3 Ravens

It started off innocently enough as the name of a beer brewed specially for a wedding. But soon 3 Ravens was taking on a life of its own. By 2003, a microbrewery had opened in a warehouse in northern Melbourne, knocking out traditional European beers and putting them into a handful of nearby pubs.

Today, the Thornbury brewery is not only one of the veterans of the local beer scene, but has become one of the most wildly innovative too – having enjoyed an, at times, equally wild ride to get to this point.

Perhaps the brewery's reinvention in the second half of the Twenty-teens as a tireless hotbed of creativity should be no surprise. Back in their early days, Ravens was one of the first to install an English hand pump in a Melbourne pub then supply the owners with cask-conditioned ales for it. And, while it might not sound so crazy now, having a smoked beer as part of your core range back when most (at least those who'd heard of craft beer) still thought it was a fad that would die out.

Over time, they began experimenting with barrel-ageing, initially with big stouts and Belgians such as the whisky barrel-aged Black Mass and Pedro Ximinez-aged Druid, before in 2013, as the tenth birthday approached - and with a tenth anniversary beer in the tank - it looked like it could be curtains. Disagreements among its original owners led to the business being put up for sale, with WA's Mash Brewing – then looking for somewhere to brew beer on the East Coast – riding to the rescue, rewarded with the Champion Small Australian Brewery at the Australian International Beer Awards the following year.

That wasn't the end of the roller coaster ride, however; fast-forward a few years and Ravens and Mash have consciously uncoupled while the former offices spaces upstairs have been reworked into the contemporary shared workspace, CoBrew. Below that, the original owners' "Pleasure Palace" – their private bar – is no more (although the ceiling of empty cans and bottles and some of the colourful furniture remains), with a brewery bar in its place, one that hosts regular masterclasses and less regular but typically out there parties.

Perhaps the biggest change has been on the beer front, however. Some of the legacy beers remain but a new multi-layered offering has seen them both increase sales and catch the eyes of a new audience. A core (or CAW) range of lager, pale and IPA do much of the heavy lifting on the volume front, aided handsomely by the Juicy NEIPA series and other ongoing series like the Acid sours and Shake milkshake IPAs.

Add in all manner of barrel-aged, mixed fermentation, beer-wine hybrid and fruited beers, plus those featuring house-produced malt, foraged ingredients or even their own barrel-aged vinegar and you've got one heck of an eclectic collection, one that mirrors the team that's been assembled at the Thornbury HQ.

Given it once looked like the end was nigh, it's both comforting to see an early Melbourne pioneer reinvigorated and exciting to see just where their flights of fancy will take them next.

Name
3 Ravens
Address

1 Theobald Street
Thornbury
VIC 3071

Phone
(03) 9495 1026
Open Hours

Brewery Bar open:
Thurs & Fri: 3pm to 10pm
Saturday: midday to 6pm
Sunday: midday to 6pm

Current Cabal offers

Our Shout


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

The Specials

3 Ravens Wild Ravens: Methode Ravens 2022
3 Ravens Nevermore Springtime Sun Tea
3 Ravens Lil' Juicy
3 Ravens & Carwyn Cellars Corowa Conspiracy
3 Ravens Nevermore: Eclipse Dark Lager
3 Ravens Nevermore Mulled Stout & Wild Raven Bière de Miel
3 Ravens Fresh Roast Brown Ale & Framboise
3 Ravens Wild Ravens: Wild Red Ale
3 Ravens & Beer Here Wild Ravens Raw Ale
3 Ravens Cola Creamsicle
3 Ravens & Carwyn Cellars The Conspiracy Series
Show 95 more

3 Ravens Regulars

3 Ravens Tropical Pale Ale

Published May 4, 2018
The evolution of 3 Ravens continues and it's gaining quite a pace. The old core range, one that had been tweaked a little over the years but stayed pretty consistent, is on the backburner and a new "CAW" range is here. It's based around three pale and hop forward beers, each of which comes in a boldly coloured can featuring the brewery's new psychedelic stylings with the "3" shouting loud and proud from the front. The Tropical Pale Ale is a beer drinkers may have encountered on… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.2%

3 Ravens New World IPA

Published May 4, 2018
The evolution of 3 Ravens continues and it's gaining quite a pace. The old core range, one that had been tweaked a little over the years but stayed pretty consistent, is on the backburner and a new "CAW" range is here. It's based around three pale and hop forward beers, each of which comes in a boldly coloured can featuring the brewery's new psychedelic stylings with the "3" shouting loud and proud from the front. Coming in bold purple cans is the New World IPA, possibly the first… Read more
Style
New World IPA
ABV
5.8%

3 Ravens Acid

Published October 30, 2017
With 3 Ravens and Mash Brewing having been through a process of consciously uncoupling, there's been an opportunity for the former to launch its own line of Berliner Weisse style beers. Previously, Ravens head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan's passion for such beers was satisfied via the Wizz Fizz range under the Mash banner; now, it's time for a new collection going under the simple title: "ACID". This first release comes unadorned, free from any fruit or other additions we expect to see down… Read more
Style
Berliner Weisse Style Ale
ABV
3.5%
Stockists

The Public Brewery

Mr West

And select good beer outlets in Victoria

More stockists...

3 Ravens Juicy IPA

Published October 21, 2016
3 Ravens had already put out a couple of quality IPAs in 2016 before poking the bear with their latest. "How?" you ask. Well, you may have heard of a new style of IPA with origins in New England (US, not NSW) that's typically cloudy as, and with juicy hop character very much to the fore. To those who like their beers clear, it must send shivers down the spine to see something so murky in a glass; to many brewers, they're not "good" beers, given they can leave things such as yeast… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
Pilot batch was 6.5% – now 6.0%
Stockists

Available nationwide

3 Ravens Thornbury Pilsner

The forerunner for this entry in 3 Ravens' CAW range first appeared back in 2016, becoming a stable at their bar and popular with many a venue within their home 'burb and surrounds. It's since evolved a little, switched from Thornbury Lager to Thornbury Pilsner, and can now be found much further afield too. At heart, it remains essentially the same, however: an Aussie take on the traditional pilsner style that has its New World flashes thanks to the use of almost all local ingredients (HPA's deletion… Read more
Style
Australian Pilsner
ABV
4.5%
Bitterness
32 IBU

3 Ravens Specials

3 Ravens Wild Ravens: Methode Ravens 2022

Published February 20, 2023
3 Ravens' celebration of the house mixed culture inhabiting many of the barrels at their Thornbury brewery continues its "evolution not revolution" mission with the arrival of the 2022 vintage. This blend of the four barrels the brewers felt showcased the best expression of said culture was bottled back in February 2022, a full 12 months before release. And it brings the sort of delights only such patiently-curated beers can bring. For a start, it couldn't look any more like such beers… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Mixed Culture Ale
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
32 IBU

3 Ravens Nevermore Springtime Sun Tea

Published November 13, 2022
3 Ravens have rather a lot of different ranges within their range, from CAW on the one hand to Nat Rav on the other, and others in between. With Springtime Sun Tea, it feels like something of a crossover episode: it's been slotted into their Nevermore lineup of not-to-be-repeated releases yet is in the character of their Wild Ravens series of blended barrel-aged liquids. And it's also the first such beer from the Thornbury brewers to appear in a can. In typical Wild Ravens fashion, it's the result… Read more
Style
Blended Wild Ale
ABV
7.0%

3 Ravens Lil' Juicy

Published August 11, 2022
Since debuting as one of Australia's earliest hazy IPAs, 3 Ravens' Juicy series has veered off in all manner of directions. For the most part, that's involved different hops or the addition of fruit, plus boosting the ABV. Here, they head in the other direction, looking to offer up a more sessionable version of one of the biggest successes of their two decades in existence. The depth of haze and weight of body are understandably reduced compared to the OG, and it's maybe a shade or two darker too.… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Juicy Pale
ABV
3.5%

3 Ravens & Carwyn Cellars Corowa Conspiracy

Published August 1, 2022
Keeping track of most breweries' release schedules these days is tricky enough; with 3 Ravens, even staying on top of their beer series can be a challenge. Indeed, it can feel a little like trying to remember how all the parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fit together if you're anything less than a hardcore fan of said sprawling enterprise. As their Conspiracy series with Carwyn Cellars returns, it does so with the sort of can that could even double as a magical artefact with a role to play in… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
12.7%
Bitterness
52 IBU

