
4.5%

Prickly Moses Organic Pilsner

One of very few genuine, certified organic beers available in Australia at the time of its arrival, the Organic Pilsner is based on a classic German style pilsner recipe. It is brewed with organic pilsner malt, NZ hops and one of the world's oldest original brewing yeast strains, pouring pale amber with a clean bitterness.… Read more
Style
Organic Pilsner
ABV
4.8%

Prickly Moses Summer Ale

A mainstay of the Otway Ranges' brewery's lineup for many a moon, the Summer Ale sets out to make your summer quaffing of the fruity variety. It's a golden-hued beer with light lemon and lime hop aromas, a touch of pale malt sweetness and delicate, predominantly citrusy flavours. And, as is typical for this easy-going style, bitterness is kept to a minimum.… Read more
Style
Golden Ale
ABV
4.5%

Prickly Moses Otway Light

Back when it was first released, there weren't too many microbreweries in Australia brewing a light beer. Now, there are plenty that, at the very least, have a mid-strength in their arsenal, while plenty have been working on creating low ABV beers with enough character to satisfy the crafty-minded designated driver. Prickly Moses' Otway Light is a beer they say sets out to display "all the malted barley flavours and characters of a rich, full bodied, full strength beer" but at sub-3 percent… Read more
Style
Light Beer
ABV
2.9%

Prickly Moses ChainSAW

Back when it first appeared in 2012, ChainSAW came across as one of the punchier beers in the local landscape, an American wheat ale featuring a pretty potent amount of Hop Products Australia's just-released Stella hop (since renamed Ella for reasons that aren't hard to deduce). It's a sign of how far the market has come so fast that these days it sits more in the hoppy quaffer segment of the beer world. It's even tagged a "cleansing Australian ale" now. It remains one of the hoppier beers… Read more
Style
Australian Wheat Ale
ABV
4.8%

Prickly Moses Specials

Prickly Moses Mango Guava Sour

Published March 22, 2023
Once he'd become settled in at the Queenscliff Brewhouse – part of the Otway Drinks Group that also owns Prickly Moses – brewer Mattias Isaksson started to introduce drinkers at the brewpub on the Bellarine Peninsula to something a little different to the play-it-safe beers associated with the brand to that point. He did so most impressively with Swede & Sour: a heavily fruited mid-strength Berliner Weisse that went on to claim gold at the Australian International Beer Awards. And, as summer… Read more
Style
Fruited Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.5%

Prickly Moses Black Knight

Published June 7, 2021
Black Knight is a regular winter release from Prickly Moses and while winter setting in might not bring cheer to everyone, the imperial stout is one thing many fans of the Otways' brewery do look forward to as the days shorten. It's not just fans and locals that have grown appreciative of the beer either but judges at the Australian International Beer Awards too, who gave the beer a gold medal in 2021. We can't pretend to speak for those judges - or anyone else for that matter - but what was likely… Read more
Style
Imperial Stout
ABV
7.8%
Awards

AIBA 2021 Gold Medal

Queenscliff Brewhouse & Timboon Barrel-Aged Berliner Weisse

Published January 5, 2020
Twelve months earlier, I paid a first visit to the Queenscliff Brewhouse. The brewery was up and running and, at that point, the offerings were playing things very safe: cream ale; steam ale; English style mid; Aussie lager. Things had changed a little by the time 2020 arrived, with brewer Mattias Isaksson playing around rather more. The luridly bright, raspberry-heavy Swede & Sour kicked things off, with a vibrant hazy IPA and this Barrel-Aged Berliner Weisse following soon after. The first… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Berliner Weisse
ABV
7.0%

Great Ocean Road Australian Lager

Published September 25, 2019
On September 19, 1919, the then Premier of Victoria, Harry Lawson, set off an explosive charge in an area just outside the small and isolated town of Lorne. With a bang, work had begun on what would become the 243 kilometre long Great Ocean Road. It wouldn’t be until 1932 that the road would be completed after some 3,000 veterans of World War I turned the rough terrain into a war memorial - the world’s largest - for the fallen. A century later and the road is one of the most travelled in Victoria… Read more
Style
Australian Lager
ABV
5.2%

