Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury

When people talk about the growing craft beer scene in Brisbane, more often than not they’re talking about the inner suburbs of Brisbane. Certainly, few, if any, would have expected an award-winning brewery to pop up in Salisbury.

It’s in an industrial area, with rows of cloned steel warehouses used during World War II to produce and store munitions. But now those armaments are long gone, one of those lifeless, empty metal shell warehouses has been repurposed as Ballistic Beer Co. And, since its opening in April 2017, it's fair (if a little cheesy) to say its popularity has exploded.

A large chunk of its immediate appeal comes from the community-focused cellar door. When you approach the entrance of the mammoth building, you might be skeptical to see people sitting on white lawn chairs out on the grass, nursing beers while their kids run around (suburban bars, eh?). Then, when you step inside, you get it.

Ballistic has breathed new life into this behemoth of a factory. The steel girder ribcage is exposed, but softened by the reflections of the sky blue brewhouse floor. When you front up to the bar, you’re met with a cold and slick expanse of polished concrete, but when you return to your seat you’re surrounded by timber and flourishing green plants. On your left, the shiny brewhouse gadgets send out the message: “We Mean Serious Business…” but, on your right, the dominant view is an illustrated banner of airships dropping keg-bombs that says: “But We Don’t Take Ourselves Too Seriously”.

It’s easy to see why Salisbury locals – and beer lovers from further afield – flock there every Thursday to Sunday, sipping from the 13 taps, munching on the food truck offerings and tapping their feet to the live music.

Fair question, though: is it just some backwater tavern that’s only popular with the locals because it’s a convenient place for them to get booze, irrelevant of quality?

Honest answer: nope.

After living in Salisbury for more than a decade, co-owner and founder David Kitchen decided that if he wanted a place to get great beer in his suburb, it was up to him to make it happen. Which meant that, while he wants to connect with the people of the neighbourhood and become a centre in Salisbury for people to gather together, any gathering will be happening over damn good beer.

On that front, he picked well when he hired Lachy Crothers to be head brewer when the business launched. Lachy cut his teeth brewing for Gage Roads in WA for five years, did a short stint at Camden Town Brewery in London, then zipped back to the right side of the globe to bestow his brewing gifts upon Brisbane. His time as a brewer and beer judge has given him a particular passion for making consistent beers – beer that's both made and treated well from start to finish.

As he puts it: “It doesn’t even have to be ‘full of flavour’, as such. Just good. There’s so much noise around the craft brewing scene saying that ‘good beer’ needs to be full of big flavours and heavy on either hops or malt. I think we need to take a step back and try to appreciate the subtlety of beer and take notice of beers that are well balanced and expertly crafted.”

With this in mind, Ballistic customised its brewhouse to the extent they use water that’s gone through their own reverse osmosis water treatment plant to remove any undesirable chemicals and minerals. Lachy and his team then work their wonders with a 25 hectolitre three vessel steam system before transferring the nectar to their tank farm of fermenters. After the yeast has magicked that into delicious beer, it all goes into their monster cold room – a whopping 77 square metres and intentionally oversized so every single drop of Ballistic beer will fit in there, stored under 2C and remaining in its freshest state. It’s a privilege not all breweries can afford, but one Ballistic can pull off in their giant space.

The result of all this? Four excellent core range beers, two of which won gold medals at the 2017 Australian International Beer Awards (Pilot Light Table Beer and Dirty Word Lager) just a few months after the brewery’s opening, as well as a few taps always pouring seasonal and specialty beers. Depending on when you call in, these could take the shape of everything from Espresso XPA, Cold Brew Coffee Brown Ale, Belgian Golden Ale and Stout through to single hop IPAs (their Fortnight IPA also brought home a gold medal from the 2017 AIBAs) or something else entirely. You can take home growlers and squealers from the brewery and, before the end of 2017, you will be able to find Ballistic beers in cans at good beer stockists too.

Yet, while the Ballistic team goes to painstaking lengths to use the best processes and produce the best beer it can, at the end of the day, they shrug and say: “Most people just want a place where they can get a good beer.”

And Ballistic sure fits the bill.

Mick Wust

Name
Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury
Address

53 McCarthy Road
Salisbury
QLD 4107

Open Hours

Thursday: 4pm to 7pm
Friday: 3.30pm to 10pm
Saturday: 1pm to 10pm
Sunday: 1pm to 7pm


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

The Specials

Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze Hazy DIPA
Ballistic Beer SWYD Double IPL
Ballistic & Stone Brewing Neighbourhood Golden IPA
Ballistic & Pasteur Steet Neighbourhood Mandarin IPA & Twang Guava & Passionfruit Sour
Ballistic Beer Co After 5
Ballistic Easy Stout, Grandfather Oaked Ale & Tropical Imperial Stout
Ballistic Neighbourhood Cold IPA & SWYD Triple IPA
Ballistic Coup de Grâce Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2022)
Ballistic Peach Iced Tea Twang Sour & SWYD Trans-Tasman West Coast DIPA
Ballistic Beer Idaho Gem Hazy & West Coast IPAs
Ballistic Beer Sleep When You’re Dead: Juicy Double IPA
Show 46 more

Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury Regulars

Ballistic Beer Keepin' It Low Cal Ginger Beer

Published November 20, 2022
Like ginger beer? Like mid-strength drinks? Like low sugar? You’re in the right place. Ballistic’s Keepin’ It Low Cal Ginger Beer is exactly what it sounds like: a ginger beer that the brewery is touting as being low in calories and carbs. In their words, “over 60 percent less carbs & sugar compared to other mainstream alcoholic ginger beers.” It’s got a tidy sweetness and a kick of spice from Buderim ginger, and each tinnie comes in at less than a standard drink. Note this is the… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
3.5%
Bitterness
8 IBU