3 Ravens Nevermore: Eclipse Dark Lager

Published July 22, 2022
Such has been the gnarly nature of 2022 to date, we've yet to run one of our in-house blind tastings (although did manage a public one during Pint of Origin and will soon announce others in Perth and Brisbane). I mention this as a first waft of 3 Ravens' July 2022 Nevermore release had me wondering what someone would make of it if approaching the beer blindfolded. The Eclipse Dark Lager is a modern take on a Vienna lager that features, among other things, freshly toasted grains from Voyager Craft… Read more
Style
DDH Vienna Lager
ABV
4.7%
Bitterness
23 IBU

3 Ravens Nevermore Mulled Stout & Wild Raven Bière de Miel

Published June 1, 2022
You think silly beer season might be over with the end of the final leg of GABS for 2022, then what do you know: you're heating stout in a saucepan and preparing to trying different additions and garnishes... Nevermore Mulled Stout is part of 3 Ravens' never-to-be-repeated series of beers and is inspired by the mulled drinks enjoyed over winter. In this case it's a sweet stout with additions of cinnamon, star anise, clove and allspice, which, to me at least, don't just spice the beer but dry it out.… Read more
Style
Mulled Stout & Golden Sour
ABV
6.0% & 7.8%
Bitterness
34 & 19 IBU

3 Ravens Fresh Roast Brown Ale & Framboise

Published April 4, 2022
3 Ravens are never ones to shy away from showcasing beer ingredients in quite a unique way and these two releases are excellent examples of how they do that. Fresh Roast Brown Ale is part of the brewery’s new Nevermore series of small-batch, seasonal releases that draw inspiration from Melbourne’s weather. The idea behind the beer comes from 3 Ravens’ fearless head of sales, Geoff Hanson, who loves brown ales and wanted the brewers to fire up their malt kiln to freshly toast some specialty… Read more
Style
Brown Ale & Framboise
ABV
5.2% & 5.4%

3 Ravens Wild Ravens: Wild Red Ale

Published March 2, 2022
I owe Ravens a bit of an apology when it comes to this beer. When we were celebrating ten years of The Crafty Pint, the plan was to sign off our ten days of features by creating a beery time capsule. We invited readers to suggest items from the beer world of 2020 that we’d gather and place – safely – inside an ex-Starward barrel before filling it with a Flanders red style blend we’d then draw from each year, topping up Solera style, before rescuing the items after ten years of evolution. Subsequent… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Mixed Culture Beer
ABV
5.6%
Bitterness
22 IBU

3 Ravens & Beer Here Wild Ravens Raw Ale

Published January 27, 2022
A few years ago, I took esteemed drinks writer Max Allen to 3 Ravens to meet head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan due to their shared fascination with flavour and fermentation. At one point, Brendan pulled a sample of unfinished beer from a barrel to show just how unpleasant things could get when working in beer's wilder realms; he insisted this was a good sign and that a few months down the line the wee beasties at work would turn it into something delicious, but such was the unpleasantness you could… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Raw Mixed Culture Ale
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
12 IBU
Stockists

Join 3 Ravens for the beer's launch at Bonny on January 29

3 Ravens Cola Creamsicle

Published January 17, 2022
They love a theme, or beer series, at 3 Ravens, don't they, with Juicy, Nat Rav, Wild Ravens and more alongside their CAW range. Creamsicle is perhaps one of the least likely, yet also one of the most active, with milk bar-inspired offerings pumped out a few times each summer. The Thornbury brewers sign off for summer 2021/22 with the variant that was runner-up in their public vote in the previous summer. It pours rather lighter than cola; indeed, it looks more like an amber ale and has some of… Read more
Style
Cola-flavoured Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%
Stockists

Released Jan 17

3 Ravens & Carwyn Cellars The Conspiracy Series

Published November 15, 2021
Neither 3 Ravens nor Carwyn Cellars are the sorts to do things by halves, so when they decided to collaborate on a series of imperial stouts you can be sure they didn’t hold back. Inspired by a session tasting rare barrel-aged beers that led to a pact to distil the essence of their favourites into their own releases. Going by the name The Conspiracy Series – conspiracy is the name for a group of ravens as well as when people get together to plot mischief – two are barrel-aged and two aren’t.… Read more
Style
Imperial Stouts
ABV
Various ABV as indicated

3 Ravens Nat Rav Dixons Creek Cabernet Franc (2021)

Published September 27, 2021
For spring 2021, 3 Ravens are back collaborating and merging beer and wine once more, with the release of Dixons Creek Cabernet Franc as part of their Nat Rav range. The beer sees them team up with their mate JonJo McEvoy, of Cré Wines in the Yarra Valley’s Dixons Creek, with the brewery making use of fresh-pressed Cabernet Franc skins – a grape variety that’s rarely showcased solo in Australian wines. The brewers took three base beers from four different French oak barrels to ferment with… Read more
Style
Skin-contact Mixed Ferment
ABV
6.4%
Bitterness
17 IBU

3 Ravens Lime Creamsicle & Pineapple Juicy

Published September 23, 2021
For many on the east coast of Australia, there’s going to be a lot of making up for lost time over summer. The simple pleasure of picnics is already a key part of many weekends and welcoming the warmer weather are 3 Ravens with their returning Summer of Creamsicle. Similar to the first iteration, from September 2021 to January 2022 they’ll be releasing three new Creamsicle flavours, all based on their Acid sour ale and all focused on nostalgic flavours. There's also a range of prizes that can… Read more
Style
Fruited Sour & NEIPA
ABV
3.5% & 6.0%

3 Ravens Eclipse Juicy

Published August 19, 2021
3 Ravens might be a brewery that brews just about every beer style under the sun - and some beers that are barely beer at all - but one thing that's clear is that when it comes to Juicy, it's a series that's always on the mind. In fact, it seems that even when making one Juicy, the plan for the next round of hops on haze is already firing away. Back when they brewed Mandarin Juicy - which used Cascade, Centennial Cryo, Eclipse and Mandarina Bavaria hops plus mandarin zest and juice - the 3 Ravens… Read more
Style
Single-hop NEIPA
ABV
6%
Bitterness
17 IBU

3 Ravens Choc Coconut Shake & Methode Ravens 2021

Published July 1, 2021
Well, here’s a couple of very 3 Ravens releases. First up is Choc Coconut Shake, another entry in 3 Ravens’ Shake series, which are still nominally milkshake IPAs. Go back a few short years and if you told even the most ardent beer nerd you'd ordered a Choc Coconut Milkshake New England Brown IPA they might have looked at you like you were mad. Wait a second – they'd still likely look at you in the same way. Naming aside, we can say the beer's a collaboration with Melbourne’s ethical chocolate… Read more
Style
NEBIPA & Wild Golden Ale
ABV
6.0% & 5.4%

3 Ravens Odin's Reserve & BAPIOS

Published June 21, 2021
They don't tend to do things by halves at 3 Ravens, and that's certainly the case as they mark the 2021 winter solstice. As well as holding their second Dark Mass event, they've put out two hefty imperial stouts. Odin's Reserve is a collab with the booze-loving Vikings at Mjölner, inspired by their signature cocktail, Odin’s Brew – a spin on espresso martini featuring Muesli syrup, coffee liqueur and goat's milk, and garnished with chocolate and tonka beans. As well as a complex grain bill that… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stouts
ABV
11.0% & 18.0%
Bitterness
23 & 63 IBU

3 Ravens, Dollar Bill & Future Mountain Woods of the North II

Published June 1, 2021
As part of their fifth Woods Of The North event during Good Beer Week 2021, 3 Ravens again took the opportunity to invite attending brewers to collaborate on a barrel-aged, blended release. Woods Of The North II features a variety of mixed culture beers from 3 Ravens, Dollar Bill and Future Mountain that were married together for three months before being bottle conditioned in magnums (and only in magnums!). The component beers brought together include a rye Belgian saison aged in ex-pinot noir barrels… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged, Blended Mixed Culture Ale
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
15 IBU
Stockists

Online here.

