Dainton Brewery & Taphouse

The very nature of craft beer ensures the industry is awash with personalities, quirky characters and unusual ideas. Sure, there are very sensible people working in it too, people who spotted a business opportunity in beer and bring a suitably businesslike approach to their operations.

But even among the colourful breweries that make up Australia’s beer industry, Dainton Beer manages to stand out. Launched in the middle of 2013 by Dan Dainton and his old man Kev, after the former spent time brewing at the James Squire Brewhouse in Melbourne’s CBD (now The Crafty Squire) and at Holgate Brewhouse, their first beer was Red Eye Rye, a hoppy, spicy red ale of eye-catching quality that proved a good sighter for the sort of creativity was to follow.

For the first few years, theirs was a roving operation, with Dan making beer out of breweries all over Victoria, but the father and son duo were constantly on the lookout for a place they could call home. That came along in the middle of 2016, when they became owners of their very own brewery – albeit rather later than they'd hoped.

Following a search for premises that stretched from Milawa in the north to Castlemaine and Warburton, they found a 2,000 square metre site in Carrum Downs, two minutes off the Monash Freeway. With a brewery in place, the crew around Dan and Kev quickly started to grow and so too did the number and range of beers released.

The Dainton core range includes basically every hop-forward style you could consider, while a separate, Imperial Range is dedicated to the boozier side of beer. To many beer drinkers, however, they might be best known for the speed with which they fire out limited releases. It’s a roster that regular includes dessert beers, big Belgians, hazies galore, sours, whopping IPAs and, well … it’s probably almost quicker to list the styles of beers the Dainton brewers haven’t brewed rather than try to list them all.

It’s not just limited release beers that are a focus for the brewery, but ensuring they brew them well too. That consistency-focused approach has seen them pick up many medals at the nation’s beer awards and an impressive haul of trophies at The Indies, including the Champion Australian Beer in both 2017 and 2019 and Champion Large Independent Brewery in 2020. That awards success has led to substantial growth for the brewery: a 50-hectolitre, fully-automated brewhouse was installed in 2021 with the aim of getting Dainton beers further across Australia and into export markets, while also allowing them to offer contract brewing to others.

It’s not just award-winning beer that features in Carrum Downs, however. The Dainton Taphouse is open four days a week and as well as 18 taps of beer you can pick from an American-inspired food menu almost as varied as the beers and including pizza, loaded fries, fried chicken and hoagies. Live music has also become an important part of the taproom, while support for local music doesn’t just occur within the venue: the Dainton name has become a regular sight at Americana and country gigs across Victoria.

It means the brewery has fans in many places, from the residents of Melbourne’s southeast who call the taproom their local to those across the country who beat down the doors of their local bottleshop to try the latest honeycomb and toffee stout or finely-tuned IPA. As with the original Red Eye Rye, which has spawned a number of spin-offs, often the beers their fans are chasing impress, sometimes they surprise or shock, and, on occasion, they do both at once.

Name
Dainton Brewery & Taphouse
Address

560 Frankston Dandenong Rd
Carrum Downs
VIC 3201

Phone
For sales, call 03 9775 0334
Open Hours

Thursday: 3pm to 10pm
Fri & Sat: midday to 11pm
Sunday: midday to 8pm


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

The Specials

Dainton Beer Apple Brandy Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
Dainton Beer Fudgement Day
Dainton Beer Machine Mind
Dainton Beer Apocalypso III
Dainton Beer Island Jam
Dainton Beer Tropical Trooper
Dainton Beer Cherry Cola & Barrel-Aged Choctail
Dainton Beer Refreshing Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Dainton Beer MegaDrive
Dainton Beer D6
Dainton Beer Idaho 7
Show 66 more

Dainton Brewery & Taphouse Regulars

Dainton Beer New Age

Published November 15, 2022
They might be better known for their high-octane releases but Dainton Beer have been playing in the lower ABV space for some time. In 2019, they brewed New Age IPA; a 0.9 percent beer that had an ABV so low, it was a rarity when released. But as the years have flown by, craft breweries have been increasingly loading small beers with hops and in 2022, New Age made a return with an even lower ABV, with the alcohol-free beer added to Dainton's core range. It's also returned with a new look and a new… Read more
Style
Non-Alc XPA
ABV
>0.5%

Dainton Beer Major Tom

Published November 16, 2021
Given there are multiple hazy IPAs and a West Coast in the Dainton core range (plus a hazy pale), you might think the brewery has the hoppy side of beer pretty well covered. But, late in 2021, the Melbourne brewery have looked to fill a low-ABV gap in their core range by adding a riff-making and spacewalking “New World IPA” to their lineup. Major Tom is a 2.5 percent ABV that aims to champion exploration - although the kind of exploration championed is more about being able to have a few hoppy… Read more
Style
New World IPA
ABV
2.5%

Dainton Brewery Equalizer

Published November 25, 2020
Fresh from taking out a plethora of trophies and medals at The Indies 2020, Dainton have added a fresh and hazy new beer to their core lineup, Equalizer. Hazy IPAs have been well-covered ground for the Melbourne brewery and responsible for some of those aforementioned awards and here, they’ve looked to dial the booze down compared to some of the recent releases for a hazy pale. It's a style that’s been something of a trend this year with many breweries looking to partner juicy hops and sessionability.… Read more
Style
Hazy Pale
ABV
4.7%
Bitterness
25 IBU

Dainton Brewery Overdrive West Coast IPA

Published October 15, 2020
Down at Dainton, they already have a NEIPA, an imperial NEIPA and a hazy IPA in their core range so this new addition to the brewery’s permanent lineup offers both a slice of familiarity and a point of difference. The West Coast IPA named Overdrive is coated in familiarity actually, with the tin one part Tron, one part Drive and another Back To The Future. For lovers of West Coasts of old, you too can be transported in time, for Overdrive is very much about two things: pine and bitterness. Pouring… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
7.0%

Dainton Brewing Supertrooper Imperial NEIPA

Published September 11, 2020
They’ve made dozens of NEIPAs and other hazy variants over the years at Dainton and with the elevated-to-core-range offering Jungle Juice really hit the sweet spot. While many of the variants have played with different hops and fruit, arguably the one that's generated the most noise at the pointier end of the beer world is Supertrooper, which is now part of their Hardcore Range of pretty much year round and rather large beers. Pulling off a NEIPA above a certain size is tricky and here you have… Read more
Style
Imperial NEIPA
ABV
10.0%

