Breweries & Distilleries Trail

Savour Southern Queensland Country and discover new ways to explore the top 12 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?

#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 ... Learn more
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Pick your poison

Brewery
Distillery
#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 ... Learn more
#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 ... Learn more
#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 ... Learn more
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Where to next?

The High Country
The Granite Belt
#5

Montys Brewing Company, Highfields

It’s all about the view and the brew at Montys Brewing Company. Perched right on the edge of the Great Dividing Range at Highfields, just out of Toowoomba, the brewery offers exceptional Lockyer Valley views. It all started back in 2008 when owner Nathan Semmens returned from London and couldn’t find a decent cider. Now he has a bustling restaurant and brewery where the beer is served direct from ... Learn more
#6

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 ... Learn more
#7

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 ... Learn more
#8

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 ... Learn more
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Hungry?

YES!
Nah, just thirsty
#9

Bone Idol Brewery at “The Plate” Restaurant, Toowoomba

Toowoomba’s freshest brew comes from Bone Idol Brewery, newly opened in June, 2022. This in-house 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 ... Learn more
#10

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 ... Learn more
#11

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 ... Learn more
#12

4 Brothers Brewing at “The Brewhouse”, Toowoomba

The first to give Toowoomba back its local beer cred, 4 Brothers Brewing has been serving their Toowoomba lager since 2017 on Margaret Street. Ex train driver owner Adrian Cubit likes to keep it local and create beers using local mangoes and pumpkins for their range of 10 pale ales, lagers, and stout on tap. There’s a place for quirky beers too with a smoked Arrogant Brother beer that tastes like ... Learn more

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Southern Queensland Country Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways that run through these regions. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging.