The Suburban Brew

“Love Thy Neighbour, Love Their Beer” is the motto which epitomises The Suburban Brew’s embrace of a strong community, and an ethos centred around fostering good conversation and a supportive, welcoming environment at their Adelaide taproom.

The name was sparked by the time when owner Tony Dichiera and his family moved into a new neighbourhood. In an attempt to get to know his new neighbours and local community better, he would take his homebrew around to share, along with wife Caty’s baked goods, as an icebreaker.

It was a policy that made clear he wanted to be seen as approachable and someone keen to be involved in his local environment, both qualities he believes are encapsulated by Suburban’s taproom today.

Digging a little deeper into Suburban’s origin story and you end up in a New South Wales country pub in Wentworth, close to the border with Victoria. Tony’s parents owned a pub for 25 years, instilling in their son a love for the hospitality industry and a knack for hosting people and their families.

Over the years, Tony moved to Adelaide to study accounting at uni, which is where the brewing began; initially to save a bit of money, he started where most homebrewers start: the good old Coopers homebrew kits.

Fast forward from there and, just as Tony entered the workforce, he flew west to catch up with his brother. While in WA, he visited the Swan Valley, calling into the likes of Feral and Mash, and ducking into Little Creatures in Freo too, with the trip sparking an interest in beer with more flavour.

In 2013, he moved to London to work and travel and here he really began to take his brewing knowledge and love for the art of brewing up a notch. Searching far and wide, through online classified pages for a job in the craft beer sector, he landed on a brewery that was looking to sell. Tony rang the owner for a chat and ended up volunteering his time in exchange for experience in the brewery, lending a hand everywhere from helping with the books, to making sales calls, cleaning out the mash tun and kegging.

The experience proved invaluable and, on his arrival back into Adelaide, he looked to further expand his learnings. He started with an advanced homebrewers course at TAFE SA with local mastermind Stephen Nelsen, meeting his now business partner Troy Brailsford, who brought experience working in the hospitality and drinks industries for more than a decade.

Troy’s path through the booze world included managing Sturt Street Cellars, distilling at Applewood Distillery, working behind the bar at Little Bang, and roles at a few other crafty venues. Now, as well as managing the taproom, he oversees the sales side of the business.

Following the completion of the TAFE course, Tony studied the IBD preparation course, which allowed Suburban to contract their first beers through the TAFE. They launched in August 2017 with a Black IPA, a style that was hard to find locally at the time and which was quickly followed by an ESB and a tropical, light pale ale, which was well received, earning an honourable mention in The Crafty Pint’s Best New SA Beers of 2017.

As for the next move, Tony was reluctant to hand over his recipes to contract brewers, as he wanted to be more involved; as a result, the brand was put on ice for a spell while he weighed up his options.

After producing a few keg batches in the Clare Valley, he got in touch with Fil Kemp from Little Bang Brewing, who at the time were about to move into a bigger facility. It turned out to be perfect timing, as Tony was offered a space to place his own fermenters and strike up a brewing agreement that allowed him to brew and package his first few beers into cans there. By late 2020, with Little Bang having expanded yet again, leaving no room for Tony’s beer, he was lucky enough to find space at Big Shed, who’d also recently moved into their own bigger shed.

Arguably the most important step in his long journey took place in September 2020 when Suburban’s taproom opened on Goodwood Road, a hop, skip and a jump away from the closest tram stop and only three stops from the Adelaide’s CBD. Taking over part of a former adult store and warehouse, he created a warm and inviting community space complete with its very own Stobie pole to add to its Suburban feel.

Head in and you’ll find eight taps pouring all of Suburban’s beers, a cider which they’ve made in collaboration with local SA winemaker Rusty Bike, and a rotating neighbourhood guest tap, as well as a pinball machine, a handy kids play area, an expansive outdoor beer garden and, of course, a brew kit ready to pump out one-off batches. Food comes in the form of BYO or, on occasions, a food truck on the front pavement.

As for those beers, the core range consists of the original Black IPA, ESB and Pale Ale, while an IPA and a Session Ale have since been added to the list. Suburban’s limited releases have come in the form of everything from an East Coast IPA and Hazy Pale to a Raspberry Stout and a Salted Chocolate Fig Stout. Proving they are a genuinely community-minded company, Tony also loves to team up with local SA companies.

Looking at the next steps, Tony and Troy are working on finding a space to build their own brewery, a place where they can bring their core range in-house while continuing to experiment with limited releases and seasonals.

