Nail Brewing

Western Australia's reputation as the birthplace of craft beer in Australia is unquestioned. Equally, the quality of the state's breweries, in particular the all-conquering Feral and Little Creatures, is recognised by beer lovers far and wide. But in the state itself there are few who have done as much for the craft beer industry as John Stallwood, the man behind Nail Brewing.

He's been brewing beers - and winning copious awards and gold medals - under the Nail banner at various breweries since 2000, has helped other WA brewers with their businesses, was the driving force responsible for getting the WA Brewers Association up and running, created microbrewing.com.au - Australia's first online resource for craft brewers, and helped launch the Perth Royal Beer Show. If that wasn't enough, his story has a personal side that makes the fact he is still brewing - let alone expanding Nail across Australia and even into overseas markets - truly remarkable. In 2004, he was assaulted while trying to stop a fight between strangers outside a pub in Fremantle and so severely injured that his brain was shut down and he was placed into a coma. The brewery he had established at Bobby Dazzler's in Perth was sold to The Monk (then the Mad Monk), his parents had to keep Nail from bankruptcy and his skull required rebuilding with titanium.

Eight years later, having eased himself back into brewing at Jarrah Jacks and Edith Cowan University alongside his brewing mentor Hugh Dunn, he completed his comeback by entering into the BrewCorp business with Feral, run by his longstanding friend and sparring partner Brendan Varis. The two breweries combined to purchase one of the largest microbreweries in Australia - based around a 50 hectolitre brewhouse - and work began to establish Nail as a brewery recognised across Australia and not just in WA.

John's brewing story begins well before that, however: with a home brew kit purchased for a friend's 21st birthday in 1994. His friend soon discovered brewing wasn't for him so John inherited the kit. Two years later - fully four years before his first commercial beer was tapped - he registered the Nail Ale trademark. The first commercial Nail Ale was poured at Bobby Dazzler's on March 23, 2000, and since then, accompanied by slogans such as "Hammer down a Nail!", his beers have become much-loved WA staples.

John likes to refer to himself as a "pale ale and stout brewer" and has created a few variants on each. Tack Lite is his light version of Nail Ale and the epic Clout his Russian Imperial version of Nail Stout. It was first brewed to mark Nail's 10th anniversary and has gone on to become one of Australia's most highly-rated and sought after annual releases. In 2013, he added a "hoppy, golden summer ale" – Golden Nail to the permanent roster and has since brewed all manner of limited release beers and continued to expand the core range, with Nail Red becoming a runaway hit, with good reason, and VPA appearing in cans.

There have been occasional limited releases too, such as the Antarctic Nail Ale that was brewed with water collected from Antarctica and auctioned to raise money for Sea Shepherd. Bottle number one went on to fetch $1,850, making it the most expensive bottle of beer in the world at the time, and the iconic Clout Stout, a beer that should be on every discerning beer lover's bucket list. Alongside that, supported by family, John has continued to work tirelessly on issues facing the microbrewing industry both in WA and across Australia; once he even packaged his beers in cartons with one side dedicated to highlighting the excise issues facing small Aussie brewers.

As someone who's done so much for the beer industry in Australia, it's perhaps best that the last word is left to John himself – and a phrase he used to describe the relationship with his BrewCorp business partner.

"Brendan is a better brewer than me," he says. "But I brew better beers."

