We are currently putting our group's website together. For now, you can find details about the region's brewers and distillers below, including a detailed map, that will help you experience the fantastic craft beers and spirits made here in Far North Queensland.
Click on a business name to see more details
Hemingway’s has become an institution in a region which is known to love a cold one. With two waterfront locations in Cairns and Port Douglas, a core range of eight beers and a rotating list of limited releases paired with great pub fare, the independent craft brewery is adored by locals and tourists alike. The 7th Heaven Tropical Ale is the pick of the pack, with aromas of pineapple and citrus and a low bitterness, while their Bohemian-style The Prospector Pilsner is sought by many for its robust biscuity, bready, malt flavours. Both have won gold medals in the AIBA awards, the largest annual beer competition in the world. The local, independent brewery also produces other German beers including a hefeweizen and a lager, as well as IPAs, XPAs and NEIPAs. With up to 20 beers on tap, it’s fitting Hemingway’s Cairns can house a huge 600 people, while Port Douglas can host half that in its marina-side venue.
Devils Thumb Distillery produces award winning spirits in Port Douglas taking not only its name, but fresh mountain water from streams below the Daintree’s Devils Thumb peak. Local botanicals including lemon aspen, lemon myrtle, vanilla, bush lemon and red finger lime form a key component of the gin range, which are made in line with time-honoured traditions and distilling methods. Devils Thumb Distillery has a strong focus on rum production, sourcing their raw materials from local cane sugar producers. The rums are then barrel aged onsite at the Port Douglas distillery with the tropical climate speeding up the ageing process. The result is a genuine and authentic spirit, free of additives, sugar, caramel, or artificial colours. Book in a session with the Devils Thumb distilling team to learn about the process and enjoy a tasting paddle or a Rainforest Gin cocktail with cucumber syrup and craft tonic.
Belonging to a trailblazing line of Australian craft distillers, it’s no surprise Neddy and Christian Bedwell also make a cracking gin. Inspired by their family’s heritage across Lark Distillery, Kangaroo Island Spirits and Blend Etiquette, to name just a few, the couple released their first gin in 2021 – a contemporary London Dry style, with undertones of mandarin, cubeb pepper, and local vanilla. Made in a handed-down copper pot still, with centuriesold distilling methods, the result is a quality spirit with a clear extraction of each botanical. Neddy and Christian’s micro distillery is attached to their family home in the sleepy peaks of Kuranda, a short winding drive from Cairns. You can try Distil on the Hill’s products at the Kuranda Heritage Markets, or buy a bottle in select Dan Murphy’s stores. Hint: it’s best drunk in the form of a rosemary gimlet.
Macalisters is one of those craft breweries that even die-hard commercial beer drinkers love to get around. It’s their philosophy of simply brewing good ales, born from a love of beer, that’s earnt the establishment a solid reputation among locals. Founder Rob Callin, formerly a chemistry teacher, was inspired to create Macalisters after a few wins across state and national home-brewing competitions. The Smithfield brewery and taproom was opened in 2017, and today has eight beers on tap and a rotation of seasonal brews – all unpasteurised, unfiltered, preservative free, and naturally conditioned. The signature brew is Latitude 17, a Tropical Blonde Ale, while their Cairns Pale, Freefall XPA and Beaches Blonde Lager are also among the brewery’s stellar line-up. Macalisters also regularly hosts comedy acts, live music and quiz nights, paired with great pub grub by a range of alternating food trucks.
Bec and Doug opened Narrow Tracks Distilling with a no-nonsense approach, building their business in an industrial shed surrounded by cane fields and fresh produce. Their products are created with Queensland sugarcane – adding a truly North Queensland flair. The distillery’s signature Dry Gin is a juniper-forward Australian take on the London classic, while Narrow Tracks’ Pink Gin dances with locally sourced strawberries. Their latest addition, Dog Days Gin, is a nod to the hot and humid Cairns summer, loaded with citrus and vibrancy. The duo also make a range of delicious Moonshines and are currently working on adding rum to the collection. Located just a ten-minute drive from Cairns, the Narrow Tracks Tasting Bar is the perfect place to explore their range and meet the locals behind it all.
