Townsville Brewing Co

For this week’s brewery, we head to Far North Queensland and Townsville Brewing Co.  Townsville Brewing represents the first time for the blog that we ventured up to Queensland.  It won’t be the last, however, with quality breweries like Bargara, Black Hops, and Balter (just off the top of my head) pumping out some truly excellent beers.

But this post will focus on a very cool venue, that incidentally, also happens to offer up some really tasty beer. The venue itself, known simply as ‘The Brewery’, is an extremely cool drinking space.  It’s housed in what I believe is the old Townsville Post Office building.  It certainly looks the part from the outside, but the inside is even better. To the right upon entry is the smokehouse (which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to visit). And to the left is the tavern.  It’s got an old-British-rich-guy’s-library type vibe.  A bunch of wood panelling, exposed brick, and, of course, the ubiquitous shiny brewing equipment.  There are also a couple of different outdoor areas, but seeing as how it’s Townsville and thus sticky, hot, and humid for 10 ½ months per year, the cosy indoor setting was definitely my preferred beering environment.

Before I get to the beer, a quick note on the food.  I had a burger at The Brewery, but I could’ve happily ordered another half dozen items.  The pizzas looked great, the share platters looked awesome, and I deeply regretted not ordering the pork ribs when I saw them come out to the table next to me.

But whatever FOMO I had from my food choices was quickly alleviated by the beer.  There were a few seasonal beers on offer when I visited. However, I ended up only sampling the 4 beers of their standard range: Legends Lager, Tropical Coast Pale Ale, Rebel Red IPA, and Townsville Bitter.  All four were very good and really hit the spot.  The Tropical Coast Pale Ale deserves an honourable mention.  Hoppy and very fruity without going too far and tasting like someone squeezed a fruit salad into your schooner.  

However, in an assessment that should surprise no one familiar with my tastes, the Rebel Red IPA was easily my favourite.  It’s a bit more on the malty end of the red IPA spectrum, but still with plenty of hops to give it a very pleasantly bitter kick.  The quality of the Rebel Red IPA was actually why I didn’t end up sampling any of the seasonal fare.  After the initially tasting paddle, I couldn’t help but go back for two more.

It’s got great food (both excellent pub grub in the tavern and delicious smelling meats from the smokehouse). It’s got really good beer where you might not expect it (no offense to North Queensland beers in general).  But even better, all of that great food and (more importantly) excellent beer is served up in a really cool relaxed atmosphere. If I lived in Townsville, or visited more frequently than the once every few years that I’m currently averaging, The Brewery would absolutely be my go-to local.  For me, Townsville Brewing Co is now firmly at the top of the list of things to look forward to about going to Townsville.