Multiple Australian suburbs are brewery-dense these days. And having such a bulge [Is this the collective term for brewers now? – Editor] doesn't just bring the benefits of being able to borrow a bag of malt from your mates down the road either; a collective crawl can help turn your suburb into a beer destination too.
It’s an approach taken by the likes of the Inner West Ale Trail and the Collingwood Beer Trail, where guides can help drinkers fully explore the breadth of a suburb's beer scene – although we have also asked if it's possible to have too many breweries in one area.
Kensington is a little different, however. It isn't home to five breweries, just one: Bonehead Brewing. What the suburb in Melbourne's inner-north-west does have is Australia’s first mainland whisky distillery in Bakery Hill as well as Nubilum Distilling, which specialises in rakia (we’ll get into what that is below).
The presence of that trio of producers has led to the launch of The Kenzo Crawl. And it’s a crawl that lives up to its name too.
As Elle, who looks after marketing at Nubilum says: “We’re literally a 900-metre walk from start to finish, so it is so close you can actually crawl. Plus we all offer something really unique and different to each other, so we thought it was the perfect idea to pair up and work together.”
Punters buy a $55 trail pass which they collect from one of the venues on the day they decide to take part. They then make their way to each stop to choose between the likes of a tasting paddle or pint at Bonehead, a boilermaker or dram at Bakery Hill, or a flight of spirits or cocktail at Nubilum and then go on their merry way. It's a similar approach to the Collingwood Beer Trail that launched in 2021 with support from the City of Yarra, although in the case of the Kenzo boozemakers they’ve gone out on their own.
The three small businesses on the crawl are driven by a desire to put Kensington on the map; despite its proximity to the CBD, the suburb hasn't been a destination for drinkers in the way of, say, Fitzroy, Collingwood or Brunswick.
“We just really want to give people a reason to visit Kensington,” Elle says.
The crawl is also designed to be enjoyed more than once, hence why you can elect to forego a flight of rakia and dive straight into a cocktail instead.
“We wanted it to appeal to locals as well,” Elle says. “We’ve had a whole lot of apartments go up recently and it’s turned the area from a bit of a creepy industrial complex to a really lovely residential neighbourhood where people do want to be out and about and walking around.
“We tried to build something that people would want to do multiple times to keep people visiting our three places. We actually offer a shirt to people who have completed it three times.”
Bonehead Brewing co-founder Travis Nott says they’re keen to see the area change as more apartments go up and, ideally, more bars follow. Having opened in 2018, Bonehead are relatively elder statespeople for the suburb, and have watched as other parts of the city, such Abbotsford, have quite quickly transformed from quiet corners into destinations.
“If you look at what they’ve done over there, turning South Johnston into SoJo, that’s kind of what we imagine for the local area,” he says.
“We’re firm believers that a rising tide lifts all vessels, and it’s hard to be a destination in Kensington – there’s not much around.”
That tide has been rising quickly in 2024 too: Nubilum opened in March and Bakery Hill welcomed guests to their new site just a couple of months ago. The whisky distillery has long been widely acclaimed for single malt made by former chemistry teacher and Melbourne’s answer to Walter White, David Baker.
Nubilum’s approach to alcohol, meanwhile, probably needs some explaining: the operation specialises in the fruit spirit rakia that’s popular in Central and Eastern Europe. It might not be something you find on shelves in Australia but migrant communities have long passed it down from generation, often from fruit grown in their backyards. Likewise, Nubilum often source their fruit from local gardens and like to talk about the variations between each batch.
“Rakia is a really new spirit to Australia commercially,” Elle says.
“It’s traditionally a homebrewed spirit that’s made in bathtubs and backyards. It’s also a bit of a dying tradition here in Australia and it’s becoming harder to find."
Bonehead's involvement in the crawl comes as they, like just about every other brewery in the country, adapt to the challenges hitting the industry. Yet, while times are tough, Travis believes there's plenty to be positive about.
“When times get tough, you can get going or you can double down on what makes you tick,” he says, “and, for us, it’s community.”
The Kenzo Crawl is one of several means by which they’ve looked to better engage with the people around them. Another has been open mic nights on Sundays, while on Thursdays they hand over the brewery to local groups looking for somewhere to meet.
They've also effectively handed over one of their taproom walls to local artists, inviting West Footscray’s The Corner Studio to take the reins.
“It’s out of our hands, which is awesome,” Travis says. “Every three to four months, we get community artists to come in and just completely paint over it. So, it’s here today and gone tomorrow like proper street art, but it’s in this space where plenty of people can come and see their art rather than being in a laneway.”
They’ve also focused on something that’s always mattered to him, fellow founder Anthony Dinoto, and the wider Bonehead team: mental health. Their mid-strength dark lager, Lighter Than You Think, was released to raise funds and encourage others to talk about their own wellbeing, by including details on where the brewery team looks for support.
“We’ve been trying to figure out a way to address mental health and alcohol in a meaningful way as a really small business,” Travis says.
"So we're trying to raise awareness. That's so important post-COVID and with the price crunch at the moment, so we've included a QR code with information of a mix of people that we've reached out to. It means when you are at home and having a drink, you have some information that might help you."
It's the kind of small gesture Travis thinks small businesses are so adept at providing and building through community, while Elle is hoping the crawl helps cut through what connects the three different producers that call Kensington home.
“We’re hoping it gets people really excited to try three things that are all really small, family or friend-owned businesses," she says. "I think here in Melbourne, people really love supporting homegrown local businesses, especially when those businesses are supporting each other.
“We just hope people join us in our mutual lovefest.”
To grab a trail pass to The Kenzo Crawl, head here.
Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.
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Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.
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Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."
The last beer you enjoyed:
Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.
Three things that represent you:
- Bruce Springsteen
- Ken Burns
- The State Library of Victoria