Ballistic Beer Low Ha

Published August 9, 2021
Do not drink this beer as marathon prep. It only contains 2.2g of carbs. That means you’d have to drink five Low Has to get the same amount of carbs as in a full carb beer or a slice of white bread, or twenty-nine to get the same carbs as a large Macca's fries. And you should never drink twenty-nine beers in a sitting. That’s a terrible idea for so many reasons. Honestly, you probably wouldn’t want to buy more than 24 of these at a time and even then you’d want to share them around. A couple… Read more
Style
Low Carb Pale
ABV
4.0%

Ballistic Beer Reef Pale & Reef Lager

Published July 30, 2021
You can’t spell REFRESHING without R-E-E-F. (And R-I-N-S-H, I suppose). Since expanding up north earlier this year, Ballistic haven’t wasted any time getting in and helping out - they’ve recently released Reef Pale and Reef Lager to support conservation and restoration efforts along the Great Barrier Reef. For every can of Reef Pale and Reef Lager sold at Ballistic Whitsundays, Ballistic is donating 10c to Eco Barge Clean Seas, who will use the funds to feed and medicate sick and injured turtles… Read more
Style
Pale Ale & Lager
ABV
Both 4.2%

Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze IPA

Published March 4, 2021
Hawaiian Haze - now with more Hawaiian shirt! With their DDH pale ale coming in at number six in the 2020 GABS Hottest 100, Ballistic have listened to their adoring public and brought them more Hawaiian Haze, this time in IPA form. This double dry-hopped hazy has held onto Mosaic and Pacific hops but brought in Azacca and Eclipse to boost the citrus side of things, while Verdant IPA yeast amps up the tropical aromas like adding a $2 lei helps complete the outfit just so. And, as siblings in a family… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Cold One

Published August 14, 2020
When a beer is simply named Cold One, it’s looking to play a very simple role. And so it’s tempting to give it a simple description: “tastes like a beer”. But that wouldn’t give credit to the work that’s gone into making this beer what it is. Ballistic’s original mid-strength core beer Pilot Light has had a full makeover to create this, with the hop bill, mash schedule, and even water profile getting loads of attention. The hops bring light fruitiness while the wheat and oats make for… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Pale Ale
ABV
3.5%

Ballistic Beer Pale (2020 onwards)

Published June 3, 2020
Some pale ales are a wolf in sheep’s clothing - or rather, an IPA in pale ale’s clothing. And some pale ales do exactly what they say on the can. Ballistic’s core pale is the latter. It pours a light gold bordering on sappy orange, coincidentally matching the orange colour of the text on the label. Ballistic have packed a respectable amount of fresh hop character into a modest 4.6 percent ABV, with a blend of tropical, citrus and spice in the aroma. Once it hits the tongue, it’s hard to tell… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.6%
Stockists

For more on the new core range head here

Ballistic Beer IPA

Published June 3, 2020
When it comes to limited releases, Ballistic put out hoppy beers aplenty - juice boxes, haze bombs, and bitter beasts. Between pale ales, IPAs and hopped-up variations of just about any style you could hope for, Ballistic have hops coming out the wazoo, often accompanied by higher ABVs. When it comes to their core range, however, Ballistic focuses on sessionability and wallet-friendly prices for punters. Which means their IPA isn’t the biggest and baddest in town; it’s more like that buddy you… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

For more on the new core range head here

Ballistic Beer Lager

Published June 3, 2020
This is for anyone who enjoys a beer cleaner than your grandma's pride and joy china cabinet. Ballistic’s core range Lager is a no fuss German-style pilsner, drinking crisp with a healthy bitterness throughout. It’s straw gold, clear as a crystal ball, and tastes like chewing on soft bread fresh from the oven. The brewers put in a tonne of effort behind the scenes to make sure you don’t have to put in any effort when you drink it. Both the clean white labels and the clean finish on the palate… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.4%
Stockists

For more on the new core range head here

Ballistic Beer Co Brewunity

Published May 26, 2020
The hands of fate work with a creativity we mere mortals could never match. In 2019, brewers across Australia started playing with kveik, the fast-fermenting yeast that Norwegian homebrewers have been using for centuries. In 2020, COVID-19 threatened our economic security but by no means took away our desire for delicious beer. From these two completely unrelated phenomena, Brewunity was born. When the novel coronavirus sent Australia into lockdown, the team at Ballistic predicted people would be… Read more
Style
Aussie Pale Ale
ABV
4.0%

Ballistic Beer Co Hawaiian Haze Pale Ale

Published November 5, 2019
The uniform worn by most brewers is black or navy blue - the kinds of colours that hide the myriad spills and splats and splashes they face on a daily basis. The uniform of Ballistic’s brewers? Loud Hawaiian shirts in garish colours. And now Ballistic have put the fun spirit of those shirts into a beer (and onto the label of the can) with the Hawaiian Haze DDH Pale Ale. They’ve jammed in enough US and NZ hops – El Dorado, Rakau, Pacifica and Mosaic – to obscure any light trying to squeeze… Read more
Style
DDH Pale Ale
ABV
4.8%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Oaked XPA

