Murrays Craft Brewing Co

Beautiful location about 20 minutes from Nelson Bay on a huge farm. Doubles as a winery. You can do a flight of 6 for $22, which is a ripoff but standard for Australia. Beer quality is pretty uninspiring. Friendly and warm place, with a nicely done up tasting room. Definitely a cool place to have a drink and worth stopping at if you’re coming out this way.

Okay, but not as good as it could be... The daily brewery tour felt rushed and rehearsed, I felt no love for the craft, no passion. The beer selection was rather small with about 7 taps, and they didn’t serve the beers that Murray’s is considered a good brewery for. I had the Rudeboy pizza which was ok, but heavily overpriced at $32. Rather disappointing, I couldn’t say why one would go there instead of a bottle shop.

Looked forward to this visit for many years, so I’m disappointed at having to damn it with faint praise. Felt like what was once NSW’s most promising brewer is suffering some growth pains. As an example, they’ve settled on their two dullest beers for promotional purposes (Angry Man and Whale Ale). The ambiance here is very much that of a winery (with which it shares these premises). The summer crowd consisted mainly of tourists looking for something to do instead of go to the beach. The service was a bit indifferent - wouldn’t say it was bad but nor would I say it was very engaged, just people going through the motions. Plenty of outdoor seating under a sort of marquee arrangement. Nice kid-friendly outdoor area with some balls and games for distractions - really feels like that is the market they are targetting. The lunch menu looked great but what emerged from the kitchen was poor - over-cooked chips, undercooked pizza. Tasted like whoever set up the menu has gone and whoever is left in the kitchen can’t match those ambitions. There were roughly 6-8 beer taps serving Murrays beers, but nothing you can’t find in any good bottle shop. In other words, there is no special reason for a beer-hunter to visit unless they are after a bottle of Anniversary Ale.

They serve only the beers they brew which is not a problem at all! The food is amazing, especially the pizzas. This place heaves on the weekend, we’ll worth a visit. It is in a lovely vineyard with great grounds.

Very nice location, friendly staff and a good selection of beers. Beer tastings, food, brewery tour and take home products are all available. Definately worth a visit!

Attended a corporate event held here, including brewery tour, tasting and dinner. It was superb. There was a large range of the excellent and diverse Murrays beer on tap and in bottle. The service was very friendly. The food was plentiful and good. It was a little hard to judge what the ambiance would be like when not packed for this event, but the bar and the overall setting with hops growing alongside the vines, is very nice. Thoroughly recommended for a visit.

Great setup they’ve got here. The winery seems to get Asian tourist buses but otherwise attracts little interest, whilst Murrays is the main event. Heaps of outside seats (dunno what it’d be like in bad weather), nice food (though not cheap), really friendly service and bloody good Murray’s beers on tap, though all tasted slightly worty (still very good) on my visit. Funny to think that this place represents their move to civilisation after Taylor’s Arm - it’s still in the absolute middle of nowhere.

More like a winery feel with Olives, dips, beers, and wine. Nice outdoor area to sit and a covered patio as well. You feel like you are at a winery more than a brewery. good service and explain their beers well and can compare beers well Murrays beers only, plus whatever is on tap only at the brewery at the time. Food was expensive and a but skimpy I thought. Had a cheese plate and not worth what I paid. Good value. Beers are reasonable priced and they do offer growlers. Very nice. Best place in NSW to have a beer or several.

good location at port stephens winery, just a bit hard to get to without someone driving. vineyards surrounding with the hop field behind. all the good beers brewed there, with the specials like big wednesday and spartacus have extra kegs left over. great food and growlers/cases to take home after.