Eumundi Brewery (Lion/Kirin)

For a small town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Eumundi’s name is surprisingly well known. People come from far and wide for its massive twice-weekly markets, where vivid artworks, handcrafted textiles, sustainable goods and alternative remedies are available as far as the eye can see.

The artistic community thrives in the bohemian, stress-free vibe of Eumundi, and pours creativity into every square inch of the town. Natural beauty abounds in the immediate area in the form of towering eucalypt forests and pockets of rainforest, and yet it’s only a twenty minute drive to sprawling beaches.

Adding to its appeal, in 2017, a long-dormant facet of Eumundi’s reputation returned to the town, as the Eumundi Brewery was reborn after 25 years.

Eumundi Brewery’s life began in 1988 in the Imperial Hotel, but the rapid growth of Eumundi Lager saw the brand purchased by CUB and brewing moved offsite after just four years, leaving the brewery defunct. Brewing of Eumundi Lager ceased altogether in 2004, but current owner Lion resurrected the brewery in its spiritual home in a joint venture with the Imperial Hotel.

“Eumundi’s a unique place,” says head brewer Chris Sheehan. “There’s nowhere else like it, whether you live here or not. There’s a real creative sense here, and the people are free thinkers.”

With the financial backing of Lion, and the blessing of Brewmaster Chuck Hahn, Chris and his team went about bringing the heart of Eumundi Brewery back to Eumundi. They reached out to locals to provide artwork for the brewery and venue; they partnered with the hotel owners to tell the history of the local area, the hotel, the brewery, and the beer; and they gathered the brewers of the Sunshine Coast to network, help each other out, and join together to boost the profile of locally made beer. And, though there are plans to distribute farther than the local area, Chris sees the Eumundi and Sunshine Coast community as his first priority.

As for the beers themselves, the idea is to focus on lagers and pale ales – beers that suit the climate and lifestyle of the area. The focus on approachable styles is also an attempt to act as a welcome mat for people who may not have had much experience with beer.

In the way of core range, the brewery laid the foundation with a late-hopped Refreshing Lager, which is miles away from the Eumundi Lager of the 80s and 90s while keeping the spirit of an uncomplicated and relaxing drinking experience; alongside that is a mid-strength Australian pale ale that brings something extra to the usual passionfruit bomb.

Add to this a seasonal release every month or so, with the aim of introducing local fruits and botanicals to some of the brews – the Ginger Pale Ale, made with ginger grown just down the road, for example.

While the core range beers are packaged (the lager in stubbies, the pale ale in tinnies), there’s no better place to drink Eumundi’s brews than on-site at the Imperial Hotel Eumundi. For starters, the lager and pale ale taps are hooked up to serving tanks in the brewery; while the average punter may not see the tanks, or even know they’re there, Eumundi Brewery is keen for drinkers to taste the beer as fresh as it gets. Tasting the brewery’s range at the source also gives you access to a little bonus; the tasting “paddles” here are actually tasting logs, a hat tip to Eumundi’s past life as an old timber town.

The hotel itself adds a whole other dimension to the experience. It’s a good ol’ fashioned Queensland pub with a corrugated iron roof, a wraparound verandah looking over the leafy surrounds, and a host of fiercely loyal regulars. The Imperial looks, feels and smells like the past, which makes sense when you consider that it’s more than 100 years old. (Technically, it was originally built in 1911, only to burn down in 1926… but it was promptly rebuilt exactly the same. This town had no desire to live without a pub.)

Get a taste of history by drinking a lager on the breezy verandah, or inside the pub next to the gallery of photos and old Eumundi Brewery memorabilia. Or enjoy the quirkier side of Eumundi with a Pale Ale in the artsy beer garden, immersed in greenery and hand-painted murals.

It’s a new brewery that’s replacing an older brewery in an old pub that’s actually a newer version of an even older pub. It’s in a town that’s kind of rural, kind of in a forest, and kind of near the beach. Get a tasting paddle that isn’t a paddle, pick up your beer with ginger that isn’t a ginger beer, and, as Chuck would suggest, “slam it down slowly”.

Eumundi. There’s nowhere else like it.

Mick Wust

Name
Eumundi Brewery (Lion/Kirin)
Address

1 Etheridge Street
Eumundi
QLD 4562

Phone
(07) 5442 8811
Open Hours

10am to late

Tours

For info on brewery tours, head here


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

Eumundi Brewery (Lion/Kirin) Regulars

Eumundi Brewery Market Mist

Published January 16, 2023
I don’t know how the Eumundi markets got so famous; the little hinterland town is known far and wide for them. And, if you’ve been to the sprawling markets, let Market Mist take you back there for a relaxing stroll. Enjoy the golden glow and pretend it’s the morning sun filtering through the leaves above. Inhale the hop aroma like the sweet smell emanating from a juice tent as you walk past: the unmistakeable whiff of fresh fruit, even if no one fruit stands out above the others. Feel the tiny… Read more
Style
Hazy Pale
ABV
5.5%

Eumundi Brewery Ginger Beer

Published November 24, 2021
Eumundi and ginger. They go together like Fred and… Ginger. Eumundi Brewery have tinkered with ginger a few times, but now they’re bringing a sessionable ginger beer into their core lineup. Take a whiff and let the fragrant spice start the ginger experience before you’ve even had your first sip: that pleasing ginger heat that’s almost a gentle burn. But it’s not enough to slow you down when you start drinking. A balancing sweetness supports the spice without dominating it, and a healthy… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
4.0%

Eumundi Brewery Pale Ale

It’s not an original thought, but it’s worth saying every time it’s true: this is a mid-strength that doesn’t drink like a mid-strength. This Australian pale ale is a deep golden colour, almost with a tinge of rust, and its colour is a hint of what’s to come. Take a whiff, and you’ll notice that while the passionfruit and citrus from the Galaxy are present, they’re not the only feature as in many Aussie pale ales. The smell is cut through with a bit of resin, almost a touch of dankness,… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Pale Ale
ABV
3.5%