Published October 29, 2019
The past few years have seen the introduction and subsequent rapid rise of XPAs within the Australian beer market. But while "XPA" is only a young style, it’s already undergone the treatment that Australians notoriously give to everything: “Let’s mess around with it and see what happens.” So, when Ballistic decided to brew an XPA, they chose to give it a clear hop profile of Citra (with some Magnum for bittering) and to ferment it on toasted American oak chips. In doing so, they’ve… Read more
Style
Oaked XPA
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
50 IBU
Stockists

For more on the new core range head here

Ballistic Beer Co Salisbury Specials

Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze Hazy DIPA

Published January 6, 2023
In 2021, Ballistic brewed an imperial version of their Hawaiian Haze for Beer Cartel’s Canvent calendar. It was so loved by punters Ballistic decided to bring it back in 2022 for a wider audience. This beer smells like a hop factory and it’s beautiful. (In my mind, a hop factory is full of tiny elves attaching each petal onto each hop before piping the lupulin in.) After I tasted this beer, I had a look at the tasting notes on the Ballistic website and it felt like Multiverse Mick wrote them.… Read more
Style
Hazy DIPA
ABV
7.7%
Bitterness
40 IBU

Ballistic Beer SWYD Double IPL

Published November 28, 2022
Beer nomenclature is a funny thing. There are some beers that a brewer could name as one of two different styles without changing any ingredients. Ballistic started off referring to their latest Sleep When You’re Dead beer as an imperial New Zealand pilsner – which it is – but ended up labelling it as a double India pale lager – which is also fitting. Personally, I think it’s a good change, simply because it captures the vibe of the beer better. For all their flavour, NZ pilsners are generally… Read more
Style
Double IPL
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Ballistic & Stone Brewing Neighbourhood Golden IPA

Published November 24, 2022
There are so many good, fresh local beers around that I can’t remember the last time I had a beer from the US. Which means I haven't had an IPA from Stone Brewing in probably four or five years. But this collab between Ballistic and Stone captures that brutal San Diego spirit that Stone injects into each of its beers. The label shows the Stone gargoyle protecting a house from an angry swarm of demon hops, but I suppose those hops had to go somewhere, and they all made their way into this brew.… Read more
Style
Golden IPA
ABV
8.5%
Bitterness
80 IBU

Ballistic & Pasteur Steet Neighbourhood Mandarin IPA & Twang Guava & Passionfruit Sour

Published November 18, 2022
It’s a fruity time at Ballistic at the moment. The second in their Neighbourhood series of international collaborations, Mandarin IPA is the joint effort of Ballistic and Vietnam’s Pasteur Street Brewing. Since the crew at Pasteur Street are known for adding ingredients that showcase the agricultural and culinary traditions of Vietnam – and have shown their love of citrus with the bangin’ Pomelo IPA – the two breweries decided to work together to make a West Coast IPA with mandarin. It’s… Read more
Style
Mandarin IPA & Fruit Sour
ABV
6.5% & 4.6%
Bitterness
55 & 5 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co After 5

Published September 25, 2022
After 5 Brew is a collaboration between Ballistic Beer and the Australian tour of 9 to 5 The Musical. Which means I really had no choice about how to write up this ginger beer… Doing my job just writin’ ‘bout brewskis, Boss ain’t the only one I’m working to please, There’s also a horde of punters who read along. Ballistic delivers some ginger beer to taste I throw it in the fridge to chill it down post haste So I can tell you ‘bout it with this song… Drinking 9 to 5 in the evening… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
3.5%

Ballistic Easy Stout, Grandfather Oaked Ale & Tropical Imperial Stout

Published July 1, 2022
Clearly they're embracing winter at Ballistic, with a trio of warming beers arriving in quick succession. When it comes to Easy Stout, the brewers have certainly delivered with this one. A session stout with a seven-part malt bill for a layered drinking experience, including oatmeal to provide decent body. It’s not at all thin, weak, or one-dimensional; there’s a gentle roastiness (or a roasty gentleness?), a wave of unlit cigar, and enough coffee and spice to add depth. And yet it lives up… Read more
Style
Stout, Old Ale & Imperial Stout
ABV
4.5%, 7.0% & 10.0%
Bitterness
25, 35 & 48 IBU

Ballistic Neighbourhood Cold IPA & SWYD Triple IPA

Published July 1, 2022
“Welcome to the neighbourhood!” You might expect this kind of greeting from a Ned Flanders-type character, but the first entry in Ballistic’s Neighbourhood Collab Series greets you with a hellish alien monstrosity. (Though for all its terrifying ugliness, it seems to be quite harmlessly hanging out on the rooftop, reminding me of the aliens from my favourite scene in Men In Black.) This series is a chance for the brewers at Ballistic to collaborate with international brewers, and its opening… Read more
Style
Cold IPA & Triple IPA
ABV
7.0% & 10.0%
Bitterness
37 & 100 IBU

Ballistic Coup de Grâce Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2022)

Published July 1, 2022
Well, Ballistic. You’ve bloody done it again. Yes, I expected good things from another year of Coup de Grâce, this one aged for seven months in a mix of rum, bourbon and shiraz barrels before being blended back together. But there’s just… so much going on here. And every single bit of it is delightful. It’s chocolate truffles filled with chocolate praline. It’s clusters of sticky sweet muscatel grapes, dried still on the stem. It’s caramel sauce made with burnt brown sugar. It’s mocha… Read more
Style
Imperial Stout
ABV
11.0%
Bitterness
75 IBU