Prickly Moses Harvest Ale 2019

Published May 2, 2019
Luke Scott has had fun with wet hop beers over his time at Prickly Moses, once taking a team to pull down a ute-full of hop bines of unknown variety that were growing wild in a field not far from their brewery home. For the 2019 Harvest Ale, he's taken a more traditional route, however, getting his hands on 30kg of fresh green flowers from Hop Products Australia – opting for Ella, one of the grower's lesser-hyped varieties. As is often the case with fresh hop beers, the Harvest Ale is perhaps best… Read more
Style
Fresh Hop Ale
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

Queenscliff Brewhouse

And other good beer retailers

Prickly Moses Saboteur Imperial IPA

Published July 11, 2017
Several years ago, when head brewer Luke Scott was joined by a pre-BrewCult Hendo at Otway Ranges brewery Prickly Moses, they added a series of colourful releases to the brewery's portfolio that were usually a step up in booze and character from their more approachable core lineup. Among them were beers such as the Tailpipe American brown, Black Panther black IPA and Raconteur, an IPA with the subtitle "A Love Story About Hops". Presumably, given the similarity in names, the brewery's winter… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
10.4%
Stockists

Queenscliff Brewhouse

Prickly Moses Brewery

Prickly Moses Harvest Ale 2017

Published April 24, 2017
The brewing team at Prickly Moses has had fun with hops over the years, particularly when they were tipped off about some hops growing wild in a field not too far from their Otway Ranges home and set off to pull as many of the out of control bines down from the trees and hedges to create a beer. For its harvest ale in 2017, it's a rather more traditional affair. Head brewer Luke Scott headed to Hop Products Australia's Bushy Park farm and left loaded up with armfuls of fresh Ella cones. They were… Read more
Style
Harvest Ale
Stockists

Queenscliff Brewhouse

Other venues TBC

Prickly Moses Prickly Mo

Published October 29, 2014
Just as most of the mo's of Movember are now consigned to memories / photos / regret, we're pretty sure that the limited run of kegs of this fundraising beer that went to bars around Sydney will be gone by now. But if you'd still like to contribute to the Movember fundraising venture set up by online retailer BeerBud in conjunction with Prickly Moses we believe there are still bottles around. Profits from sales of Prickly Mo, a red IPA, are going to a men's health charity. In return for the good… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
5.2%

Prickly Moses Nigella Sour Coffee Stout

Published May 5, 2014
With Prickly Moses' Barrel Fest, during Good Beer Week, just around the corner, the Otway brewery is leaking a wee taster. Nigella is one of the barrel-aged beers appearing at the Royal Standard and has been aged in Hunter Valley Shiraz and Victorian Madeira barrels for the past year. Previously, the barrels were used to aged the brewery's 2013 Black Stallion Imperial Stout. While in oak, cold soaked "Malt Blend" coffee supplied by Geelong's Capra Coffee was added to Otway Stout, in a manner… Read more
Style
Barrel-ages Sour Stout
ABV
5.2%
Stockists

Prickly Moses

Royal Standard, Melbourne

Sweeney's, Sydney

Quarrymans, Pyrmont

Hop Factory, Newcastle

Petersham Bowling Club

Illawarra Brewing Company

[Harts

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Prickly Moses Commander IPA

Published March 7, 2014
We're about to enter the time of year where, even more than usual in the current climate, there is a particular focus on hops. Home experimenters with their own handful of plants, small breweries with a few rows of bines and the country's major hop growers are all in the process of, or about to start, harvesting this year's crop. Yet Prickly Moses' latest, despite being an IPA with plenty of all-Aussie hops contain within, is keen for us to focus on another ingredient. It is named Commander after… Read more
Style
Australian IPA
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

Prickly Moses

Hop Factory

New Brighton Hotel

Pourhouse

Petersham Bowling Club

Quarrymans Hotel

Union Hotel Newtown

Grain Store

More stockists...