3 Ravens Mandarin Juicy

Published June 1, 2021
If Mark Twain were alive today, he’d no doubt have something clever to say about the frequency and variety of Juicy offshoots 3 Ravens have released since their original was first brewed back in 2016. Unfortunately, since he’s long gone, we either have to somehow fit one of his unrelated quotes in here, or I have to attempt my own, so let’s go with Twain’s kind of workable: "Why not go out on a limb? That's where all the fruit is." The latest fruited hazy from 3 Ravens is Mandarin… Read more
Style
Fruit NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

3 Ravens Methode Ravens 2020, Cherry Creamsicle & Solera Stock Ale

Published December 8, 2020
This year's Indies brought yet more trophy success for 3 Ravens, as the reinvented Thornbury brewery took out Champion Pale Ale for their flies-under-the-radar New World IPA. Yet, when I called in the following week, there was as much excitement about the gold for their 2019 Methode Ravens. If you've met the brewing team, you'd understand why they'd take pleasure in such a beer's success, given their fondness for barrels, blending, bugs and the beauty of time passing. That Methode Ravens 2020 was… Read more
Style
Various styles
ABV
6.3% & 3.5% & 16.0%

3 Ravens Zappa Juicy, Nat Rav Bloody Shiraz Negroni & Piña Colada Creamsicle

Published November 27, 2020
Sometimes a name tells you everything you need to know, and that's certainly the case with Zappa. The newly-arrived neomexicanus hop variety is one of the more avant-garde you'll come across, a mélange of the unexpected, and thus has produced a Juicy unlike any other in 3 Ravens' long line of Juicies. Zappa Juicy – pretty clear and golden rather than overly NEIPA-y in appearance – is the most radical and out there to date. Sure, there's a bit of contemporary fruitiness at play but it’s also… Read more
Style
Various styles
ABV
6.0% & 9.6% & 3.5%
Bitterness
12 & 18 & 15 IBU

3 Ravens Mango Creamsicle

Published October 2, 2020
It seems remarkable it's only three-and-a-half years since Sailors Grave released Australia's first cream sour as we prepare for a spring a summer laced with them. 3 Ravens even have a series dedicated to them, with this Mango offering already their second of the latter half of 2020. Less daft than the Thiccc Milkshake IPA that preceded it by a week, but still in the realm of shark-jumping complete with triple salchow, this fruit cream twist on their Acid sour sits amidships in mango’s sweet and… Read more
Style
Mango Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%

3 Ravens Nitro Nilla Thicccshake

Published September 25, 2020
They're a remarkably diverse operation are 3 Ravens. There's a tight core range of "normal" craft beers, augmented by their flagship Juicy IPAs. Then there's the barrel-aged, mixed ferment Wild Ravens lineup and wine hybrid Nat Ravs that come accompanied by novellas from the brewers. And then there's nonsense like Nitro Nilla Thicccshake, a nitro-dosed, vanilla- and lactose-laden, milkshake double IPA. If you've ever wanted to know what it would look like if you carbonated the Yarra, give… Read more
Style
Milkshake Double IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
24 IBU

3 Ravens Nat Rav 2020 Yarra Valley Syrah & Wild Ravens Cherry Red Ale

Published September 18, 2020
One of the first things I'll likely be doing once restrictions ease sufficiently in Melbourne is to hit up the Thornbury triangle formed by Moon Dog World, 3 Ravens and Jamsheed's venues. The last two of these worked together on the second 2020 vintage Nat Rav release, one featuring Yarra Valley syrah skins, which were refermented in a blend of 21-month-old barrel-soured light golden ale and a nine-month-old barrel-fermented sour red ale. It's since been blended with some fresh Aussie pilsner and… Read more
Style
Beer-Wine Hybrid & Barrel-Aged Cherry Sour
ABV
5.6% & 5.0%

3 Ravens Raspberry Lemonade Creamsicle

Published August 29, 2020
With the mercury finally seeming to be heading upwards in Melbourne, the city's oldest indie brewery is rebooting a series that debuted last summer. The Creamsicle beers take their mid-strength Acid sour as a starting point for some fun, in this case using rolled wheat, lactose, vanilla, French oak, raspberry juice and lemon to take it into milk bar freezer territory. Pouring a cocktail like blush, initial impressions are that the sour side is more to the fore than anything too fruity icy pole-ish.… Read more
Style
Fruit Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Hay, Hops & Horehound & Nat Rav 2020 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

Published August 21, 2020
The notes we receive from brewers when they release new beers vary greatly. Sometimes there's nothing more than what's on the label, sometimes there's a media release telling the story behind the beer. And then there's 3 Ravens, who like to detail every ingredient, every process, the age of liquids involved in any blending plus both short and extended notes. And, in Hay, Hops & Horehound they may have set a new record with the extended copy clocking in at 470 words. In short, it involves a family… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Blended Beers
ABV
5.9% & 6.6%
Bitterness
20 IBU & 19 IBU

3 Ravens 55 (2020) & Passion Juicy

Published August 12, 2020
There's an interesting line to be traced between these two beers from Melbourne's longest-established independent brewery. It's one that shows the evolution in tastes within the world of hoppy, US-inspired beers, with the original 55 released in 2008 as the brewery's fifth birthday beer, featuring five hops and five grains and measuring 5.5 percent ABV. Back then, it was one of the punchier, livelier, fruitier pale ales you could pick up in Australia and became their flagship beer, only to fall away… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale & Fruited NEIPA
ABV
5.5% & 6.0%
Bitterness
38 & 12 IBU

3 Ravens Barley Apera

Published July 27, 2020
Barley Apera or barely beer? The brewing team at 3 Ravens has long been one of the more experimental, whether in terms of techniques, choice of ingredients, packaging and so on. And here they've thrown another oddity into the mix in the shape of a beer-based version of apera, the name given to sherry in Australia. If it were a book, its subtitle would be "Fortified barrel-aged and blended barleywine" (as everyone knows the one thing barleywines require is fortification). And it would be… Read more
Style
Barley Apera
ABV
19.7%

3 Ravens Methode Ravens 2019 & Heathcote Yellow Muscat 2020

Published July 1, 2020
It's as if 3 Ravens have go their own microcosm of the wider beer world going on at their Thornbury home. There's the CAW range, including the trophy-winning New World IPA that warrants more attention from lovers of hoppy beers, the Juicy series, the Shake series, the Wild Ravens series, the Nat Rav series and then the beers that don't even fit into any of the above. With the Wild Ravens, of which Methode Ravens is an annual release, there's no way of skipping over things quickly. A blend of three… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Blended Beers
ABV
4.8% & 7.5%
Bitterness
5 IBU & 15 IBU
Stockists

Methode Ravens features in a live tasting on July 3

3 Ravens Crême Brulée Shake, Nitro Salted Caramel Brown Ale & Odin's Brew

Published June 25, 2020
The beer world continues to surprise. Take 3 Ravens' Salted Caramel Shake, for example. Now, I've got a sweet tooth and am a sucker for salted caramel, especially in ice cream form. When they kicked off their Shake series of milkshake IPAs with a salted caramel version back in August 2018, we acknowledged it achieved its goals and presented like a low ABV barleywine. Whether you'd want more than a can at a time, however... Well, eleven sold out batches later, it would seem there's appetite aplenty,… Read more
Style
Milkshake IPA, Nitro Brown Ale & Milkshake Stout
ABV
6.0% & 4.5% & 7.0%
Stockists

Crême Brulée is one of the beers featuring in 3 Ravens' July Live Tasting

3 Ravens Espresso Quarantini & Black 2020

Published May 6, 2020
3 Ravens have let fly two dark releases amid this chilly Melbourne autumn, one a returning classic and the other originally destined for venues but quickly moved into cans. The returning beer is an historic one in the modern craft beer world too, with 3 Ravens Black a stout that was in the brewery’s core range from 2003, launching back way back when the brewery started before sliding away in recent times. It’s back for 2020 and looks worlds apart from the original's bottles, instead sitting inside… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout & Oaked Coffee Brown Ale
ABV
4.5% & 4.0%

3 Ravens Guava Juicy & Pacific Red Ale

Published March 27, 2020
The Juicy train rolls around again at 3 Ravens, with a return to fruit additions this time. Guava is the weapon of choice here and, boy, can you tell. It looks like a fruit juice in your glass and the fruit purée comes out on top in its arm wrestle with the New World hops. Indeed, such is the guava's potency, there's a tartness reminiscent of a fruit sour in place of the soft bitterness you'll have found in most of its Juicy predecessors. Leaving the Thornbury brewery around the same time is the… Read more
Style
Fruit IPA & Red Ale
ABV
6.0%

Eagle Bay Lemon Coco-Nilla Donut Session Ale & Refreshing Ale

Published December 14, 2019
Eagle Bay have been collaborating again, with a pair of new releases leaving the WA brewery as spring turned to summer. One goes under the moniker of a donut session ale, with Lemon Coco-Nilla a coming together of two of the greatest food groups on the planet: beer and donuts. Brewed with Perth's cult bakery-cum-café Mary Street Bakery, this intriguing ale is brimming with bold flavour, intrigue and pastry sweetness. Brewed with actual MSB cinnamon donuts, along with more than 10kg of toasted coconut… Read more
Style
Pastry Ale & Refreshing Ale
ABV
4.5% & 6.5%
Bitterness
23 & 30 IBU

