Best beers in Australia?

[sexpanther]

My younger brother is in Australia for awhile and was wondering, since I'm the beer nerd of the family, what he should seek out.
He seems to be pretty interested in Craft Beers lately and it would be a shame for him not to try and drink as many top-notch Aussie offerings as he can while he's there. Anyone from the commonwealth that can give me a short (or long) list, I can send a snowball from Canada!

[spiderwrangler]

Little Creatures is the one I've heard about in the States, but this site has some good info, and may help with other recommendations the Aussies give you.895/

[DanRayner]

Little Creatures Pale Ale was our version of SNPA and while it's nice enough it really isn't as big & bold.

Some of my favourites include:

Stone & Wood Pacific Ale - light, slightly cloudy, tropical mango hoppiness.

Vale IPA - misnamed IMO; more of an excellent American Pale Ale.

White Rabbit Dark Ale - English brown ale style - very easy to drink

Two Birds Sunset Ale - a perfectly balanced American Brown Ale made by two great women brewers - awesome beer.

Wig & Pen beer - only on tap at the Wig in Canberra - definitely worth visiting Canberra for!

2 Brothers - great beers

Bridge Road Brewers in Beechworth, Victoria.

Jameson "The Beast" IPA - 7.2% and crazy hoppy

And Coopers' Pale - the oldest family owned brewery in Oz and now the largest Aussie-owned brewery now that Fosters & Tooheys are both owned by OS corporations.

[bbbilly]

I'll add with...
- pretty much anything from Mountain Goat (although sometimes they miss)
- Southern Brewing Company Hop Bazooka IPA
- Hawthorn Brewing Company Australian IPA
- +1 Wig & Pen
- Feral Brewing Hop Hog

[DanRayner]

Actually, +1 to everything Billy said

[whoateallthepies]

BNer Paddo now has his own commercial brewery: Riverside Brewing Company. They are making waves in Sydney right now and are on tap in a few places around the city. They also have a cellar door with tastings and growler fills on Friday arvos and Saturdays around lunch time. They are located in North Parramatta, Western Sydney.

Well worth seeking out and supporting a fellow BNer.

For pubs with local craft beer in Sydney try:

Harts Pub in The Rocks
Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst
Sydney Brewhouse Sydney CBD
Murrays at Manly
4 Pines at Manly

[bbbilly]

'pies - We might see if we can get one of their kegs to Plonk for Growler fills.

[DanRayner]

Hoorah for Plonk

A bottlo with one thousand different beers...