Dainton Brewing Darklord Imperial Stout

Published September 11, 2020
It's almost impossible to come at a beer from Dainton not expecting something a little odd or awry (and, chances are, actual rye). So when you're faced with an imperial stout called Darklord, well... And yet what you get is actually something rather normal, at least in the sense of a 10 percent ABV imperial stout. It's full and viscous on the palate, close to black in the glass, and delivers liquid dark chocolate and roasted malt flavours in abundance. You might pick out flashes of dark fruits, a… Read more
Style
Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%

Dainton Brewing Jungle Juice Hazy IPA

Published May 18, 2020
One of the ways in which Dainton have been able to maintain their outrageous output of new releases is through variations on a theme. And I doubt they've given any theme such a thrashing as that of NEIPAs / hazy IPAs. Jungle Juice has been around before but now is being elevated to a pretty much year round release. And it only takes a sniff and a sip to understand why as here's a hazy IPA that's smack bang in the sweet spot. Pale gold and hazy, with sticky, prickly, nectar like aromas of tropical… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
65 IBU

Dainton Family Brewery Blood Orange Rye NEIPA

Published October 17, 2017
Clearly, hopping aboard the craze for hazy New England style IPAs currently rampaging through breweries across the country wasn't enough for Dainton Family Brewing. They had to go and give the style something a little more, well, Dan Dainton. So, for their spring entry into the land of the NEIPA, they added his favourite grain, rye, and loaded the beer up with blood orange too – presumably to make sure it really was juicy. Thus, accompanying the citrusy hop aromas you'll find characteristics reminiscent… Read more
Style
Bloody Orange Rye NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Brewery & Taphouse Specials

Dainton Beer Apple Brandy Barrel-Aged Barley Wine

Published May 25, 2023
A Dainton Beer without a pun-heavy name and colourful can? Could this be a new direction for the Melbourne brewery? Well, not quite as Apple Brandy Barrel-Aged Barley Wine has the brewery's hallmark combination of a lot of booze - 14.1 percent ABV in fact - and balance while coming wrapped in an old timey can. But it’s more than just the can’s typeface that is traditional, with the beer made using a prolonged boil and classic English malts before being aged in brandy barrels for six months.… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
ABV
14.1%

Dainton Beer Fudgement Day

Published May 3, 2023
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Willie Wonka was never fit to run a chocolate factory. Kids falling into chocolate rivers, deeply disturbing monologues, blueberries that make kids turn into balloons - how did this guy get his working with children check? The chaos of Wonka has been wholeheartedly embraced by Dainton, however, with their Fudgement Day can featuring fire and anarchy in the factory.* The double choc-fudge porter is the kind of rich beer the brewery knows how to brew well, and… Read more
Style
Double Choc-Fudge Porter
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Beer Machine Mind

Published March 29, 2023
I’ve watched enough movies to know we should be worried about artificial intelligence but should we fear its beers? Dainton Beer are among the many wondering what impact ChatGPT will have on our lives and so they've turned that bot and asked it to design a West Coast IPA, Machine Mind. Sure, they haven’t entirely handed the keys to the brewhouse over but they did ChatGPT to design the recipe, design and the name. So, what electric hops do androids dream of? Turns out, it feels close enough to… Read more
Style
AI-Generated IPA
ABV
6.5%

Dainton Beer Apocalypso III

Published February 22, 2023
Do you remember those days? In Melbourne at least, 2020 was a year of daily press conferences people couldn’t look away from, Tiger King (which people couldn't look away from), and a lack of toilet paper that is still, frankly, a little weird. But the COVID apocalypse also brought a constant stream of limited releases and inspired Dainton Beer to brew some juicy, heavily-hopped Apocalypso beers. Now that it's 2023, we’ve all moved on: Joe Exotic is yesterday's man, Joel and Ellie have our eyes… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Beer Island Jam

Published February 2, 2023
Dainton Beer like to take IPAs in whatever direction they can and Island Jam is their latest hoppy soin. The “tropicana milkshake IPA” doesn’t just feature lactose and Columbus, Warrior, Ekaunot, HBC 568, Citra Cryo hops but a few less common additions. OK, maybe in this day and age, toasted coconut and vanilla beans aren’t all that unusual but bringing all those elements together with hemp does make for a particularly adjunct-laden beer. That hemp seed flour was thrown in during the boil… Read more
Style
Tropicana Milshake NEIPA
ABV
6.7%

Dainton Beer Tropical Trooper

Published January 18, 2023
Have you watched Andor yet? Watch it – it’s a romp. Sorry, that’s an unusual way to start a sentence about a beer but having already told everybody I know how much I enjoyed the show, I figured I might as well start telling people I’ve never met. Besides, something about the beer's name and design made me think about Star Wars. Anyway, looking beyond this public service announcement and towards beer we have Dainton’s first limited release for 2023, Tropical Trooper. It’s a NEIPA ready… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
6.5%

Dainton Beer Cherry Cola & Barrel-Aged Choctail

Published December 2, 2022
After releasing a ginger beer and alcohol-free XPA in quick succession, you might have wondered if Dainton were going to approach brewing a little differently. Well, these two suggest you would have been wrong. Cherry Cola has certainly hit the nail on the head when it comes to turning a soft drink into beer, with the sour filled with fancy flavours of cola with a touch of juicy cherry and a tart finish. Meanwhile, the brewery say Barrel-Aged Choctail is among their most indulgent releases yet and… Read more
Style
Cola Sour & Barrel-Aged Stout
ABV
4.3% & 11.4%

Dainton Beer Refreshing Alcoholic Ginger Beer

Published November 21, 2022
Here’s something a little different from Dainton Beer - ginger. OK so surely in among the many releases, the Melbourne brewers have ensured the root spice has made its way into a least one beer* but Refreshing Alcohol Ginger Beer isn’t about adjuncts - it’s about refreshment. Released as 2022 is on its way out, the 3.0 percent ABV beer certainly has a summer of sun on its mind. While some ginger beers can go down a spiced route, Dainton’s is more light and zesty rather than straight-up tangy… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
3.0%

Dainton Beer MegaDrive

Published October 26, 2022
They make a lot of IPAs at Dainton but over the last couple of years, Overdrive has been a house favourite among the brewers. The West Coast IPA joined the brewery’s core range in October 2022 and quickly enjoyed golden success at The Indies, while the can comes clad in a design that makes you feel like you're stuck inside the software world of Tron. MegaDrive is a celebration of that beer’s second anniversary and continues Overdrive’s 1980s theme with its 16-bit graphics driving straight for… Read more
Style
West Coast IIIPA
ABV
10.0%