3 Ravens Peach Juicy

Published December 11, 2019
The 3 Ravens Juicy train rolls on apace, with a return to fruit additions after a couple of tinnies that switched their focus to highlighting single hop varieties. The introduction of peach purée, along with suitably fruity hops Galaxy and Amarillo, sees Peach Juicy land as one of the most deeply hazy of the series to date – and it's a lively affair on the palate too. Despite the cloudy, almost creamy appearance, there's a prickly acidic side to the fruit aromas, which turns out to be a precursor… Read more
Style
Peach NEIPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
11 IBU

3 Ravens Nat Rav Yarra Glen Riesling & Yarra Valley Merlot

Published December 11, 2019
It took a while for all the moving parts to fall into place for 3 Ravens' Nat Rav series but now they're here it's quite clear that, despite the constancy in concept through the range, they're turning out to be rather different beasts. You can read more about the ethos in our write up on the first two – Grampians Pinot Gris and Heathcote Muscat – but, in the most basic sense, the beers are a blend of typically barrel-aged, mixed ferment beers with used wine grapes, all released in clear bottles. Following… Read more
Style
Beer-Wine Hybrids
ABV
6.3% & 8.3%
Bitterness
16 & 24 IBU

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Methode Ravens 2018 & Pastry Sour: Strawberry & Rhubarb

Published November 15, 2019
The Wild Ravens series has been kicking around the Thornbury brewery for a few years now, but is back as the decade nears its denouement with a new look and a seemingly even broader palette with which the brewers can create. Methode Ravens is their "homage to the great lambic blenders of Belgium" – a blend of liquids with an average age of 22 months and, arguably, the purest expression of the Wild Ravens ethos. Built upon a base beer of a wild ale from 2017 that was the brewers' favourite… Read more
Style
Mixed Culture Beers
ABV
6.0% / 7.1%
Bitterness
16 IBU / 11 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

The Vin

Section 8

Fredericks Bottleshop Richmond

Regent Cellars

Dexter

Ferdydurke

The Great Beyond

More stockists...

3 Ravens Nat Rav Series: Grampians Pinot Gris & Heathcote Muscat

Published November 15, 2019
The brewers at 3 Ravens love pretty much all booze that's interesting, not to mention anything fermented. But they're particularly fond of natural wines and have been working on developing a line of beers of that ilk. After a lengthy gestation and a few small batch trials, the Nat Rav series made its official debut late in 2019, complete with bottles that aren't just decorated with violently appealing labels that would make them welcome additions to the funkier wine sections of a high end bottleshop… Read more
Style
Beer-Wine Hybrids
ABV
7.0% / 7.8%
Bitterness
12 IBU / 25 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

The Vin

Fredericks Bottleshop Richmond

Green Mans Arms

More stockists...

3 Ravens Pine & Lime Creamsicle

Published November 11, 2019
During 2018, 3 Ravens released a series of Acid Test beers – draught only spins on their Acid sour designed to test the water for future releases. And, as we approach summer 2019, one of those Tests – the Pine & Lime Creamsicle – has returned in cans. It's not the first beer borne of such inspiration to have come from a Melbourne brewery; Moon Dog, who now have a second brewery taking shape mere minutes from 3 Ravens, have been releasing their Splice Of Heaven IPA for a number of years… Read more
Style
Fruited Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%
Bitterness
15 IBU

3 Ravens Strawberries & Cream Shake & Party Lager

Published September 18, 2019
"Treat like milk" it says around the rim of the can. And, in the case of this Shake release from 3 Ravens, it looks like it deserves a spot next to the previous Coffee Shake in the milk fridge too. That said, it does say "beer" a couple of times on the label: "Great Beer Taste" front and centre and a Simpsons reference on the side we'll leave you to discover for yourself. As for the liquid inside Strawberries & Cream, it's going to elicit the same love it / hate… Read more
Style
Milkshake IPA & Festbier
ABV
6.0% / 5.6%
Bitterness
15 / 28 IBU

3 Ravens Strata Juicy & Coffee Shake

Published September 8, 2019
Before they knew they were the Indies 2019 Champion Small/Medium Brewery, the 3 Ravens brewers were finding favour with their peers at BrewCon, the Independent Brewers Association's annual conference. Hop suppliers use it as an occasion to show off new varieties alongside those experimental crops that may become commercial at some point. The showcasing typically takes place by sharing hops with Aussie brewers and asking them to come up with a new beer. Here, there were beers in which the hops mimicked… Read more
Style
Juicy IPA & Coffee Milkshake IPA
ABV
Both 6.0%
Bitterness
15 & 16 IBU

3 Ravens & Mr West Peak Hype

Published September 3, 2019
Right then, let's get the name out the way first. No, not the Peak Hype part, but the style tag that comes with it... TCDHWGSCBBMOCSNEIPA. It's a tongue-in-cheek dig at where the beer industry currently sits but could also be viewed as something of a summary of the diverse beers that come out of 3 Ravens, all wrapped up in one. In full, this collab brewed for Mr West's second birthday is a "Triple Cryo Dry Hopped Wine Grape Skin Contact Barrel Blended Milkshake Oat Cream Sour New England India… Read more
Style
TCDHWGSCBBMOCSNEIPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
21 IBU

3 Ravens Choc Mint Shake

Published July 1, 2019
The Shake series from 3 Ravens – one that started under the Juicy banner with the Moussey Juicy GABS beer in 2018 – has a new member. And, following Salted Caramel and Coffee & Blueberry, the brewers tell us this one is a return of sorts to the original, albeit with a few twists and turns along the way. As is their wont, there’s a fair bit at play, with the "Choc" side of things created via a combination of speciality malts and heaps of Dutch cocoa, and the "Mint" coming… Read more
Style
Milkshake IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
16 IBU
Stockists

Being canned on July 1

3 Ravens & Brouhaha Barrel-Aged Imperial Milk Stout

Published June 21, 2019
When is a milk stout not a milk stout? When Brendan at 3 Ravens and Matt at Brouhaha decide to take it places... This beer started out as the latter's tasty but rather straightforward milk stout and put it through a process that makes Gary's transmogrification in Team America look like a mere spot of blusher and a couple of blobs of cotton wool. The process, to give it its technical term, was “reiterated mashing” – taking the first runnings from a very thick mash, using them as the brewing… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Milk Stout
ABV
14.2%
Bitterness
44 IBU
Stockists

Beer launched at Dark Mass on June 22

3 Ravens Robust Porter

Published June 21, 2019
With their Dark and Stout becoming lesser spotted beasts these days, 3 Ravens have been a little light on the dark beers. With an event featuring nothing but to mark the winter solstice taking place at the brewery and many pubs after a darker winter offering, they came up with this, the Robust Porter. It's as you might expect such a beer to be: nigh on black, with plenty of coffee aromas (although no coffee added) and dark chocolate throughout. Inspired by Deschutes' Black Butte and featuring the… Read more
Style
Robust Porter
ABV
5.8%

3 Ravens Melon Juicy

Published April 12, 2019
The Juicy series from 3 Ravens is well on its way to rivalling the classic sagas from history, with watermelon the latest ingredient to be introduced for a twist on their popular hazy IPA. It's not the most pungent of fruit (well, unless you leave one in an Esky after a picnic for a month, but that's probably not the sort of punchy aroma brewers aim for) yet it has helped created possibly the most turbid looking of the Juicy series to date, not to mention a truly fat, dense head. The aroma is more… Read more
Style
Watermelon NEIPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
11 IBU

3 Ravens Red Acid

Published April 12, 2019
3 Ravens Acid is their mid-strength sour ale, one that, as is the Thornbury brewers' wont, is a springboard for other variations. The third release in the series is Red Acid and, given it's a short run beer weighing in at a mere 3.5 percent ABV, you'd think they wouldn't spend too much time or effort turning it red. But if you think that you're forgetting who you're dealing with... We'll try to keep this brief, but essentially what's at play here is a quickly soured base red ale that was infused… Read more
Style
Blended Sour Mid-Strength Red Ale
ABV
3.5%

3 Ravens Simcoe Juicy

Published February 19, 2019
The Juicy series continues to prove a runaway hit for the 3 Ravens brewing team and they keep on coming up with new versions of their hazy IPA to satisfy eager mouths. It's not just new versions of the beer either, as they've been working on the recipe over time too. Some changes to the malt bill, including raising the amount of oats in the mix, plus a reduced bitterness and the addition of more dry-hopping have contributed to beers that are softer and fuller than the earliest iterations. For Simcoe… Read more
Style
Single Hop NEIPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
21 IBU
Stockists