Prickly Moses / Odyssey Tavern Hop Series

Published January 31, 2013
All being well, in the near future the Odyssey Tavern & Brewery will become fully what it says on the tin: a tavern and a brewery. In the meantime, as work continues to get the in-house brewery up and running, the team there are having a bit of fun with one of the region's brewers, Prickly Moses. Taking advantage of the venue's hand pump, Prickly's head brewer Luke Scott has been playing around with his Otway Ale and a few hop varieties to deliver a range of tiny batch beers. Thus far, the Otway… Read more
Style
Various
Stockists

Odyssey Tavern

Prickly Moses Vintage Ale 2012

Published June 7, 2012
Back before brewer Hendo (now at Southern Bay) made his brief dalliance with Prickly Moses and set about knocking out some big US-inspired brews, the seasonals coming out from the Otway Ranges tended to be more traditional in origin, notably the trilogy of Saison, Farmhouse Ale and Reserve De Otway. Those three are coming back soon, apparently, but in the meantime there's this - a rusty coloured, spiced strong ale that's spent 12 months in pinot noir barrels, something that's apparent straight up… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Strong Ale
ABV
8.5%
Stockists

Prickly Moses

Scratch Bar, Brisbane

Others tbc

More stockists...

Prickly Moses Tailpipe

Published October 24, 2011
Silly Crafty. There we were, happily plodding along in the mistaken belief that the Tailpipe was one of Prickly MOses brewer Hendo's little playthings only on show at the Taste of Melbourne. But we were wrong, stumbling across it on our last visit to Slowbeer. And glad we were to be wrong, as it's claim that it's a 'Big Ass Brown Aleâ? is spot on and Big Ass Brown Ales are always welcome at Crafty Towers. As you'd expect from such a beer, there's plenty of everything, from the New World hops and… Read more
Style
US Style Brown Ale
ABV
7.1%

Prickly Moses Oktoberfest Lager

Published October 10, 2011
A beer that's brewed every year for the Otway Estate Oktoberfest is the Prickly Moses' brewers take on malt driven Vienna style lagers. Made with malts and hops grown in the southern German state of Bavaria and, of course, the local Otway rainwater, we're told to expect "a rich, malty palate with a balanced hop bitterness and aroma with a reddish hue". It will be flowing at the Otway Oktoberfest on October 22 but has already started to appear elsewhere, after making its bow at The Local… Read more
Style
Vienna Lager
ABV
5.2%

Prickly Moses Chocolate Ale

Published July 21, 2011
The second new beer to be unveiled during the Prickly Moses showcase at Young & Jackson's this sees the brewers from the Otway Ranges hooking up with Grounded Pleasures, who have supplied organic fair trade Ugandan Red Cocoa to create a rich, chocolaty ale. According to brewer Hendo: "We created this chocolate ale to highlight the reddish hue of the cocoa in a malt-driven beer." He says there are subtle mineral yeast tones, designed to accentuate the origins of the cocoa. Some orange… Read more
Style
Chocolate Ale
ABV
6.2%
Stockists

Young & Jackson's (tap)

Blackhearts & Sparrows (growler)

Slowbeer (growler)

More stockists...

Prickly Moses Session Ale

Published July 11, 2011
A beer that tells you pretty much all you need to know about it in its name. It's an ale. From Prickly Moses. Designed for sessioning. However, we've got space to fill on the page (and brewer Hendo likes to talk about his babies) so what else might you like to know? Well, it's the first of two beers they're debuting during their showcase in the Chloe's Bar at Young & Jackson's. It uses lots of the Topaz hop once almost exclusively used for bittering but now being explored for aroma and flavour,… Read more
Style
Australian Ale
ABV
4.6%
Stockists

Young & Jackson's

Prickly Moses Black Panther

Published June 4, 2011
One of two new beers from the Otway brewery making an appearance for the first time at the Melbourne leg of the Good Food and Wine Show, this dark beast originally reared its head during the Prickly Moses showcase at Young & Jackson's least year. Now back, it's an India Black Ale allegedly inspired by the mysterious legend of big black cats that roam the Victorian bush. It's made with a "generous" addition of North American hops both in the boil and in the fermenter with caramelised… Read more
Style
India Black Ale
ABV
6.2%