Name
Nail Brewing
Address

323 Collier Road
Bassendean
WA 6054

Phone
0413 87 2337

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

Nail Brewing Regulars

Nail Brewing Quokka Export

Published March 30, 2023
Thirty minutes by ferry from the Perth coastline lays Rottnest, a rocky island surrounded by stunning beaches that West Australian’s have claimed as their very own laid-back, Mediterranean-style getaway. Thongs and bikes rule, with kids playing out unsupervised adventures that would make good copy should Wes Anderson need new material, and the chance to snorkel as an octopus makes its idiosyncratic way over coral below you just a short swim away. It’s also home to around 10,000 quokkas, an indigenous… Read more
Style
Beer
ABV
4.1%

Nail Brewing Hazy XPA

Published February 20, 2022
Considering they were the first local brewery associated with the term "double dry-hopped" – and for their Red back in 2014, no less – Nail’s arrival into the foggy realm appears to have taken some time. However, those paying attention will have seen close to ten draught-only, hazy releases pop up on tap from the WA brewing company over the past few years, all part of a process of ongoing refinement that sees Hazy XPA welcomed to their core range in early 2022. As with most things… Read more
Style
Hazy XPA
ABV
5.4%
Stockists

Available from all Nail stockists from February 23

Nail Brewing Stout (Cans)

Published May 22, 2019
The transition into cans for the Nail range – and the introduction of the Nail Brewing Test series, which may or may not replace Nail Ale – led to some design challenges for graphic collaborator Zendoke: how to welcome a hop-focused beer into the canned range when the obvious colour choice is already taken? Et voilĂ , Nail’s multi-award-winning oatmeal stout, labelled plainly as Stout, is now smartly dressed in purple as opposed to its earlier outings in green. Its contents remain the same… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

Find it at Nail stockists nationwide

Nail Brewing Red (Cans)

Published February 1, 2019
Originally released in late winter 2014, the benefit of hindsight now sees Nail Red as something of a watershed moment for John Stallwood and co at Nail. The Bassendean brewery’s trophy cabinet was already bulging with accolades from its first near fifteen years of operation but the market had by that stage shifted beyond the sort of beer's upon which that success was built. Lupulin fever was now gripping brewers and drinkers alike, pushing the threshold of what was considered a hoppy beer, while… Read more
Style
Red Ale
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

Launched first in WA then heading across Australia from early 2019

Nail Brewing MVP

Published July 12, 2017
In the past few years, Nail Brewing has had something of a Midas touch when it comes to releasing quality beers when no one is looking that quickly define the brewery. The inaugural single batch Brew Log release was dedicated to a Hugh Dunn, an icon of West Australian brewing, and morphed into the deliciously boozy core range imperial brown ale. The Citra driven Nail Brew Log #4 became Nail Red, a beer that has defined the brewery during the second half of the decade, before evolving into the 9 percent… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength
ABV
3.4%

Nail Brewing VPA

Published December 16, 2016
Historically, Nail founder John Stallwood is a brewer who has favoured putting malt centre stage in his beers; look over his 15 plus years in operation and you'll find most of the many gold medals and trophies he's gathered going to the likes of his Oatmeal Stout, Clout Stout, Imperial Brown and Imperial Porter. That said, the beer that's been winning Nail most fans in recent times, the Red Ale that was intended as a one-off but is now found on tap at all discerning venues in his home state of WA,… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

Flying Scotsman / Caboose

and many more outlets to follow

Nail Red

Published August 20, 2014
Having become increasingly convinced that Nail's founder John Stallwood is Australia's maestro of malt on the back of staggeringly consistently high quality releases such as his Oatmeal Stout, Hughe Dunn Imperial Brown Ale, Imperial Red Ale, Imperial Porter and Clout Stout, we expected this Red Ale to be another exploration of just how much character and depth could be expressed in a beer via the mastery of beer's backbone ingredient. So imagine our surprise when the first thing to hit us as the… Read more
Style
Red Ale
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
35 IBU

Nail Ale

The beer that started it all, way back before Nail Brewing even existed, and has gone on to pick up medals and trophies galore ever since. Originally the name of his home brew and trademarked well before he took over the reins of his first commercial brewery at Bobby Dazzler's, Nail Ale is John Stallwood's impeccable take on the traditional Australian Pale Ale style. It's not like the more recent US-inspired pales, but instead a beer with soft floral hop aromas balanced by some malt sweetness, a… Read more
Style
Australian Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%