Simcoe Juicy hits taps from Feb 20 with cans expected to follow from late March

3 Ravens Coffee & Blueberry Shake

Published February 19, 2019
For a coffee and beer event they were hosting late in 2018, 3 Ravens head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan created a coffee and blueberry sour. Clearly, he was enamoured with the outcome as he's returned to that combo for the second release in the brewery's Shake series of milkshake IPAs. It doesn't take long to see why, with the coffee – a natural process Honduran Pacas varietal roasted by his favourite local roaster, Proud Mary – and fruit intertwined on the nose to such an extent it's hard to know… Read more
Style
Coffee & Blueberry Milkshake IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
10 IBU
Stockists

On tap from February 18 with cans to follow from February 27

3 Ravens Heavy Double IPA – Versions 1 & 2

Published February 18, 2019
The 3 Ravens brewers have been playing with their favourite American hops to create another in their series of annually released double IPAs. But it's not just the year or the look – now a black can coated in neon swirls – that's different this time around; as the name suggests, it's a heavier, fuller beer than the lean machine that has appeared in the past. According to head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan, the revitalised Schooner malts they used lent the beer a more prominent malt sweetness, bready… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
60 IBU
Stockists

On tap at the brewery bar

Heading to venues in VIC, WA, QLD, NSW and TAS

3 Ravens Salted Caramel Milkshake IPA

Published August 24, 2018
Way back in, I dunno, the early to mid 2010s, there was some debate as to whether, say, white IPAs could really be considered worthy of inclusion within the India pale ale canon. There was similar debate when session IPAs first appeared on the scene – "It's just a hoppier/unbalanced pale ale". These days, all bets are off it seems and nobody gives two hoots where any stylistic barriers might once have sat. At least, that's the sort of impression that can be drawn from the latest "IPA"… Read more
Style
Salted Caramel Milkshake IPA
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

Bottle House Balaclava

Hop Supply Co

Plonk

And other good beer outlets in VIC, NSW, TAS & QLD

More stockists...

3 Ravens Galaxy Juicy

Published August 15, 2018
As they prepare to launch another IPA series in cans (the rather less obviously IPA like Milkshake series, of which more when the Salted Caramel tinnies appear), the Juicy series rolls on at 3 Ravens. This time around, it's another single hop variant based around the darling of the Australian hop growing program, Galaxy. You'll no doubt have had about 1500 beers featuring the Galaxy hop in the past few years but, it has to be said, if you can get your hands on one of these fresh (which is the whole… Read more
Style
Single Hop NEIPA
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

Tippler's Tap

Brisbane Brewing Co

And other good beer outlets in VIC, TAS, ACT, WA & NSW

More stockists...

3 Ravens Druid 2018 & BA Imperial Stout & Blended Barley Wine

Published July 31, 2018
For most of the year, the 3 Ravens barrel farm most often sends out soured, mixed fermentation beers into the world. But the brewers play around with oak in different ways too, with winter 2018 giving them the opportunity to release a trio of a rather larger, maltier nature. One of them will be familiar to many beer fanciers: the 2018 vintage of Druid. The beer started out as then head brewer Adrian McNulty's attempt to recreate (rather successfully, as it turned out) Pedro Ximenez in beer form.… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Beers
ABV
12% & 13% & 10%

3 Ravens Yuzu Juicy

Published June 21, 2018
There are less and less breweries across Australia who've yet to at least have a go at producing a New England style IPA and a few who look like keeping one as part of their ongoing lineup. Then there's 3 Ravens, who seem unable to go more than a few weeks without releasing another variant on theirs, the Juicy IPA that was among the first, and has become one of the most popular, of the locally brewed examples. Only last month we had the least Juicy Juicy yet, their dessert like GABS entry Moussey… Read more
Style
Yuzu NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

3 Ravens Moussey Juicy

Published May 27, 2018
When is a NEIPA not a NEIPA? The brewing team at 3 Ravens has taken its popular Juicy in many a direction in the past 18 months: bigger Juicy; pulp free Juicy; lemon Juicy. Now, for GABS 2018, it's created one that, while it contains many of the same processes and ingredients, comes across as Juicy in little more than name. Admittedly, they don't shy away from such a conclusion. It's tagged a "Chocolate Milkshake NEIPA", is described as "Smooth. Creamy. Sultry." and is loaded… Read more
Style
Chocolate Milkshake NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Golden Sour & Riesling Spinoff & Rustic Ale

Published April 24, 2018
Wild Ravens is the name given to the series of mixed fermentation beers from Thornbury's 3 Ravens. And, even for a brewery that's put itself among the most adventurous and experimental in recent times, it tends to be where their wilder flights of fancy are found. For autumn 2018, they've released three at once: two of them closely related and a third that's a piece very much of its own. The Golden Sour is a beer that's been a long time in the making, starting out a relatively simple affair, featuring… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Mixed Ferment Ales
ABV
5.0% / 7.0% / 8.5%
Bitterness
10 / 7 / 40 IBU

3 Ravens Brown Acid

Published April 11, 2018
When 3 Ravens first gave their soft and fruity sour ale Acid a wide release in cans last year, we were told more variants on the theme would follow. And, with the release of the somewhat allusively named Brown Acid – a cola inspired beer – it seems that time has now come. Much like the original Acid forebear, it’s a tart, lightly sour beer, but it also packs an additional sweetness, one that brings with it flashbacks to the cola lollies you’d find at a milk bar and, presumably, can still… Read more
Style
Cola Sour
ABV
3.5%

3 Ravens Citra Juicy

Published March 7, 2018
The Juicy clan at 3 Ravens continues to grow (at least temporarily until each batch is consumed) with the arrival of the first 2018 variant of the brewery's popular take on the NEIPA style. And it's a variant based around a hop variety perfectly suited to such beers, the fruity as, US grown Citra – added at three dry-hopping stages to the same base beer as the original Juicy, whose evolution you can read about here. So what do you get? A similarly hazy beer topped with a fluffy white head (inside… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

3 Ravens Little Ravens Barley Wine

Published October 20, 2017
As part of their recent brewery bar first birthday celebrations, 3 Ravens brewed a barley wine. It will become an annual thing, with a portion of each year's brew being added to the subsequent year's vintage, inspired by the Solera method of fractional blending traditionally found in other industries. To kickstart the lineage, into this first batch was poured the last few litres of a five-year-old stock ale that was originally part of the brewery's Bitter Sweet End. It was joined in the mix by some… Read more
Style
Barley Wine
ABV
10.0%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Pulp Free

Published September 2, 2017
The fun with IPAs continues apace at 3 Ravens. Having won many fans with its Juicy IPA, a take on the haze craze that's rapidly become the brewery's most popular beer, it's been working on a couple of variations on the theme. One is a bigger, boozier number that's still in tank; the other is this: Pulp Free, essentially a de-hazed version of the beer. It features the same hops, the same protein-rich grains and yeast strain with the specific enzymes capable of making the hops so juicy, but has had… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

And other select good beer venues

3 Ravens & Brisbane Brewing Co Briz Fizz

Published August 21, 2017
Those who've kept a keen eye on all things 3 Ravens and Mash Brewing in recent years will know that their Berliner Weisse series kicked off with a beer called Wizz Fizz. So it shouldn't be too hard to work out what's going on in this collaboration with Brisbane Brewing Co. The beer was brewed by Satoshi from BBCo with the Ravens crew in Thornbury. The idea was to brew something kettle soured but with an aggressive hopping schedule akin to 3 Ravens' Juicy IPA. Thus a golden beer was soured overnight… Read more
Style
Hoppy Sour
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
8 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

Brisbane Brewing Co (for a Sept 3 launch)

Uitgang Bar

More stockists...

