Breweries & Distilleries Trail

Savour Queensland Country and discover new ways to explore the top 11 breweries and distilleries that are creating headlines. Created by innovative makers, these are the destinations where you’ll find the remarkable new tastes of the region. Taste your way through beers and ciders, soft drinks and spirits while you dine from a menu filled with locally sourced produce. It’s food and drink heaven with views to match. The new trails are all just a day trip from Brisbane, Gold Coast and Toowoomba, but why stop at a day when there’s so much more of the region to explore?

Explore Itinerary

A lady in a flannelette shirt picking red apples

Stop 1: Suttons Juice Factory Cider & Café, Thulimbah

Dave Sutton makes awesome cider and his wife Ros, makes an even more delicious apple pie served with a mountain of whipped cream. The only thing to do is sample them both together at Suttons Juice Factory Cafe, and repeat. The Suttons established their farm and orchards in 1994. The next step was adding a café to showcase the apples, and everything made from apples. Enjoy a Merlo Coffee by the pot belly fire in winter, but in summer take a six-pack of ciders and sit under the apple trees. The café uses fruit and vegetables grown on the Granite Belt for their menu and also in their range of liqueurs. Must tries include the Limoncello and Mulberry liqueurs. Two and a half hours drive from Brisbane, Suttons Café at Thulimbah is a welcome stop before exploring the Granite Belt.

Guru Tip
Take a box to pack all your purchases from here because you won’t find anything more delicious!

Insta Moment
A photo of that apple pie will have viewers instantly drooling over their screens.

Stop 2: Volcanic Brewing, Toowoomba

Did you know Toowoomba is on the top of an extinct volcano? This curious fact inspired Peter and Toni Burton to name their James Street craft brewery Volcanic Brewing. Turning their joint obsession for home brewing into a business has seen them establish a simple brewery and bar with high-quality sessional beer. The Burtons say it’s all about the fundamentals and their head brewer is focused on consistency. Brewing in 600L fermenters, Volcanic has 16 different beers on tap with a core range that includes Pale Ale, Stout, Extra Stout and Oat Cream IPA. Six of the taps change regularly to feature different beers. Friday afternoons go off with live music and food trucks from 4.30 pm. Find Volcanic Brewing in Toowoomba, 1.5 hours west of Brisbane on the Warrego Highway.

Guru Tip
Expect briskets and smoked meats in an expanded menu coming soon.

Insta Moment
Put your beer front and centre with a Volcanic Brewing sign in the background.

Stop 3: Pechey Distilling Co, Pechey

Hidden away in the high country north of Toowoomba is a gin and vodka distillery producing high-quality spirits with a unique connection to the region. The Pechey family first settled on the Darling Downs some 150 years ago. The homestead was built by Edward Wilmot Pechey’s son and has been used by six generations of the family. Chief Distiller Ben Pechey favours a slow ferment combined with a high-quality wash and triple distilling with a charcoal filter. They use sugar from Australia, yeast from Toowoomba and botanicals from the 100-year-old cumquat tree, grapefruit, lemon myrtle and bay trees in their backyard. The range includes seasonal creative collaborations with local artists and special family recipes such as BJ O’Brien’s Poitin, a feisty Irish moonshine. Pechey’s Toowoomba Dry uses locally grown finger limes, while the mellow but complex Harvest Gin is made with botanicals with a history that stretched back a century and four generations.

Guru Tip
Add a Saturday tasting stop at Pechey to your weekend getaway in the Hampton region. Also catch them at the Toowoomba Markets on the first Saturday of each month or Cars and Coffee at Crows New on the first Sunday monthly.

Insta Moment
Full of country charm, the Cream Shed turned into Petchey’s gin distillery makes a gorgeous pic, especially with you standing in front holding your new bottle of gin!

A man pouring a beer straight from the fermentation vessel

Stop 4: Granite Belt Brewery, Stanthorpe

The Granite Belt is known for its great wineries, but what if you don’t like wine? In 2012 Geoff and Dee Davenport decided to offer non-wine lovers an option and opened Granite Belt Brewery amongst the boulders. The range includes a dozen beers and ciders, all crafted and bottled on site. Try them on a tasting paddle and take home a bottle or six-pack. It’s all local here with grain from St George, hops from nearby Possum Lane and Stanthorpe’s purest water. The seasonal brews use excess produce from local farmers including blueberries which resulted in their highly popular Blueberry Ale. Spend the day enjoying nearby mountain bike trails and relax with a craft brew and dinner around the fire at Granite Belt Brewery.

Guru Tip
Book one of the 20 cute wooden cabins with pot belly stoves here and you won’t need a designated driver.

Insta Moment
That roaring fire behind a frosty paddle of beers. It speaks of time well spent on the Granite Belt.

a man pouring liqueur into a tasting glass surrounded by a variety of liqueur

Stop 5: Castle Glen, The Summit

It began with a vineyard, but that was over 30 years ago. Now Castle Glen at The Summit, a 10-minute drive north of Stanthorpe in the Granite Belt, has over 500 products at its cellar door. Cedric Miller moved to Stanthorpe for a tree change, but instead, he built a castle and then a distillery and then a brewery. Over the past 32 years, he has won more than 56 awards for his range which includes liqueurs, whisky, rum, brandy, gin, wine, bitters, mead, cider, and ginger beer. The secret behind Castle Glen’s success lies in using fresh, naturally ripened Granite Belt fruit, along with top-quality nuts, chocolate and spices. The liqueurs are made from their own grapes and local lychees.

