The 16 Best Breweries in Sydney Right Now

When it comes to breweries in Sydney, there’s a dazzling array of options that are as diverse and dynamic as the city itself.

The indie beer boom began in earnest over a decade ago, and shows no sign of slowing. Greater Sydney now boasts 60-plus independent breweries, and the Inner West Ale Trail alone corrals 18 independent breweries within a five-kilometre radius.

Beyond the trail, NSW darlings Mountain Culture have turned a heritage Katoomba newspaper office into a GABS-winning hop temple, while coastal pockets from Brookvale to Botany add salty breeze to the fermenters.

This is your guide to the best breweries in Sydney, where to find them, and what you can look forward to drinking.

In no particular order, these are the Sydney breweries leading the way when it comes to craft beer in the harbour city.

Built in a repurposed winery cellar, the taproom feels like an underground wine cave, minus the pretence and plus 24 beer taps. They also have a dog-friendly courtyard, and their Monday-night trivia has a cult following.

Specialities: Berliner weisse variations, crushable Hazy Mid pale.

Address: Wayward Brewing Co., 1 Gehrig Lane, Camperdown

Born of a mid-life “buy a brewery, not a sports car” epiphany, founder Pat McInerney set up shop in a gutted Taubman’s paint factory at Precinct 75 back in 2015. Decking the place out with up-cycled milk vats and nautical bric-a-brac to honour its namesake – convict ferryman William Kerr, who rowed beer across the nearby Cooks River in the 1830s.

Every core beer tips its cap to a local character – the Albo Pale Ale salutes long-time regular (and Australian Prime Minister) Anthony Albanese. The eight-tap tasting bar leans hard into community spirit with old-school meat raffles, free weekend sausage sizzles, and a procession of resident dogs snoozing under the stools.

Specialities: Albo Pale Ale, Crazy Ivan IPA, small-batch seltzers.

Address: Willie the Boatman, Precinct 75, 75 Mary St, St Peters

Sydney’s largest brewery beer-garden, Sauce Brewing Co strings festoon lights over picnic tables; inside, a tropical-themed cocktail bar keeps the non-beer crowd happy.

Its flagship Bubble & Squeak NEIPA helped spark Australia’s haze craze, while limited runs like Trubble & Squeak and Mosarillo Juicy IIPA prove Sauce can push ABV and aroma without losing balance.

Throw in food-truck tacos, dog-friendly rules, and that sprawling garden and it’s easy to see why the locals treat the place as their backyard bar.

Specialities: Bubble & Squeak NEIPA, citrus-charged Mexican Lager.

Address: Sauce Brewing Co, 1 Mitchell St, Marrickville

A retro-surf public bar downstairs gives way to Marrickville Springs, a pastel-tile rooftop complete with a plunge pool and palm fronds – equal parts RSL and Palm Springs day-club. The flagship XPA won Champion Pale Ale at the 2017 Australian Craft Beer Awards only four months after launch and still fuels the house taps.

Specialities: Trophy-winning XPA, Marrickville Springs kettle-sour series.

Address: PHILTER, 92-98 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville

Housed in a 150-year-old steel mill at the foot of the ANZAC Bridge, the taproom pours 13 beers metres from the tanks while harbour breezes whistle through the roller doors. The brewers are lager obsessives: every house pils rests six weeks cold before hitting your glass, a patience rare in Australia’s hop-rushed market.

Specialities: Slow-lager program, pine-leaning West-Coast IPAs.

Address: White Bay Brewery, 26C Mansfield St, Rozelle

At Batch Brewing Co, founders Andrew Fineran and Chris Sidwa still sign every fermenter “We Brew For You”, unleashing weekly one-off kegs that range from chai stout to peanut-butter brown. The Darling Square bar beams small-batch Inner-West beer into the city via a direct tank-to-tap line.

Specialities: Marrickville Original Pale, Trippy Hippy West-Coast IPA.

Addresses: Batch Brewing Co, 44 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville • 292 Stanmore Rd, Petersham • 1 Little Pier St, Haymarket

This cavernous, graffiti-tagged warehouse keeps a “dogs-before-people” door policy and lures crowds with Rico’s Tacos and a well-worn pool table. Cult hero Serpent’s Kiss Watermelon Pilsner was once a one-off festival beer; today it ships nationwide by popular demand.

Specialities: Serpent’s Kiss Watermelon Pilsner, Pink Galah sour.