Matt King

Name
The Suburban Brew
Address

96 Goodwood Road
Goodwood
SA 5034

Open Hours

Thursday: 4pm to 10pm
Friday: midday to 10pm
Saturday: midday to 10pm
Sunday: midday to 6pm


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

The Suburban Brew Regulars

The Suburban Brew No.14 IPA

Suburban’s core range IPA came into existence at a time when hazies and NEIPAs were coming into fashion in Australia. In this case, Tony Dichiera decided he would instead head down the clearer route and create a West Coast style IPA that fits nicely into his core range above the tropical pale ale and under the black IPA. The name, No.14 IPA, is a reference to Suburban’s neighbourhood vibe, with the entire core range (apart from Sunday Session) coming with a different number. It's true to style,… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.4%

The Suburban Brew 3/92 Black IPA

The Black IPA was the very first release from The Suburban Brew, launching the brand back in 2017. Founder Tony Dichiera says the reason he launched with a black IPA was because, at the time, there weren’t many on the scene in South Australia. His love for such beers can be traced to his time at a brewery in London: they had a Cascadian dark ale on tap which Tony fell in love with and set out to recreate once back down under The 6.8 percent ABV black IPA takes on a dark, dark brown or light black… Read more
Style
Black IPA
ABV
6.8%

The Suburban Brew Sunday Session Ale

The good old Sunday session. A day to get all the jobs done – mow the lawns, iron your work shirts, meal prep for the week, clean the house – all while beginning to feel slightly down that the work week will soon be upon you yet again. A beer in hand helps with productivity and banishing those Sunday blues and, at 3.5 percent ABV, the Sunday Session Ale can be consumed while completing all the aforementioned jobs, all while feeling great the next day. Suburban’s take on a session ale heads… Read more
Style
Session Ale
ABV
3.5%

The Suburban Brew No.2 Pale Ale

Suburban daringly launched their label with a Black IPA, which was soon followed by an ESB, but it was the addition of the their pale ale in late 2017 that really got people talking. Not because it pushed the boundaries or because it was laden to the eyeballs with adjuncts, but because it was approachable, full of flavour, clean and sessionable. The No.2 pale ale was also noticed that year by The Crafty Pint team, receiving an honourable mention in the 2017 best new SA beers for that year. Today,… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%

The Suburban Brew Flat 5 ESB

Moving through Suburban's core range from pale through copper and you find their English Special Bitter. The inspiration for this beer again came from founder Tony Dichiera’s time in England, where he volunteered his time at a local brewery to increase his knowledge in the field. It's an ESB that takes on traditional English themes, using Maris Otter as a base, Challenger and East Kent Golding hops, and an ESB ale yeast. Just like most classic ESBs, the Flat 5 pours with a ruby copper colour and… Read more
Style
ESB
ABV
5.3%

The Suburban Brew Specials

The Suburban Brew Gettin' There & Reaching Equilibrium

Published April 18, 2023
Brewery builds are rarely completed on time or to schedule: council delays, trouble finding tradespeople, or maybe just the weather. This was no different for the Suburban team and their Glynde brewery, where the saying, "Gettin’ there" became an everyday slogan. In beer form, Gettin' There is a heavily dry-hopped summer ale that showcases Cashmere, Mosaic and Citra hops in attempting to capture all the wonderful elements of summer. Mouthfeel, appearance, and malt structure see the beer… Read more
Style
Summer Ale & Double IPA
ABV
4.7% & 8.5%

The Suburban Brew Goodwood/Glynburn Gold & Boh-Ella Pilsner

Published April 8, 2023
When planning their Glynde brewery, Suburban included in a few horizontal lager serving tanks, encouraging the brewers to conquer the challenge of brewing a solid lager. Enter Goodwood/Glynburn Gold, an Australian lager whose name changes depending on where it is being consumed: their Goodwood taproom or their brewery (Glynburn is the main road leading you there). And a solid lager it is, uncomplicated but wholesome, with a pale-yellow colour and good clarity. There are earthy, herbal notes on the… Read more
Style
Aussie Lager & Bohemian Pilsner
ABV
4.8% & 5.0%

The Suburban Brew Tram Track Stout

Published May 31, 2022
Stout season is upon us once more, and it hasn’t taken Suburban long to launch into dark territory with a straight up, no nonsense stout with not an adjunct in sight. With their home located just on the outskirts of Adelaide’s CBD, a tram line runs right past Suburban’s front door – less than a 100 metre walk away – making it ideal for their policy of naming beers with local references. Tram Track Stout is laced with dark malts and a good addition of oats to add to the silky mouthfeel,… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
6.2%

Pikes & The Suburban Brew Chilly Bin

Published November 15, 2021
When it comes to language, New Zealanders often stand further apart from us than the expanse of water separating the two countries. They call thongs jandals; an esky is called a chilly bin. And, while Aussies like to lay claim to Russell Crowe, Phar Lap and pavlova, there are no immediate plans to weave these and other terms into our lexicon. Clearly, however, the teams at Pikes and Suburban see the funny side of these differences, naming their limited release collab Chilly Bin. The beer, a 5.2 percent… Read more
Style
NZ Pilsener
ABV
5.2%

The Suburban Brew Raspberry & Salted Chocolate & Fig Stouts

Published August 15, 2021
It's a case of two stouts are better than one here as, for the second year running, Suburban have doubled down on limited release wintry goodness. Their pair of stouts come in the form of a 5.7 percent ABV raspberry offering and a bigger one brewed with salted chocolate and fig stout. the fruited puree was added into the ferment creating fresh raspberry flavours and aromas. And for the bigger of the two, first a big roasty chocolate stout base was brewed before dried figs and pink Murray River salt… Read more
Style
Flavoured Stouts
ABV
5.7% & 8.2%