The Far South Coast of NSW feels like its own genre of Australia: the colours of the emerald hills and sapphire sea seem to have been drawn by a fresh set of Derwent pencils in the hands of a calm and patient artist. 

While travelling or living in the region, the very idea of a city feels so far away – a concept that is also very true in a literal sense. Although solitude is easy to find on the Far South Coast, one thing that always feels heartwarmingly near is community.

The Yuin people were, and still are, the first community of the region, notable for befriending orcas with whom they would team up to hunt in a way that benefitted them both. Although visitors are more likely to pay to spot whales on a boat rather than hunt with them, the glut of the sea is waiting for you in every town, the region’s oysters and mussels being particularly prized.

Fishers, growers and makers are an everyday part of living here, partially due to needing to spend less on imports, the high quality of the soil and, presumably, the magic in the air that makes everything taste so good. It’s for this reason the Australian adaptation of River Cottage decided on Tilba as its setting, which helped put makers like Tilba Cheese in the national spotlight and on the tongues of foodies.

Unfortunately, life on the Far South isn’t always cheese and oysters. The one-two punch of catastrophic bushfires and COVID hit the region's vital summer holiday trade like an old-timey hooked harpoon. Years later, locals and trees alike still bear the marks of Black Summer. However, Australia is a country that regenerates after fire and from these ashes rose a most unlikely crop: beer. 

Whether the spark of inspiration was needing a meeting place and/or a COVID project, or just a love of good beer and warm hospitality, breweries have sprouted in the Far South Coast like Banksia after a fire. In February of 2022, we explored the emerging brewery scene in the South Coast and featured only two breweries towards its southern end at the time. 

Now, there's a list of venues that grows so frequently I don’t want to put a number on it for risk of outdating the article but it sure is enough for me to finally write a whole Crafty Sprawl about a region packed with communities, nature and flavours that I love so much.

Note: This is a Crafty Sprawl, not a Crafty Crawl, and certainly not something that can or should be attempted in one continuous crawl. The order is based on travelling from Sydney/Canberra, heading south and venturing deeper into this remote and beautiful part of the world.

Broulee Brewhouse

The cans of Broulee Brewhouse feature a black cockatoo, but I think another bird best sums up this place: the phoenix. Born out of the need for a community meeting place during the Black Summer bushfires, two local couples opened the brewery in 2021. 

Pop into this decked-out dream shed on any night of the week and you’ll see just how much they’ve realised their dreams. Wrapped around the brewery is a courtyard that's always busy in summer, while in winter the venue is full of locals with glasses full of local beer.

The beers across the taps are a joy to discover and cover plenty of brewing bases. There’s a smooth nitro Irish red, a fresh and balanced NEIPA, and when I visited there was a sensational modern take on a Belgian Blonde. My personal pick is the refreshing Hazy Pale, fruity but versatile enough to pair well with food from the in-house kitchen, including another personal favourite, the salt and pepper squid. 

Always community first, Broulee Brewhouse is as kid-friendly as breweries get but nothing is stopping childfree people from using the boardgames, toys and play equipment either.

NB: Originally, the plan was to focus this article on the Sapphire Coast but, after spending time at Broulee Brewhouse, I felt it only right to stretch the Sprawl's starting point a little further north.

Call in to Broulee at 71 Coronation Drive, Broulee

Crafty Cabal Member offer at Broulee Brewhouse: FREE Schooner With Any Meal Purchase

Malt Man Brewery

Bodalla feels like the sort of place that Australian Midsomer Murders might be set, simply because it’s too picturesque to not have something brewing behind the scenes. And it does: a masked avenger called Malt Man who brews small batch beers with local ingredients in an old ski lodge inspired display home. 

Owned and operated by husband and wife Kirsty and Eric Blue, who originally bought the space to run as a café (they still operate a kitchen making great mini pizzas with homegrown ingredients) but switched to a brewery after travelling Australia and dabbling in homebrewing.

Eric still brews with a homebrewer's mindset, creating 20-litre pilot batches for Kirsty and the brains trust, ensuring he gets the formula just right before upscaling to his 100-litre system for the public. There’s no core range at Malt Man, although there is a preference towards classic and easy drinking European styles such as kolsch, pilsner and lager, while the show-stopping porter I tried feels like a beer not to be missed. Any fruits or honey added to the beer are guaranteed to have come from a local grower and, once a year, Eric brews the Tiny Torro Amber Ale, a tribute to his late dog featuring his homegrown hops.

Meet the Malt Man at 160 Princes Highway, Bodalla

Big Niles Brewing Co

While the aforementioned brewery dedicates a beer to a beloved dog, one brewery in Dalmeny takes things a step further. Proud as the MGM lion, the face of patch-eyed Niles is everywhere in the suburban shipping containers that pay tribute to him across 18 taps.

Big Niles Brewing Co send mixed messages: are they animal lovers or beer lovers? Well, a trip to the brewery in this winding, leafy suburb will answer that question. Spoiler: They’re both.

