Big Shed Brewing Concern – New Venue!

This week the blog returns from a brief, work-enforced hiatus with a return to an old favourite in a flashy new venue: Big Shed Brewing Concern.  I was lucky enough to head over to Adelaide for work last week (or unlucky enough when you take the Covid developments from later in the week).  Adelaide is one of my favourite destinations for excellent craft breweries, and right near, if not at the top of that list, is Big Shed.

I wrote about Big Shed originally a little while back.  Their original venue was an out-of-the-way industrial unit that packed in a great kitchen, excellent beer, and retro video games.  Unfortunately, it didn’t leave a ton of room for beer drinkers.  If you’d like to revisit my account of that original venue, or the core beers I had there (i.e. Californicator, Golden Stout Time, etc) feel free to follow the link to the original Big Shed.  I’ll definitely mention those core beers I had, but this post will focus mainly on the new venue and the new beers I had there.

It was actually only a few months after my original visit, that Instagram began informing me that Big Shed were about to christen their new ginormous and awesome-looking brewery/tasting room venue.  It’s still in Royal Park, not far from the original site.  But as soon as you arrive, it’s pretty apparent that the new venue is miles beyond the old one.

The original venue definitely had a brewery-first vibe.  Which I definitely enjoy on a lot of levels.  It was pretty clear walking in that their primary concern was making awesome beer, and they’ll try to squeeze in space for you to drink that awesome beer where they can.  The new venue, however, doesn’t lose that beer first vibe.  Vats and brewing equipment is everywhere and goes back to the back of the shed literally as far as the eye can see.  But now there’s more than ample space to also account for a very cool bar area and outdoor deck area to relax and enjoy the fruits for their labour.  The old-school arcade games have even made the trip over and are now joined by a cadre of retro pinball machines as well.

The biggest difference for my money is the kitchen.  At the old place it was very good.  But the new one produces some of the best food I’ve seen or tasted at an Aussie brewery.  I went for the Big Smoke Belly Buster.  With a name like that, you probably expect a slab of food.  And you would be right.  Pulled pork, buffalo wings, pork ribs, mac & cheese, coleslaw, and a ton of chips were all amazing.  But the star of the admittedly impressive show was the brisket.  Just phenomenal.

Ok I’m like 6 paragraphs into this post now and I am only just now getting to the beer.  I started out with a schooner of the Californicator West Coast IPA.  Still my favourite beer Big Shed does and the one that brought them to my attention in the first place.  After that, I decided to go a little left field and try some of the options I hadn’t seen anywhere else. 

So I got a sample tray including the Passionfruit Sour, Oaked Guava DIPA, the classic Boozy Fruit, and the Anti-Hype Pickle Sour.  The first three were exactly what I expected.  Really really good.  The Passionfruit Sour is exactly as you’re probably imagining now.  The Oaked Guava DIPA sounds way out there, but it’s really just a slightly fruity, but all the way delicious DIPA.  The oakiness balances the guava fruitiness well, and they both ride the back of the DIPA hoppiness into a delicious finish.  The Boozy Fruit NEIPA is actually one that those on the East Coast of Australia are actually able to find at good bottle shops.  I highly recommend trying one if you haven’t.  It’s a big fruitier than I tend to like my IPA’s, but it absolutely works.

Which brings us to the Anti-Hype Pickle Sour.  I’ve had one pickle beer before.  But that was Dainton’s Pickle Dan Rye Ale.  So a pickle sour was a new one for me.  I was trepidatious at first. But with good breweries, I’m always willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and try their wackier offerings.  I started out with a taster of the Anti-Hype. But I finished my evening with a pint (albeit an Adelaide pint so schooner anywhere else). 

It doesn’t even really taste like a sour at first.  It tastes like a slightly salty savoury beer, maybe a pilsner or similar?  But just as your about to swallow it jumps out and goes ‘HA HA I’M PICKLE FLAVOURED!’.  And you go ‘Hey, what?!!…oh wait, actually this is still pretty good’.  It’s not one I’d have every day, but I highly recommend giving it a shot if you have the opportunity.

I finished my evening with a fraught trip to the take-away fridge.  Fraught only because there were about half a dozen amazing-sounding types of beer that weren’t available on tap or pretty much anywhere else.  And I was going to have to find a way to settle on one 4-pack.  I ended up going for the Feelin Fine Oat Cream IPA.  And I’m SO glad I did.  But it’s good enough to have earned it’s own post in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

Adelaide is full of excellent craft beer destinations fighting for your attention.  By all means try as many as you can.  But absolutely make sure you find time to get out to Royal Park and settle in for a session at Big Shed.  The array of invariably excellent beer, fantastic food, and laid-back new venue will not disappoint.