Staves Brewery

Tucked away down a laneway behind Broadway Shopping Centre in Glebe, is an excellent little addition Sydney’s craft beer scene: Staves Brewery.  To this point I’ve definitely neglected inner city Sydney. It’s an area rich with a ton of awesome breweries like Wayward, Young Henrys, Willie the Boatman, and a ton of others that I’m definitely forgetting at the moment.  Staves might be smaller and not as well-known as some of those (that will definitely feature in this blog at some point), but in terms of quality of beer, it very much belongs in that esteemed company.

The Staves taproom is almost literally a hole in the wall that would be easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there.  Inside the unassuming exterior are a few tables, a pleasant courtyard, and, most importantly, a truly impressive array of big, bold beers.

My favourite part about Staves is that they don’t mess around with the beers they brew.  No matter what you pick, every tasting tray (cleverly in the form of a stave from a barrel) is going to be packed with massive beers.  The pilsner lager and pale ale are probably the closest offerings Staves has to a middle-of-the-road beer.  But even those pack an extremely pleasant hoppy punch.

The rest of the tap list includes such thumpers as an oatmeal stout, brut IPA, wet hop IPA, double red IPA, and a few other rotating seasonal beers.  Nothing safe, every one delicious.  I was about to single out the oatmeal stout and double red IPA as the pick of the lot.  And those two definitely deserve special mention.  But jeez it’s hard to go past the wet hop IPA and even the brut IPA (which is not generally my favourite beer genre).

All of the IPA’s pack a serious hoppy wallop, especially the wet hop and double red.  But the oatmeal stout is an absolute super star beer.  Rich, deep, malty and delicious.  I honestly could not fault it and it’s a great complement to some of the hoppier fare on offer.

As I said earlier, Staves might not have the name recognition of some of the inner Sydney brewery brethren, but jeez they have some great beer. It’s hidden away down an inner city alleyway, it’s got a cool vibe, and it’s got really really good beer. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said about Staves Brewery. Find it, drink their beer, and be happy.