Bad Shepherd

It takes a particular set of skills – and a lot of hard work – to set up a brewery and restaurant in a spot very few beer people would have visited – or indeed had cause to visit – and then have people lining up for tables in the first week. But for anyone who makes the trip to Cheltenham brewpub Bad Shepherd it’s quite clear this is a project that was planned to perfection, right down to the recycled pallet walls dotted around the dining room.

Brewer Dereck Hales, along with his wife and venue manager Diti, have created a space that Cheltenham was clearly crying out for, with their menu of American barbeque food and finely curated beer list both proving popular with local businesses and those from further afield from its first days in November 2015.

The beer list makes a feature of Bad Shepherd’s own creations, including a luscious Hazelnut Brown with a cult following their Victorian Pale Ale, which uses nothing but Victorian ingredients and creates a particular sense of pride for the family-run, indie brewery. But it's a taplist that rotates often to pour the many, many limited releases that have found the brewery fans in their own backyard and further afield.

A good tap list alone doesn't make a brewpub, however; it needs a food menu to match, and on that point Bad Shepherd delivers. In developing the venue, Dereck and Diti wanted to create a space that matched their own style of entertaining at their home. That is: great beer on tap and American-style barbecue, including brisket, pulled pork and lamb ribs. Just as they make sure their beer is lovingly presented, for Bad Shepherd, the food menu is all about letting the meat shine and serving it in a way that brings people together.

One of the best opportunities to enjoy beer and meat together is through the brewpub's intimate Flights of Fancy nights that take place a few times a month. The evenings see menu items matched with new release beer with head chef Kyle Downward demonstrating how he prepares and cooks his meat while the brew crew chat about the perfectly paired beers.

With clientele going beyond beer lovers searching out new brews to encompass nearby office workers ducking in to grab a sandwich for lunch and families chatting over the hubbub of happy children, Bad Shepherd has created something of a community hub for Cheltenham. And, from the off, the suburb seems to be more than happy to be led into temptation.

Name
Bad Shepherd
Address

386 Reserve Road
Cheltenham
VIC 3192

Phone
(03) 8555 3175
Regular events

Wednesday: 50c wings all evening, with around seven different wing sauces and rubs available.

Open Hours

Mon & Tues: 4.30pm onwards
Wed to Thurs: midday to 11pm
Fri & Sat: midday to midnight
Sunday: midday to 8pm


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

The Specials

Bad Shepherd X CoConspirators The Roadie
Bad Shepherd Trop Bomb
Bad Shepherd x Boilermaker House The Beauregarde Effect
Bad Shepherd Brew Crew 19: Singapore Sling Sour
Bad Shepherd The Caddy Victoria Ale
Bad Shepherd Low Carb
Bad Shepherd & That Spirited Lot Pink Gin Fizz
Bad Shepherd Lemon Sherbet IPA & Red Sangria Sour
Bad Shepherd Brew Crew 18: Coffee Infused American Brown Ale
Bad Shepherd American Red
Bad Shepherd Imperial Stouts: 12 Month Aged & Rum Spiked
Show 68 more

Bad Shepherd Regulars

Bad Shepherd Hazy IPA

Published August 9, 2019
The Bad Shepherd brewers appear to have been studying up on all things hazy. As part of their IPA Series, they released a New England IPA last year that didn't quite hit the mark, a little lacking in fullness of body and with a potent bitterness to boot. Roll forward to late winter 2019 and they're back with Hazy IPA – and backing themselves to the extent this is no one-off but a new addition to their core lineup, and one that follows this year's Oatmeal Stout into schmick white cans. Pouring with… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
33 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Malt & Vine

The Black Sheep

Black Rock Cellars

Cardigan Cellars

Cellarbrations Southland

Brighton Bay Cellars

Ritchies' Towerhill IGS

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Victoria Pale Ale

Published November 14, 2018
They've already got the Reserve Road Draught in their lineup as a nod to their locale and now the team at Bad Shepherd has come up with a new beer that cements their position as proud Victorians. The Victoria Pale Ale, packed in cans featuring the state's navy blue livery and the slogan: "GROWN HERE MADE HERE", is brewed with malt from Barrett Burston in Geelong, Vic Secret and Topaz hops from Hop Product Australia’s Rostrevor farm in the High Country and water from Melbourne. But where… Read more
Style
Summer Ale
ABV
4.2%
Bitterness
25 IBU
Stockists

Stockists to follow

Bad Shepherd Passionfruit Sour

Published September 28, 2018
Originally part of the Bad Shepherd's Brew Crew series, which sees someone outside the brewing team invited to create a beer, Passionfruit Sour proved so popular it made it into the brewery's core range. Maybe that's a fitting thing since it was created by the Cheltenham brewpub's cofounder, Diti who, as well as running the brewery, seems to be a fan of fruity kettle sours. This one offers up a hint of lactic acid on the nose and delivers a gentle tang too, but equally has plenty in common with the… Read more
Style
Passionfruit Sour
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
8.5 IBU

Bad Shepherd Lager

Published November 29, 2017
On any visit to Bad Shepherd's brewpub in Cheltenham, you won't be short of beers to pick from with their offerings are likely to cover hops, fruit, something dark and something high in alcohol. But if you want a simple lager, whether at the brewpub or at home, Bad Shepherd have you covered with, well, Lager. Originally named Reserve Road Draught after the main arterial running by the brewery, today Lager has a simple name and crisp base but still provides a complex mix of flavours if you go looking.… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.0%

Bad Shepherd American Pale Ale

Published December 16, 2015
The American Pale Ale is head brewer Dereck Hales' baby, the beer he's brewed and refined more than any other as a home brewer. He describes it as a "big, bold, hoppy take on the classic American pale ale" and hasn't held back on the hop profile, layering Cascade, Columbus, Galaxy, Mosaic and Crystal upon each other. The combo leads to a subtle smorgasbord of hop aromas – woody, piney, herbal, citrus and lemon – within a beer that manages to be both relatively full of body yet light… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
5.2%

Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown

Published December 16, 2015
Bad Shepherd's Hazelnut Brown is a beer worthy of the tag luscious. It's not surprising when you consider that it's a brown ale that's loaded up with hazelnuts, hazelnut extract, vanilla and a splash of Frangelico for good measure. It pours a lovely clear mahogany colour, with the impact of the chocolate malts and hazelnut additions hugely apparent on the nose. Yet, while they're there in abundance to taste too and there's a creamy, nutty perfume that lingers long, the beer wraps up remarkably dry… Read more
Style
Hazelnut Brown Ale
ABV
5.9%

Bad Shepherd Tiny IPA

Published December 15, 2015
Bad Shepherd's Tiny IPA is a longstanding member of the brewery's core range and is built on the belief that low ABV beers don’t need to be low on flavour. It makes in stonefruit aromas thanks to the all Aussie hops in the lineup while being backed up by a firm maltiness that lingers through a lightly bitter dry finish.… Read more
Style
Session IPA
ABV
3.5%

Bad Shepherd Specials

Bad Shepherd X CoConspirators The Roadie

Published April 21, 2023
There’s always a touch of tension between Melbourne’s north and south sides but CoConspirators and Bad Shepherd are breaking that down with beer. Each spent time in the other's homes (Brunswick and Cheltenham) to brew different beers with the same hops. They’re celebrating the launch of both by sending buses over the Yarra too – with spots from Bad Shepherd to CoConspirators still available at the time of writing. The hazy IPA brewed at CoCon's Brunswick home is known as The Rustler and… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.5%

Bad Shepherd Trop Bomb

Published March 2, 2023
Bad Shepherd often enjoy bringing together whatever flavours they can to create cocktail or dessert-inspired beers but while Tropical Bomb offers a lot to the palate, it's driven by a more singular focus: Kiwi hops. OK sure, when you load an IPA with NZ-H101, Nectaron, Nelson Sauvin, Taiheke and Wai-iti your beer is never going to be linear and this hop bomb does offer up an excellent flavour journey across The Ditch. First up on, the aroma brings out a lot of guava and a gentle hint that there might… Read more
Style
Tropical IPA
ABV
6.5%

Bad Shepherd x Boilermaker House The Beauregarde Effect

Published February 22, 2023
It’s been a great summer for berries of many shapes and colours but the blueberry has enjoyed a particularly good season and, as a country, we’ve benefited. You might have enjoyed them with yoghurt, in a smoothie or in a sour beer; here Bad Shepherd and Boilermaker House are serving them with a side of hops. The collaboration by the two Melbourne booze outfits is The Beauregarde Effect, which pours about as vibrant a colour as the Roald Dahl character.* But rather than purely purple, this hazy… Read more
Style
Blueberry Hazy Pale
ABV
4.5%

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew 19: Singapore Sling Sour

Published January 30, 2023
Here’s something they don’t teach you at beer writers' school: drinking a beer based on a cocktail you don’t know very well is always a good time. Even if the brief isn’t quite nailed, it’s still a journey of discovery and if that drink is close enough a copy, it’s a reminder of something you haven’t tasted for years. Sure, I’ve had a few Singapore Slings and even saw a brief glimpse of Raffles Hotel while in Singapore but it’s been a very long time since I was there and my connection… Read more
Style
Sour
ABV
4.5%

Bad Shepherd The Caddy Victoria Ale

Published December 6, 2022
Bad Shepherd have always been proud of their local credentials but that fact was given an extra boost with the addition of Victoria Pale Ale to their core range in 2018. The beer uses malt, yeast, hops and water that are all sourced from Victoria and now it’s been given a little sibling in The Caddie. The midstrength saw the brewery partner with Visit Victoria to develop a local beer with golfers in mind and to promote some of the state’s best golf courses. We’re not really qualified to comment… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
3.7%

Bad Shepherd Low Carb

Published December 6, 2022
Puns be damned: there are no prizes for guessing how Bad Shepherd’s Low Carb got its name. However, low carb can mean a lot of things and for the Melbourne brewery, their approach is one of haze and new world hops. While the focus for the brewery might be the 1.7 grams of carbs contained in each tin, it's certainly not a beer that's light on any flavour (OK, so to be fair the label does say that too). Instead, the classic combo of Citra Cryo and Mosaic provides a wave of tropical fruits and citrus… Read more
Style
Low-Carb Pale Ale
ABV
4.0%

Bad Shepherd & That Spirited Lot Pink Gin Fizz

Published October 26, 2022
About a year on from teaming up with their fellow south-east Melbourne craft booze makers at That Spirited Lot Distillery, Bad Shepherd are back bringing beer and spirits together. In 2021, it was Gin Fizz Sour and now the beer is Pink Gin Fizz which uses the distillery’s Turkish Delight-replicating Gram Bizarre Gin. It’s certainly a beer that looks about as pink as a slice of (or is "cube" the correct nomenclature?) Turkish Delight too, with its bright hue faithfully making it look… Read more
Style
Gin Sour
ABV
4.5%

Bad Shepherd Lemon Sherbet IPA & Red Sangria Sour

Published October 6, 2022
Bad Shepherd are a proudly family-run brewery and it seems that maybe family made it to the Royal Melbourne Show over the school holidays. Lemon Sherbet IPA is inspired by the childhood treat you’d find in a showbag, with the white IPA brewed with Citra and Lemondrop hops. It’s remarkable quite how quickly the beer gets you to lemon sherbet territory too, with the zippy lemon aroma immediately hitting the palate. That’s joined by further flavours of bright lemon, plus a spiced and herbal quality… Read more
Style
White IPA & Sour
ABV
5.5% & 5.9%

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew 18: Coffee Infused American Brown Ale

Published August 31, 2022
Given a life in beer sales tends to involve a lot of time in the car travelling, Bad Shepherd's 18th Brew Crew release makes a whole lot of sense. Coffee Infused American Brown Ale is the work of Bad Shepherd's Master of Sales, Mark who, as well as loving beer, is something of a coffee addict (again, we think we can guess why). Given Bad Shepherd’s Hazelnut Brown has enjoyed a cult following since the brewpub’s earliest days, brewing malt-led beers is certainly familiar territory for the brewery… Read more
Style
Brown Ale
ABV
5.0%

Bad Shepherd American Red

Published August 18, 2022
Bad Shepherd’s kitchen is one inspired by classic American barbecue, where low-and-slow cuts of meat are designed to be shared and passed across the table. It’s the kind of food that also pairs wonderfully with a pretty broad mix of beer styles, but the brewery’s limited-release American Red feels like it’s particularly perfectly suited. The red ale is filled with chewy caramel flavours, burnt sugar and roasted toffee which are balanced by tropical hops, pine and a floral touch thanks to… Read more
Style
American Red Ale
ABV
5.0%

Bad Shepherd Imperial Stouts: 12 Month Aged & Rum Spiked

Published August 3, 2022
Bad Shepherd don’t tend to let winter pass them by without releasing some weather-ready dark beers and 2022 is no different with the arrival of the Imperial Stout twins. The names might be a little more simple than the Melbourne brewery’s penchant for naming such beers after Russian mythology but the two beers are anything but simple (and hey, Russia’s been in the news a bit lately). The cans feature a royal pairing of a queen and a king with her majesty, the Imperial Stout having spent a… Read more
Style
Imperial Stouts
ABV
9.2% & 9.6%