Dainton Beer D6

Published August 24, 2022
Fortunately for Dainton Beer’s sake, there are a lot of hops. Once again, to celebrate the anniversary of their Melbourne brewery and taproom opening they've brewed a beer in D6, with the annual NEIPA a fitting approach for a brewery that makes so many hoppy releases. But, as everyone knows, when you start a beer series you have to keep doing it until the end of time, so luckily, for the Dainton team, they should be safe to be going until at least the year 2192 before they run out of hops. The… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Beer Idaho 7

Published August 12, 2022
Dainton Beer never shy away from bringing big doses of different hops together but Idaho 7’s an IPA with one focus and one focus only. Here the Melbourne brewery aims to shine a hazy spotlight on America’s Idaho 7 hop, which was developed by Jackson Hop in Wilder, Idaho and enjoyed quite an immediate bit of love from brewers. The beer itself was first released in 2019 and returns in 2022 with a scenic look at Idaho’s rugged countryside. It also brings a fruit juice tang, with Idaho 7’s quintessential… Read more
Style
Single Hop Hazy IPA
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Beer Straight Outta Carrum Downs

Published July 28, 2022
Dainton Beer launched with a hoppy, rye-filled IPA and, while this release isn’t red, it feels like a fitting tribute for the brewery to make for IPA Day. That celebration kicks off on August 4, and given they’ve named it Straight Outta Carrum Downs, the beer’s as much a tip of the hat to West Coast rap as West Coast IPAs. While I consider myself just as capable of writing about late 80s rap as hoppy beers, it's likely not what you've come to this site for. Fortunately, if you're wondering… Read more
Style
Rye IPA
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Beer Sweet Party, Eh!

Published July 13, 2022
There may well come a day when the brewers at Dainton run out of desserts to turn into beers but today is not that day. Sweet Party, Eh! is a brown ale that takes Canada’s national syrup and brings it together with pecans for a rich pie-inspired beer. Maple is one of those flavours isn't it? So distinct from the outset and typically, it's the kind of flavour that drenches everything else in its path. Are you really eating pancakes with maple syrup? Or maple syrup with some fried batter underneath?… Read more
Style
Brown Ale
ABV
7.0%

Dainton Beer Hop Rising & Choctail

Published June 22, 2022
Chocolate, coffee and a multitude of hops. Yep, sounds like a couple of very Dainton releases. First up is a first for the brewery, with Dainton trying out a new hopping technique for Hop Rising. In order to get as much from their hops as they possibly could, the brewers packed them into different steps across the brewing process with the mash, lauter tun, kettle, whirlpool and fermenters all receiving a healthy dose. Dubbed a "Defiantly Hopped IPA", the idea was to pull as many aromatic… Read more
Style
IPA & Specialty Stout
ABV
6.8% & 9.0%

Dainton Beer Chipmunk

Published May 26, 2022
The weather’s well and truly dropped in Melbourne and the city’s breweries are turning their attention toward satisfying cold nights. In the case of Dainton, their focus is on satisfying both winter's approach and sweet-tooths with Chipmunk, a choc hazelnut porter. Sure, it might not be as rich as some of Dainton's previous dessert-inspired beers but Chipmunk does provide quite an immediate hit of chocolate that most closely resembles drinking cocoa over a slice of cake. Add in the flavours… Read more
Style
Choc-Hazelnut Porter
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Beer Burnout & RRAWWWGGR

Published May 6, 2022
The overall IPA category can at times feel like it’s getting paler and paler but if it’s malt and hops combined that interest you, Dainton might have just what you seek. Burnout is a Black IPA that’s heavy on the malt flavours of freshly roasted coffee and bitter dark chocolate, with the mix of hops providing some quite resinous pine, aniseed and further herbal qualities. Stepping things up in terms of ABV but a little lighter on the colour front is RRAWWWGGR, a Big Chewy Red IPA that’s… Read more
Style
Black IPA & Red DIPA
ABV
6.5% & 10.0%

Dainton Hopf'n Juicy

Published April 19, 2022
It seems pretty safe to say that of all the citrus in the land, blood orange is a house favourite at Dainton Beer. It’s the star of the brewery’s Blood Orange NEIPA, a beer that was originally a limited release in 2017, only to jump into the Dainton core range and enjoy a staying power in the GABS Hottest 100 since it's very first release. Hopf’n Juicy gives that fruit a chance to shine through a different style, with the April 2022 limited release a German wheat beer with added blood orange… Read more
Style
Blood Orange Hoppy Weiss
ABV
5.5%

Dainton Beer Cherrywood Barrel-Aged Smoked Rye Baltic Porter

Published April 6, 2022
Dainton Beer have picked up a string of awards since but their Cherrywood Smoked Rye Baltic Porter winning Champion Beer at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards holds a significant place in the brewery's history. For one, it feels like it was the start of the trophy success the brewery have enjoyed in the years that followed, while the beer still clearly holds an important place in the hearts of everyone at Dainton due to its unique but complex flavours and has returned since. Five years on, the Melbourne… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Baltic Porter
ABV
12.0%

Dainton Beer Juicetice Squad

Published January 19, 2022
At times, it can feel like the only movies being made are those focused on superheroes. But, while such franchises might take up a lot of attention and cultural bandwidth, a case can be made that the mixture of movies being made today is broader than at any other point in history. The same can be said for hazy IPAs – take a look at Instagram and it feels like there's a constant stream of them (and indeed there is), but plenty more styles await you if you glance at a bottleshop's fridges. Having… Read more
Style
Juicy IPA
ABV
6.5%

Dainton Beer Rogue Triiipa

Published December 9, 2021
Dainton Beer’s limited releases for the last couple of years have been so constant and frequent that it’s occasionally felt like you could ditch your watch or calendar and just measure time by one of their new beers making it into the world. It means they've got a lot of favourites to choose from, so to mark the end of 2021, the brewers have returned to the hazy well and plucked out one of the biggest in Rogue Triiipa, a 10 percent ABV triple hazy IPA from about a year ago. The can comes complete… Read more
Style
Triple Hazy IPA
ABV
10.0%

Dainton Lupe de Lupe & The Associates (ft CoConspirators)

Published November 24, 2021
They can never get enough hops at Dainton, with the Melbourne brewery’s desire to showcase the thrill of the little green beasts never slowing. Maybe the most thrilling of them all is “Maxx Hopps”, the fire-jumping daredevil on the brewery’s NEIPA, Lupe de Lupe. The beer has brewed in collaboration with Hop Products Australia and is one of a dozen beers in the hop supplier’s packs that are available from Beer Cartel. Crack into it and you may well wonder if a tin of pineapple has been opened… Read more
Style
NEIPA & Double NEIPA
ABV
6.5% & 8.0%

