Bacchus Brewing Co.

Bacchus Brewing Co. is a brewery, bar and cellar door in Manly, Brisbane, with an unusually broad beer program. The venue says it creates more than three new beers a week, so the taps and packaged range are constantly changing. Its beer styles span session ales, pilsners and pale lagers, IPAs, smoked beers, stouts, porters, sours, farmhouse ales, barrel-aged releases and speciality beers. Recent releases mentioned on the site include The Peach Pit and Cali Coast, both California-style IPAs, while its cellar also carries Ballandean Estate Wines from Queensland’s Granite Belt.

The brewery has 20 dedicated taps, a large selection of cans and a bar area where visitors can watch the brewers working during the day. It is also the place where Bacchus’s bespoke brewing approach comes to life: the team makes beers for the trade and public, recreates familiar styles, develops house brews, revives older brewing traditions and produces one-off beers for the bar and events. The operation began in 2005 under Glenn and Karen Pope as a brew-on-premise brewery, before current owner Ross Kenrick took over in 2010 and shifted the focus to Bacchus’s own craft beers. The brewery later upgraded from small 50-litre batches to a 1,200-litre system in 2023.

There is food on site from Thursday to Sunday. The website lists Salts Food Truck for lunch and dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, with the Bacchus Kitchen serving sticky pork ribs, pizzas and pretzels on weekends. Visitors can also bring their own food on Mondays and Tuesdays, although the venue is closed on those days unless booked by appointment. Bacchus describes itself as family- and dog-friendly, making it a practical option for casual group catch-ups, families and beer-focused visitors who want to settle in rather than simply collect takeaway.

Bacchus Brewing Co. was recognised as runner-up for Champion Small Australian Brewery at the 2014 Australian International Beer Awards, and opened its bar and cellar door later that year. It currently welcomes drink-in and takeaway customers from Thursday to Sunday, with later service on Friday and Saturday. The rotating beer list, on-site food and relaxed brewery setting suit groups wanting variety, while solo visitors can sample from the taps or browse the packaged range at their own pace.