Ballistic Peach Iced Tea Twang Sour & SWYD Trans-Tasman West Coast DIPA

Published March 7, 2022
The abundance of stonefruit in the shops may be ebbing, but there’s stonefruit aplenty in these two releases from Ballistic. The first is the more obvious, as it actually contains peach. Peach Iced Tea Twang Sour isn’t your one-note Lipton Iced Tea from a bottle, but more of a homemade iced tea poured from a jug sitting on the lace tablecloth. It’s fragrant with peach and apricot blossom, but with that natural, freshly-harvested vibe, like when you buy a 10kg box of stonefruit at the farmer’s… Read more
Style
Iced Tea Sour & West Coast DIPA
ABV
4.6% & 8.9%
Bitterness
5 & 90 IBU

Ballistic Beer Idaho Gem Hazy & West Coast IPAs

Published February 4, 2022
I’m an opinionated person, so I’m not usually one to tiptoe around, issuing disclaimers. But I want to begin this write-up by playing the "taste is subjective" card. I do this because this is my first experience with Idaho Gem hops – and it’s in two different single hop IPAs, which is an ideal way to sample a new hop variety – and I’m not picking up the described flavours. It’s worth pointing out that Idaho Gem is a bit of a rarity in today’s beer scene. Rather than being… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPAs
ABV
Both 6.0%
Bitterness
35 & 65 IBU

Ballistic Beer Sleep When You’re Dead: Juicy Double IPA

Published August 5, 2021
How would you describe a cat to someone who had never seen one, but had only seen dogs? Think about it for a moment. If you’re anything like me, you’d basically just compare them to dogs and point out the differences. And then if you asked them to draw one, they’d draw a picture of a very catty dog. Using this ridiculous scenario as a point of reference, hear me out: this beer is like a West Coast IPA made by someone who’d only ever had hazies, but had had West Coast IPAs described to them. “They’re… Read more
Style
Hazy IIPA
ABV
8.0%

Ballistic Beer Sleep When You’re Dead: Black IPA

Published May 26, 2021
The number thirteen may be unlucky for some, but not for Ballistic Beer - the 13th beer in their Sleep When You’re Dead series is a tasty example of a style that’s largely fallen out of favour. It brings together the Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial, Chinook and Warrior hops, pairs them with a trio of malts, and lets the smooth chaos of flavours begin. Espresso cut with a slice of lemon peel, a grapefruit cooked in the coals of a fire, sticky resin embedded with roast malt, blanketing your tongue in… Read more
Style
Black IPA
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
75 IBU
Stockists

National stockists are available here

Ballistic Beer Black Forest Birthday Cake Stout

Published March 6, 2021
Ballistic Beer Co is one brand that’s grown to three locations over five years, with an abundance of excellent beers and countless satisfied customers. That’s worth celebrating. For their fifth birthday, the Ballistic team have made themselves a cake: a Black Forest Birthday Cake Stout that promises decadence all the way down, from the description to the can design. But does it do what it says on the label? I poured my friend a glass of this beer and handed it to him without telling him what… Read more
Style
Black Forest Stout
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
12 IBU

Ballistic Beer Sleep When You're Dead: West Coast IPA

Published February 11, 2021
Before the haze craze began, IPAs were supposed to be bitter. But there was still always the question of balance: what’s a good balance between bitterness and other flavours? An experienced brewer once told me his rule of thumb for balance was 10 bitterness units (IBUs) for each percent of ABV, so the malt body and sweetness and alcohol heft was always sufficient to keep the bitterness in check. While that's just one brewer’s opinion, and taste is subjective and all that jazz, I'd say this beer… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
75 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Hazy DIPA

Published December 13, 2020
Ballistic’s Sleep When You're Dead range returns as 2020 ends as an iron fist in a velvet glove (with the brawny robot on the label clearly the owner of said iron fist). It doesn’t let you forget it’s a bruiser, offering up enough alcohol heat to remind you of its potency. But the booze doesn’t get in the way of it being juicy and creamy and smooth. While the NZ hop varieties Nelson Sauvin, Motueka and Riwaka might ordinarily flood the senses with citrus if left to their own devices, their… Read more
Style
Hazy DIPA
ABV
9.5%

Big Shed & Ballistic Beer Oaked Guava Double IPA

Published November 2, 2020
For many months now, collaborations with interstate breweries have been difficult, or at least different to pre-pandemic days, with fun days in the brewery typically replaced by emails or video calls so recipes can be finalised ready for a lone brewery brew day. However, as soon as COVID-19 restrictions lifted between SA and Queensland, Big Shed and Ballistic jumped at the chance to collaborate face to face. In doing so, they started with a crowd favourite – Ballistic's excellent Oaked XPA –… Read more
Style
Oaked Guava Double IPA
ABV
8.0%

Ballistic Beer Bru-1 West Coast & Hazy IPAs

Published October 9, 2020
Ballistic have been making single hop IPAs since right back when they were still in their brewers’ nappies (please forgive that awful, awful mental image) – this video gives a bit of background into their single hop series. Now, three years in, when they decided to make a Bru-1 entrant in the series, they saw the potential of not only brewing a SHIPA on their standard West Coast base, but also brewing a hazy variant to see how the hop plays with different sub-styles of IPA. An experimental adventure… Read more
Style
Single Hop West Coast & Hazy IPAs
ABV
6.1% & 5.9%

Ballistic Beer Co Coup de Grâce Imperial Stout

Published August 14, 2020
When Ballistic named this Coup de Grâce, were they referring to it being the finishing blow for an evening? Or were they leaning more into the literal translation, "stroke of grace", and referring to the dignity and distinction of the complex flavours within? You can decide for yourself – if you can get your hands on one of the 2,200 bottles, individually numbered and hand-dipped in wax. Coup de Grâce is Ballistic’s first barrel-aged release (and they promise many more to come), and… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
13.9%