Bad Shepherd x Tallboy & Moose x Sea Legs x Wayward Tabernak & Lights & Sounds

Published July 8, 2022
A somewhat surprising feature of Australia’s craft beer industry is the fact that when Canada Day rolls around every July 1, you can be sure that a handful of breweries will be putting poutine on. With the likes of Bad Shepherd, Tallboy & Moose, Sea Legs & Wayward all having Canadian cofounders, the national day seems the perfect way to celebrate and champion what they love about that country. For 2022's Canada Day, those four breweries came together to create Tabernak! and while it might… Read more
Style
Cream Ale & IPA
ABV
5.0% & 6.4%

Bad Shepherd Portello Jelly

Published June 3, 2022
It might feel like there are a few areas that GABS beers draw their inspiration from - desserts, soft drinks and lollies - but really, there tends to be one broad brushstroke that ties them all together: nostalgia. Whether it's nostalgia for a packet of sweets a brewer used to enjoy in America or a favour of chip that disappeared with Go-Lo, it's those memories of moments gone that drives what breweries decide to make for GABS. Bad Shepherd have tapped into that feeling by bringing together both… Read more
Style
Cream Sour Ale
ABV
7.0%

Bad Shepherd Jun IPA

Published May 17, 2022
Thanks to their origins in malt, combining whisky and beer can be the boilermaker of choice for many but gin can just as often be a match made in heaven. That’s largely thanks to the floral combination in the juniper-led spirit, which means gin is a wonderful way partner to many IPAs, whether the featured hops are quite botanical or have a more citrus or tropical bent. Bad Shepherd have recognised the beauty in that combination with Jun IPA, which contains juniper berries alongside Pahto, Chinook,… Read more
Style
Juniper IPA
ABV
6.4%

Bad Shepherd Raspberry Spider Cream Sour

Published March 23, 2022
It’s funny how long terms can be in your vocabulary without you really stopping to wonder where they come from. Take a spider: the drink, rather than the creepy-crawly kind. Why does the combination of a soft drink and ice cream get called that in Australia? It turns out Americans call them ice cream floats but here and in New Zealand we’ve gone for a name that feels far less descriptive. Well, turns out it is a somewhat descriptive term and refers to that wonderful moment when the vanilla ice… Read more
Style
Cream Sour
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
10

Bad Shepherd Non-Alc Passionfruit Sour & Summer Punch

Published March 4, 2022
Lower alcohol beers appear to be going from strength to strength and it's the kind of space Melbourne's Bad Shepherd have been quietly working in for some time. Back when they opened their brewpub back in 2015, the 2.9 percent ABV Tiny IPA was part of their core range and it's remained there to this day, while more recently they've released plenty of lower ABV sours, including Citrus Radler at the start of 2022. But now in March, they've released their first truly alcohol-free beer that sits below… Read more
Style
Ultra-Low-Alc Sours
ABV
Less than 0.5% & 1.1%

Bad Shepherd Citrus Radler

Published February 11, 2022
Sure, it’s early days yet, but how does a bold prediction for the rest of the year sound? Fruited sours are about to be overtaken by radlers. Okay, maybe not overtaken but cede a bit of ground. Or some ground anyway. Okay, maybe let’s just say that more radlers might be released in Australia over the next 12 months than were over the last 12. That seems suitably vague and provides enough ambiguity to make a politician proud. What we can say about radlers with a bit of certainty, is they scratch… Read more
Style
Citrus Radler
ABV
3.5%

Bad Shepherd Ginger Pale & Mango Mojito Sour

Published February 2, 2022
You could make an argument that as the craft beer industry has grown, marketing departments have had an increased influence over which beers brewers are allowed to make. Well, it's not a point that's in dispute with Bad Shepherd’s 16th Brew Crew release, as the beer is entirely the work of the marketing department. By that we mean the Melbourne brewery’s marketing manager anyway, with Liam leaving his desk behind to brew a beer inspired by his appearance, Ginger Pale. Even though the ginger… Read more
Style
Ginger Pale Ale & Cocktail Sour
ABV
4.7% & 4.0%

Bad Shepherd New World IPA (2021)

Published December 3, 2021
The Bad Shepherd brewpub isn’t a place where there's any shortage of experimentation, with the Cheltenham crew regularly taking their recipes to beer's outer edges, whether it's in the direction of cocktails or desserts. So when it came time to brew up a beer for their sixth birthday, you might expect something cake-inspired to mark the occasion; instead, you’ll find a classic Bad Shepherd beer that's been revamped. (OK, so technically they served multiple beers at their street party and a few… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.8%
Bitterness
68 IBU

Bad Shepherd Belgian Blond

Published October 29, 2021
The modern Australian craft beer landscape is one filled with myriad beer styles but, as much as we’re living in a world of unlimited limiteds, there are some styles that seem to miss out. Maybe it’s because we’re all seeking what’s new, with brewers looking to experiment with fresh ingredients and ideas, and craft drinkers looking to hunt down the latest releases. Whatever the reason, it means classic beer styles from some of the great beer-making cultures don’t get made locally so often… Read more
Style
Belgian Blond
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
20 IBU

Bad Shepherd Oat Cream IPA III

Published October 22, 2021
Launching midway through 2021, Bad Shepherd’s Oat Cream series has become something of a preferred method for the Melbourne brewery to explore hops and the myriad flavours those impressive flowers impart. When number two was released in August, we hoped at the time we wouldn't be waiting too long to see version three, so it seems wishes can come true. Oat Cream IPA III is a touch bigger than the previous two at 8.0 percent ABV and features two American varieties known for their distinct tropical… Read more
Style
Oat Cream IPA
ABV
8.0%

Bad Shepherd Gin Fizz Sour

Published September 24, 2021
It goes without saying, there’s plenty of negatives to be found in 2021 turning out to be rather too much like 2020 for many Victorians. But for some there will be a certain comfort to be found in seeing a beer series return for another summer. In Bad Shepherd's case, their return to sunnier climes takes the shape of their Summer Sour Series, kicking off in September with Gin Fizz Sour. The first release in the 2021 series is a collaboration with the distillers at That Spirited Lot – who, like… Read more
Style
Cocktail Sour
ABV
4.8%

Bad Shepherd Double Juicy Hazy IPA (2021)

Published September 10, 2021
It should surprise nobody that a beer named Double Juicy might be widely popular in the current craft world and that, having found plenty of fans with the first release in 2020, Bad Shepherd are back at the hop well for 2021. This time around, the hazy DIPA doesn’t just have a striking new look but comes with some recipe tweaks, using Meridian and Sequoia hops as the source of its juicy flavours. The resulting beer is one that hits heavily with a one-two of mango and citrus, with the latter of… Read more
Style
Hazy DIPA
ABV
8.0%