Nail Golden

He may have told Crafty he's a "pale ale and stout brewer" but there are other tricks in the Nail arsenal. New in bottles in 2013 is the Golden Nail, a golden ale based on a beer brewed by John Luff at Degrees Brewery. It's a heavily late-hopped beer boasting lots of floral and citrus aromas that's designed for sessionability. Since launch, Golden has been tweaked a little – down to 5 percent ABV from 5.5 – and also become a mainstay of the brewery's lineup.… Read more
Style
Golden Ale
ABV
5.0%

Nail Stout

The second beer to be added to the Nail range was clearly in no mood to be upstaged by its predecessor. No sooner was this oatmeal stout released than it started collecting its own swag of trophies at awards across Australia. Again very traditional in design, it takes inspiration from British stouts to create a multilayered malty treat full of chocolate, dark cocoa, roast and coffee flavours. The addition of rolled oats to the malt grist creates a fuller, softer mouthfeel too.… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
6.0%

Nail Brewing Specials

Feral x Nail Nailraiser VJA

Published August 12, 2022
Marking ten years since they originally joined forces to create BrewCorp, Feral and Nail welcome Nailraiser. Given these two WA brewing icons have lived as siblings for 20 years, and shared a brewery for ten of those, it’s a wonder this hasn’t happened sooner. But then again, this is a long way from the then controversial fruity esters of Y2K Nail Ale or its assertive late Noughties stepbrother, Feral’s Hop Hog. Indeed, the outrage of Nailraiser pouring in any year, bar the last few, would… Read more
Style
Juicy IPA
ABV
7.5%
Stockists

Launching at The Dutch Trading Co on August 12

Then available nationwide in limited release

Nail Brewing Flaming Lamington (Cans)

Published August 20, 2021
Lord Lamington, or his chef, Armand Galland, birthed the eponymous treat back in the late 1800s, which raises an odd thought: just who would have been rolling vanilla sponge cake squares in molten chocolate, then desiccated coconut – an ingredient for which we have the chef’s Tahitian wife to thank – in Brisbane back then? Years ahead of the pastry curves when it first appeared, Nail’s 2015 liquid ode to the cocoa-choc cubes pimped the icon with the addition of bird's eye chilis, for reasons… Read more
Style
Chili Coconut Chocolate Stout
ABV
5.2%

Nail Brewing NBT Pale v9: Sabro

Published November 4, 2020
Nail’s continuing exploration of hops within the NBT series, which is designed to help them find the perfect pale ale with drinkers' assistance, arrives at batch #9 with Sabro Lupo Max as its centrepiece. This is a concentrated hop pellet version of hops, designed to remove vegetive matter to make it easier for brewers to extract a pure expression of the hop's innate character. The idea is that less hops are thus needed in the beer but, in typical Nail fashion, they’ve carried on with their normal… Read more
Style
Single Hop Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%

Nail Brewing Red Carpet 2020

Published June 13, 2020
Nail’s Red Carpet has been rolled out once more for winter 2020, and once again awaits fans of big beers but not necessarily those filled with the cake-friendly contents of aisle 5. Also, this is an imperial red ale, not an imperial red IPA, a distinction which may confuse some while finding greater favour with others. Debuting as a GABS beer five years ago, the near annual release shows subtle vintage variance. For the 2020 release, smooth caramel and toffee malt layers hold a balanced, citrusy… Read more
Style
Imperial Red Ale
ABV
8.4%

Nail Brewing NBT Pale v7

Published May 28, 2020
With an ever-increasing and diverse array of expression filling bottleshop fridge doors, it makes for a lovely change to sit with the same beer and appreciate the nuance within each edition. With NBT, there’s neither radical change nor hype, but in their place resides an education on how to build a beer, specifically a modern pub beer for whenever that particular levee breaks. Now in its seventh iteration Nail’s NBT series of pale ales draws from German Amarillo and classic US hop Centennial.… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%

