Smiling Samoyed Brewery

South Australia’s McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu Peninsula produce some of the best wine in Australia.  But if you’ve had your fill of wine and instead perhaps fancy some excellent craft beer to be enjoyed in the company of large fluffy dogs, then you’re in luck. In the sleepy town of Myponga, just past McLaren Vale, and on the way to Victor Harbour, lies an absolute gem of a craft brewery called Smiling Samoyed.

The beer is great, and don’t worry, we’ll get to that in detail.  But I think my favourite part is the truth in advertising in the brewery’s name.  This was my third visit to Smiling Samoyed. And every time thus far, I have indeed been greeted by a large fluffy Samoyed (which I found out after my first visit is a giant fluffy white dog) at the door.

This is also a very cool venue.  It’s got a very sheering shed/country pub type vibe.  Heaps of exposed wooden beams and cool paraphernalia.  There’s a great outdoor patio area too overlooking a small lake.  I’ve only been there on weekdays, where there’s a bit of a limited food menu.  There’s apparently a bit more variety on weekends, but what I have had has been very good. 

But the real reason to stop in (aside from giant friendly fluffy white dogs) is the beer.  Their base offerings are excellent.  The 12 Paws Pale and Dark Ale are both excellent, but the star of their base range is the Hop Bandit NEIPA.  It’s a NEIPA that doesn’t go too far down the fruity end of the spectrum.  And it’s one that it would be very easy to drink several of over the course of a lazy summer afternoon. 

But as good as the Smiling Samoyed base range is (and I would definitely recommend starting out with the base tasting tray), the two standouts for me were special limited releases: the Heartbreaker Red IPA and the Poppet.  The Heartbreaker has a largely malty front end, but the kick of the hops hit hard at the end.  It’s really well-balanced, without being middle of the road.  Which is an extremely difficult line to walk.

The Poppet is a strong, hoppy brown ale.  It’s really unique.  The only similar one I can recall having is the Woody Barrelson from Otherside.  The brown ale is rich and tasty, but still light enough to be extremely sessionable.  And when that hoppy kick gets thrown into the equation, it really really elevates that beer into something great.  Poppet has a great kick both from the boozy standpoint and the hoppy standpoint.  It clocks in at 7.6% but doesn’t feel overly strong or over the top at all.  It’s just a damn good beer.

I walked out with a six-pack split between the Poppet and the Heartbreaker and I have zero regrets. My one minor criticism is that Smiling Samoyed beer is a bit difficult to get your hands on outside of South Australia. So if you see it in your local bottle shop, don’t hesitate, just get some.

Finally, as established numerous times, I’m a sucker for merchandise.  And Smiling Samoyed had on offer one of the single best bits of merch I’ve come across.  The furry white stubby holders, emulating the brewery’s namesakes, were ridiculous and over the top.  I bought two.

I do love a brewery in a country town.  But it’s always a bit of a roll of the dice.  Many are there for novelty sake only and make passable, but definitely not great beer.  This, happily, is not the case with Smiling Samoyed.  It may be in a quiet country town, but they make legit delicious beer.  If you are in the general McLaren Vale/Victor Harbour area, I can’t recommend a stop highly enough.