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Pinot Noir Golden Sour

Published August 18, 2017
The last of the current quartet of Wild Ravens mixed fermentation beers from 3 Ravens is something of a misnomer. It may say Golden in the title but here is a beer that has picked up so much juice from the Kilmore Pinot Noir pomace from Payten & Jones with which it spent time canoodling that it presents more like a sangria or a sparkling red – it possesses a ruby hue and a pinkish, rapidly dissipating head. It's a companion piece of sorts to the Riesling Golden Sour that kicked off this quartet… Read more
Style
Pinot Noir Golden Sour
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
10 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Industrial Farmhouse Ale

Published August 11, 2017
Back in May, a group of brewers and other beer industry folk from Portland headed to Melbourne as the first guests in Good Beer Week's Good Beer Mates program. While here, the brewers from Breakside and The Commons hooked up with local brewers to create a beer. In each case, it was to be an Aussie twist on one of the American brewers' best known beers. For Breakside, this became an Aussie hopped take on its Wanderlust IPA; The Commons headed to Thornbury to reinvent its Urban Farmhouse Ale, again… Read more
Style
Farmhouse Ale
ABV
5.7%
Bitterness
16 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Sourdough Ale

Published August 7, 2017
The fifth in the rapidly growing Wild Ravens series is a beer that came about as an unexpected bonus from some experimentation on the part of head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan and his mates Pippa and Michael at South Yarra's Tivoli Road Bakery (where Brendan's sister has worked for a few years). The latter specialise in sourdough bread, croissants and pastries, have picked up awards galore for their hot cross buns, use 3 Ravens' Druid in their Christmas pudding, have worked with the brewery's spent… Read more
Style
Sourdough Ale
ABV
4.4%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

More stockists TBA

3 Ravens Little Ravens Tripel

Published July 25, 2017
To mark this year's Belgian National Day, the Belgian Beer Café in Melbourne invited seven Victorian breweries to create Belgian style beers to be launched at the same time. Among the seven was 3 Ravens, who brewed enough of theirs to release it in draught and bottle form after the event – the second of five new beers coming out of the Thornbury brewery in five weeks. The Tripel uses the Belgian/Canadian yeast strain that originates at iconic Canadian brewery Unibroue, with the water, malt and… Read more
Style
Tripel
ABV
9.0%
Bitterness
32 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

Bar Josephine

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Riesling Golden Sour

Published July 21, 2017
In the past couple of years, we've noted how 3 Ravens head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan has been steadily turning every bit of spare space and equipment into part of an ever-broadening exploration of wild, sour and mixed fermentation beers. On our most recent visit, to check out the first of the second run of beers under the Wild Ravens banner, it felt like things had moved a step further; while most breweries now make room for a lab, the Thornbury operation is beginning to feel more like a giant lab… Read more
Style
Riesling Golden Sour
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Old Red Ale

Published February 16, 2017
Last year, there was a trio of Victorian beers born of similar inspiration that caught the eye. They were blended sours from Holgate (Wild Red Ale), Boatrocker (L.A.B.) and 3 Ravens (Wild Ravens Old Brown Ale). The last of these was also the first of a trio, all of which would feature a portion of various old beers they'd kept around the brewery and which would undergo various maturation and fermentation processes before being bottled (where further re-fermentation will continue). The last of the… Read more
Style
Flemish Red Style Ale
ABV
6.7%
Stockists

3 Ravens Cellar Door

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Purple Plum Ale

Published November 3, 2016
A few weeks ago, 3 Ravens unveiled a new line called Wild Ravens. One of many projects at the brewery instigated by head brewer Brendan O'Sullivan (who seems to be retrofitting gear or filling every available spare vessel in order to satisfy his long held passion for sour and mixed fermentation beers), it is to be a home for beers that have undergone various processes – such as souring, mixed fermentations, barrel-ageing – prior to release. First up was a rather tasty Old Brown and number two… Read more
Style
Flemish Red Style Ale
ABV
6.7%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Wild Ravens Old Brown Ale

Published September 14, 2016
Thornbury's 3 Ravens has never been averse to producing the occasional out there release. Yet it's probably fair to say that, in recent times, the character of its current head brewer has been shining through increasingly in its beers. Brendan Sullivan is a fermentation fanatic (not just in the beer sense) who, prior to becoming a commercial brewer, was winning amateur trophies for Berliner Weisse long before they were really "a thing" in Australia. The latest project of his to leave the… Read more
Style
Oud Bruin
ABV
7.3%
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Thornbury Lager – SUPERSEDED BY THORNBURY PILSNER

Published July 8, 2016
With ten taps to fill at their newly expanded brewery bar, there’s plenty of scope for the 3 Ravens brewers to play around. And one beer that’s become a permanent resident on those taps since the bar was reopened – and is proving popular enough elsewhere to have swiftly graduated to the ranks of year round brew – is the Thornbury Lager. Based on Northern German pilsners, it’s a beer designed to be drunk rather than dissected. Head brewer Brendan Sullivan selected the Aussie hops he felt… Read more
Style
Pilsner
ABV
4.9%
Bitterness
38 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Little Ravens Dark Lager

Published July 8, 2016
It’s the middle of winter. And, if you’re in Melbourne, it’s been a particularly cold and wet one so far. So, if you’re a brewer, you’re mind will be turning to brewing darker beers, maybe a porter or stout. Or perhaps something boozy, like a big Belgian or barley wine. Or, maybe you think, sod it, let’s knock out a couple of lagers. Admittedly, in the case of 3 Ravens, one of those, the Thornbury Lager, is a new permanent release, while this Dark Lager comes with plenty of dark malt… Read more
Style
Dunkel
ABV
4.9%
Bitterness
20 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Little Raven Australian DIPA

Published June 17, 2016
Come the end of 2016, unless people's memories can't stretch back that far, we fully expect to find 3 Ravens' Double IPA appearing on many a Best of list. Their stab at the sort of high ABV, highly hopped beer so beloved of Americans was one that impressed wherever it landed – here's what we had to say about it – so for their latest Little Raven small batch release they're looking to repeat the trick, albeit with a twist. This time around, the US hops have been replaced entirely with local varieties,… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
7.6%
Bitterness
85 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

Boilermaker House

Bottle stockists TBC

More stockists...

3 Ravens & Hepburn Springs Double Black

Published April 7, 2016
Earlier this year, half a dozen breweries were invited to brew a beer with water from Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs for an event at Ladro TAP. Among them was 3 Ravens, with the Thornbury brewery opting to use Hepburn Springs Sparkling Mineral Water, the attraction being its high calcium content: ideal for brewing "something big and black" with the alkalinity providing an effective buffer against the acidity of very dark roasted and crystallised malts. Given they have an oatmeal… Read more
Style
Double Oatmeal Stout
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
40 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery Bar

3 Ravens Little Raven Double IPA

Published January 14, 2016
When they took delivery of this year's new harvest hops from the USA, the 3 Ravens brewers decided to do something to mark the occasion. And that was to cram a heap of them into a beer in the not-so-little tank where their Little Ravens limited release beers are brewed. And, despite being "aggressively" dry hopped with a "rather absurd amount" of Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo, it remains, by recent Little Ravens standards, quite normal: no weird ingredients or treatments,… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
85 IBU

3 Ravens Samurai Catfish Gyoza Gose

Published November 23, 2015
They've not been holding back in any way at all when it comes to conceiving new beers over the past few years at 3 Ravens. Before heading off to become Senor Brewer at Moon Dog, the Thornbury brewery's former head brewer Adrian McNulty had been looking to brew beers that tasted like Pedro Ximenez or layering chillies onto barrel-aged beers. Since moving in, Brendan O'Sullivan has been taking things further still, not just creating the series of flavoured Berliner Weisse for sibling brewery Mash but… Read more
Style
Fishy Herby Gose
ABV
3.1%
Bitterness
4 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens Brewery

Others TBA

3 Ravens Little Raven Jamon y Piña

Published October 29, 2015
For their latest Little Raven* release, 3 Ravens decided to pay tribute to the Mexican Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday. Each year, it's held in honour of the dead – a time for friends and family to celebrate, commemorate and farewell the souls of the recently deceased. Altars are decorated with “ofrendas” – offerings to the spirits to aid their transition to the next life – and adorned with marigold flowers (an Aztec flower of the dead) to attract the souls to the offerings. And… Read more
Style
Spiced Smoky Witbier
ABV
5.0%
Stockists

Northern Git

Hop Heads

Cherry Tree

Cammeray Craft

More stockists...

3 Ravens Little Raven Turkish Delight

Published August 21, 2015
It's been good times in many ways at 3 Ravens. Last year's AIBA Champion Small Australian Brewery recently collected Best Beer in Show at WA's awards for its cult favourite Dark (the smoky one). The Mash Brewing Berliner Weisse brewed at 3 Raven's Thornbury home fared well too, one of them collecting a trophy. And they've upped the production schedule for their limited releases. Their first Little Raven (making use of their mini-brewhouse and accompany tank) came out early last year and then there… Read more
Style
English Bitter with extras
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

The Toff

Cherry Tree Hotel

Village Vineyard Fine Booze

1000 £ Bend

The Drums Hotel (Coburg)

Wine Planet Coburg

Paul’s SUPA IGA (Ringwood East)

Baden Powell Hotel

More stockists...