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 15: XPA

Published August 27, 2021
Bad Shepherd’s Brew Crew series can often take the brewery in quite weird and wonderful directions (Sticky Date Stout anyone?) but number 15 in the series sees them take a step back and brew a style more often found in a core range than in a limited release program. The simply titled XPA was brewed with Aaron, a brand ambassador for the brewery and an investor who on getting his chance to brew his own beer, decided he wanted to go with a sessionable crowd pleaser. It seems he got his wish too,… Read more
Style
XPA
ABV
4.7%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Bad Shepherd Oat Cream IPA II

Published August 13, 2021
Only a couple of months on from their exploration of oats, lactose and Pahto, Talus, Cashmere and Galaxy hops, Bad Shepherd have brewed a sequel to that beer to bring us Oat Cream IPA II. After brewing that first instalment of Oat Cream IPA, the Melbourne brewery were particularly happy with how it let them showcase different hop varieties and particular nuances in each hop so for this beer, they've brewed with two types they’d never before used, Sequoia and Meridian. Those two haven’t been common… Read more
Style
Oat cream IPA
ABV
7.6%

Bad Shepherd Peanut Butter & Jam & Alkonost 2021

Published August 6, 2021
Melbourne’s Bad Shepherd are on a dark beer train at the moment, releasing three at once. One is the returning Double Choc Hazelnut Brown, which you can read about here and managed to pick up a gold medal at the most recent Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA). Then there’s the return of the kind of barrel-aged beer you tend not to see all that often (or ever): one inspired by a sandwich. An American sandwich to be exact, given it’s a Peanut Butter & Jam Barrel-Aged Porter. It sold… Read more
Style
Various
ABV
7% & 9.2%

Bad Shepherd Oat Cream IPA

Published June 26, 2021
What's this? Two limited releases in a row from Bad Shepherd that resist the temptation to head to the dessert trolley or strive for some unusual colour? Hot on the heels of a tasty American brown ale comes another beer that's rather normal by contemporary standards; even the label art is of a rather more classical bent It's an oat cream IPA called, simply, Oat Cream IPA, in which Pahto (a variety new to us that's designed for bittering), Talus, Cashmere and Galaxy hops are combined with both lactose… Read more
Style
Oat Cream IPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
25 IBU

Bad Shepherd Wolves in the Flock

Published June 11, 2021
The saying goes that too many cooks spoil the broth. So, what happens when a brewery invites ten of their biggest fans to get involved in designing and brewing a beer? Let's find out, shall we? Because that's the case with Wolves In The Flock, for which Andrew Bishop, Jake Neasey, Anya Shindler, Kris Kristinsson, Clint Bee, Louis Willcock, Daniel Brady, Luke Gilchrist, Gary Moller and Matthew Mann joined the brewers to create a limited release beer. The chosen style was a DDH American brown ale and… Read more
Style
DDH American Brown
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
35 IBU

Bad Shepherd The Professor's Pilzner & Orange Creamsicle

Published May 13, 2021
If you're going to make a pilsner with a man who's gone by the nom de plume Professor Pilsner for well over a decade, you're not going to muck about with centuries of tradition, are you? And that's the case with Bad Shepherd's collab with Pete Mitcham, released for their joint Good Beer Week 2021 event focused on, you've got it, pilsners. The Professor's Pilzner is inspired by the softer Germany examples and, while the label says it's been brewed with modern day hops, it remains firmly planted in… Read more
Style
Pilsner & Milkshake IPA
ABV
5.0% & 10.0%
Bitterness
24 & 47 IBU

Bad Shepherd Lemon Cheesecake Imperial Sour

Published May 7, 2021
It's back to the dessert trolley for Bad Shepherd, one they've been dipping into with growing frequency in recent times. And it's one that sounds like a mouthful – or even a case of the increasingly ubiquitous "beer style decided by pulling words at random out of a hat” – a lemon cheesecake-inspired imperial sour which the label says is brewed with real cheesecake. Yet, for all that involves, it's a relatively straight up and down affair – with emphasis on "relatively", of… Read more
Style
Lemon Cream Sour
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
20 IBU

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 14: The Haze Of Revan

Published April 30, 2021
Of all the four million beers I've sampled since leaping aboard the roller-coaster marked The Crafty Pint, I can't say I recall trying a black NEIPA. Or a red or brown one (well, other than all the oxidised ones) for that matter, which seems a little odd in this climate of anything goes. Here to fix the situation is Steve, "Venue Vanguard" at Bad Shepherd, with their 14th Brew Crew release, one that mixes cloudiness, specialty malts and a quintet of US hops. It has a gravy-esque appearance… Read more
Style
Black NEIPA
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Bad Shepherd Aries ESB

Published April 13, 2021
Now here’s a style of beer that's no longer a common sight: Extra Special Bitter. Bad Shepherd's was originally brewed in 2016 as the very first release in the Melbourne's brewery's Brew Crew Series for their British bartender Dan. For autumn 2021, ESB has returned with the name Aries, as both a nod to Bad Shepherd's own name and logo and the Zodiac sign that ends on April 19 and symbolises change. Considering the rollercoaster of 2020, change, in this case, could be considered more to a return… Read more
Style
ESB
ABV
4.9%
Bitterness
34 IBU

Bad Shepherd Rum Barrel-Aged Piña Colada Sour & Double Choc Hazelnut Brown

Published March 29, 2021
When Bad Shepherd's Piña Colada Sour appeared back in September, we noted it was low on the sour and heavy on the pineapple juice and coconut. So what happens when you take such a beer and pop it in former rum barrels for six months? In this case, as well as almost doubling in ABV, Rum Barrel-Aged Piña Colada Sour has pretty much shed the last vestiges of sourness and is certainly more rum barrel than piña colada. There's sweet, honeyed, banana-tinged rum on nose and plenty of sweet rum and toffee… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Cocktail Beer & Double Hazelnut Brown Ale
ABV
7.6% & 7.2%

Bad Shepherd Poseidon 2021 & Flower Power ft Blasta

Published March 22, 2021
It's fair to say there's not a huge amount in common between Bad Shepherd's twin March releases. One is a double digit imperial IPA, the other a lower ABV beer featuring native flowers. One comes in a big can (the bigger beer, naturally), the other a normal sized one. One is a returning past special, the other a new collab with a WA brewer. Actually, maybe they do share one thing in common: both pack a punch, just in very different ways. Poseidon is the IIIPA that slots in above their Almighty IIPA,… Read more
Style
IIIPA & Spiced Session Ale
ABV
10.0% & 3.3%
Bitterness
74 & 23 IBU