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Red IPA

Published May 26, 2020
When Ballistic brought a double IPA into the Sleep When You’re Dead series, it was a punchy thing, advertised as such by the character on the label. But this Red DIPA is a more subtle creature, making the TNT-wielding cowboy on the label a little deceptive. Don’t get me wrong - there’s a heap of complex flavour here (thanks to five different malts and four hop varieties). But the long fuse may let this explosive beer sneak past your defences. The SWYD Red DIPA sparkles like a dark ruby in the… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
8.4%

Ballistic & Carwyn Cellars & Brewski Raspberry Sour & Sweet Stout

Published March 2, 2020
Dear people who are better at maths, logic, or philosophy than I am: help me out here. Ballistic made two new beers. They’re designed to combine into one beer. So technically they’ve made three beers. But since they encourage experimenting with different blends, have they actually made infinite beers? DID BALLISTIC JUST INVENT INFINITE BEERS?? If your brain is hurting as much as mine is, rest assured - I’ll tell you the best combination at the end of this, so you can ignore Ballistic’s fast… Read more
Style
Raspberry Sour & Sweet Stout
ABV
Both 4.5%
Stockists

And Ballistic stockists nationwide

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Modern TDH IPA

Published February 17, 2020
Have you ever run into someone you haven’t seen since you were in primary school? The shock at how much they’ve changed is perhaps only matched by the surprise at how familiar they are. Memory is a funny thing. I sometimes forget how much flavours and beer styles and trends evolve. I forget that my expectations change. I forget that what’s normal now wasn’t always the norm, and flavours that used to be familiar to me haven’t crossed my palate in quite some time. Modern TDH IPA, the latest… Read more
Style
TDH IPA
ABV
7.2%
Bitterness
64 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Twang White Peach & Cold One

Published January 28, 2020
Come on, Ballistic. It’s been a stinker of a summer. And you held out on us until mid-January to release these? Don’t drink Twang White Peach Sour when you’re after a sour. Drink it when you’re after all the refreshingness a person can fit in a can. While there’s some cloudiness in the appearance, there’s nothing but clarity in the flavour. It tastes cleaner than clean - think filtered water compared to tap water - with mild sour and gentle peach, like a peach iced tea that wasn’t flooded… Read more
Style
Fruit Sour & Aussie Pale
ABV
4.6% & 4.5%
Stockists

Ballistic Salisbury

And good Ballistic stockists

Ballistic Springfield Pilsner – SUPERSEDED

Published January 5, 2020
Ballistic Beer owner David Kitchen is determined for each Ballistic venue to be a “third place” – a venue where people feel a real sense of belonging. So, when Ballistic opened their Springfield brewpub, they didn’t just give the locals a watering hole to call their own – they gave them a beer to call their own. Springfield Pilsner is a no fuss beer, drinking crisp with a healthy bitterness throughout. The brewers put in a tonne of effort behind the scenes to make sure you don’t have… Read more
Style
Pilsner
ABV
4.5%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Merry Berry Twang

Published December 16, 2019
Twang the night before Christmas, no creature did rouse When Father Ballistic arrived at the house. His job, as you know, is to bring Christmas cheer, So he stood on the roof with a sack full of beer. No fire was burning for evening was warm, All humid and stuffy, all ready to storm. So right down the chimney the old man did scurry, Then straight to the fridge he went in a hurry. He opened the door, reached into his sack Then pulled out a shiny and festive four-pack. He placed this fine gift… Read more
Style
Berry Sour
ABV
4.6%

Ballistic Beer Co Follow Your Passion Brut IPA

Published December 12, 2019
“In honour of my daughter and all students graduating this year. As you go out and make your mark on the world, be true to yourself and follow your passion.” - David Kitchen, founder of Ballistic. The Aussie beer industry generally doesn’t take itself too seriously, often turning to jokes and puns and parodies for beer designs. But once in a while someone introduces some sentimentality. Ballistic founder David Kitchen has just watched his daughter graduate from university, and so the brewery… Read more
Style
Passionfruit Brut IPA
ABV
5.9%
Bitterness
25 IBU
Stockists

And other Ballistic stockists

Ballistic Beer Co Red Papaya Twang

Published November 5, 2019
When we wrote up the original Twang from Ballistic, I made a reference to Wile E Coyote being shot from a giant bow. Now that Twang Red Papaya is here, I can’t stop thinking of Daffy Duck dressed as Robin Hood and tripping down a hill into a pond. Each beer in the Twang series bears a broken guitar on the label; a red papaya cut in half lengthways (as any image search of red papaya will show) looks a little like said guitar, but perhaps more like one of the guitar’s stringed ancestors: a mandolin… Read more
Style
Fruit Sour
ABV
4.6%

Ballistic Beer Co Nelson Sauvin IPA

Published October 29, 2019
People say the parallel lines of vineyards make for a pleasant view, but I’ll take rows of hop bines over grape vines any day, and I guess the folk at Ballistic think the same way too. They’ve given a facelift to their series of Single Hop IPAs, with the tinnie labels now showing a hop bomb dropping between rows of rising hops. The series is designed to help you recognise and appreciate the nuances and characters of one particular hop at a time… but, if we’re being honest, we mostly just… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.1%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Hazy IPA