3 Ravens Ayahuasca

Published July 14, 2015
If everything went to plan then the world wouldn't be the place it is today. Among the things discovered by accident are potato chips, microwaves, post-it notes, pacemakers and, perhaps most crucially, slinkies. To that list can now be added the latest very limited release from 3 Ravens. It started out as part of the batch of Druid, the Pedro Ximenez-inspired Belgian strong ale, brewed earlier in the year. Ending up with more beer than expected, once the six PX barrels were filled they put the rest… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV
11%
Stockists

For Dark Side of Beer

The other two kegs are yet to be assigned

3 Ravens Druid 2015

Published June 12, 2015
One of the beers that helped 3 Ravens secure the 2014 Champion Small Australian Brewery title was this Pedro Ximenez barrel-aged Belgian quad that was former head brewer Adrian McNulty's attempt to create a beer as close to the sherry that once inhabited the barrels. It was an honourable venture and one carried off with aplomb. While Adrian has moved on to pastures new, the barrels remained and his replacement Brendan O'Sullivan has kept the Druid alive. With the oak being less PX-ey second time… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV
11%
Stockists

Beer Mash

Olinda Cellars

Acland Cellars

Fox In the Corn

Hop Heads

Paul’s SUPA IGA

Cherry Tree

Public Brewery

More stockists...

3 Ravens / Thunder Road / CUB Girt By 3

Published May 21, 2015
There was a little frisson of excitement at the end of last year's Australian International Beer Awards. For the past few years, it has been practice for the Champion Australian Breweries to join forces to create a collaborative brew to be launched at the following year's dinner. With Thunder Road Brewing named as Champion Medium Brewery and CUB taking out the Large Brewery title, it raised the prospect of two breweries who knew each other best from a bitter court battle in which the former tried,… Read more
Style
Australian Strong Ale
ABV
10%
Stockists

At select good beer venues

3 Ravens Little Ravens Oak-Aged American Imperial Stout

Published May 15, 2015
Last year, 3 Ravens announced they were going to make full use of some of the smaller tanks in their brewery to launch small, experimental batches of beer under the Little Ravens banner. An India Saison appeared and then they got rather busy expanding the rest of their brewery. However, hot on the heels of the announcement of their sour program comes a Little Raven that is in no way little although most definitely comes with hue of raven. It's an American imperial stout that has spent time in oak… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
9.5%
Bitterness
95 IBU
Stockists

Kegs only at Terminus and Catfish

Bottles to the rest

Hopheads

Beer Mash

Harvest

More stockists...

3 Ravens Little Raven Oak-Aged Witbier

Published December 31, 2014
A newspaper article from not that long ago stated that the witbier style was experiencing a surge in popularity among Aussie brewers and beer geeks. We've not noticed such a surge here at Crafty Towers but maybe we're just looking in the wrong places because here's one that will be making its bow on New Year's Eve at The Alehouse Project's bash. It's the second release in the occasional Little Raven series from Thornbury's reigning Champion Small Australian Brewery 3 Ravens (the first was an India… Read more
Style
Spiced Witbier
ABV
4.5%
Stockists

Venue for second keg TBC

3 Ravens Little Raven India Saison

Published September 22, 2014
It’s been all change at 3 Ravens in recent months, with the old brewing team now ensconced at Two Birds and Moon Dog after picking up a couple of major trophies earlier in the year and a new team plucked from Holgate and Boneyard now in place. The new duo has embarked on a new series of limited releases that make use of the brewery’s 300 litre mini-system (upon which the brewery launched more than a decade ago). The first fruit to be born of this venture is an India Saison, essentially a hopped… Read more
Style
Hoppy Saison
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

The Alehouse Project

Others TBC

3 Ravens Unkindness BIPA

Published September 16, 2014
Having helped Melbourne's 3 Ravens to not only its first gold medals at this year's Australian International Beer Awards but also the Best British Ale and Champion Small Brewery titles, head brewer Adrian McNulty decided it was time to take his brewing skills, love of dark music and collection of off kilter headwear to pastures new in the form of Moon Dog. Prior to leaving, he created a farewell beer with his recently installed co-brewer, Ian Morgan (who has since been joined by former Boneyard brewer… Read more
Style
Black IPA
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
130 IBU
Stockists

Carwyn Cellars

The Alehouse Project Hopfest

The Catfish

Village Melbourne

More stockists...

3 Ravens Druid

Published July 30, 2014
You can tell 3 Ravens head brewer Adrian McNulty is being given free rein in the brewery these days. The man has musical tastes of a particularly dark, intense and heavy shade of black and the creation of beers such as Black Mass ' a whisky barrel-aged chipotle and vanilla porter ' and now this Pedro Ximenez barrel-aged Belgian strong dark ale named Druid would seem to reflect brew days soundtracked by intense aural assaults. Having enjoyed the Druid on tap and from the bottle, we feel that maybe… Read more
Style
Barrel-aged Belgian Quad
ABV
11.0%
Stockists

McCoppins

McCoppins Abbotsford

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Slowbeer

[Purvis Cellars](/beer/bottleshop/p

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3 Ravens USB (Uber Special Bitter)

Published July 29, 2014
On the night of the 2014 Australian International Beer Awards, shortly after 3 Ravens head brewer Adrian McNulty had collected the trophy for Champion Small Australian Brewery, we asked one of his colleagues: "Does this mean Adrian will be allowed to brew USB again?" The beer ' essentially a souped up version of their English Ale ' was always a favourite at Crafty Towers but, when the brewery was taken over by Mash in 2013 the brewing of all limited release beers was put on hiatus to focus… Read more
Style
Strong English Bitter
ABV
6.2%
Stockists

McCoppins

McCoppins Abbotsford

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Slowbeer

[Purvis Cellars](/beer/bottleshop/p

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3 Ravens Black Mass

Published July 10, 2014
On the last weekend of Good Beer Week 2014, 3 Ravens opened its brewery doors and invited 200 guests in to sample barrel-aged beers of their and their peers' creation. One of the beers it debuted that day was Black Mass, which has since remained under wraps while collecting a gold medal at the Australian International Beer Awards. Only a handful of kegs were ever produced; little surprise, perhaps, when you understand the lengths that went to in order to fill them. The base beer - essentially a porter… Read more
Style
Barrel-aged chipotle vanilla porter
Awards

Gold Medal AIBA 2014

Stockists

Royston

The Terminus

Then one more keg to appear somewhere, some day...

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3 Ravens / Two Birds / ParrotDog Fly By Night

Published July 2, 2013
It seems like this three-way, trans-Tasman collaboration brewed during Good Beer Week was some time in the making. As soon as 3 Ravens brewer Adrian McNulty heard there was to be a second avian-themed brewery in Victoria, namely Two Birds, he set his mind on brewing with them. When the idea was eventually suggested (as beers were consumed), it was decided it would be a good idea to bring in Kiwi brewers ParrotDog too, what with their feathery, winged nature. Thus it was that on the Monday of Good… Read more
Style
Black IPA
ABV
6.6%
Stockists

Six kegs are off to NZ, a few are already gone, but the others can be found at:

The Park Hotel (although may be gone already)

The Wheaty (being tapped end of July)

Village Melbourne

[Bee

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3 Ravens / Boneyard / Mash Crematorium

Published May 22, 2013
The Yeastie Boys and Tasmania's Seven Sheds may have released 100 per cent peated malt beers but this may take the prize for the beer with the most diverse range of smoked elements in the history of beer. A join project between 3 Ravens, Mash Brewing (who rescued 3 Ravens when it looked like they could be lost last year) and Boneyard Brewing (the spin-off from Josie Bones that brews at 3 Ravens) it's got smoked malts, smoked hops and smoked tea (thanks to a dry tea-bagging process). Inspired by Mash… Read more
Style
Smoked Strong Ale
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
41 IBU
Stockists

3 Ravens

Josie Bones

3 Ravens Bittersweet End

Published November 15, 2012
Melbourne's 3 Ravens marked 10 years of brewing beers this year. We say "marked" rather than "celebrated" as things haven't necessarily gone as planned, what with the building and brewery appearing to be on sale at one point and the whole affair looking close to disappearing. A solution has been found (we'll bring you news on that soon) and the tenth anniversary beer is here too. The aim was to create a 100 IBU (international bitterness unit), 10 per cent beer to mark the occasion.… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
9.6%
Bitterness
100 IBU
Stockists

