Breweries & Distilleries
Beyond Wine
The best breweries & distilleries in Fleurieu Peninsula
While wine still reigns, the Fleurieu is home to craft breweries, cider houses and small-batch distilleries making everything from native-botanical gin to agave spirits.
The Fleurieu Peninsula's drinks scene reaches well beyond wine. Riding the same culture of small, independent makers, a lively community of craft breweries and distilleries has taken root across the region, and many welcome visitors to taste at the source.
The brewers make the most of the setting, with cellar-door taprooms tucked among the vineyards and hills of McLaren Vale and out toward the coast, pouring everything from crisp lagers to hop-forward ales — often with wood-fired food and live music on weekends. Down on the river, Goolwa has its own heritage brewery housed in a historic wharf building, a reminder that good drinking and good history go hand in hand here.
The peninsula has become a serious distilling destination too, with award-winning gin and spirits producers working with local botanicals, plus emerging whisky makers. Many distilleries run tastings and tours where you can meet the people behind the bottle. Most venues are open from Thursday to Sunday, with extended hours in summer, so it's worth checking times before you visit — and, as always when tasting, plan a designated driver or join a local tour so everyone can enjoy the day.
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14 places
Down South Distillery
$$Gin, wood-fired pizza & Agostino site
Gin distillery with a cellar door restaurant at the former Agostino Wines site on Stonehouse Lane, Aldinga - gin flights alongside wood-fired pizza.
Forktree Brewing
A converted shearing shed brewery on a working family farm, with panoramic ocean views over Carrickalinga to Cape Jervis - one of the most scenic brewery destinations on the Peninsula.
Goodieson Brewery
$McLaren Vale's craft brewery
Independent craft brewery on Sand Road, McLaren Vale - the only dedicated brewery in the heart of the wine region.
Never Never Distilling Co
$$Australia's most awarded gin distillery
Multi-award-winning gin distillery at the Chalk Hill Collective on Field Street, McLaren Vale - home of the celebrated Triple Juniper Gin.
Penny Red Beer Co
A vineyard-set craft brewery and dog-friendly taphouse in The Range, with 13 taps of beers brewed onsite and a wood-fired pizza kitchen.
Settlers Spirits
A boutique craft gin distillery on the southern edge of McLaren Vale, vapour-infusing each botanical individually in copper pot stills - eleven gins on tasting plus whisky, rum, vodka and liqueurs.
Shifty Lizard Brewing Co
A tiny, much-loved craft brewery and taphouse on Willunga's High Street, brewing experimental small-batch beers a few barrels at a time.
Smiling Samoyed Brewery
Microbrewery in an old Myponga dairy factory
An award-winning microbrewery housed in a converted dairy factory in Myponga, famous for its beers named after the owners' Samoyed dogs.
Steam Exchange Brewery
A small-batch microbrewery in the historic Goolwa Wharf goods shed, sharing a building with The Fleurieu Distillery and pouring four preservative-free hand-crafted beers.
Swell Brewing Co
A surf-inspired brewery in the McLaren Vale vines
An independent craft brewery and taphouse on Olivers Road, McLaren Vale - a surf-inspired brewery with a rotating tap list and regular food truck line-up.
The Fleurieu Distillery
$$Single malt whisky & Moon River Gin at Goolwa Wharf
Award-winning Australian single malt whisky distillery on Cutting Road at Goolwa Wharf, shared with the Steam Exchange Brewery.
The McLaren Vale Distillery
A premium single malt whisky producer on a 127-acre hilltop estate, with sweeping views over the McLaren Vale vineyards and a Barley to Bottle distillery experience.
Vale Brewing Taphouse
McLaren Flat brewery and restaurant
Vale Brewing's home base on Ingoldby Road at McLaren Flat - a full brewery, restaurant and bar with a long menu and all the Vale beers on tap.
Victor's Place
An 1870s stone shearing shed restored as an operational winery, brewery and kitchen, perched above the Onkaparinga River Gorge at the gateway to McLaren Vale.