Address: The Grifter Brewing Co, 1/391-397 Enmore Rd, Marrickville

Solar panels power the brew kit, and the team famously partnered with algae scientists to capture CO₂ and turn it into oxygen-rich biomass – “drink beer, save the world” in action. Collabs span DZ Deathrays lagers to Rolling Stone anniversary ales, locking in the brewery’s rock-’n-roll cred.

Specialities: Newtowner Pale Ale (now a mid-strength, too), Cloudy Cider.

Address: Young Henrys, 76 Wilford St, Newtown

Topher Boehm ferments mixed-culture ales with wild yeast foraged from local flowers, then ages them in ex-wine barrels before Champagne-style blending. In 2024 Wildflower opened Village, a shared taproom with Mountain Culture that pours bush-honey farmhouse ales beside juicy hazies.

Specialities: Gold Blend, St Phoebe plum wild ale.

Address: Wildflower Brewing, 11-13 Brompton St, Marrickville

Status Quo Pale topped the GABS Hottest 100 three years straight, helping founders DJ & Harriet McCready turn a century-old Katoomba newspaper office into a destination brewpub in the Blue Mountains. The 2024 Redfern bar brings that Blue Mountains haze hype to the inner city with a 20-tap wall and elevated pub grub.

Specialities: Hazy hop-bombs, limited-edition stouts.

Addresses: Mountain Culture Beer Co., 23-29 Parke St, Katoomba • 35 David Rd, Emu Plains • 158 Regent St, Redfern

At Akasha, everything revolves around a custom American brewhouse built for hop-forward ales; the result is pin-sharp bitterness and tropical aromatics prized by judges and hop-heads alike. Quarterly drops of Korben D Double IPA (8.5 %) sell out within days and have their own cult following.

Specialities: Hopsmith IPA, Korben D Double IPA.

Address: Akasha Brewing, 10-12 Spencer St, Five Dock

Named after Bob Marley’s signature drumbeat, this reggae-soaked warehouse pumps slushy sours, nitro stouts and, on hot days, beer soft-serves. Order share plates from the onsite food truck while you enjoy live music every weekend.

And if you find yourself with time to kill while coming or going from Sydney Airport, you'll be pleased to discover the One Drop taproom is less than 10 minute's drive from the domestic terminals, and only a few minutes more from the international terminal.

Specialities: Triple-fruit sour slushies, oat-cream DIPAs.

Address: One Drop Brewing Co, 5 Erith St, Botany

Co-founders Brooks Caretta (Italy) and Kerrie Abba (Australia) infuse surf-trip vibes with Old-World technique – Freshie Salt & Pepper Gose adds local sea water and Tasmanian pepper berries. Weekend food-truck Texas BBQ and live bands turn the beer garden into a Northern Beaches block party.

Specialities: Freshie Salt-&-Pepper Gose, Jet Lag IPA.

Address: Nomad Brewing Co., 5 Sydenham Rd, Brookvale

Australia’s first fully vegan brewery kitchen; every beer is fronted by an illustrated alter-ego (Hans Groppo, Seabass, et al.) and paired with plant-based banquets. Thursday-night jazz sessions and a second Byron Bay taproom prove beer tastes better to a soundtrack

Specialities: Hans Groppo farmhouse ale, Seabass Mediterranean Lager.

Address: Yulli’s Brews, 75A Burrows Rd, Alexandria

Chef-brewer duo Thomas Boutin and Vince de Soyres meld Parisian bistronomie with German brewing kit inside a refurbished WWII wool-store; think foeder-aged Bière de Mars paired with towering charcuterie boards. Seasonal menus lean on local farmers, while the brewery experiments with oak, honey and native botanicals.

Specialities: Bière de Garde, New-world saisons.

Address: Frenchies Bistro and Brewery, 6-8 Dunning Ave, Rosebery

Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub (since 1842) still brews on-site: colonial sandstone walls and five malty English-style ales.

Specialities: Three-Sheets Pale Ale, Victory Bitter.

Address: Lord Nelson Brewery, Cnr Kent & Argyle Sts, The Rocks

Sydney’s Inner West Ale Trail is to craft beer what Bondi is to bikinis: concentrated, colourful, and there year-round. Stringing 18 independent breweries across six suburbs in under five kilometres, delivering more than 320 different beers on any given weekend.

A free illustrated map (download it at the Inner West Ale Trail website or pick up a postcard-sized version in most taprooms) doubles as your passport to two-for-one paddles and merch discounts. All you need is an Opal card, decent walking shoes, and the wisdom to pace yourself.

If you're keen to experience the very best breweries in Sydney, this Inner West adventure is essential.