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 13: Lychee & Green Tea Lager

Published February 27, 2021
The past few years have seen a steady resurgence of lagers within the craft beer landscape. Some brewers have opted for macro-mimicking Aussie styles to sate more mainstream drinkers, others have looked to hone versions of classics such as Munich's helles and Bohemian pilsners, and then there are those with a New World twist. Then there's the thirteenth entry in the oft-colourful Brew Crew Series from Bad Shepherd; as Dorothy might say if she was a Northern European lager-drinking purist, we're not… Read more
Style
Spiced Lager
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
15 IBU

Bad Shepherd Berry Parfait

Published February 17, 2021
For Bad Shepherd – like pretty much everyone in Victoria – Valentine's Day 2021 didn't go quite as planned, with another COVID outbreak forcing them to close their brewpub for five days. While it might have scuppered plans to give patrons on the day a mini-tub of berry sorbet when they bought some Berry Parfait, the beer itself remains as a suitably pink nod to the occasion. The raspberry- and blackberry-laced cream sour pours the colour of a very pink berry sponge, and tastes rather like a gently… Read more
Style
Berry Cream Sour
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
10 IBU

Bad Shepherd Homegrown Session IPA

Published January 17, 2021
Cheltenham brewery Bad Shepherd have enjoyed success – not to mention plenty of coverage – with their Victorian Pale Ale, a beer that helped bring the reawakened Melbourne ale yeast back to prominence in a celebration of all Aussie ingredients. It's a formula they've returned to as their IPA Series starts up again in 2021. With Homegrown, it's a case once more of all Victorian ingredients, this time including the recently-named Eclipse hops (formerly HPA-016) from Hop Products Australia. Set… Read more
Style
Session IPA
ABV
4.0%

Bad Shepherd Break Yo' Fast

Published December 2, 2020
Did Bad Shepherd co-owner Dereck Hales pull some strings behind the scenes ahead of their fifth birthday party? Or has he instilled such loyalty among the brewery's fans they're only too eager to get behind his country of origin? Either way, when it came to voting for the beer to celebrate the Cheltenham operation's fifth birthday, the winner plucked from their back catalogue was Break Yo' Fast, a maple bacon amber ale with roots in North American breakfasts. The reboot certainly nails the colour;… Read more
Style
Smoked Maple Amber Ale
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
25 IBU

Bad Shepherd Tepache Spiced Beer

Published November 25, 2020
You never know what's coming next from Bad Shepherd these days. They've got IPA and sour series on the go, plus their eclectic Brew Crew Series, and have been serving up the odd dessert beer too. Now here's their Christmas 2020 beer, albeit one that comes via Mexico in the shape of a spiced lager inspired by Tepache, a fermented and spiced drink made from the peel and rind of pineapples. In this example, spices come in the form of ginger root, cinnamon, smoked chipotle chillies, star anise, nutmeg… Read more
Style
Spiced Mexican Lager
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
9 IBU

Bad Shepherd Lime & Pomegranate Sour

Published November 8, 2020
Well, first things first: congratulations to the brewing team at Bad Shepherd for finding a new combination of fruits for their second Summer Sour Series release. That's no easy task at a time when it seems like every other beer landing at Crafty Towers is a fruited Berliner Weisse or gose-influenced beer, but I'm pretty sure lime, pomegranate and dragonfruit is a new trio. That said, they come together to create that peach-pink hue so familiar in the craft beer world right now. There’s a soft… Read more
Style
Fruit Sour
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
8.5 IBU

Bad Shepherd Pacific IPA

Published October 17, 2020
With brighter days seemingly ahead for Melburnians, one of the city's breweries has looked to capture summery vibes in a can. Bad Shepherd have added to their long-running IPA Series with Pacific IPA, one that's the lightest in the series in terms of ABV, yet still goes heavy on the hops: 15 grams per litre of fruity Galaxy, Mosaic, Vic Secret and Citra. Clear and copper coloured in the glass, there's as broad selection of aromas and flavours as you'd expect with that hop combo: juicy pineapple and… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 12: Bayside Golden Strong

Published October 5, 2020
For the first eleven entries in their Brew Crew Series, the Bad Shepherd gave their team members the chance to design a beer with the brewers. It's an approach that's led to some interesting results, from dessert beers to a purple unicorn-inspired release; here, as they notch up a dozen, the doors were (sort of) thrown open to outsiders. They decided to bring in members of their Black Sheep club, kicking things off with a Zoom call back in May then, thanks to ongoing restrictions, being forced to… Read more
Style
Belgian Golden Strong Ale
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Bad Shepherd Piña Colada Sour

Published September 19, 2020
Now, I have to admit, when it comes to choosing cocktails, piña colada is not my thing. Gimme something intense and smoky, bitter and citrusy, lively and rummy, look, pretty much anything else other than a piña colada and I'll be happy. That said, we're objective observers here at Crafty Towers, not allowing personal preferences to get in the way of storytelling and describing. So, to the launch beer in Bad Shepherd's Summer Sour Series... In simple terms, it's a case of piña colada is as piña… Read more
Style
Piña Colada Sour
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
8.5 IBU

Bad Shepherd The Almighty IIPA 2020

Published September 5, 2020
They might have had to give Almighty Day a miss at the brewpub this year but Bad Shepherd's imperial IPA is back for another springtime run. The fifth iteration of the beer weighs in a little lighter on the booze front than some of its forebears, but the brewers have still looked to cram in enough hops to register 100 International Bitterness Units. That said, it doesn't present with the palate-shredding impact like the 100 IBU double IPAs that would land on these shares from the US a decade or so… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
8.5%
Bitterness
100 IBU

Bad Shepherd Saved By The Brett

Published August 26, 2020
For years, brewers have opted to let drinkers know they regard a particular beer as a little bit special by choosing a fancy bottle. For certain beers some even use a cork and cage or dip the bottle in wax, a practice whose key purposes seem to be threefold: to create pre-consumption frustration; to risk the slicing of fingers and/or thumbs; and the one positive – to prevent you opening a beer you've been cellaring for ages late at night when you're no longer capable of removing enough of the wax… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Brett Saison
ABV
8.0%

Bad Shepherd Russian Imperial Stout Series 2020

Published August 7, 2020
It's rare we add any beers to the site that haven't been tasted by someone in the team; in fact, I can't recall the last time we did. But sometimes it just makes sense, in this case because a) there's barely any of these bottles around, b) because we'd have to set aside so much time to do them justice they'd probably be sold out, and c) in stage 4 lockdown we can't even share them with Crafty team members or mates so we'd either be pickled or have one very decadent wastewater pipe leaving the kitchen... So,… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stouts
ABV
All 9.0%
Bitterness
All 70 IBU
Stockists