The Barrier Reef crew do a select range of ales and lagers, and they do them well. Made with the Tropical North environment in mind and from only natural ingredients, the result is crisp, clean unfiltered beers that reflect the region and head brewer Cameron McPherson’s passion for the craft. A qualified veterinary surgeon, Cam is obsessed with the nitty-gritty science of making good beer, focusing on all the fun stuff like microscopes, yeast propagation and pH meters. You can try a flagship Two Turtles Pale Ale in the Stratford beer garden, or for the more adventurous, a Double Shot Coffee Amber infused with locally-roasted cold brew coffee. Head there on a Friday evening for excellent food from local food trucks and a tasty tropical brew – a quintessential Cairns experience. Barrier Reef Brewing Co. is located just a short drive from Cairns, shaded by the picturesque Mt Whitfield.
Hidden down a red brick laneway in the heart of Cairns, Wolf Lane is both a local treasure and a must-see tourist destination. The distillery produces a range of international award-winning gins, and a coffee liqueur, crafted with the botanicals of its lush tropical region. The signature Tropical Gin is bottled with 13 botanicals, including cinnamon, lemon myrtle, macadamia, mango, grapefruit and finger lime, while Wolf Lane’s ‘The Barista’ Coffee Liqueur is based on single origin coffee sourced from Far North Queensland farm, Jaques. Originally built as a horse stable in 1905, the cellar door boasts beautiful high ceilings and exposed brick walls. The Hospo Group was founded in late 2016 by three mates, with idea to bring amazing hospitality and beautiful drinks to Cairns. Their venues include Three Wolves, Flamingos Tiki Bar, The Fox Small Bar, Wolf Lane Distillery and The Mountain View Hotel.
Founded by a bunch of mates in 2016, Coral Sea Brewing Co. was established with a simple mission; to make beers that are perfectly suited to drinking in the tropics. While the taproom is tucked away down Bank Lane off Spence St, the brews are as approachable as they come. Tropic Ale is the favourite among those in the know, with fruity aroma and flavour in abundance plus biscuity malt tones and a robust bitterness. Coral Sea has a staple range of four beers, next to two extra taps for seasonal brews, hopefully you’re lucky enough to catch one of their famous sours. The taproom is a hidden oasis in Cairns and it’s not only the beers that represent the tropical theme, a tiki style bar down a laneway is the perfect place to enjoy a cold one or two. The brewery quickly fills with loyal locals on weekends, so try visiting on a mid-week afternoon, or pick up a pack of cans to enjoy later. You’ll also find Coral Sea on tap in pubs and bars across the region.
A pioneer in the region’s now thriving gin scene, Mt Uncle is the longest running distillery in Far North Queensland, born in 2001. But head distiller Mark Watkins’ love affair with spirits dates back to his teens, where he secretly dabbled in distilling in a cubby house on his family’s property. After some wine science studies, Mark returned to his small hometown of Walkamin to establish Mt Uncle. A decade on, the distillery has taken home global gongs under its several brands of rum, gin, whisky, vodka and liqueurs, while its recent focus has been an agave spirit – one of few in the country to be made with Australian-grown agave. With an emphasis on native botanicals, local flavours, and quintessentially Australian characters – its Bushfire Smoked Gin just one example – Mt Uncle has built an unrivalled reputation as a premium distillery. They also run a Cairns CBD speakeasy bar, House of Commons, in collaboration with Coral Sea Brewing Co.
On the back of two decades of brewing practice, a stack of awards and experience judging the world’s best beers to boot, Matt Bradford launched his own brewery in 2022. Run with his wife Margaret Barker, Billycart Brewing Co. is the Atherton Tablelands first and only independent craft brewery. Their philosophy is one that caters to both the adventurous craft beer drinker and those who just love a cold knock-off, offering favourites like pilsner, amber ale and lager among some seasonal surprises. 1000-litre batches make up the pair’s rotating tap list, which is served just a hop and a skip from where the beers are crafted. Open from Thursday to the weekend’s end, you can expect to find a different food truck on-site serving quality grub, and as well as live music by local artists.
Situated 2850ft above sea level, Wild River is one of Australia’s most elevated distilleries, with its products naturally encapsulating cool air, pure water and mountain terrain. Experienced distiller Wes Marks and his wife Amy produce a variety of whisky, rum and gin, as well as a traditional corn moonshine made for sipping by a campfire. Temperatures on their Wondecla property can fluctuate as much as 25 degrees in a day, which allows the flavours in Wild River’s barrels to age differently than other distilleries’. As the mercury drops, oak barrels contract and expel the alcohol, while the reverse occurs when its warmer, drawing new spirit into the pores. The frequent shift allows more contact between whisky and oak during the aging, producing a well-rounded spirit. Wild River Mountain Distillery’s gins are also made with their own house base spirit, using unique ingredients like quandong berry, dragon fruit and ginger to create unchartered botanical profiles.