Dainton Beer Hyperdrive

Published October 29, 2021
It seems there can never be enough hops in Dainton’s core range, with the Melbourne brewery including multiple hazies in their lineup and adding the West Coast IPA, Overdrive, to their core range in October 2020. It’s a beer that’s served them well too, picking up a gold medal at The Indies in 2020, while also becoming a favourite of the brew crew and Dainton fans seeking out pine and bitterness. To celebrate that beer turning one, Dainton have created a limited release big sibling in Hyperdrive,… Read more
Style
West Coast IIPA
ABV
8.5%

Dainton Beer Jiggy Juice

Published October 18, 2021
Dainton Beer continue their quest to get as many uncommon letters in front of IPA as possible, with an SOTB NEIPA arriving in October 2021. In other words, Jiggy Juice is a hazy IPA ready to transport you to a place where there are sunsets on the beach and, in turn, is inspired by the cocktail Sex On The Beach. However, it won’t move you to the start of the 1990s when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air first aired, with Jiggy Juice instead a very modern IPA packed full of juice, a touch of sweetness… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Beer Hip Hip Purée

Published October 11, 2021
For some craft beer drinkers, warmer weather leads to a switch-up in drinking habits - out go the stouts and in come the crisp lagers or pale and hoppy drops. But given we’re fast approaching a time when produce shelves begin to fill with mangos and stone fruit, the fruit heavy can hit the right notes too, even if they’re a little richer and heavier rather than sessionable. Dainton Beer are ready for such an occasion with Hip Hip Purée; a peach and mango smoothie sour made with the addition… Read more
Style
Peach & Mango Sour
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Beer D5

Published September 16, 2021
Their story might go back a little further, but September 2021 marks five years since Dainton Beer opened their Carrum Downs taproom. To celebrate, they've created a fitting anniversary ale. They might brew practically any beer style under the sun but their hazy IPAs attract no shortage of attention – which is pretty understandable given the era we're in. So, to mark five years they’ve brewed an 8.5 percent ABV NEIPA featuring five of the coolest kids in the hop world: El Dorado, Galaxy, Citra,… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
8.5%

Dainton Beer Free S'Peach

Published August 18, 2021
Of all the fruits, peaches unmistakably most closely resemble a human butt. Such is the likeness that when used as an emoji, it’s almost always there to represent butts, which is why you might wonder why Dainton would release a beer that features a group of butts protesting. It’s not butts, however, with Free S’Peach instead a salted peach sour. So, why are those peaches protesting? Well it's probably best not to look too deeply into that and instead remember the brewery's longstanding love… Read more
Style
Salted Peach Sour
ABV
4.5%

Dainton Beer Insane Uncle IPA

Published July 21, 2021
Four months on from (re)releasing their first ever beer, Red Eye Rye, Dainton are back exploring their own back catalogue with Insane Uncle IPA, released in July 2021. For those who haven't been following the Dainton story for its full history, Insane Uncle was the first IPA the - then nomadic - brewing company brewed, back when a family theme was running through their beers. Insane Uncle later morphed into the brewery’s core range IPA and at the time, we’d found it had become a bit leaner and… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Dainton Beer Amplifier

Published July 7, 2021
When you make a habit of brewing big IPAs and regularly raid the confectionary aisle and dessert fridges for beer inspiration, brewing a GABS beer presents a unique challenge. Do you make another chocolate bar beer? How big does your hazy need to be to stand out from the crowd? Rather than brew their biggest hazy IPA ever, Dainton Beer have instead decided to go for their loudest, in the shape of a "Cranked-Up Hazy IPA." Although maybe it's not the loudest either because while at 8 percent… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
8.0%

GABS Festival Pack 2021

Published June 24, 2021
GABS might be over for another year, but the party lives on in the mixed packs they've put together for Dan Murphy's. It has to be said the six beers inside for 2021 are a pretty good microcosm of where the festival beers sit these days too, covering hops, haze, dessert, high ABVs and odd colours. Starting with my pick of the six and it's Mountain Culture's Wanderlust. Sure, a 7 percent ABV NEIPA from a brewery that specialises in such beers isn't that out there and GABSy, but for pure drinking pleasure… Read more
Style
Various Styles
ABV
Various ABV

Dainton Beer Crumblicious

Published June 23, 2021
Dainton have long looked to the confectionary aisle of supermarkets for beer inspiration. It's an approach many breweries use and it's one that can both result in popular releases and the occasional letter from chocolate companies and both those things are true of [REDACTED]; a honeycomb and toffee stout that’s been rebrewed for winter 2021 and has a new name of Crumblicious. Considering it contains what are basically two very similar types of sweet flavours (okay now that I’ve thought about… Read more
Style
Honeycomb & Toffee Stout
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Beer Plum Pie

Published June 9, 2021
Just a couple of weeks on from bringing out a chocolate pretzel stout, Dainton are back seeing what sweet treats they can transport into beer with the imperial pastry sour, Plum Pie. Is plum juice a thing? Assuming it is, then the beer certainly looks like how plum juice should look, pouring the same purple colour Dainton have switched their logo to on the cartooned can. Not only have I never drunk plum juice but I'm not sure I've actually eaten a plum pie but assuming they tend to be loaded with… Read more
Style
Imperial Pastry Sour
ABV
8.4%

Dainton Beer Twist & Stout

Published May 25, 2021
You may have first tried it at GABS and it has all the hallmarks of a GABS taster but Twist & Stout is a Dainton beer that, well, is pretty typical for the kind of limited releases that fly from the Melbourne brewery. The choc pretzel stout has been released for May 2021 and aims to provide equal measures of sweetness and saltiness – and it's probably best to think of it as a dessert beer suited to an after lunch snack rather than a pre-bedtime indulgence. For while it is indeed thick and… Read more
Style
Choc Pretzel Stout
ABV
6.8%

Dainton Beer All Saaz

Published April 28, 2021
They often brew some pretty unusual beers at Dainton but their April 2021 limited release is a bonafide classic, in style, look fit, design and shape. If that sounds more like how you’d describe a pair of shoes over a beer, well, there’s a good reason for that when it comes to All Saaz. Dainton have put the same traditional Czech pilsner in eight separate tins all decked with different designs inspired by Chuck Taylors, complete with different notes scrawled on each. It means that like an indie… Read more
Style
Czech Pilsner
ABV
5.2%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Dainton Beer Bright-er Daze