Order online here

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 11: Sticky Date Stout

Published July 30, 2020
Now, when it comes to desserts, sticky date pudding is not one to which you would apply the term "subtle". It's one that comes at you armed to the teeth with butter, sugar and, of course, dates, which add their own layers of rich and sweet. And so it is that, as they dip once more into the pantry for a limited release after enjoying success with their recent peanut butter-inspired beers, Bad Shepherd serve up a palate-walloping dollop of Sticky Date Stout. It's the eleventh entry in their… Read more
Style
Dessert Stout
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
20 IBU
Stockists

Launching at the brewpub on July 31

Hitting retailers soon afterwards

Bad Shepherd Double Juicy Hazy IPA

Published June 29, 2020
Put the words "double", "juicy" or "hazy" together with IPA and you'll instantly get plenty of beer fans' attention. Pop all three together and, well, you've got the latest in Bad Shepherd's IPA Series. Not only have they gone with Double Juicy Hazy but they've also popped it inside a rather appealing can decorated with multi-coloured hops and raised golden letters. But does what's inside live up to the promise? It certainly looks the goods, pouring a hazy copper with… Read more
Style
Double Hazy IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
45 IBU

Bad Shepherd Strawberry Milkshake IPA 2020

Published May 28, 2020
Not only have Bad Shepherd been moving into cans for some time now but, as they make the transition, they've been shaking up the way they present themselves to the world – and on occasion shaking off the relatively austere look of their early years for something rather bolder. Case in point: following the golden ticket-esque Peanut Butter Porter comes this year's Strawberry Milkshake IPA with a look we reckon can be best described as jazz hands. As for what's inside the spangly can, it's something… Read more
Style
Strawberry Milkshake IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
25 IBU

Bad Shepherd Peanut Butter Porter 2020

Published May 12, 2020
They've gradually been transitioning their beers into cans for quite some time now. And, as we move through 2020, they've been getting rather bolder with them too. Exhibit 1: the return of Peanut Butter Porter, which first appeared in black and tan cans as entry nine in their Brew Crew Series last summer but now is reinvented in the sort of gold cans that kept Kylie's career alive a little longer. It's a beer with transportive qualities, whisking me across the Pacific and the decades to the everpresent… Read more
Style
Peanut Butter Porter
ABV
6.4%
Bitterness
22 IBU
Stockists

Leaving the brewery from May 14

Pre-orders available here

Bad Shepherd Poseidon IIPA

Published March 25, 2020
The Almighty has long been one of Bad Shepherd's most sought after and top notch releases, a bold yet balanced double IPA bearing a hoppy, bearded god figure on the cans. But now it turns out there's someone more almighty than The Almighty as Poseidon, a triple IPA, makes his way from the brewery – all 10 percent ABV of him – after proving popular as a single keg trial at a past event. There's a danger with such high octane beers, particularly where the brewers look to keep the malt character… Read more
Style
IIIPA
ABV
10.0%

Bad Shepherd Unicorn Beer & Lumberjack IPA

Published February 19, 2020
As is becoming increasingly apparent, not only have we reached a point at which the role of ABAC – the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code – has become a weekly discussion point but we seem to have moved beyond that to a place in which brewers are deciding they're fair game. Take Bad Shepherd's tenth Brew Crew Series release, the Unicorn Beer. Unable to get such a beer, label design and all, past the pre-vetting process, they've instead figured: "What the heck – it's only a one-off release"… Read more
Style
IPA Variants
ABV
5.5% & 6.0%
Bitterness
14 & 47 IBU

Bad Shepherd Red IPA & South Island Sour & Double Choc Hazelnut Brown

Published December 5, 2019
They're never shy when it comes to releasing new beers but, for their fourth birthday, Bad Shepherd went on a little splurge. The Red IPA was the official birthday beer, with the style voted for by their fans. Pouring a rusty deep orange, it mixes floral and berry hop aromas with toffee and a deep, broad, toasted bitterness. Indeed, it's a bitterness that packs a punch, one bigger than the restrained aromatics might lead you to expect. The South Island Sour comes with the "session IPA"… Read more
Style
Various styles

Bad Shepherd & Fat Goat Schlimme Ziege

Published October 24, 2019
There are certain beer styles you'd bump into frequently in the earlier days of the craft beer revolution that hardly ever appear in the current era of hops, bugs, haze and lactose: many of them classic European styles no one gives a hoot about anymore. Then there are some you hardly saw even then: such as classic Bavarian style hefeweizen given a hoppy makeover. Sure, I recall James Squire putting out one under their Mad Brewers' banner, but there haven't been many. So trainspotters of the obscure,… Read more
Style
Hoppy Hefeweizen
ABV
5.0%

Bad Shepherd The Almighty 2019 & Passionfruit Sour

Published September 13, 2019
The Almighty has long been one of Bad Shepherd's most highly-anticipated seasonal releases and one of their best. And, as it leaves the Cheltenham brewery once more for 2019 – complete with Hop God on the cans – that's the case again. It's another tightly wound IIPA, sitting at just 8.5 percent ABV this year but with 100 IBU of bitterness squeezed in, that's a long way from the hazier, juicier beers that have dominated the IPA landscape in recent times. Golden and pretty clear, there's pineapple,… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA & Fruit Sour
ABV
8.5% / 4.0%
Bitterness
100 IBU / 8.5 IBU

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 9: Peanut Butter Porter

Published July 15, 2019
For the ninth iteration of their Brew Crew series, Bad Shepherd have given recipe rights to Carl, the brewpub’s head chef. An American football fan, Carl supports the Ohio State Buckeyes and the very American-sounding sweets that share that teams name: Buckeye Candy. According to the internet, Buckeye Candy is peanut butter fudge that’s been dipped in chocolate. So to create a beer in its (and Carl’s) honour the Bad Shepherd team went for a porter base before adding the necessarily level of… Read more
Style
Porter
ABV
6.7%
Bitterness
22 IBU

Bad Shepherd Red Zeppelin & Oatmeal Stout

Published June 25, 2019
The Bad Shepherd IPA Series continues apace, this time with a step back into rather more traditional realms. Red Zeppelin is a red IPA made with just water, malt, hops and yeast, resisting the temptation to reach for the kitchen shelves as per recent forays into milkshake territory. The collaboration with Ballarat's Hop Temple has been dry-hopped no less than four times with new US varieties Cashmere and Idaho Gem, yet – as is often the case with such beers – the specialty malts chosen to create… Read more
Style
Red IPA & Oatmeal Stout
ABV
6.0% & 5.5%
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewing Co