Published October 10, 2019
Ballistic’s New England IPA was probably the beer that made people pay attention to their Sleep When You’re Dead series more than any other, and this Hazy IPA is closer to the NEIPA than some of the other styles they’ve toyed with. Like the NEIPA, it was born after the brewers came back from a “work” trip to the USA all re-invigorated and inspired to make hazy beers as good as those from the East Coast. And like the NEIPA: keep it cold, drink it fresh, and it will reward you richly. This… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
33 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Mulberry Twang

Published October 2, 2019
Ballistic’s Twang series started with one limited release - Twang Tropical Sour - but since that beer’s popularity sparked the series, it seems there’s always some version of the sour smasher floating around. Whether it’s dry-hopped with a combination of hop varieties, or includes additions like hibiscus and feijoa, Twang has become more or less a staple in the brewery’s seasonal rotation. The latest kettle sour comes with the addition of mulberries. If your childhood was anything like… Read more
Style
Mulberry Sour
ABV
4.6%

Ballistic & Deep Creek Hybrid IPA

Published September 19, 2019
If we want to know what to expect from this beer, where should we look? It’s called a Hybrid IPA, with “the grit and bitterness of a West Coast IPA” and an "East Coast style dry-hopping schedule”. Well, if we look halfway between West Coast USA and East Coast USA, you’re landed smack bang in the middle of America. Nebraska, perhaps? Or Iowa, or the Dakotas? Nowhere particularly renowned for their IPAs, anyway. Or, since this is a collaboration between Brisbane’s Ballistic Beer and… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.4%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Ex-IPA HBC 472

Published September 10, 2019
Hot on the heels of telling the world they're to start work on a third venue, Brisbane’s Ballistic have another new – and experimental – release hitting taps and fridges. It's one that could be said to encapsulate much of what's helped them enjoy such a successful start to life too, one that's been based upon a solid core range, a delightful series of single hop IPAs and their unique oaked ale beers. Because here you have a beer that combines elements of those in a unique, slightly odd, but… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.2%
Stockists

Ballistic Brewery

And good beer outlets where you find Ballistic beers

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Nordic IPA

Published July 31, 2019
The majority of the beers in Ballistic’s Sleep When You’re Dead series have been about the hops, the whole hops, and nothing but the hops. But, as with the India Brown Ale, one of the first SWYD beers, the Nordic IPA expects the hops to share the spotlight. Not so much with the malt this time, but with the yeast - Nordic IPA is made with kveik, which we’ve written about, and which brewers around the country are experimenting with. It’s difficult to know exactly which aromas and flavours are… Read more
Style
Kveik IPA
ABV
7.4%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic & Collective Arts Down Time Down Under

Published July 31, 2019
Although they’re heavier than traditional summer smashers - crisp lagers, fruit sours, pale ales [Are fruit sours already traditional? That happened fast! – Editor] - fruity IPAs still feel like a summer beer. Good thing for Ballistic that Queensland winter’s as sunny as summer in most of the world. Down Time Down Under was made in collaboration with Collective Arts for the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival, and bears a road trip themed label like the others in the series - it’s essentially… Read more
Style
Mandarin IPA
ABV
6.1%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co & Hop Nation Madden's Curse

Published March 28, 2019
Madden NFL is an American football video game that’s stuck around for more than 30 years and, since the 90s, it’s believed to have been the source of one of sport’s great curses. Before 1998, the covers of each release always featured a photo of legendary NFL coach and commentator John Madden. After that date, different players featured and, supposedly, it’s around that time the Madden Curse began. While it could be considered a great honour to appear on a video game cover - and the players… Read more
Style
Mango Milkshake IPA
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
19 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co SHIPA: Simcoe

Published March 15, 2019
Having worked its way through the likes of Centennial, El Dorado, Enigma and the somewhat more exotic Pekko and Fortnight, Ballistic Brewing Co’s ongoing Single Hop IPA series has worked its way around to West Coast IPA workhorse Simcoe. On the nose the Simcoe SHIPA is vaguely citrusy and (significantly less vaguely) very hoppy, with a hint of fruitiness somewhere in the vicinity of apricot. In the mouth – the best way to experience a beer, in my personal opinion – is a pleasantly light level… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.4%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Grapefruit IPA

Published December 23, 2018
The last Sleep When You’re Dead release for 2018 is a Grapefruit IPA, the same style that captured the hearts of many with Ballast Point’s Grapefruit Sculpin and BrewDog’s Elvis Juice. When the brewing crew at Ballistic put the first of 400 grapefruits through their electric zester… the machine broke. A few days, 400 grapefruits and countless hand cramps later, they can now boast that "hand-zested grapefruits" were used in the IPA. But, where many citrus IPAs showcase the fruit… Read more
Style
Grapefruit IPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co El Dorado Single hop IPA

Published December 5, 2018
Mum always brought fruit salad to summer barbecues. Bringing a four-pack of El Dorado SHIPAs is practically the same thing, right? While it’s labelled as a West Coast style IPA, this one’s at the gentler end of Ballistic’s SHIPA (single hop IPA) offerings to date. It offers up pineapple and pawpaw on the nose, but the flavours tend more towards mango and bright, fresh watermelon. A low malt body gives the El Dorado more quaffability than its brothers, which works well for a summer release.… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic & Bintani Signature ExPA

Published November 13, 2018
When we’ve gone a while without a beer, we talk about being parched and breaking the drought. But here’s a beer that really aims to help with drought. Ballistic Beer is an Australian brewery. Bintani is an Australian grain supplier. They both know the importance of Australian agriculture, and they’re both keen to help out rural communities and struggling farmers when the going’s tough. That’s why Mitch Bradey from Bintani and Lachy Crothers from Ballistic got together to brew the Signature… Read more
Style
Single Malt XPA
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
32 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Hazy IPL