Eumundi Brewery Refreshing Lager

This beer follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, carrying on the legacy of Eumundi Lager of yesteryear. But to the delight of some drinkers (and the disgust of others), this isn’t the same beer. It’s made in the same place, but for a new generation, and with new ingredients. Eumundi’s Refreshing Lager uses all Australian ingredients, and immediately sets itself apart from many other lagers on the market with its slight haze and fruity aroma. All hop additions are late, with Aussie-grown… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.4%

Eumundi Brewery (Lion/Kirin) Specials

Eumundi Brewery Sparkling IPA with Raspberry

Published March 8, 2023
“Looks like a pink sparkling wine, tastes like a beer with raspberry.” Yep, nailed it. In the glass, this beer’s a florid hue with a head that bubbles and crackles away almost immediately, leaving the vibrant liquid to speak for itself. It’s interesting tasting a raspberry beer that isn’t a sour, since most are nowadays; there’s a touch of tartness from the raspberry itself, but without the lactic acid we’ve come to expect from raspberry beers. This makes it a little more grounded than… Read more
Style
Raspberry Brut IPA
ABV
6.0%

Eumundi Brewery Eu-Bundy Spiced Rum Lager

Published December 13, 2022
First there was Eu-Bundy IPA in 2020. Then there was Eu-Bundy Black Rum & Plum Christmas Pudding Ale in 2021. Now in 2022, Eu-Bundy Spiced Rum Lager has landed, and I reckon it’s nosed in front as the winner of the three. When I first cracked this collab between Eumundi Brewery and Bundaberg Rum, I took a sniff and assumed it was a Euro-style pilsner.* There was a sweetness (“From the malt, of course.”) and a spiciness (“That’ll be noble hops.”) that didn’t surprise me at all. But… Read more
Style
Spiced Rum Lager
ABV
5.0%

Eumundi Brewery Trinity Sour ft Pineapple, Ginger & Macadamia

Published November 17, 2022
In 2021, Eumundi ran a competition that asked people to come up with beer ideas that captured story and flavour combinations inspired by the Sunshine Coast. They then brewed the winning entrant’s beer, but that wasn’t the end of it. A recipe idea from Sunny Coast local Deb Munro captured the imaginations of the brewers, and they went on to brew Trinity Sour for GABS 2022... and now it’s out in tinnies. A pineapple, ginger and macadamia sour is about as Sunny Coast as it gets. Lifted notes of… Read more
Style
Fruited, Spiced Sour
ABV
4.5%
Bitterness
10 IBU

Eumundi Eu-Bundy Christmas Pudding Ale

Published December 2, 2021
Today's fun fact: even at its origin, plum pudding never had plums in it. The word plums, in pre-Victorian England, referred to raisins. But this hasn't stopped Eumundi Brewery and Bundaberg Rum from making a dark ale with blood plum purée and Bundaberg Black 12-year-old rum and calling it Black Rum & Plum Christmas Pudding Ale. Strangely, I got a nice raspberry character on the nose up front. It wasn't until I started sipping that the rummy notes started to hit me: sarsaparilla, cherry cola… Read more
Style
Dark Ale with Rum & Plums
ABV
6.0%

Eumundi Brewery Black Cockatoo

Published September 10, 2021
Black Cockatoo Smoked Lager is the brainchild of Josh Batten, a homebrewer who won Eumundi Brewery’s "Brewed By EU" competition. The comp challenged people to submit ideas that captured story and flavour combinations inspired by the Sunshine Coast. “My unique ingredients were peat smoked malt and cold brew coffee and I was inspired to create a beer that reflected the bushfires of 2019, and the rural fire brigade who put their lives on the line to protect our community,” Josh says.… Read more
Style
Smoked Dark Lager
ABV
4.5%

Eumundi & Bundaberg Eu-Bundy IPA

Published November 16, 2020
Bundaberg is known for its rum. Eumundi is known for its beer. Both are known for their ginger. Surely you can see where this is going. Eu-Bundy IPA, a collaboration between Eumundi Brewery and Bundaberg Rum, is a West Coast IPA made with Bundaberg’s Small Batch Spiced Rum and additions of ginger from both Bundaberg and Eumundi. Duncan Littler from the Bundaberg Rum Distillery says: “Finally, we can deliver a rum-influenced IPA to the beer lovers of Queensland!” - apparently something that… Read more
Style
Rum & Ginger Infused IPA
ABV
6.0%

Eumundi Brewery Tiny XPA

Published May 1, 2019
What do you call a hazy, five percent ABV pale ale that’s been generously dry-hopped with New World hops? Is it an XPA? A New World Pale Ale? A New England Pale Ale? Toying with styles and style names is all fun and games until someone gets confused. (That “someone” being me. I’m easily confused.) Perhaps I’m overthinking it; it tastes delicious, and Eumundi’s happy calling it an XPA, so let’s go with that. As with the Pale Ale, some of the familiar Galaxy aromatics are there, but they’re… Read more
Style
XPA
ABV
5.0%

Eumundi Brewery Ginger Pale Ale

This is not a ginger beer. It’s a beer with ginger. That’s an important distinction. This isn’t made with sugar and vodka and ginger essence/syrup/flavouring. It’s a pale ale brewed with water, malt, hops, and yeast… and ginger. While ginger beers are often sweet, sometimes to the point of being thick, sugary and cloying, this Ginger Pale Ale is dry and spicy and subtle. It encapsulates what Eumundi wants to do with a number of their seasonals: to make interesting beers that incorporate… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
4.2%