Otway Estate Wild Hop Organic Ale

Published May 3, 2011
One of the more unusual of this year's crop of hop harvest beers, this saw the Otway Estate brewers track down a field of wild hops on the edge of the Otway Ranges that had once been used to supply the long-defunct Ballarat Brewery. Having filled their truck with Canterbury Goldings, they threw everything - hop flowers and vines - into the mash tun and continued adding more hops right through the process in a beer with a traditional English Special Bitter malt backbone. Brewer Luke Scott says it… Read more
Style
Harvest Ale
Stockists

Otway Estate

Josie Bones

Apollo Bay Hotel

Kelly's Bar & Kitchen, Olinda

Grumpy's Green

The Local Taphouse St Kilda

[The

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Otway Estate Red Fred

Published October 8, 2010
Getting fruity in time for summer, Otway Estate appears to have combined its beer and cordial-making skills in this organic raspberry beer. A heap of crushed raspberries were added to a base beer with a soft enough flavour profile to allow the fruit to take effect, although it's in the aroma that they really shine through: it's like taking a whiff of a fresh punnet. The raspberries' effect on the palate is more subtle, definitely there but not in the manner of a Lindemans Framboise, for example,… Read more
Style
Raspberry beer
ABV
4.8%
Stockists

Available from the brewery

Or at the Young & Jackson's Otway Showcase

Oktoberfest 2010

Published October 2, 2010
The Otway Estate team really push the boat out for their annual Oktoberfest, bring in German oompah bands, putting on traditional German fare and games, having souvenir steins produced and, of course, brewing a specialty Oktoberfestbier. Brewed in the traditional Vienna lager style with ingredients imported from Bavaria, the 2010 version pours a bright copper colour with a white foamy head, has a soft malt aroma with a hint of spice from the hops, a biscuity malt-dominated flavour and a long, dry… Read more
Style
Oktoberfest / Marzen
ABV
5.2%

Prickly Moses Barrel-Aged Strong Ale

Published June 17, 2010
One of the benefits of having a winery and brewery on the same site is that it allows the brewer to get creative. This is the Prickly Moses Strong Ale after it's spent a few months in an oak barrel previously used for Otway Estate's Pinot. The result is a hint of oak on the nose and a smokiness to taste.… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Strong Ale
Stockists

Otway Estate

Otway Saison 2010

Published May 31, 2010
The 2010 vintage of one of Otway Estate's trio of French and Belgian Farmhouse styles, the Saison pours a hazy golden colour with an effervescent white head. Fruity aromas from the yeast strains mix with soft alcohol notes on the nose and are matched on the palate by initial flavours of dried apricot. A tart, wine-like character comes through - one of the yeast strains used has red wine origins - along with a tingle of warmth from the high alcohol content before finishing with a lingering, astringent… Read more
Style
Saison
ABV
7.2%

Prickly Moses ChainSAW – Now In Cans

It's not that long ago that heads were turned and palates were pricked by the Bridge Road / Nøgne Ø India Saison for its combination of big, punchy Aussie hops and funky saison yeast - a combination of opposing styles that worked so well both brewers continue to make the beer for their respective markets. It wasn't the first beer to meld styles you wouldn't necessarily put together in a glass but was one that really got people talking. Since then, there's been a wave of white IPAs, hoppy hefes… Read more
Style
Cleansing Australian Ale
ABV
4.8%

Prickly Moses Farmhouse Ale

Since its early days, Prickly Moses has released a Farmhouse Trilogy, beers brewed once a year inspired by farmhouse ales of northern France and Belgium and sent into the world in 750ml bottles. One of them, the Farmhouse Ale, made the step into the year round lineup too, albeit in 330ml stubbies. If you were going to drop it into a style within the diverse farmhouse world, bière de garde would probably be the one. Honey hits you first with an intensity that touches on the medicinal before soft,… Read more
Style
Farmhouse Ale
ABV
6.3%