Nail Brewing NBT #6: Galaxy

Published March 19, 2020
Nail’s NBT series has really started to come into its own and this sixth iteration is easily the hoppiest of the series thus far; possibly one of Nail’s hoppiest beers to boot, in fact, especially with its sub-5 percent ABV stature. It leads with considerable juicy tropical aromas which have more in common with VPA than the earlier NBT offerings. Labelled as Galaxy in the QR app via the can, there’s far more at play here than a single hop pale. Sure, there’s expected passionfruity notes,… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%
Stockists

Nail NBT #6 is available now through Nail stockists – until #7 arrives.

NB: Drinkers should check the digi-print on bottom of the can for the NBT batch number.

Nail Brewing Y2K IPA

Published March 11, 2020
Since debuting in 2000 with Nail Ale, John Stallwood’s brewery has experienced a twenty year journey like no other. To celebrate this rare achievement, Nail have unveiled Y2K IPA, a beer he says showcases “double the dry hopping of Super VPA”. Safe to say, that's a ridiculous amount. While Y2K may seem light years away from the “slightly more flavourful” ale he was trying to convince punters was worthy at the turn of the Millennium, it actually uses a near identical malt base to the OG… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

Y2k is available from WA venues in limited release from March 11

It will be pouring at a soon-to-be-announced 20th birthday party too

Nail Brewing NBT #5: Simcoe & Centennial

Published February 14, 2020
When we first covered the Nail NBT series it was the modern extension of John Stallwood’s formative years prior to founding the brewery, when he brewed more than 40 test batches at the University of Ballarat of what would become the now retired Nail Ale. But that was only part of the story. NBT #5 arrives with the digital unveiling of what Nail are calling Australia’s biggest collaboration: a partnership with you, the beer drinker. A QR code on the back of the can now links to a Nail rating page… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%
Stockists

Available from Nail stockists nationwide

Nail Brewing Gareth Skywalker Golden IPA (Cans)

Published December 18, 2019
It’s one of the most well known chapters of Nail’s near two-decade history; however, for this particular release, it deserves revisiting lest the attention be consumed by a galaxy far, far away... On Good Friday 2004, Nail owner John Stallwood was coward punched opposite The Monk in Fremantle, an event that almost killed him and changed the course of his life. The member of the public that chased his attacker and made a citizen’s arrest was Gareth "Skywalker" Tarrant, a man John didn't… Read more
Style
Golden IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

Available from WA and SA Nail stockists in limited release

Nail Brewing Red Carpet Imperial Red Ale

Published July 24, 2019
Originally brewed for GABS 3016 as a 9 percent-plus, scaled up version of the brewery’s Red Ale – itself a permanent iteration of the Citra driven Nail Brew Log #4 – Nail’s Red Carpet returns once more as a winter seasonal for 2016. With a smooth toffee malt focus, Red Carpet is decidedly an imperial re ale, rather than imperial red IPA. Any bitterness at play is purely there for balance, which opens up the palate for citrus, subtle booze licks – this year is its lowest ABV incarnation… Read more
Style
Imperial Red Ale
ABV
8.4%

Nail Brewing NBT #1: Cashmere

Published April 3, 2019
Twenty years after John Stallwood’s original Nail Brewing Test (NBT) development series coalesced into his brewery’s eponymous debut, Nail Ale, he's still playing in the brew shed. Sure, the "shed" is now considerably different to the place where the test brews conducted at the University of Ballarat took place, yet the creative sensibility remains. NBT Cashmere is a series opener, which aims to explore New World hops and pale ale recipe development each month before culminating in… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%
Stockists

Launching April 5 in WA, with the East Coast to follow.

