A brewery and distillery trail through McLaren Vale

Once you’ve visited McLaren Vale’s wineries, spend a little time discovering the growing craft beer and spirits scene.

Any winemaker worth their salt will tell you that it takes a lot of great beer to make great wine, and these days it takes a few gins as well. Follow this trail and you’ll discover a growing number of distilleries and breweries in McLaren Vale that cater to locals and visitors alike with carefully crafted beverages designed to be sipped and savoured.

McLaren Vale breweries

Whether you’re looking to relax in the sun with an easy-drinking session ale or curl up by the fire with a toasty stout, you’ll find a McLaren Vale brewery that caters to every taste.

Vale Brewing

It took almost fifteen years for Vale Brewing to find a permanent home in the Vale, but the sleek new hilltop taphouse looking out over acres of vines and bushland was worth the wait.

The bar has fourteen taps pouring sessionable Vale ales alongside bolder offerings from the Fox Hat sister brewery, while an onsite microbrewery produces taphouse exclusives like the thirst-quenching margarita sour. The generous 170 ml tasting paddles allow you to really get a sense of the beers, which the in-house chefs also use in dishes like the dense Vale IPA country loaf.

Goodieson

Traditional old-world beer styles are the order of the day at this OG McLaren Vale brewery, which sits next to a pretty creek on the valley floor. The well-shaded deck is a peaceful spot to contemplate life over one of Jeff Goodieson’s brews, which scale back the hops in favour of malt-driven flavour profiles and crisp, clean finishes.

Cheers to some of their excellent brews. (Image: Meaghan Coles)

And like many of the region’s best restaurants, Goodieson employs a distinctly seasonal approach that augments the core range with limited edition offerings like a spiced Christmas ale, floral Maibock and tart raspberry sour.

Goodieson Brewery upholds local brewing traditions. (Image: Meaghan Coles)

Swell

Easy-drinking beers and screens showing big wave surfing make it feel like summer year-round at this cavernous two-storey shed in the heart of wine country. The enormous lawns out front mean there’s plenty of room for the kids to blow off steam, or you can sit inside and watch the team hard at work in the onsite brewery.

Sixteen taps pour everything from hazy IPAs to dangerously boozy barrel-aged stouts, and the occasional weekend brewery tours let you see how they’re made before tucking into a menu of pub grub with a surprisingly good vegetarian selection.

Pop into their beautifully landscaped vineyard. (Image: Isaac Forman)

Kick Back

Generations of Adelaideans have grown up holidaying in the relaxed seaside town of Aldinga and this brewery channels the vibe of those lazy beach days perfectly.

Savour the citrusy goodness of their cold brews.

Sixteen taps provide plenty of room for house brews like the juicy Welcome Stranger hazy and Mid Coast session IPA alongside favourites from other local breweries, and the kitchen turns regional produce into pub classics, colourful bowls and seafood plates. But the main attraction here is the dog- and kid-friendly beer garden that’s bathed in sunlight and regularly hosts local musos.

Tap cool booze for quick buzz.

Shifty Lizard

If you’re flat out like a lizard drinking and trying to fit in everything there is to do in the Vale, this relaxed brewstillery in a former butcher’s shop on Willunga’s main street offers an easy two-for-one.

On the beer side, IPAs reign supreme and even the signature Stouty McStoutFace stout has a liberal dose of hops to balance out the chocolatey roasted flavours, while the gins run the spectrum from classic London Dry to more floral offerings that showcase native botanicals.

Choose from the cold beer on tap. (Image: Shifty Lizard Brewing Co.)

Distilleries in McLaren Vale

From world-beating gin to single malt whiskey, these McLaren Vale distilleries are sure to lift your spirits.

Never Never Distilling Co.

The spectacular views from this hilltop distillery bring the crowds in on weekends, but it’s the immaculately crafted gins that keep them there.

Taste some of their best wines while overlooking the scenic brewery trail. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

A long list of accolades including Global Distiller of The Year, Champion Australian Distillery and World’s Best London Dry Gin are proof they know what they’re doing, and the seriously refined cocktails are every bit as impressive as the tasting flights.

Pick from their wide selection of wines. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Take a tour if you want to learn more about the three distillation processes used in the signature Triple Juniper Gin, or make a day of it by visiting the adjoining cellar door and Roman-style street food vendor.

Grab a bite of salami pinsa to pair with your drinks. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Settlers Spirits

With a dozen varieties running the gamut from a racy orange and chilli number to citrus-forward yuzu and tea-infused breakfast gin, this boutique distillery has the most expansive gin tasting in McLaren Vale.

The local gin specialists at Settlers Spirits meticulously follow a high-quality brewing process. (Image: Meaghan Coles)

The light-filled bar offers four themed tasting flights that cater to just about every taste imaginable, but if you can’t find what you want on pour you can always sign up to become a distiller for the day and create your own personal blend of botanicals to take home.

Don’t forget to bring home a bottle of Shiraz gin. (Image: Meaghan Coles)

Penny’s Hill

CBD distillery Prohibition’s first regional offshoot is merely the first part of an ambitious plan to turn the Penny’s Hill winery into a multifaceted tourism complex with food, drinks and even a petting zoo.

For now, the weekends-only tasting room in a restored 1855 coach house offers flights of Prohibition and McLaren Vale gin labels Mad Men and Vimy alongside cheese platters that feature a cheddar infused with Prohibition gin, but regular special events like gin and yoga days give a glimpse of what the future might hold.

McLaren Vale Distillery

With a name like Jock Harvey, it’s no surprise the McLaren Vale Distillery owner has some Scottish heritage. Fortunately for him, the ocean breezes blowing through this premium winemaking region also happen to be perfect for whisky production.

The McLaren Vale Distillery is known for crafting their own local brews and spirits. (Image: Jack Fenby)

His elegant small-batch single malts reflect serious attention to detail – most releases specify the style of wine used to season the barrel as well as the winery it came from – and he can even point out some of those collaborators between the fields of grape and grain flanking the distillery door.

The MVD whiskey is a must-try. (Image: Jack Fenby)

Want to beat a hangover? Check out our top Mclaren Vale cafes for breakfast and brunch.