Published November 13, 2018
Ballistic is comfortable with lagers. They proudly hold a craft lager in their core lineup. They call it Dirty Word, and push back against the idea that lager is a dirty word. Their head brewer will tell anyone who listens that a clean, well-made, true-to-style lager is one of his favourite things to drink. So it’s fun to see that they’re also happy to take a lager and boldly throw a bazillion hops in it until it’s almost unrecognisable as a lager. They used apple puree in the boil to provide… Read more
Style
Hazy IPL
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
19 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Twang Tropical Sour

Published November 13, 2018
Twang is a sound: the snap of a guitar string, the spring of a diving board, the shock of Wile E Coyote being shot from a giant bow. Twang is a sound… so how does it so perfectly describe the taste of this beer?? This tropical kettle sour is super light yellow and slightly cloudy, with plenty of hop presence on the nose thanks to the Galaxy, Wakatu and Citra. Take a sip, and experience citrus… with a twang. Passionfruit… with a twang. Mango, peach, apricot… with a twang. It could also be… Read more
Style
Tropical Sour
ABV
4.6%
Bitterness
10 IBU

Ballistic & The Dutch Trading Co Imperial Table Beer

Published October 18, 2018
What happens when a top Brisbane brewery and a top Perth venue have a baby? Ballistic’s head brewer Lachy Crothers grew up in Western Australia and, like most people who moved away from their hometown, he still gets nostalgic for the old country. So it was a treat for Lachy when his mate Joel Beresford made the trip from Perth to Brisbane to brew a beer with him. Joel’s the co-owner and director of The Dutch Trading Co, a 26 tap craft beer venue that won Australia’s Best Beer Venue in the 2018… Read more
Style
Farmhouse Ale
ABV
7.0%

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep When You're Dead Double IPA

Published September 30, 2018
You’ve heard of punchy IPAs. Prepare to meet the punchiest. This entry in Ballistic’s "Sleep When You’re Dead" series – 100 percent cold shipped, hoppy beers with an eight week Dead By date, which you can read about here – is an 8.3 percent ABV double IPA, armed with Columbus, Simcoe and Citra hops. The artwork on the label is of a robot outfitted as a London gangster, Peaky Blinders style, rubbing its fist to show it’s ready to brawl with anyone who dares accept the challenge.… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.3%
Bitterness
100 IBU
Stockists

The only keg to make it to Victoria is being tapped at Whitehart Bar on October 5

Ballistic Beer Co El Calavera Mexican Stout

Published July 27, 2018
Most of us bring things back when we go on holiday. Some people bring back souvenir shot glasses for friends. Some people bring back weird decorative things only to discover they don’t fit the style of their home at all. Ballistic’s head brewer Lachy Crothers went to Mexico and brought back a love of spicy hot chocolate and the seed of an idea for a new stout. While Ballistic’s El Calavera is is in a similar vein to Stone Brewing’s Xocoveza, it’s less of an intense mouth explosion, more… Read more
Style
Mexican Stout
ABV
6.8%

Ballistic Beer Co India Brown Ale

Published June 5, 2018
In a similar vein to Stone’s "Enjoy By" series, Ballistic’s "Sleep When You’re Dead" range is all about hoppy beers that don’t get the chance to lose their freshness. They’re packed full of hops, then cold shipped and sold in a hurry. Instead of having a BEST BEFORE date, they’re stamped with a DEAD BY date – only eight weeks after being packaged. The second in the series is their India Brown Ale, a rich brown brew heavily loaded with Magnum, Centennial, Columbus… Read more
Style
India Brown Ale
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Centennial Single Hop IPA

Published June 5, 2018
Another day, another single hop IPA from Ballistic. After introducing us to Fortnight and Pekko unencumbered by any additional hops, this time they’ve gone with a more familiar variety: Centennial. The aroma is big and bright, enveloping you in an intoxicating fragrance of super ripe fruit and fruit blossoms, like you’re walking through an orchard. Those floral notes fade into the background as you sip, replaced with sweet lemon peel characters and a little resiny pine. After such upfront hop… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Revelation IPA – SUPERSEDED

Published June 1, 2018
With so many taps to play with, chances are you'll have a few IPAs to pick from when you call in to Ballistic's home. One that's always there is one of the beers with which they launched: Australian Psycho, albeit going by the name Revelation IPA since early 2019 in recognition of the connotations the original title can have with regard to mental health. Like the West Coast US IPAs it's inspired by, it's all about delivering as much in the way of hop aroma, flavour and bitterness without letting… Read more
Style
Australian IPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
70 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Dirty Word – SUPERSEDED

Published June 1, 2018
For some years, there's been talk about a revival of lagers and pilsners within the craft beer world. One of the driving forces behind the rise of the industry was a desire to rebel against and offer alternatives to the mainstream pale lagers that had a stranglehold on the world. Now that an alternative was becoming established, the argument went, there was less need to rebel and, actually, well made pale lagers (think the helles of Munich or the pilsners of Bohemia) were pretty bloody delicious… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Putin's Revenge