Published April 14, 2021
With the hop harvest only occurring once a year, it's a true time for celebration and for their wet-hopped hazy IPA, Dainton Beer are celebrating where they got their fresh hops from, Victoria’s High Country. Brighter-er Daze is a salute to the region’s resilience in the face of bushfires and no tourism for much of last year, with the can not only featuring hops enjoying the destination’s beauty but also featuring a QR code (side note: are they here to stay now?) to takes you to the High Country’s… Read more
Style
Wet-Hop Hazy IPA
ABV
6%

Dainton Brewing Red Eye Rye 2021

Published March 31, 2021
It might be shocking to hear but 2013 was an entire eight years ago. It was the year the word selfie was invented (in Australia, no less), Daft Punk released their last album (which makes you wonder what they’d been doing from then until their breakup last month) and it was a little bit easier to keep track of who was brewing what in Australia. One of the new breweries to appear on the scene in that year was Dainton Family Brewery, a nomadic operation headed up by brewer Dan Dainton and his old… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
5.5%

Dainton Beer B'Easter Egg

Published March 17, 2021
Dainton Beer are no strangers to waltzing through the confectionary aisle to find inspiration for beers. No strangers? Who am I kidding? Dainton don’t just spend more time down the confectionary aisle than most brewers but are there more often than Willy Wonka himself before Slugworth started stealing the man’s ideas and he became a recluse who’s uncomfortably indifferent to the maiming of children. (Warner Bros, get in touch: I have many ideas for your dark and gritty Wonka prequel and any… Read more
Style
Imperial Choc Ale
ABV
9.0%
Bitterness
35 IBU

Dainton Brewing Vienneipa

Published March 3, 2021
Is there anything on Earth fancier than a Viennetta cake? Most things, probably. Yet, as someone who grew up in the 90s [Or in the UK in the 80s – Editor], there’s something particularly alluring about a beer built to replicate the ice cream cake that appeared at so many birthday parties [Or dinner parties in the UK in the 80s! – Editor], often billed as being a little bit fancy despite being a rock hard slab of pale vanilla you’d pull from the freezer five minutes before serving. McDonald’s… Read more
Style
Fancy Ice Cream Cake IPA
ABV
6.5%

Dainton Beer Kong Juice

Published February 16, 2021
They love making big, hazy beers at Dainton, have won many a trophy for them, and their tropical-themed hazy IPA Jungle Juice is a deservedly popular core range release. So, much like the release of Godzilla vs Kong later this year, Kong Juice has been a long time coming – and there's an air of inevitability about its rise too. Dainton have dubbed the double hazy IPA the "8% Wonder of the World" and it’s a beer that takes the spirit of Jungle Juice and loads it up not just with more… Read more
Style
Double Hazy IPA
ABV
8.0%

Dainton Beer Peaches & S'Cream

Published January 19, 2021
Dainton Beer’s first limited release of 2021 is part Edvard Munch painting and part a reflection of what many of us spent 2020 doing. OK, so maybe the Peaches & S’Cream design is pretty much all Munch, although I for one did spend plenty of last year screaming inside my heart. I also spent a lot of it wondering if there were too many IPA variants and if too many of them contained lactose, only for Dainton to welcome the new year with what they’ve dubbed an “Oatscream IPA.” The inclusion… Read more
Style
Oatscream IPA
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Brewing Flamingo

Published December 17, 2020
Here we are, right at the end of an exhausting year, and the bloody award-winners at Dainton release a beer that makes me think of one thing and one thing only: The Sup'. For anyone unaware (that's unlikely to be anyone in Melbourne's beer industry judging by faces you see in the crowd and who you run into when lining up for the loos), Meredith Music Festival and the associated Golden Plains at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre are truly among Australia’s, if not the world’s, great festivals,… Read more
Style
Pink Lemonade Sour
ABV
4.5%

Dainton Brewing Shark-Punch-Nado

Published December 3, 2020
In 2019, Dainton released Shark Punch; an Australian-hopped tropical IPA that asked whether or not sharks and people could get along. As the far wilder 2020 entered its final month, the brewery gave the beer an update to reflect the year we've had and created the “tropical-er” Shark-Punch-Nado. Given the regularity with which they appear, and the success of Dainton’s hazy IPAs, our first assumption was that “tropical-er” might feature a similar approach, but instead it’s a perfectly… Read more
Style
Tropical-er IPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
55 IBU

Dainton Brewery Lupalin Daze III

Published November 11, 2020
The lupulin locomotive at Dainton keeps charging, with the brewery welcoming Lupalin Daze III into the world. The big, hop-focused series kicked off at the start of 2020 and, while the first two were labelled “hazy” and “NEIPA”, this time around it’s a DDH Double IPA. It is still hazy, though, pouring an opaque light orange and it certainly tastes like it could be packed with a few days’ worth of lupulin. The hops provide a real punch of stronefruit in the shape of ripe yellow nectarine… Read more
Style
DDH Double IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
75IBU

Dainton Brewing Apocalypso II

Published October 28, 2020
There’s a classic trope in zombie movies and TV shows where the main character wakes up a few weeks into an apocalypse to find their world simultaneously looking quite the same and entirely different. The high school is still there, the shopping centres remain standing, and it’s still their hometown but there’s nobody wandering about, cars are left empty, and there’s all these zombies looking for brains. Anyone who’s somehow slept through the last eight months in Melbourne might equally… Read more
Style
Second Wave NEIPA
ABV
8.0%

Dainton Brewing Bloodzilla

Published September 24, 2020
Dainton have enjoyed success with blood oranges in the past, with their Blood Orange New England Rye IPA (now just Blood Orange NEIPA) winning fans and a trophy along the way. And here they take that template and, in a fashion typical of the brewery, pump it full of steroids. In doing so, they've ended up with a beer in which the fruit character takes on the intensity of a cocktail adorned with twisted rind, an intensity that's likely heightened by the extra booze and contributes a welcome tartness… Read more
Style
Blood Orange Double NEIPA
ABV
8.0%
Stockists

Available in special mixed packs with the OG Blood Orange NEIPA too.