Nail Brewing Super VPA (cans)

Published September 17, 2018
Not all heroes wear capes and, if this one did, the first four-pack would likely ruin a million dollar canning line in minutes. One imagines the canning team quoting Edna from The Incredibles: “No capes!” Sartorial flair aside, there will be many salivating at the return of Super VPA, Nail's souped up VPA, in packaged form for the run into summer. The beer debuted at GABS 2016, born of a very scientific methodology, one that involved testing various combinations of fruit peel by dropping them… Read more
Style
Double Pale Ale with Citrus
ABV
8.5%
Stockists

On nationwide release

Nail Brewing Hopeye Pale Ale

Published June 19, 2018
Early success for Nail Brewing was driven by Nail Ale, an Australian pale ale more in the Coopers mould than the pales of today that would dominate awards. Now, as the brewery heads towards 20 years in the game, it appears founder John Stallwood feels it's time to put out a modern spin on the ever-widening pale ale category; enter Hopeye. While Nail Ale is anchored to legacy of Pride of Ringwood hops, Hopeye instead ramps up the flavour with Mosaic – the first time the brewery has used the American… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%
Stockists

And at select WA and East Coast venues

More TBC

Nail Brewing New World Pilsner

Published May 22, 2018
Despite enjoying a critically lauded and oft tumultuous brewing life spanning nearly 20 years, Nail Brewing has only recently found the time to release its first lager. Perhaps last year's AIBA gold for the reduced alcohol MVP (which has since taken out a trophy at the 2018 awards), was a reminder of the joy of well made moderation, given that most of Nail's recent releases had been sitting north of 6 precent ABV. Perhaps, also, it’s taken time for head brewer John Stallwood’s exacting standards… Read more
Style
New World Pilsner
ABV
4.5%
Stockists

Available on tap and from growler filling retailers in WA

Nail Brewing Clout Stout 2017

Published December 8, 2017
Seven years since its debut to mark ten years of Nail, some drinkers may be pondering the relevance of Clout Stout, while its limited release each year – and hefty price tag – means many won't have even tried it. The Australian beer landscape, including Nail itself, has changed dramatically since a dark beer with a mighty presence first wandered on to the nascent scene. Sure, it’s won a stack of awards and garnered praise aplenty, with the $70 price point drawing nearly as much attention as… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
12.3%
Stockists

Look out for it at specialist beer venues across Australia

Nail Brewing New Zealand Pale Ale 2017

Published August 7, 2017
Nail Brewing continues its 2017 draught only releases with this New Zealand Pale Ale, the name a nod to the South Island-grown Moteuka hop. It’s another example of the Bassendean brewery’s push into New World hops following recent beers featuring the likes of Galaxy, Astra and Calypso, not to mention the pineapple and tropical El Dorado hop driven VPA, currently Nail’s best selling beer and a long way from the Pride of Ringwood focused Nail Ale upon which the brewery’s legacy was founded.… Read more
Style
NZ Pale Ale
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

A limited number of kegs will be available at good venues and growler filling retailers from this week.

Nail Brewing Super VPA

Published May 30, 2017
Nail has had a habit of brewing pairs of beers. Its core range Oatmeal Stout has Clout as its big brother. The brown ale has a HUGhE bigger relation. The Red Ale has Red Carpet keeping it company. The last of these was brewed for GABS in 2016 and, for this year's festival, the WA brewers gave the supersized treatment to their VPA, taking what was the Very Pale Ale and turning it into the adverb-heavy Super Very Pale Ale. The original VPA, one of two Nail beers currently in cans, makes exclusive use… Read more
Style
Imperial Pale Ale
ABV
8.3%
Stockists

And other good beer outlets in WA

East Coast stockists TBC

Nail Brewing Hoppy Nut Brown Ale

Published May 23, 2017
They're cranking out the limited release, keg only beers at Nail Brewing right now. The latest to make its way steadily onto taps across the country from WA is the Hoppy Nut Brown Ale, a beer they've designed to ease beer drinkers into winter. Described as a "happy combination" of something dark and something for those who are stinging for hops, it's a 6.5 percent ABV brown ale hopped with one of the brewers' favourite hops, Citra. The result, we're told, is "an easy drinking brown… Read more
Style
American Brown Ale
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

