Dalgety Brewery

For this week’s brewery, we go a fair ways off the beaten track.  Roughly 50 km southwest of Cooma (40 km east of Jindabyne) in southern New South Wale’s Snowy Mountains region, at the end of 15km of narrow dirt road, you’ll find a little brewery that is well worth the effort to find it: Dalgety Brewery.

I happened to be in the area for work so decided to give it a crack and I am not sorry I did.  Pulling up outside of the brewery, I was greeted by two extremely friendly brewery dogs (in my experience a friendly canine welcoming committee is always a good sign).  And upon entering the building I was greeted by the equally friendly Dalgety human staff members. 

This was in the late afternoon on a Thursday and I was the only one there, so I got a good chance to have a chat with the resident beer purveyors.  As I like to bring home a few takeaways from local breweries I get to visit, I inquired about anything they had available in bottles or cans.  Unfortunately due to the size of the operation and local demand, they didn’t have enough to be able to can or bottle until they got their stocks back up.  While a bit disappointing, the level of demand (at the brewery and a few bars and restaurants in Jindabyne) was another good sign as to the quality of the beer I was about to sample.

I went with a tasting tray of the lager, the session red IPA, original red ale, and blonde ale.  The lager and blonde ale were both excellent.  I could have easily spent an afternoon enjoying either or both of these on the banks of the Snowy River (which incidentally runs along the back of the Dalgety Brewery property).  But for me the reds were the stand outs. 

The session red IPA (which I have previously mentioned is probably my favourite variety of beer) was truly excellent.  Sharply hoppy with that malty undercurrent that all good red IPA’s should have.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if it clocked up a 6 – 7% ABV.  However, being a session IPA, it came in at about 3 ½ instead.  In speaking to the brewer, this was a conscious effort (only one of their beers that was on for my visit was even 5%) and acknowledgement that it is a bit of a drive to get to the brewery and they want you to be able to try as many of their beers as possible.   

The pick of the tray for me though, was the original red ale.  Rich, caramelly, malty, and absolutely delicious.  I usually tend to go for the significantly hoppier fares on offer, but this was a malty beer even the hoppiest of hop heads would love.

I was also able to sample one extra beer in addition to what I got on my tasting tray: the smoked porter.  I’ve had a number of smoked porters over my many years of beer consumption and this was one of the best.  It wasn’t too smoky (a fact the brewer attributed to the aging in wine barrels from the adjoining winery) and was super rich and smooth.  And, as with their other beers, it was significantly lower in alcohol than I expected (only just over 4%).

As for the facility itself, it genuinely felt like I was sitting in someone’s living room having some delicious beer.   A wood fire crackling away next to the super comfy leather couches was especially welcome.  While I stayed inside next to the cozy fire, there was also a large open outdoor seating area that would have been great for a relaxing beer on a warm summers day or to allow kids to run around and blow off some steam.

While there isn’t a full-sized restaurant attached to the Dalgety Brewery, they do have an excellent light meal/snack menu for options to munch on as you work your way through their beverage offerings.  I went with the fish tacos and was not disappointed.  The food in general is a great way to give you an excuse to linger a little bit longer (not that any additional excuses were needed) and enjoy maybe one more of the beer offerings. 

On one final note, the brewery is also attached to Snowy Vineyard.  So if you are with some who prefer wine to beer, they will be equally well catered for.  However, as this is not Cory Loves Wine, I didn’t actually try any so can not offer any recommendations in that regard.

What I can recommend is a drive through the beautiful alpine scenery of Snowy Mountains region to give Dalgety Brewery a try.  Whether a day trip during the warmer summer months, or taking a day off from the nearby snowfields, there’s not too many better places to sit down with a really nice beer.