Dainton Brewing Fruity Freeze Tropical NEIPA

Published September 10, 2020
Given the success of the Blood Orange New England Rye IPA (or BONER for short), it’s perhaps little surprise the brewers at Dainton keeping playing in the NEIPA arena. Here, they plunder Frosty Fruits for inspiration, albeit changing the name enough and avoiding any aping of the ice lolly’s packaging to stay away from prying eyes. The tropical IPA is opaque as you like, as if someone has melted ice cream into the fermenter, and serves up lovely fruit juice aromas, a brekkie juice prickle and… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
6.2%

Dainton Brewing Black Forest

Published May 18, 2020
Black Forest is a beer that's been released by Dainton in the past, always featuring cherries and on occasion aged on oak too. It returns ahead of winter 2020 sans oak but with plenty to get stuck into regardless. Inspired by the German gâteau of the same name, you're first met by lashings of roasty, bitter dark chocolate shot through with cherry jus, with the experience getting a little creamier as it warms. Imagine a dense, boozy, liquid version of the cake and you're on the right track. James… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%
Bitterness
65 IBU

Dainton Brewing Pandemic Punch & Rye-Solation

Published May 11, 2020
When the COVID-19 lockdown hit and venues closed their doors, breweries, bars and pubs were forced to find innovative ways to get through their kegged beer. At Dainton – as we wrote about here – they decided to blend a stack of them to create two new canned beers. One featured a variety of fruity, NEIPA styles, the other some rye-heavy drops. And now they're canned and making their way to fridges, they're not quite what I'd have expected; instead of becoming a cacophony of their constituent parts,… Read more
Style
Blended NEIPAs & Rye Ales
ABV
6.6% & 5.8%

Dainton Brewing Sir Spritzalot, Mimosa & Stratasphere

Published November 29, 2019
Quite how they're going to maintain their new can every week mission in the long term is one of the more intriguing sub-plots in the Australian beer world right now, but a fondness for cocktail-inspired beers and IPAs of all shapes and sizes seems to be helping keep the well of inspiration topped up. Here, Sir Spritzalot – a "Snaperol Sour" – takes Aperol Spritz as its starting point, as many will over summer, to create a beer with a distinctly cocktail like perfume accompanying its… Read more
Style
Cocktail Beer / Brut IPA / Single Hop NEIPA
ABV
5.6% / 5.5% / 6.0%

Dainton Brewing The Raider NIEPA

Published October 14, 2019
When you're on a mission to release a new can every week of the year, it helps to have a few shortcuts, such as taking an Other Half-esque approach to IPAs and releasing a bunch featuring different hop varieties. Given hop growers all over the planet are in a similar arms race to brewers when it comes to creating something new, there's a broad palette to pick from too. For The Raider – complete with Indiana Jones-mimicking artwork – they plumped for one of the Kiwi varieties getting people excited… Read more
Style
Single Hop NEIPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
45 IBU

Dainton Kinky Cola & Nutters & 3D & The Hybrid

Published August 26, 2019
What to do when a brewery is on a mission to release a new can every week? Take them on in fours seems as reasonable a response as any in this manic new world we currently inhabit. And, as we kick off this approach to Dainton's beers, it's fair to say there's plenty to differentiate between the quartet. Kinki Cola is a spin on Cherry Coke, featuring black cherries and sharing common ground some some of the dark sours that pop up occasionally (of the kettle or quick, rather than barrel-aged and blended… Read more
Style
Various styles
ABV
5.2% & 6.0% & 8.1% & 6.4%
Bitterness
15 / 30 / 82 / 33 IBU

Dainton Brewing Cranny Sour & Smoked Sour

Published October 17, 2018
There appears to be nothing that's off limits for the eclectic production line at Dainton, with everything from sours to barrel aged beers to big Belgians to lolly spin-offs and IPAs coming thick and fast. Among the spring 2018 splurge are these two sours that are rather different in nature. Cranny Sour is a salted cranberry gose, one with the faintest hint of colour from the fruit that has it looking somewhere between rosé and chardonnay, albeit far from either in character. There's much in the… Read more
Style
Cranberry Gose & Apricot Lichtenhainer
ABV
5.0% & 4.5%
Bitterness
10 & 7 IBU

Dainton Brewing Raspberry Rye Milk Porter

Published October 17, 2018
They may have dropped the word "Family" from the brewery name but it seems Dan Dainton's relos still play a role in influencing many of the beers. In this case, it's childhood memories of hand-delivering chocolate ice cream with raspberry to his dad in the bath. Thankfully, the recreation of this cherished memory is kept to what was in the bowl. The beer version is stickier and fuller than ice cream and delivers on the flavour and aroma front. Imagine melting some raspberry liquorice into… Read more
Style
Raspberry Porter
ABV
6.0%

Dainton Brewing Rock Toffee Belgian Dubbel

Published October 17, 2018
If you're going to bring the worlds of rock toffee and beer together, a Belgian dubbel isn't the worst host for your sugary parasite. And thus it was that the Dainton team boiled up some toffee rocks in place of candi sugar in creating this one-off. Little surprise that it's an approach that conjures borderline sickly sweet, mouth-coating toffee characters, which are joined by hints of banana, raisin, marzipan and some fruitcake spice. There's a touch of dryness at the finish to add a little balance… Read more
Style
Belgian Dubbel
ABV
6.3%
Bitterness
26 IBU

Dainton Brewing Sav Brute

Published October 17, 2018
Let's be honest. There's few among us in Australia that really know what a Brut IPA is supposed to taste like yet. We've had some so dry all aroma and flavour has been stripped out and others that are rather more enjoyable yet don't seem to tick the alleged "style" boxes so assessing one to style is a pretty meaningless endeavour. That said, we reckon this one from Dainton could be close to working out what the right track at least is. Brewer Cam Turner used a sauv blanc wine yeast here,… Read more
Style
Brut IPA
ABV
6.9%
Bitterness
27 IBU

Dainton Brewing Big Bad Bourbon & DIPA

Published June 8, 2018
They like their beers big at Dainton. Or, according to the tasting notes for the Big Bad Bourbon, mad and stupid as well. It's a beer that sits comfortably in the "massive" category, a bourbon barrel aged rye Belgian barley wine weighing in at 14 percent ABV that's as much of a mouthful to drink as it is in name. Once its fizzy head has dissipated, you'll find a sweet, sweet liquid in your glass – toffee, raisins, rummy booze – and one that's packing some heat too, making it an after… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Belgian Barley Wine & Double IPA
ABV
14% & 8.3%

