First Impressions: Brisbane Brewing Co. @ West End

Brisbane's newest beer and food venue also has one of the oldest brewing setups, having moved around a few times in it's life it now rests in what is hopefully it's final home down an inconspicuous lane way in West End.

As you walk down boundary street you will no doubt turn your head as a large, intricate metal fence catches your eye. Doubling as the brewery sign, the words Brisbane Brewing Co have been masterfully metal worked and with the longer than normal entrance create intrigue as you make your way in.

I watched as many people stopped and had to double take before continuing past making sure they weren't missing something special. For those that kept going, they are actually missing something pretty special and quite unique as far as brew pubs go!

Heading into the main bar area I made my way past the kitchen, with chefs were preparing food and the cold cuts, and brisket sitting in the window creating a conundrum of "do I order food or beer first?"

I persevered, I had to, the thirst had been building for a few days and after hearing about the opening of this new venue and how well it had been received I just had to check it out!

Starting out with a Brisbane Pale Ale (BPA, catchy huh?) I sniffed, greeted by a hint of galaxy hops, then I drank and enjoyed a smooth but not overly bitter finish making for a very quaff-able pale ale.

As I enjoyed my beer I thought to myself, this beer has been around for awhile now at Brewhouse Brisbane, why haven't had I had it? The truth is I find Wollongabba to be a lackluster area to visit for craft beer but West End whilst not perfect is far more interesting with several decent venues within walking distance of each other.

There is about 10 taps with a range of house beers from a honey infused wheat beer to an IPA, with a cider and a couple of guest taps filling out the spots.

The bottle range contains over 60  different beers with a lot of old favourites and recent releases being featured like beer from the excellent Aussie micro brewery, La Sirene and even Garage Project's recently released Hop Trial #2. They also have some interesting sounding cocktails and wine if beer isn't your thing!                                

The food menu is just huge! two a3 pages of foodaliciousness, (patent pending..) with starters like corn bread as well as share plates of meats and cheese, hoagies and sliders. 

The standout part of the menu (for me) is the ability to to choose a meat option and then simply add sides to it like chips or feta and watermelon salad and create a main or your own share platter and everything is decently priced ranging from under $10 for corn bread to $36 for some of the platters. 

On my visit I shared the brew platter which was pretty impressive, with warm brisket and pulled pork taking centre stage along with potato and bacon salad, house made pickles, cheddar cheese, beer infused seeded mustard and tomato relish as well as corn and rye breads. All of which matched quite well with a pint of the house brewed Walker IPA.

Beers come in pots, pints and jugs and are competitively price with most pints being $10 or under which is good value and if you aren't sure what to drink there is also tasting paddles available if you want to try a few different beers.

I finished the evening with a pint of a guest beer from Cavalier, their  Russian Imperial stout which isn't really a summery beer but went down a treat as it had rained all day so it felt like stout weather anyway!

It's really great to see this type of brew bar setup in West End and hopefully it has a long future because so far it is fitting in brilliantly with the other local bars and should be help ensure the area is buzzing BrewsVegas in March.