Chill inside on a couch or take a seat out front in the (obviously) dog-friendly courtyard and take your time exploring a range that's huge and always changing with beers for all seasons: big-hitting imperial smoothie sours, a nitro imperial red, and a seasonal pineapple and habanero sour to name but three. 

During my visit, I enjoyed the crisp and aptly named Lawnmower Lager as well as the sweet and surprisingly bold Harry’s Pale Ale. The South Coast IPA was a whirlwind of malts and oily hops but my personal favourite was the Boardriders NEPA, an opaque and egg yolk orange beer bursting with refreshing notes of breakfast juice. 

Bring yourself and any four-legged mates to Big Niles at 1A Mort Avenue, Dalmeny

Breakwall Brewing Co

Meaning "clear blue waters" in the local Yuin dialect, Narooma is the sea and the sea is Narooma. It licks at every edge of the town and sits on every plate, with oysters particularly famed and dangerously affordable at most places in town. 

But this isn’t The Crafty Shuck, this is The Crafty Pint, and the best pint/schooner in Narooma is found at Breakwall Brewing. A short drive to the industrial side of town, Breakwall continues the Narooma tradition or centring the ocean in daily life, a statement made clear by the wooden boat hanging above the bar.

Behind the bar are 16 taps, which feature many guest beers as well as their house cocktails. The house-brewed beers come courtesy of Chase Sairava, formerly of Wildflower; the American expat was like a moth drawn towards the light of the far South Coast. 

Although the core range is small at time of writing, the focus is clearly on quality over quantity, best encapsulated in their Hazy Sessions, full-bodied with velvety peach and mango notes at only 3.5 percent ABV. The Kellerbier is sleek and crisp with syrupy malts, and the Pale Ale is another malty winner with a bitter hop foundation. My pick of the lot, however, is their taste bud dominator, the red hot Hazy IPA.

Break on through to Breakwall at 60b Glasshouse Rocks Road, Narooma

Tilba Valley Winery & Ale House

You ever see those maroon highway signs that don’t indicate speed, stops or conditions but instead advertise a business that may interest tourists? As you drive through the reaching green mountains of Tilba, you will notice one sign on the highway directing you to Tilba Valley Winery & Ale House. Follow the sign down a narrow car-rattler of a road and you’ll find yourself pulling up at what must be one of the most serene venues in the yawning NSW bushland. There’s a reason why the new owners cut a hole in their bar to face out onto the deck: they wanted to look at the view all day too.

Primarily a winery, Tilba Valley Winery & Ale House offers two house beers: a crisp, instantly refreshing lager with mild maltiness and bitterness; and a grassy, full-flavoured yet sessionable pale ale. Both beers are a perfect accompaniment to an afternoon gazing out at the damn and gum trees. 

Kids might enjoy feeding the donkeys and cows (feed costs $2 per bag) and there are often major live music acts on the outdoor Gulaga stage, previously host to The Whitlams, Richard Clapton and San Cisco. There’s seating enough for an old money wedding but I actually find it’s best to visit early on a weekday when it’s quieter. 

Basking in the sun with that view is the most natural centring experience you can enjoy with a beer and ploughman's platter of local cheese and house terrine by your side.

Follow the sign to 947 Old Highway, Corunna

Tilba Brewing Co at Dromedary Hotel

I’ve loved Tilba ever since I first saw it on River Cottage Australia. Even if you haven’t seen the show, you’ll love it too. 

Many of the buildings are still the weatherboard originals, lining the small main road that follows the curve of the hill. One of the old buildings is the tall, orange Dromedary Hotel which takes its name from Mt Dromedary, the not-at-all unimaginative name for Gulaga, the 800 metre tall mountain and spiritual mother to the local Yuin people. 

Open since 1895, Dromedary Hotel, colloquially known as The Drom, is a Central Tilba focal point for the area’s modern history. The walls feature black and white photos of moustached drinkers long gone, frontier recipes that use gill as a unit of measurement, and obscure local trophies. Apart from the Kogan TV and plastic table numbers, this is a pub happily wedged somewhere back in time. Sadly for the people of the past, however, they missed out on enjoying a pint, schooner or gill of Tilba Brewing Co beer.

In truth, the Tilba Brewing Co beers aren’t brewed in-house but at Stoic Brewing, who usually have one of their more experimental brews on tap too. Next to a mainstream lineup of beers are the three Tilba Brewing Co brands. The Palace Pale Ale is balanced, dry and incredibly mild compared to the potent, sharp and bitter Mystery Bay IPA. The star beer for me is the Prospectors Amber Ale: sweet, rich and almost decadent, this is a slow beer for lazy days in the courtyard. 

My favourite spot is at the front bar by the window, where there will nearly always be a refreshing breeze – Tilba translates as "windy". It’s also a great place to spot locals who were on River Cottage Australia but, as in New York City, protocol is to not bother the local celebrities.