Dainton Brewing Hop Harvest IPL & The Cold Brew

Published May 28, 2018
Take your eyes off Dainton Brewery for a second and chances are you'll miss a fair bit. There might have been a rebrand, they might even have dropped "Family" from the brewery name, without a doubt there will be a new beer or two. Or, in the case of our most recent check-in just prior to Good Beer Week 2018, a bit of all three, with the core range now coming in different, bolder livery, the logo morphed into Dainton-meets-Flash-Gordon and a quartet of new or newish beers. Amid the last… Read more
Style
Harvest IPL & Imperial Coffee Porter
ABV
5.5% & 10.0%
Bitterness
37 & 50 IBU

Dainton Family Brewery Tropicana Session Saison

Published February 14, 2018
Not for the first time and, no doubt, not for the last time, the Dainton brewing team has been playing around with fruit. Not just fruit either, with Tropicana a beer that was kettle soured before welcoming a saison yeast strain and pineapple into its midst. That's a fair few ways in which the beer could be twisted, be it the spicy, fruity, peppery, funky elements that might come from the yeast, the acidic tang from the kettle souring and the fruit itself. And yet it's ended up rather, dare we say… Read more
Style
Kettle Soured Fruit Saison
ABV
5.7%

Dainton & Ballistic Fruit Punch IPA

Published February 9, 2018
Not only does Dan Dainton seem to be doing a remarkably good job of continuously collaborating with fellow brewers, he's managing to flit between states at a rate of knots while doing so. This time around, his partner-in-crime is Lachy Crothers, head brewer at Brisbane's Ballistic and their joint effort is an IPA loaded up (as most Dainton beers seem to be these days) with added fruit, in this case passionfruit and pineapple. It's a combination that saw them leave Ballarat Beer Festival with the… Read more
Style
Fruit IPA
ABV
6.3%
Bitterness
45 IBU

Dainton Family Brewery Passionfruit Belgian Pale Ale

Published November 17, 2017
The one-offs keep on coming from Dainton – as do the fruit additions. Coming hot on the heels of the Blood Orange Rye NEIPA, this is another murkfest from the Carrum Downs brewery: a deeply cloudy affair, albeit looking a lot less like the Yarra thanks to its light yellow hue. The beer itself is a Belgian pale ale augmented by the addition of passionfruit (presumably plenty of it given its opacity) and designed with summer (and sauna) sessions in mind. Thus, it's low on the booze front and high… Read more
Style
Passionfruit Belgian Pale Ale
ABV
4.3%
Stockists

Launching at the Dainton Taphouse on Nov 17 then going nationwide the following week.

Dainton Family Brewery Black Forest & Rum-Soaked Raisin Belgian Quad & Saffron In My Rye

Published October 23, 2017
Dan Dainton never really needed any encouragement to stray when it came to recipe development; even his core range seems to be in a constant state of flux. But, presumably, taking out Champion Beer at the Craft Beer Awards for the Cherrywood Smoked Rye Baltic Porter offered encouragement to continue nudging the envelope, as with this trio of recent one-off releases. A first waft of Black Forest was enough to disturb the part of the Crafty brain storing recollections of wine. Which is just as well… Read more
Style
Imperial Stout & Belgian Quad & Freaky Belgian IPA
ABV
11.0% & 11.2% & 5.9%

Dainton Family Brewery Cherrywood Smoked Rye Baltic Porter

Published July 27, 2017
Since launching in 2013, if you were to associate one thing above all others with Dainton Family Brewery, it would be hops. Well, hops plus a twisted sense of humour and familial loyalty. And spontaneous opera singing, now you mention it. However, there have been kettle sours, smokey stouts and the like along the way and, now, a Cherrywood Smoked Baltic Porter. It's one of a rash of limited release beers from the Carrum Downs brewery for winter 2017 and brewery founder Dan Dainton's personal favourite. Being… Read more
Style
Smoked Baltic Porter
ABV
8.8%

Dainton Family Brewing Classic Draught

Published July 25, 2017
While many breweries have been undergoing branding changes in recent years and making the transition from bottles to cans, it's hard to think of one that's been harder to keep up with than Dainton Family Brewery. There's been new beers galore – core range and limited releases – and various new looks, additions and removals from the permanent lineup too. But, with the transition to cans now appearing to be complete, hopefully the poor little Crafty mind can be put to rest a little. Joining the… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.5%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Dainton Family Brewing ESB / Double Red / Oatmeal Stout

Published May 16, 2017
Brewery founder Dan Dainton is back at the brewing helm and appears to be wasting little time creating new beers, with no less than four appearing in black liveried 500ml cans in quick succession. One is the returning Insane Uncle IPA, which we've written about before, but the other three are new arrivals. Approaching them in the order you'd probably drink them over the evening, let's start with the ESB or English Special Bitter. Here, it's best to take Hargreaves Hill's beer of the same name as… Read more
Style
ESB / Imperial Red Ale / Oatmeal Stout

Dainton Family Brewery XSA (RETIRED)

Published November 14, 2016
The second can to join the American Pale Ale as part of the evolving Dainton core range is the XSA. It's the latest entry into the local acronym lexicon, bastardising the "Is it really a style?" XPA (Extra Pale Ale) a step further to represent Extra Session Ale. In other words, imagine taking a session ale (whatever that means – in this case, something of mid-strength booziness) and then give it something extra (in this case hops). It's the Holy Grail for many brewers: creating a beer… Read more
Style
Mid Strength Pale Ale
ABV
3.5%
Bitterness
37 IBU
Stockists

Dainton Brewery

Far Side Beer

Dainton Family Brewery All Black & Blood Orange

Published November 14, 2016
Now that it's canning line is fully operational and the first two core tinnies are out and about, the Dainton brewers have been able to have a bit of fun. Fun in the form of 500ml cans filled with one-off releases, kicking off with this pair: the All Black New Zealand IPA and Blood Orange Berliner Weisse. The All Black appears to have been made to suit the look Dan and co has opted for with its limited releases: bold black livery with a silver "D" front and centre. And, while it might just… Read more
Style
Black IPA & Berliner Weisse
ABV
6.4% & 3.5%
Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Carwyn Cellars

Grape and Grain Liquor Cellars

Hopheads

McCoppins

McCoppins Abbotsford

Nillumbik Cellars

More stockists...