Hop Temple Ballarat

Heartbreaker

Arbory

Edinburgh Castle

Lonsdale Cellars

The Fat Goat

Mackie Road Cellars

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Jaffa Milkshake IPA

Published May 21, 2019
The broad congregation of beers gathering under the IPA banner seems to get broader with each passing month. And it's something reflected by Bad Shepherd's ongoing IPA series, under which the Cheltenham brewers have released the expected (The Almighty IIPA, for example), the experimental (the Citrus & Cedar IPA for one), and now the "Did anyone ever foresee IPA becoming this?" that is their second milkshake IPA. The first featured strawberry; here, in collaboration with Grounded Pleasures,… Read more
Style
Milkshake Black IPA
ABV
5.6%
Bitterness
29 IBU

Bad Shepherd Alkonost Russian Imperial Stout

Published April 27, 2019
In Russian mythology, an Alkonost is a bird with the head of a woman, that – like the sirens of Homer’s Iliad - is said to make someone forget all else and desire nothing else. It’s this seductive approach that Bad Shepherd have taken for this Russian Imperial Stout, which could hardly be more appropriate for a big beer from a brewery with the motto “Leading you into temptation.” Pouring opaque with a tan head, a peated smokiness is the clearest flavour, followed by a rich caramel sweetness.… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
9.2%
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Cork Liquor Store 

Elsternwick Cellarbrations 

Good Company Beers & BBQ 

Hop Supply Co

Lonsdale Cellars 

Mordialloc Cellar Door 

Mrs Parma's 

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 8: Rose & Hibiscus Gose

Published April 5, 2019
As they close in on double figured in their Brew Crew Series, Bad Shepherd passed the baton to barman Ben, the "Beer Nerd", who set about conceiving a beer that tied together the places he's called home. That saw him combine rose – a nose to the flower emblem of his home county of North Yorkshire, hibiscus – a nod to the Hibiscus Coast of New Zealand, and seawater from Melbourne's Bayside. They were put to work in a gose that's as red as you could wish for and comes with a creamy yet… Read more
Style
Rose & Hibiscus Gose
ABV
4.2%
Bitterness
7.4 IBU

Bad Shepherd Strawberry Milkshake IPA

Published February 4, 2019
Bad Shepherd's IPA series has headed in a fair few directions already although, arguably, the first for 2019 is the one veering furthest from where the ever-expanding IPA style category started out. Indeed, if 2018 was the year in which Australian brewers and drinkers went crazy for the hazy, it looks like we're in for plenty of fruity and creamy this time around. There's plenty that's gone into this beer: flaked oats, apple puree, wheat, 100kg of lactose, whirlpool hops in the shape of Citra and… Read more
Style
Strawberry Milkshake IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
25 IBU

Bad Shepherd Grapefruit IPA

Published November 14, 2018
The IPA series continues apace at Bad Shepherd, where the likes of The Almighty IIPA and the aromatic-as-anything Citrus & Cedar IPA are now joined by this Grapefruit IPA to which fruit rather than fruit extract was added alongside a selection of hops known for their citrusy qualities. It's a hazy copper pour and one that heads towards the more bitter, pithy, tangy side of grapefruit; certainly, it's of a different ilk to some fruit IPAs that present more as a blend between IPA and fruit juice.… Read more
Style
Grapefruit IPA
ABV
5.8%

Bad Shepherd Almighty IIPA 2018

Published August 30, 2018
You can never be sure which beer in a brewery's armoury is going to become the one beer lovers will take most to their hearts (although it seems barrel aged beers or high ABV hop monsters stand a good chance). For Cheltenham's Bad Shepherd, while the Hazelnut Brown caught eyes early on, there's a good argument for it being this beer, its once-a-year imperial IPA that even gets its own special launch day at the brewpub. There's good reason for its cachet too, as it's a beer that's as tightly wound… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
9.2%
Bitterness
100 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Bottle House

Hop Supply Co

And other good beer retailers in Victoria

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 6: Sour Dark Saison

Published July 13, 2018
We’d always assumed the idea behind the Brew Crew Series at Bad Shepherd was to allow team members outside the brewery to have a crack at designing a beer. But, clearly, they like to play fast and loose with the rules at Bad Shepherd as, for number six, they’ve invited one of the brewers, Casey, to take up the reins. Whatever the background to the beer, they’re reins he’s grabbed with both hands, creating a funky amalgam tagged a Sour Dark Saison. It's a dark brown, cola like pour in which… Read more
Style
Sour Dark Saison
ABV
6.2%

Bad Shepherd Citrus & Cedar American IPA

Published June 12, 2018
When conceiving a beer for the 2018 GABS Festival Container Bars, Bad Shepherd resisted the temptation to do anything particularly crazy and instead decided to use it to launch a new IPA series. The launch beer is Citrus & Cedar and will be followed by a new IPA in cans and kegs every three months. In creating it, they opted for a quintet of hop varieties known for their citrusy or piny, woody characters (or both at the same time) but didn't stop there. The beer was also fermented with orange… Read more
Style
Citrus & Cedar IPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
60 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

And other good beer stockists around Victoria

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 5: Pineapple Sour

Published March 2, 2018
The Brew Crew Series at Bad Shepherd is the Cheltenham operation's way of getting everyone on the staff involved in the brewery. And, as the series hits number 5, it's made its way into the office. There you find "office guru" Tracey whose instruction was: "Make me a beer that doesn't taste like beer." What did instruction turn into? A pineapple sour ale that lands somewhere between a soft drink and a Margarita without the salt and tequila kick. It started out as a kettle soured… Read more
Style
Pineapple Sour Ale
ABV
3.5%
Stockists

Good Beer Week Gala Showcase 

The Public Brewery 

And select beer venues around VIC

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 4: Amber Rye Ale

Published October 16, 2017
The Brew Crew Series is the place where Bad Shepherd's non-brewing staff get to play around in the brewery. And, for beer number four in the series, the baton was passed to chef Jen. When pairing beer with food, you're generally going to find more room to manoeuvre with malt or yeast driven beers than anything loaded up with hop bitterness and here Jen has plumped for the former in creating an amber ale enlivened with a dose of spicy rye. The tasting notes say it's "loosely" based on an… Read more
Style
Rye Amber Ale
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
40 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Captain Melville