And a growing number of good beer outlets across Australia

Nail Brewing Clayden Brew Imperial Porter 2017

Published April 11, 2017
This imperial porter, named after one of Nail founder John Stallwood's sons, has quite the genesis story. For starters, it wasn't supposed to exist and only came about when John was brewing what was intended to be that year's vintage of his iconic Clout Stout. The first two brews didn't quite hit what he deemed to be the right level of Cloutishness so were instead blended together. And the result wasn't too bad. In fact, the Clayden Brew imperial porter was pretty damn good, picking up a swag of… Read more
Style
Imperial Porter
ABV
10%
Stockists

Caboose

Petition

East Coast venues coming soon...

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Cactus Kolsch

Published March 30, 2017
When we think of Nail, it tends to be of a brewery that focuses, in the main, on creating pretty traditional and to style beers – and doing it bloody well, whether its the hoppy Golden, the trophy-laden Red Ale or the beast that is Clout Stout. Yet brewer John Stallwood isn't averse to the occasional detour from the straight and narrow. There's been the award-winning Flaming Lamington for one and, a while back, a short run of a beer brewed with cactus. And now the cactus beer is back in somewhat… Read more
Style
Cactus Kolsch
ABV
5.0%
Stockists

And other good beer venues in WA

East Coast stockists coming soon

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Chocolate Brown Ale

Published August 29, 2016
Anyone who's paid even a passing attention to Nail Brewing over the past decade and more will know that founder and head brewer John Stallwood is rather adept at creating marvellous malt driven ales. The best known, his Clout Stout, is set to hit shelves in its limited edition form very soon, while it has a partner-in-crime for the end of winter 2016 too. The Chocolate Brown Ale joins a fine roster of darker Nail brews: Huhge Dunn imperial brown, a one-off Clayden Brew imperial porter, the trophy-winning… Read more
Style
Brown Ale
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

And select craft beer venues across Australia

Nail Brewing New Zealand Pale Ale

Published April 1, 2016
Are you stinging for some Kiwi hops? Then Nail Brewing has just what you require. The WA brewer has snaffled one of the newest hop varieties developed by farmers across The Ditch. It's called Brooklyn (a choice that caught the eye of a brewer from a certain American brewery), was bred from Southern Cross and is described by NZ Hops as a "big hop". As with all new hops, brewers will be playing around to see how and where it works best. For Nail, they opted to use it to create a pale ale,… Read more
Style
NZ Pale Ale
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

The Mill on Constance

Flat Rock Brew Cafe

And select beer venues in WA, VIC, NSW & QLD

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Summer's Best

Published December 22, 2015
It's been a big year for WA's Nail. The brewery turned 15, stepped up its interstate distribution and underwent its first major rebrand. At the same time, medals and trophies kept coming, including those for fine new releases such as the Flaming Lamington chilli chocolate stout. The year is ending on a rather more straightforward note than a beer that looks to recreate one of Australia's favourite desserts (with added chillies), with the final keg only release a hoppy session ale called Summer's… Read more
Style
Summer Ale
ABV
4.2%
Stockists

International Beer Shop

And other good beer stockists in WA

East Coast venues to be added

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Brew Log #8: ESB

Published December 3, 2015
With its rebrand done and dusted, it's back to releasing new beers for the Nail Brewing crew. The penultimate new brew for 2015 from the WA brewery is an ESB and it's appearing on tap and in bottles as the eighth beer in the Brew Log series. A rather more traditional follow up to the hugely popular, quirky and trophy-winning Flaming Lamington, this one an Extra Special Bitter inspired by those you'd find in the UK. We're told it's refreshing and thirst quenching and comes with "strong fruity… Read more
Style
ESB
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
55 IBU
Stockists