Guru Tip
Got the pup with you? Castle Glen has a great grassy area outside and small dogs are welcome inside.

Insta Moment
Ham it up with a knight and fair maiden moment outside those castle walls.

Stop 6: Crows Nest Soft Drinks, Crows Nest

Do you remember the days of Cherry Cheer, Sarsaparilla or Creaming Soda? They have been making these flavours since 1903 at Crows Nest Soft Drinks (then Crows Nest Cordial), and these are just some of the 30 flavours available. Does it still taste the same? Yes! The recipes are 50 years old, and the drinks are only bottled in glass. Strict quality control means no preservatives are needed to prolong the shelf life either. Everything is made on-site and on factory production days you can watch bottling in action. Samplings and tastings are always available. Their flavoured syrups are perfect for milkshakes, soda streams, or slush puppies.

Guru Tip
There are some amazing food options in Crows Nest including Myrtille Bistro, My Little Blueberry, Harpers Country Café, The Curly Carrot and The Grand Old Crow Pub where you can also buy Crows Nest Soft Drinks.

Insta Moment
Line up those vibrant soft drink colours – red, blue, green and yellow!

a black door opening to a restaurant with a chalk sign out the front

Stop 7: Shackelton’s Whiskey Bar at Bunya Mountains Tavern, Bunya Mountains

Serving more than 180 Australian whiskeys, at 1,300 metres above sea level, Shackelton’s Whiskey Bar is Australia’s highest! Try their Bunya Nut Gin paired with Bunya Nut scones and cream. Bunya trees only grow naturally in these mountains. Their giant nut cones can weigh up to 18 kg. You don’t want to be standing under one when it falls. Wild King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas love it here and you can feed the birds with a $5 tray of seed. Make sure to start your day with a walk through the Bunya Mountains National Park to see the waterfalls and enjoy the view and finish at Shackelton’s. How do you get to the Bunya Mountains? There are two popular routes. Drive through Toowoomba and out through the Western Downs, or via Esk and Yarraman.

Guru Tip
Keep an eye out for their growing collection of gins.

Insta Moment
Put your whiskey-tasting paddle in front of the roaring open fire and snap!

Stop 8: Bone Idol Brewery, Toowoomba

Toowoomba’s freshest brew comes from Bone Idol Brewery. Served right in town at the Bone Idol Bar and in their sister restaurant The Plate. This brewery is what happens when friends who love beer start talking. The chat got serious between Ryan McBurney, owner of The Plate restaurant in Toowoomba and Alister Ferguson. Before they knew it they were no longer bone idol but busier than ever with a small batch brewery using traditional German methods under Tim Anderssen as Head Brewer. The goal here is easy-drinking beer with zero preservatives. The result? Great brews that are good for sessions living up to their motto ‘Life’s Better with a Bone’. Stop in on Sundays for live music.

Insta Moment
This will stand out in the feed. Catch your beer being pulled with a big bone handle!

a beer sitting along a wooden wall with other beer taps

Stop 9: Mouse Proof Brewery, Toowoomba

What happens when a businessman, an academic and a farmer decide to create a counter-culture brewery all about sustainability? You get a cool hipster brewery with an industrial appeal that has great food, 12 house-brewed taps and two guest taps. Did we mention there’s also a fire pit? There are six partners in Mouse Proof, and they are all firmly focused on creating an artisan product with strong links to the land. They are mapping soil provenance and building terroir for the beer industry. You’ll find Mouse Proof in Toowoomba’s old Dairy Farmers Factory near the creek. Stop in for darts on Thursday night, live music, or open mic sessions on Sunday afternoon. Fill your tummy with their delicious burgers, tacos and wings. It’s also child friendly with a kid’s menu and hang-out area. Pups are welcome too. Enjoy their beers on tap or fill a growler to take home.

Guru Tip
Enjoy the beer but try the local Pechey rum and whisky too.

Insta Moment
Capture some of the classic cosy retro, almost Steam Punk vibe.

Big blue shed with a garden out the front

Stop 10: Brass Monkey Brewhouse, Severnlea

When Ernie Butler tired of the taste of commercial beer, he decided to make his own. Eight years later he creates the 12 beers available on tap at independent nano-brewery, Brass Monkey Brewhouse. Ernie is a purist, so don’t go here looking for the ‘trendy stuff’! Ernie makes the beers he likes to drink and that includes pilsner, ales and lagers. This Friday to Sunday operation on the southern side of Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt, offers unfiltered, unpasteurised, old-style beer. It’s won awards too. Ernie’s lager recipe has received six medals and he took home gold, silver, and bronze in Queensland’s 2020 Good Food and Wine Show Beer Awards.

Guru Tip
The food matches the beer here so tuck into nachos, brat dogs, wedges and pizza.

Insta Moment
A rustic timber and tin creation, Ernie’s brewery is the ultimate man cave.