Two Birds Nest

And other stockists around Victoria

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd The Almighty 2017

Published August 29, 2017
Winter 2016 saw Bad Shepherd debut its biggest beer to date. A year on, The Almighty is no longer their booziest beer – that title now lies with the Russian Imperial Stout released earlier in the year – but we imagine this returning imperial IPA is one that will have had plenty of the brewpub's fans licking their lips with anticipation. Stats wise, it's the same beer: 9.2 percent ABV and no less than a palate-pushing 100 IBU [International Bitterness Units], but we pick up some stone fruit characters… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
9.2%
Bitterness
100 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Bad Shepherd Russian Imperial Stout 2017

Published May 29, 2017
Why release one big, dark, boozy beer for winter when you can release two? That seems to be the approach at Bad Shepherd, where they're embracing all things intensely malty as the mercury plummets – releasing this Russian Imperial Stout at the same time as their gold medal-winning Baltic Porter, thus adding further to the darkness offered by the Hazelnut Brown Ale in the core lineup and regular winter seasonal Oatmeal Stout. This, however, is the biggest of the lot, tipping the scales at just over… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.1%
Bitterness
72 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

The Public Brewery

And other select good beer outlets

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 3: Baltic Porter

Published May 26, 2017
The 2017 Australian International Beer Awards proved to be a great night for the Bad Shepherd team with the Cheltenham brewpub's name flashing up on the big screen showing finalists in each category more than once. One such appearance was for its Baltic Porter, which in draught form took out the only gold in the Baltic Porter character. It's now out in bottles too as the third in the Brew Crew Series in which non-brewing members get to help design a beer. This time around it was the turn of Bigsi,… Read more
Style
Spiced Baltic Porter
ABV
8.1%
Bitterness
38 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

The Public Brewery

And select good beer stockists in Victoria

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 2: SMASH IPA

Published March 14, 2017
There's plenty to be said about this beer. For a start, it's the second beer in Bad Shepherd's Brew Crew Series, which sees them invite a staff member who isn't a brewer to help design a beer; the first was barman Dan's ESB, with Dan followed into the hot seat by sales guy Scotty "Beardface" Thomson. It's also a SMaSH beer – single malt and single hop. And that single malt has its own story as the one chosen is Schooner, a barley variety grown and malted in the Riverina region of New… Read more
Style
Australian IPA
ABV
6.0%
Stockists

The Public Brewery

And select good beer outlets in Victoria

Bad Shepherd Double Choc Hazelnut Brown

Published November 30, 2016
It may have been one of Bad Shepherd founder and head brewer Dereck Hales' favourites from his recipe collection, but it's doubtful he expected his Hazelnut Brown to be such a hit. Yet its combination of luscious hazelnut, chocolate, vanilla and Frangelico has provided not just a surprise punter favourite but one of the brewpub's biggest sellers out in the wider world. So, when it came to designing a beer with which to mark reaching one year in business, it was back to the Hazelnut Brown they turned. A… Read more
Stockists

Farside Beers

Freddie Wimpole's

The Public Brewery

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 1: ESB

Published October 23, 2016
It's not unusual for brewpub operations to produce a wide range of beers in a short space of time; the ability to do so is often part of the appeal for the people behind them. It isn't that common to see a brewpub also package so many of its beers and send them into the wider world. But Cheltenham's Bad Shepherd – not quite yet a year old – has already popped around a dozen different beers into bottles and the concept behind this one suggests there will be many more to follow. It's the first… Read more
Style
ESB
ABV
4.9%
Bitterness
34 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewery

The Public Brewery, Croydon

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd The Almighty IIPA

Published September 2, 2016
With a "Tiny IPA", American Pale Ale and New World IPA in its lineup, Cheltenham brewpub Bad Shepherd was already offering plenty for the hopheads out there. But clearly it wasn't enough to satisfy co-owner and head brewer Dereck Hales (a man whose Twitter handle includes the word hophead). So he's decided to add an imperial IPA just to be safe. The Almighty is his latest seasonal and one that comes with suitably eye-catching packaging: there's a bold gold lightning bolt slashed across… Read more
Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
9.2%
Bitterness
100 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

The Public Brewery, Croydon

And select beer venues in Victoria

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd IPA

Published July 13, 2016
The new releases keep on rolling out of Bad Shepherd's Cheltenham brewpub, with this one set to become part of the core range too. It gives the Tiny IPA and American Pale already on the roster a big brother to look up to: a 6.8 percent ABV New World IPA that plucks its hops from near and far. There's Aussies Vic Secret and Ella, Americans Columbus and Simcoe, Kiwi Moutere (formerly Brooklyn) and new French variety Barbe Rouge too. And those who know something about hops will know there's a few varieties… Read more
Style
New World IPA
ABV
6.8%
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewery

The Public Brewery, Croydon

And other good beer stockists

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Oatmeal Stout

Published April 16, 2016
They're certainly not resting on their laurels at Cheltenham's Bad Shepherd. Despite only opening their brewpub late last year and pulling in big crowds (and a great review in Good Food) since, they keep banging out the limited releases. Hot on the heels of the fine recent Red IPA comes a beer with the cooler months on its mind. The Oatmeal Stout is their take on traditional English beers of the style and thus comes with lower carbonation than you expect in most Aussie brewed beers, as well as some… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
32 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

The Public Brewery

And select Victorian beer outlets

More stockists...

Bad Shepherd Red IPA

Published March 27, 2016
They're wasting little time making a mark on the Melbourne market down at Bad Shepherd. The Cheltenham brewpub has been pulling crowds since opening late last year (when we discovered our last cab driver lived Bayside and told him to check it out, it turned out he'd already been with his family). Already, limited release number two is here. Following the Raspberry Wheat comes a second beer of a red hue, albeit not quite as fluorescent as its predecessor. The Red IPA is another beer that suggests… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
58 IBU
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Bad Shepherd Raspberry Wheat

Published January 6, 2016
The first seasonal release from Cheltenham's new brewpub Bad Shepherd is a suitably summery affair. It's a wheat beer – the sort of light, fruity, zesty beer suited to the hotter weather anyway – that's been enhanced with the addition of 150kg of raspberry puree. Thus it pours red – "bright red" according to the brewery. Indeed, "so red that people sometimes try to spread it on their toast." He describes it as "slightly tart, with a creamy mouthfeel and a big fruity… Read more
Style
Raspberry Wheat Beer
ABV
4.6%
Stockists

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

Bad Shepherd California Lager

Published December 15, 2015
Something of a hybrid from Bad Shepherd here as they delve into American brewing's past and give it a contemporary Aussie twist. The California Lager is their take on the California gold rush steam beers, which were lagers fermented at ale temperatures. Theirs features a type of pale ale malt and Cluster hops used in the 19th century, as well as the woody Northern Brewer hop variety, Cascade and Ella from Tasmania. The resulting beer is one that pours a pretty deep golden and displays a range of… Read more
Style
Steam Beer
ABV
4.7%