Rainbow Hotel

Nillumbik Cellars

Carwyn Cellars

McCoppins

Bar Etiquette

[Mrs Parma's](/beer/bar/mrs-parma-s

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3 Ravens Prussian Porter

Published July 24, 2012
Word on the hopbine suggests 3 Ravens will live on, despite earlier fears, with a white knight on the distant horizon. Should that not prove to be the case and were this to be the final special release from the Thornbury brewer it would be a fitting farewell. A year in the making from the time of its brewing followed by a few months in barrels also used for beers such as the Double Ale Noir, it has now been deemed ready for release, following an early taster in cask form at Good Beer Week's Bull… Read more
Style
Prussian Porter
ABV
8%

3 Ravens Smoked Wheat

Published December 16, 2011
The Thornbury brewery continues to plunder every nook and cranny of the Germanic beer world, coming at us this time with a beer that combines elements of two of their regular beers: a bit of smoked malt and a bit of fruity wheat beer yeast. It might sound an unusual combination to the newcomer - mixing elements of earthy, woody, campfire like aromas with the banana and clove esters of the wheat yeast - but they sit together rather well. It's not bananas on the barbie, instead a cloudy copper coloured… Read more
Style
Smoked Wheat Beer
ABV
4.7%

3 Ravens Oktoberfestbier

Published October 8, 2011
Of all the breweries in Australia, few have as much experience playing around with German lager styles as 3 Ravens. Their Oktoberfestbier sticks true to the German fest beers, undergoing cold fermentation and spending four weeks lagering at the brewery prior to release. The result is a seriously malty lager, one that pours a deep amber and has a sweet, biscuity malt aroma. It's all about the malts in the mouth too, with rich toffee and biscuit flavours leading the way and a hop bitterness that's… Read more
Style
Oktoberfestbier
ABV
6.3%

3 Ravens Ale Noir

Published October 7, 2011
It's been seen this year in "Double" form and now the Thornbury's brewery's barrel-aged version of their smoky Dark Ale is back in normal "Ale Noir" fashion. The story behind it sees the brewers pop some of the Dark into a barrel once used for pinot noir and let the two go to work for a few months. The result aroma-wise this time around is low on wine characteristics, but high on the oak and smoke, both of which make an appearance once imbibed amid swirls of dark malts that range… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Smoke Beer
ABV
5.4%

3 Ravens Ravenator Bock

Published August 12, 2011
One of the best received of 3 Ravens' limited run releases in 2010, the marvelously named Ravenator is back. Another to take its inspiration from Germany, this is a strong lager, one that was traditionally brewed dark, which is certainly the case here. Treated lovingly, as it should be, with a lengthy period of cool fermentation and maturation at the brewery prior to release, it's a beer from the Thornbury brewers to reward those who love their malts. On the nose, they come in the form of sweeter,… Read more
Style
Bock
ABV
5.9%

3 Ravens Rye

Published July 13, 2011
This is the return of a beer that first made an appearance in 2010. It's 3 Ravens' take on the pretty rare Roggenbier style of wheat beer from Bavaria that combines a wheat beer yeast with rye malt. Last year's was one of the more intriguing specials to roll out of the Thornbury brewery, blending many of the characteristics you'd expect from a wheat beer accompanied by a distinct, almost peppery spiciness. This year's is one that seems to have got the brewers feeling all florid, as they describe… Read more

3 Ravens Hell

Published July 7, 2011
When done right, the lagers - or helles - originating from the southern German state of Bavaria are among the very best in the world: delicate, beautifully balanced and as refreshing a beer as you could ever wish to taste. We've not had the chance to taste this 3 Ravens take on the style yet, so will have to rely on the brewer's notes, which tell us it's a light gold/dark straw coloured lager with a dense head and moderate carbonation. On the nose, we're told to expect a "light, clean malt and… Read more
Style
Hell Lager
ABV
5.0%

3 Ravens Schwarz

Published May 4, 2011
While most brewers seem to be hotfooting it after the latest hop varieties and chasing ever bigger hop fixes, 3 Ravens are happily playing around with malt led beers (and the odd barrel too). The latest release in their Uber Range is another inspired by classic European styles, this time a Schwarzbier, aka a dark lager. It registers in the realms of dark brown - with an orangey tinge when held to the light - rather than black and, as we said, is all about the malts. On the nose that translates to… Read more

3 Ravens Double Ale Noir

Published April 8, 2011
The latest limited release (very limited release) from 3 Ravens has undergone quite a journey. It takes the concept of last year's first Ale Noir (a Geelong Pinot Noir barrel-aged take on their Dark smoke beer) and adds another dimension. The barrel that was used last time around was refilled with Dark beer which spent ten months maturing. A second batch of Dark was placed into a fresh Pinot barrel for six weeks and then the two were blended. The result is a 6.5% beer that brewer Dave Brough says… Read more
Style
Oak Aged Smoke Beer
ABV
6.5%

3 Ravens Uber Blond

Published March 28, 2011
It might sound like the return of Brigitte Nielsen, but this is in fact the latest release under Thornbury brewer 3 Raven's Uber range, one which sees them take their Blond (or Golden Ale, depending how you know it) as a starting point then head into strong lager territory. Looking towards Europe - in particularly Germany - it's a recreation of an altbier, albeit something of an Uber version of that (its subtitle "Sticke Alt" means secret altbier - the one you'd have to request from the… Read more
Style
Altbier
ABV
6.4%
Bitterness
30 IBU

3 Ravens USB

Published November 6, 2010
On a trip to the UK last Christmas, Crafty noticed some of the brewers behind the UK's more popular real ale brands, such as Abbot and Old Speckled Hen had started releasing souped up "vintage" versions. And very nice they were too. It's a similar approach that 3 Ravens has taken here with the second release of their Uber Special Bitter - a bigger, stronger version of their English Ale. Thicker in mouthfeel, darker in colour (an enticing dark rusty hue) and higher in alcohol, it's not crazily… Read more
Style
Extra Special Bitter
ABV
6.1%

3 Ravens Rye

Published September 18, 2010
The latest in the 3 Ravens' 'Uber" series, in which the Thornbury brewers pick a style from their usual range and do something a bit special with it, the Rye is loosely based on their White (or witbier). It's a Roggenbier, a style originally heralding from Bavaria, in which the yeast strain used in wheat beers is combined with a hefty whack of rye malt - a type of malt rarely used in beers today, although becoming increasingly popular in the US craft scene and among Aussie homebrewers. The result… Read more
Style
Roggen bier (Rye beer)
ABV
5.7%

3 Ravens White

Pouring with a light white head, this traditional Belgian witbier (or "white beer") has a pungent fruity aroma that hints at Juicy Fruit gum that comes from the addition of citrus peel, coriander and chamomile in the boil. Those flavours come through in the mouth along with pepper and peach before the beer finishes tart on the palate.… Read more
Style
Witbier
ABV
5.2%

3 Ravens Dark Ale

One for the more adventurous, this is a rare Australian take on the Bavarian smoke beer style. The use of smoked malts gives it a beechwood and smoked bacon aroma and a lightly peaty flavour.… Read more
Style
Rauchbier (Smoke Beer)
ABV
5.2%

3 Ravens 55

Today, it's probably harder to find an Aussie brewer who doesn't have a highly hopped US style ale on their roster. But when the 55 first rolled off the 3 Ravens production line, it was one of few. Made up of five different grain and five different hop varieties, it boasts a mix of big passionfruit and pineapple aromas typical of American hop varieties and more grassy varieties with a full flavour and serious hit of bitterness.… Read more
Style
US Pale Ale
ABV
5.5%

3 Ravens Black

The 3 Ravens stout, this is as jet black as a raven itself, yet is a surprisingly smooth, balanced take on the style, showing off plenty of coffee and dark chocolate flavours, underpinned by some sweet caramel and an espresso like finish, without the sharper bitterness you can find in some stouts. Comprised of ten different grains, it's a smooth treat occasionally - very occasionally - found on handpump.… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
5.5%

3 Ravens English Ale

A recreation of the classic English pub ales, this uses the Maris Otter malt and Fuggles hops found in many UK beers. Burnished copped in colour, the hops are of the earthy, grassy variety and lend the beer a lingering, floral aftertaste and mild bitterness - although not before your palate's experienced a little chocolate and the slightest hint of smokiness from the malts. Originally designed for cask conditioning - and very occasionally found in said format - it was tweaked to become a little fuller… Read more
Style
English Pale Ale
ABV
4.6%
Awards

Best British Ale at 2014 AIBA

3 Ravens Golden

Formerly known as their Blond, the 3 Ravens Golden Ale is a German style altbier ("old" beer) with a lightly floral, slightly spicy aroma from the use of Saaz hops from the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic and a smooth, biscuity malt flavour and gentle hop bitterness. An nicely quaffable beer.… Read more
Style
Golden Ale
ABV
5%