Drop into The Drom at 14 Bate Street, Central Tilba

Humpback Brewing at the Tathra Hotel

Tathra Hotel is the sort of venue that makes life very unfair for other pubs. It was built in 1888, so it has character. It's situated on top of the headland, so it has views of the sapphire waters out of every window. The bistro is efficient even on busy Sundays, serving up an Angus beef burger that should honestly win Australian of the Year. 

For some, the lack of pokies may be a strike against the place but, for beer lovers, the brewing gear that stands where the gaming room once was pays out in liquid dividends. Pouring their own beer since January 2019, Humpback Brewing is a Tathra original, inspired by the ocean mammals that can still be seen migrating along the coast.

At any one time, there are 11 Humpback Brewing beers available across 12 taps, available in paddles, pints or schmiddies. The First Calf Pale Ale is the one that started it all, a perfume-y beer with a lingering citrus bitterness and prominent hop finish. Ocean View Draught is a mildly-malted quencher, but in winter the Old Tom’s IPA makes for a dry and delish tongue-puncher. Personally, I can't go past the Melon Headed Amber with earthy notes of tea and caramel making for a sweet and soothing beer for all seasons. 

Push past any pokies dens to enjoy the beers of Tathra at 8-12 Bega Street, Tathra

Longstocking Brewery 

Home to wetlands, flaky pastry and the enjoyable sound of quiet, Pambula is a great place to get away from it all. Unless the thing you want to get away from is a brewery, because Longstocking Brewery is waiting for you a short walk out of town. 

Within one of those leafy retail estates that sells indoor plants, painted straw doll,s and homemade curry spices, Longstocking has become a pet spot for locals who book out nearly every indoor table on the weekends. They come for the live music on the verandah, they come for the local oysters ($1 each) and, much like myself, they come for the beer.

All of the Longstocking beers are brewed behind the bar from which you’re ordering. The beers tend to be on the more traditional side, such as the Sapphire Coast Lager with toasty Vienna malts, the refreshing Pale Ale with Cascade, Galaxy and Simcoe hops, and their attention-demanding IPA, dry hopped with Mosaic and Citra and guaranteed to turn the head of all your taste buds. 

Equally show-stopping and a perfect way to cap off the sprawl, is the tasting paddle of ten which can also be a tasting paddle of 20 when ordered for two. If you’re still wanting something else afterwards, it may be an odd thing to say in a beer publication, but their seasonal house ciders are some of the best I’ve had.

Get those oysters and paddles at 3546 Princes Highway, Pambula

Other Options

• Frogs Hollow Brewing (pictured above): Off-grid brewery 30 minutes from Bega. Taproom is expected sometime around March 2025 but, until then, their beers are available in local bottleshops. Read their unique story here. 
• Bermagui Cellars: A great range of local beers in a gorgeous town makes this bottleshop a highly worthy of a stop. Find it at 4 Bunga Street, Bermagui
• Camel Rock Brewing: A brewery in the naturally magnificent Walaga Lake caravan park. Currently closed for refurbs and reno, with the expected reopening April 2025. Find it at 200 Wallaga Lake Road
• Quantum Brewing: Café and brewery in the old Moruya cheese factory that includes two bed and breakfast suites out the back. Pair your beers with a cheese platter or pizza, or time your visit right and enjoy live music too. 57 Hawdon Street, Moruya
• Dulcie's Cottage: Gorgeous old weatherboard cottage in Merimbula with a fine line in craft beer, wine, cocktails, burgers and oysters. A place in which it's easy to wile away the day. 60 Main Street, Merimbula

You'll find other Crafty Crawls from around the country here and all of the above venues and hundreds more, plus beers, events and special deals in the free Crafty Pint app. If we've missed anything, or you know of new operations on the horizon that should be included, let us know.

About Benedict

Benedict "Benny" Kennedy-Cox is a comedy/travel writer and craft beer enthusiast from a lovely little harbour village called Sydney. His dreams include opening his own taproom, hosting his own travel beer show, and to one day be able to pay someone to write these for him instead of doing it himself in third person.

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The beer(s) or moment (s) that turned you onto good beer:

One two punch of receiving a Beer Book for Christmas when I was just about to be 18 and getting a mixed set of international beers from my aunt for my 19th birthday.

You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?

• Serpents Kiss by Grifter – This will help me figure out if they like sweet. A pilsner with a bit of watermelon, lovely, perfect one to start off an arvo at the pub, refreshing and tasty.

• Pale Ale by Mountain Culture – Lots of big juicy and floral flavours. If they don't like this we might be out of luck!

• Roast Pear Sour and Salted Caramel IPA Beer Blender by Urbanaut – Some people don't like these but, in my opinion, even non-beer drinkers can have the time of their life with a beer blender, and I reckon this one is the best.

The last beer you enjoyed:

RocknRoada Imperial Pastry Stout (14.6%) by Bacchus.

Three things that represent you:

• Being a smartarse and answering questions incorrectly

Articles by Benedict