Reub Goldberg Brewing Machine
Tucked into a row of fairly nondescript shops in the quiet streets of the northern Wollongong suburb of Tarrawana is one of the newer and definitely one of the better entries into Wollongong’s growing craft beer scene: The Reub Goldberg Brewing Machine.
The first thing that struck me when walking in was that it was just a pleasant place to relax and enjoy a beer or few. It was a hot day, but the outside courtyard area had umbrellas, free sunscreen on offer, and most importantly misters operating periodically that definitely took the edge off of the heat. So, whether you grabbed a seat on the wooden benches snaking their way around the outside or in the airconditioned interior, it really just felt like you were sitting enjoying beers at a mate’s place. Albeit a mate with an excellently and eclectically stocked beer fridge and taste for chrome brewing equipment as décor
I arrived with my mate Bert (featured in some of the photos here) but we were soon joined by Kodah, the brewery dog, who regularly pads around the courtyard area looking for company. Upon heading in to order our first round of beers, I was greeted by friendly and enthusiastic bar staff who seemed just as happy about talking about and pouring my beer as I was about drinking it.
The tasting paddles come with 3 beers of your choice with a 4th cup of pretzels for you to snack on. The brewery itself does not have a kitchen, but the courtyard is shared with two nearby cafes that serve food there as well so catering is definitely not an issue.
The beer selection on the day we visited is as per the below, and we tried it all.
In my humble opinion, the Kolsch was decent. But that’s as negative as I can get because everything else was amazing.
The IPA and Rye IPA’s were every bit as hoppy and satisfying as I had hoped they would be. A bit of a disclaimer here: I am a lover of hops in general. Cram as many hops as you can in a beer and I will gladly drink it. But I obviously know that’s not to everyone’s taste. However, even bearing that in mind, I would strongly recommend the two IPA’s to anyone who is a fan of that style of beer. Even to those who only dabble in IPA’s I’d still recommend them as a taster at least.
The hoppy brown and ESB were only a half-step behind (in hoppy-ness, that is) but were just as good in quality (Bert went back for seconds of each). However, as good as they were, and as much as I love a hoppy beer (and again, both IPA’s were great), the standout for me was the liquorice stout.
One of my beer pet-hates is brewers trying to hide ridiculous or poorly balanced flavours in a stout, counting on the size of the stout taste to make up for the lack of balance or misguided taste combinations. With that in mind, I approached the liquorice stout a little bit warily. But it was perfectly balanced with just a hint of aniseed flavour that went perfectly with the stout. Even better was that despite the fact that this was a big tasting dark stout, it surprisingly wasn’t heavy at all and was great to drink, even on a hot day (which in my opinion is not usually the case for even the best stout).
And as a quick, semi-related aside, they have one of the cooler brewery logos I’ve come across. As I am an absolute sucker for merch, I was powerless to resist going home with a shirt.
So to sum, great place and great beer. Pretty much the only negative thing I can think of about the place is that the taps and brewing equipment are not powered by some ridiculously overly-complicated contraptions consisting of balls rolling down ramps, pulleys, catapults, etc. as is implied by the brewery’s name (see below).
But what they lack in Roadrunner-style operating systems, Reub Goldberg more than make up for in ambiance, friendliness, and most importantly of all, just damn good beer.
Therefore, I would highly recommend a visit to Reub Goldberg Brewing Machine if you’re in the area.