Dainton Family Brewery Pale Ale (RETIRED)

Published October 7, 2016
It can be hard keeping track of what's going on at Dainton Family Brewery, what with new beers and new looks for old beers coming thick and fast. Then again, if you know main Dainton Dan, such fripperies are perhaps to be expected. The latest new look is one that's been trailed for a while: the brewery's first canned beer (other than the CANimals released via Hops to Home earlier in the year). And with the first can comes another new look: the dramatically gothic labels of recent bottled releases… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
5.2%
Stockists

Dainton Brewery

Far Side Beer

Dainton Family Brewery Black Sheep Brunch Stout

Published July 20, 2016
Their long-awaited brewery and venue is finally open and their brewery is pretty much ready to start making beer. All of which means this beer could well be the last brewed by Dan Dainton and his merry band of assistants on a multitude of breweries around Victoria – and it's one the Dainton crew reckon is one of their best too. In other hands, the addition of coffee (in extract form) and flaked oats to a stout may well lead to it being tagged a breakfast stout, although here they've gone for brunch.… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Dainton Family Brewery Tap House

Dainton Family Brewery Bad Daughter Choc Orange Porter

Published May 29, 2016
If British wood products company Ronseal were to lend their well worn tagline to a brewery for a beer, they'd no doubt give this new draught only release from Dainton lengthy consideration. While they liked to declare that their wood stain "does exactly what it says on the tin", it's fair to say that this beer "does exactly what it says on the decal". Well, the bit about Choc Orange, at least. It's fair to say that the rich, dark brown drop is eminently chocolatey and even more… Read more
Style
Chocolate Orange Porter
ABV
5.7%
Bitterness
40 IBU
Stockists

More stockists to come...

Dainton Family Brewery Twisted Twin

Published March 30, 2016
What is it with big cans and big beers? It seems local brewers can't resist the temptation to up the booze when they up the volume. Pirate Life's IIPA is probably the best known example but now, as a means of getting its new double IPA to people (and perhaps offer a "nudge, nudge" to people in advance of its own canning line arriving later in the year), Dainton Family Brewery has decided to send the Twisted Twin DIPA out in nigh on one litre beasts. There are kegs of the 8 percent hop bomb… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.0%

Dainton Family Brewery Manhattan Ale 2016

Published March 28, 2016
As ways of ingratiating one's brewery with a journalist writing about beer, dipping the top of a bottle you plan to present to them half a dozen or more times in wax – laughing while doing so at the impending battle said journalist will face getting into the beer – is an unusual one. Still, it was very good of Dainton Family Brewery to sneak us a bottle of its new Manhattan Ale, even if the resultant battle took up 20 minutes. Perhaps the brewery team was that convinced of the quality of the… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Belgian Rye Ale
ABV
9.7%
Stockists

And select craft beer venues around Victoria

Dainton Family Brewery Santa's Cherry Sack Attack

Published December 13, 2015
One thing that we can't deny here at Crafty Towers is that we like to write. Were we to calculate how many words were emitted into the public sphere via the site and its associated newsletters each year, it would probably represent some sort of crime against humanity. However, with the head Crafty Pinter technically on holiday on the other side of the planet (no such thing as holiday in Crafty Land, obviously), we've been leaning heavily on our band on contributors to keep the flag a-flying. And… Read more
Style
Cherry Sour
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

Cherry Tree Hotel

Cambrian Hotel

Dr Morse

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Dainton Family Brewery Red Eye Rye 2015

Published October 14, 2015
The forthcoming Dainton Family Brewery brewery may be sat around waiting to be installed, but the new look beers keep coming. The latest beer to receive an update is Dan's first ever release, Red Eye Rye. It now comes with another of artist Dan Fabris' portentous labels featuring a satanic Red Riding Hood and glimmering red hops, not to mention some more dark poetry from brewer Dan Dainton. The beer itself is a little different to previous batches, mainly in that it's down to 4.8 per cent ABV from… Read more
Style
Rye Red Ale
ABV
4.8%
Bitterness
29 IBU

Dainton Family Brewery Skeletor's Stout

Published August 20, 2015
Dainton's first foray into the world of oak saw the brewery create a beery version of the Manhattan cocktail for their friends at award-winning Melbourne bar, The Everleigh. It now has a stablemate, albeit one that in conception is about as far from the home of Woody Allen films, 12-piece blues bands playing subway stations, Strawberry Fields and the "I NEED MONEY FOR WEED" guy as you can get. This time around, Dan Dainton swaps the avenues of Manhattan for the battlements of Castle Grayskull… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Stout
ABV
6.4%
Stockists

One of just two kegs is launched at The Royston on Aug 20

Wine Republic

Olinda Cellars

Prince Wine

Acland Cellars

Paul's IGA Ringwood

The Vin

Cookie

More stockists...

Dainton Family Brewery Samurye Lager

Published August 17, 2015
Dan Dainton has a particular love of rye. It's in most of his beers somewhere and, now, in the title of two of them too. The Samurye is his first lager and, like his first commercially released ale, the Red Eye Rye, places his favourite (non hop) ingredient front and centre. Rye isn't alone in making up a left of centre grain bill in this lager either – white rice makes an appearance to keep things sprightly on the palate too. Samurye is to slot in from the off as part of the newly reworked and… Read more
Style
Rice Lager
ABV
4.5%

Dainton Family Brewery Sneaky Son Smoking Stout

Published July 1, 2015
As Dan Dainton makes clear, while he may be a hop fiend, he's also keen to push the boundaries of any beer style that takes his fancy. Stout in its various guises appears to be something that often takes his fancy and this dapper, smoking skeleton-adorned beer is one that showcases his desire to pair "incredibly approachable" with "hitting the flavour extremes". That said, it is an 8 percent smoky stout so judge "incredibly approachable" with that in mind. At its heart… Read more
Style
Smoky Stout
ABV
7.5%

Dainton Family Brewery Bastard Brother

Published July 1, 2015
There seems to be something of a fondness for pillorying the world of Christianity within elements of the craft beer world. The religion's brushes with children have been sent up by Beer Here on the label for its awesome Malus Pater, while here Dainton Family Brewery and designer God Awful adorn a Belgian Rye IPA with a skinhead monk armed with baseball bat. It makes sense insofar as this is a beer with a personality as complex as one would expect from a baseball bat-wielding monk. Indeed, there's… Read more
Style
Belgian Rye IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
115 IBU

Dainton Family Brewery IPA (formerly Insane Uncle IPA)

Dan Dainton makes no secret of his love (some may say obsession) with hops. He can't get enough of the buggers and tells us he has a dream beer – a 12 percent hop bomb – that no brewery yet built in Australia would be able to handle. Until that day arrives, he's able to content himself with adding lots of hops to beers such as his Insane Uncle IPA. It's a beer that takes heady inspiration from the US, piling on additions of Columbus, Simcoe, Citra and Mosaic to create a beer that, over the course… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
55 IBU