Published May 17, 2018
When it comes to making superb beers, you can always count on Ballistic to Putin the effort. (Oh God, he went there...) Released at the launch of Ballistic Beer’s new alehouse in West End, Putin’s Revenge is a force to be reckoned with. The dense, creamy head is so inviting… but will betray you with a foam moustache. The sweet raisin notes, the warm cocoa and the subtle vanilla from the American oak are all so smooth… but there’s also a coffee bitterness there to keep you in check. The… Read more
Style
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
8.2%

Ballistic & 3 Ravens Dick Tracy's Robust Red Ale

Published April 27, 2018
The year was 2011. Three fellas called Brendan, Lachy and Darcy had more time on their hands than a clockmaker. They brewed a beer together like witches over a cauldron: a hoppy red ale. And they’ve been thinking about it ever since. Waiting for the day they’d brew it again. Waiting for Brendan and Lachy to become head brewers. Waiting 'til now. It poured into my glass red as a ruby and twice as precious. The smell of citrus and toffee filled my nose like Johnnies and Janes fill a speakeasy.… Read more
Style
Red Ale
ABV
5.6%

Ballistic Beer Co Pekko Single Hop IPA

Published March 21, 2018
Before Ballistic released its Fortnight Single Hop IPA, few among us had even heard of Fortnight hops, a blend made in the US for Victorian brewery supplier Bintani. We were all impressed by how cutting edge Ballistic was and now they’ve released the Pekko Single Hop IPA, some of us are wondering if they’re just inventing new varieties of hops in their back shed. The Pekko IPA isn’t a slap-you-in-the-face IPA. It’s clean and refreshing, offering up herbaceous, almost grassy aromas, with hints… Read more
Style
SIngle Hop IPA
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Tropical Pale Ale & Toasted Munich Lager & Oaked Citra XPA

Published March 15, 2018
Why write about one Ballistic beer when you can deliver three? Such is the rate at which Lachy Crothers and co are firing out new releases these days, you're getting three chapters for the price of one this time around, starting with the most recent. When Ballistic opened with a core range of six beers, it was a little surprising to see that Pale Ale wasn’t one of them. It’s an unusual move in the current beer climate for a brewery to go their entire first year without brewing a pale ale, but… Read more
Style
Pale / Lager / Oaked XPA
ABV
4.5% / 6.0% / 5.8%
Bitterness
25 / 20 / 50 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co The Ride Red IPA

Published March 13, 2018
For Brewsvegas 2018, three brewers on the south side of Brisbane (Ballistic, Slipstream and Helios) decided they would each brew a beer – with a few rules. The beer would be between 4.5 and 6.5 percent ABV; it would use at least 90 percent Munich malt; and it would include at least 75 percent Loral hops, a relatively new variety that combines elements of both New and Old World hop characteristics. In the case of Ballistic, they took that brief and made an American style red IPA that’d catch people… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
6.3%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Ouroboros Oatmeal Stout

Published March 10, 2018
An ouroboros is a symbol of a snake eating its own tail. In various philosophies, it represents such things as self-sufficiency, completeness, eternity, the beginning and the end… which could all get quite abstract and lead you towards an existential crisis. But, when you drink this Ouroboros, they all somehow make sense and you know that everything’s going to be OK. Brewed by Ballistic in collaboration with the The Brisbane Brewing Club, this beer will have you wondering if you’re drinking… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
38 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Pale Ale – SUPERSEDED

Published January 13, 2018
Since launching in 2017, Ballistic's brewers have put plenty of different beers through the taps of their venue and, more recently, into cans too. There have been IPAs, lagers, oaked beers, dark beers but, until now, no appearance for the beer style that's one of the staples of the beer world: pale ale. But, as part of the Salisbury brewery's first birthday carnival, such a beer has made its debut appearance. Ballistic's Pale Ale combines a quartet of classic and newer hop varieties – Magnum, Ekuanot,… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
5.2%
Bitterness
40 IBU

Ballistic & Dainton Sleep When You're Dead White NEIPA

Published November 4, 2017
Will it ever end? (Hopefully never, cries the growing legion of hazy IPA fans that, as of this weekend, includes me mum.) Yes, time for another NEIPA and another one that comes with a twist. That is possesses the latter should come as little surprise as Dan Dainton is involved; the brewer of the current Champion Australian Craft Beer entered the NEIPA arena with a beer featuring rye and blood orange and here has joined forces with another critically acclaimed brewer, Lachy Crothers of Brisbane's… Read more
Style
White NEIPA
Stockists

Ballistic Beer Co Brewery Bar

Brisbane Brewing Co

And selected bars around Brisbane and SE Queensland

More stockists...

Ballistic Beer Co The Grandfather

Let's face it, an oak aged strong ale isn't the sort of beer you'd expect to find on a brewery's core range lineup – even in today's landscape. And, truth be told, even the brewer of The Grandfather didn't expect it to become part of his core range either. Created as a nod to his time living and brewing in the UK, Lachy Crothers set out to create a rarely seen (even in England) English style old ale. To the uninitiated, these are typically high in alcohol, richly malt driven and come with a deep,… Read more
Style
Oak Aged Old Ale
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Ballistic Beer Co Pilot Light – RETIRED

If you're serious about brewing commercially in Queensland, you're going to need a good mid-strength. And recent visits would suggest there are plenty of brewers in the state doing just that. Newstead has won trophies for its 3 Quarter Time Session Ale and Ballistic wasted no time in picking up a gold medal at the country's biggest beer awards for its Pilot Light, a beer they're tagging a "table beer" – a tradition from Belgium brought to contemporary Salisbury. Their translation bears… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Pale Ale
ABV
3.5%
Bitterness
25 IBU
Awards

AIBA 2017 – Gold