International Beer Shop

And other good beer stockists in WA

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Brown Claw IPA

Published October 21, 2015
Happy accidents can be a fine thing. We may not have microwaves if a chocolate bar hadn't melted in the pocket of an engineer as he walked past a magnetron. Coca Cola originated from a medicine for headaches that was accidentally mixed with carbonated water. And would a whole subculture of art and music have come about if Albert Hoffman hadn't accidentally ingested an experimental compound while working in his lab only to find things getting decidedly odd as the day wore on? Certainly, if a batch… Read more
Style
Brown IPA
ABV
6.4%
Stockists

WA

Belgian Beer Cafe

Bob’s Bar

Lalla Rookh

Petition

PICA Bar

Northbridge Brewing Co

The Flying Scotsman

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Clout Stout 2015

Published September 25, 2015
A couple of years back, we featured imperial stouts in one of our Blind Tastings. It goes without saying that it was an epic evening. The two top scoring beers were Courage's Imperial Russian Stout (the first ever imperial stout, no less) and Nail's Clout Stout. The lineup featured three vintages of Clout and it was the oldest that took second spot, in part because the age on it (it would have been released two years earlier) had brought out a softness, richness and creaminess that was still developing… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.5%
Stockists

International Beer Shop

Brewski Bar

Woolly Mammoth

Flat Rock Brew Cafe

More stockists...

Nail Brewing VPA

Published September 11, 2015
When we got word that Nail had a new, draught only beer coming out that went by the name VPA – and that the V stood for "very" – we assumed it meant it was a "very hoppy" pale ale. We checked with the team at the WA brewery and were told that it's just an abbreviation for "Very Pale Ale". "So it's very pale in colour then?" we asked. But, again, that wasn't quite it. It turns out it's because, at 6.5 percent ABV and with a heap of characterful hops in… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

The Classroom, North Perth

Northbridge Brewing Co, Northbridge

Old Faithful Bar & BBQ, Perth CBD

The Print Hall, Perth CBD

The Balmoral, Victoria Park

International Beer Shop, Leederville

Who’s Your Mumma, Fremantle

Cellarbrations Superstore Hamilton Hill, Hamilton Hill

More stockists...

Nail Brewing Flaming Lamington

Published July 24, 2015
UPDATE: This beer is back – draught only – for winter 2017, featuring 80kg of toasted coconut and 25kg of birds eye chillies loaded up in giant tea bags and placed into the fermenter. It will be an annual release and may return in bottles too from 2018. Original write up from 2015: Lamington beers have become quite a thing, it seems. Bacchus has brewed one, Quiet Deeds has one out as we write and there could well have been one entered when we took part in a past Beervana Media Brew competition.… Read more
Style
Chilli Coconut Chocolate Stout
ABV
5.3%
Bitterness
35 IBU
Stockists

The 2017 release hits taps across WA, SA, VIC, NSW & QLD

Nail Brewing Gareth Skywalker Golden IPA

Published May 19, 2015
Throughout Good Beer Week 2015, WA stablemates Feral and Nail have been lining up some beer battles: taking over taps and challenging the crowds to decide who makes the better beers. Perhaps it's why Nail's John Stallwood has summoned the Force for his latest short run release, the Gareth Skywalker, named after Gareth Tarrant, the man who caught the attacker who put John into a coma in the incident that almost killed him last decade. The beer brewed in Gareth's honour is Nail's first IPA and also… Read more
Style
India Pale Ale
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
50 IBU
Stockists

Across Australia at good beer venues

Nail Brewing Beazle Brew American Amber

Published October 15, 2014
For a man who used to brew only a couple of beers all year round, Nail's John Stallwood is certainly keeping us busy with new releases these days. As well as the core range, he's been sending beers out under the Brew Log moniker every few weeks, has an ever-growing lineup of imperial beers and is starting to line up some, such as the Hughe Dunn Imperial Brown and this Beazle Brew as annual releases. The Beazle is another beer dedicated to someone in John's life, this time around Daniel Bell, a member… Read more
Style
American Amber
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
39 IBU
Stockists

Nationwide at good bottleshops and bars

Nail Brewing Clout Stout 2014

Published October 10, 2014
If anyone was in doubt about the standards Nail’s founder John Stallwood sets for his annual Clout Stout release, they need look no further than the circumstances surrounding this year’s beer. Last year, he brewed a couple of batches he intended to be Clout Stout but when the beer didn’t nudge past the 10 percent mark, he deemed it unworthy of the Clout mantle. Instead it became the Clayden Brew Imperial Porter – named after his son – and was still good enough to win beer lovers' hearts… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.8%
Stockists

At quality craft beer stockists nationwide

Nail Brewing Imperial Porter: Clayden Brew

Published July 9, 2014
With yet another major trophy clogging up the mantelpiece at the Stallwood residence, this time for the Hughe Dunn Imperial Brown Ale (which is set for an imminent re-release), there will be plenty on the lookout for anything bearing the Nail logo now that the beers are available more widely. Out and about now is an Imperial Porter, the third Brew Log release. Continuing the tradition of dedicating each Brew Log beer to someone important in brewer John Stallwood's life, this one is for his son Clayden,… Read more
Style
Imperial Porter
ABV
8.5%
Stockists

At good craft beer outlets

(NB: At time of posting, the handful of kegs may have gone)

Nail Brewing Rauchbier (Smokey Burns)

Published May 1, 2014
The second in WA brewery Nail's Brew Log series of limited releases is also the second to pay a tribute to people that have assisted head brewer John Stallwood in his ongoing mission to get his beers to the masses. The first was named in honour of brewing mentor Hugh Dunn; this rauchbier (smoke beer) is dedicated to family members, in particular his sister Catherine and the Burns family who loaned money to the business when establishing the BrewCorp brewery with Feral so he could keep Nail 100 percent… Read more
Style
Rauchbier
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
28 IBU
Stockists

Find it at good bottleshops in WA now and further afield later in May

Nail Brewing Brown Ale (Dunn Brown)

Published March 7, 2014
Step-by-step, well over a decade after starting out as a craft brewer, the pieces are falling into place for Nail Brewing and its founder John Stallwood. As one half of the BrewCorp project (Feral is the other half) with a sizeable brewery capable of supplying Australia's eager beer lovers, the means has been there to brew plenty of beer and now, with distributors lined up in the eastern states (Heron Towers will receive the first Nail delivery to Victoria this March), the means to deliver that beer… Read more
Style
Brown Ale
Stockists

At good craft beer stockists

Anyone in Vic wishing to get their hands on Nail beers should contact Heron Towers

Nail Brewing Hughe Dunn Brown

Published December 3, 2013
Slowly but surely, the pieces are falling into place for the rest of the country to discover what the people of WA and the nation's beer judges have known for some time: that John Stallwood of Nail Brewing is one of Australia's very finest brewers. Since going into business with longtime friend and sparring partner Brendan Varis of Feral as BrewCorp last year, he's had the capacity to supply the East Coast and the logistics are now pretty much there to get his immaculate takes on classic styles out… Read more
Style
Imperial Brown Ale
ABV
8.0%
Stockists

At good bottleshops in QLD, WA and NSW

Some bottles going into Dan Murphy's in VIC

Clout Stout 2010/11/12

Published May 15, 2013
Despite the fact that well under 1,000 bottles of this have been released each year since it first appeared to mark Nail's tenth anniversary of brewing in 2011, it's probably the beer that has brought most attention onto the brewery in recent years. It's an imperial stout that's got progressively bigger each year and one that retails at $70 a pop for a 750ml. Such a price point means the beer is open to serious scrutiny and it's scrutiny to which the beer has held up magnificently, collecting trophies… Read more
Style
Imperial Stout
ABV
10.79%