Six String Brewing

If you want an example of the passion that drives the craft beer industry in Australia, look no further than Erina's Six String Brewery. This brewery, set up by longtime friends Chris Benson and Adam Klasterka on the New South Wales Central Coast, is a lesson in following your dream no matter what gets in your way.

When they first attempted to bring better beer to the Central Coast in 2010 by opening their own brewery, little did they know that what followed would be three years of struggle spanning four different sites, battles with planning permission, bureaucracy, council by-laws and even public opposition from figures in the community. But where many would have crumbled at such obstacles, Chris and Adam dug in, kept up the good fight and listened not to the knockers, but to their growing number of supporters who signed petitions for, and not against, the presence of a brewery in their community. Their persistence eventually, finally, wonderfully, paid off in early 2013 as they were able to roll up the brewery doors to the public for the first time. And since then they've been going gangbusters.

When you walk in, you won't see any evidence of the difficult times. If you know the story, all you'll think is: "Why would people try to stop this?" Set up inside a large warehouse on an industrial estate, the space is open but split neatly in two. Along one side is the domain of the brewers: a big row of shiny tanks and brewing equipment. The other side is for the punter: tables lined up all the way along the wall until you reach the bar.

The bar takes centre stage because, well, it pretty much is a stage - the name Six String comes from Chris' penchant for playing the six string bass guitar and the brewery rocks and rolls to a music theme. However, the spotlights above the bar aren't pouring light on musicians, instead illuminating a row of taps delivering beer that's brewed only a few steps from where it reaches your glass. Here then, you have two of the essential pillars of life, beer and music, served up in whatever order you prefer (both at the same time recommended).

As for the beer, taking a trip through the Six String range is a natural progression for the palate via the Coastie Lager (an AIBA trophy winner in 2021), Pale Ale, the flagship (very) Dark Red IPA, and more recent core range additions On Tour Mid and Shreddin IPA. This core range is supplemented by monthly limited edition brews in cans, occasional keg only brews distributed across NSW and occasionally into Victoria and Queensland, an small batch brews – one or two kegs – just for the bar. As a fairly early Aussie adopter of canned beer, all their mainstays are available for takeaway – as are a cider and non-alcoholic lemonade.

If your reason for travelling here is to try what's on tap, it's well worth grabbing a tasting paddle (or two, depending on how many beers they have pouring) to get started, as well as a bite to eat: BlackBear BBQ is now in permanent residence in the kitchen. If you've got the time and are interested in finding out how the magic happens, you can sign up for a brewery tour or just park up at the bar opposite the tanks and have a chat to the brewers while they do their thing. There's a suitably relaxed vibe to the whole place that's a far cry from the drunken raucousness objectors had originally feared. In fact, it's a place so laid back that families can, and do, spend the afternoon.

In a region blessed with boundless surf, sun and beaches, the boys and girls at Six String have generated a nice little wave of interest in local beer and they're getting plenty of people along for the ride. They've even gone so far as to open a second venue, Sounds On West at Umina Beach which serves up smokehouse food alongside Six String beer, all Aussie wines and all Aussie spirits.

Nick Oscilowski

Name
Six String Brewing
Address

4/330 The Entrance Road
Erina
NSW 2250

Phone
(02) 4365 4536
Regular events

Tours:
From Nov 2020, on weekends
Numbers limited to 10 Bookings essential: bookings@sixstringbrewing.com.au
Brew Days:
Monthly – returning in 2021

Open Hours

Wed to Sat: midday to 9.30pm
Kitchen: midday to 3pm & 5pm to 8pm
Sunday: 10.30am to 4pm Kitchen: 10.30am to 3pm

Tours

By appointment (max 15 people)


This is a directory listing. To find out more, head here

Six String Brewing Regulars

Six String Shreddin' IPA

Published April 27, 2020
This is the sixth beer to be added to Six String’s core range and it's one which, due to legal reasons, had to change its original name – Strata-Caster IPA – as it was too close to Fender’s trademarked Stratocaster guitars. The arrival of the Shreddin’ IPA completes the set for Six Strings fans, however, who are now able to grab a mixed six featuring the Erina brewers' accessible core range. The original name references the Strata hop, one that's very much on trend: a multi-layered variety… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Six String Brewing On Tour

Published December 10, 2018
Miraculously timed for the arrival of the warmer weather, the Six String Brewing Company has ventured into the mid-strength market with On Tour, a beer to take with you wherever you venture this summer. This is a category that was once frowned upon by a hardcore craft beer crowd determined to be defined by anything other than the kinds of beers the big brewers would generally make. But, over the years, a degree of pragmatism has taken hold. It turns out quite a lot of people quite like drinking… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength
ABV
3.5%

Six String Dark Red IPA

It's not red. Or is it? What at first seems like another easy classification as a black IPA gets mighty confused when you hold it up to the light because, yes, there's definitely redness there. And as there would be because the recipe is based very loosely on the West Coast USA style red ale, tweaked and nudged until it's become Six String's signature beer. The red colour here comes from rich caramel and chocolate malts, which also give off a contrasting creamy white head. Once you've stopped looking… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
6.6%

Six String Pale Ale

As you might expect from a beer that's a hybrid between American and Australian Pale Ales, this beer does its stock and trade on fruity and floral hop characters. But, really, in this day and age it seems you can't go and release a Pale Ale without having it loaded with hops - you'll be laughed out of the brewery. No chance here though; hops from the two countries give a heap of passionfruit, mango and citrus aromas. But it's not all in the head. While the beer has been designed to have a clean and… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.8%

Six String Brewing Coastie Lager

For Australia Day 2015, the team at Six String Brewing decided to launch a version of that oh-so-Aussie beer style: lager. They originally planned it as a proper local lager, keeping its availability strictly confined to the Central Coast but, such is the nature of these things, it proved popular so they relaxed the beer’s boundaries a little, then a lot. And who can blame them; the style was chosen because it’s something that will go down well with those pursuing a coastal way of life, and Australia… Read more
Style
Pale Lager
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
12 IBU

Six String Brewing Tropical Pale Ale

When they first opened the doors to their brewery, Six String had a bit of a tough time selling the virtues of craft beer to their local market. There was simply no precedent to the kinds of flavours they were planning on making in and for their community; the Central Coast was certifiable lager land and here they were starting out with a relatively strong, dark red IPA as their flagship. Yet things have changed. Yes, they’ve managed to help a lot of people become interesting and accepting of the… Read more
Style
Australian Pale Ale
ABV
4.2%

Six String Brewing Specials

Six String Brewing Stout

Published March 20, 2023
Just in time for the clocks going back, as and as the mercury starts to fall, Six String have released their winter seasonal: Stout. Dark malts dominate the flavour, conjuring up a melody of caramel and chocolate which dances across the palate, while a lovely, lingering bitterness is enticed from the Columbus and EKG hops. Oats give the beer a fuller mouthfeel, which amplifies the roasty bitterness and malty sweetness in what's an easy-drinking stout. Think chestnuts roasting on open fires, a comfortable… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
4.4%
Bitterness
24 IBU

Six String Quadruple Dark Red IPA

Published July 15, 2022
As the Six String crew moved towards their tenth anniversary in 2023, they decided to monster up the first beer they ever brewed – the Dark Red IPA – for both their birthday and 2022's GABS festival. Before we get into the beer, it pays to have a look at how we got here. Back in 2013, the craft beer industry was just about gaining traction, so it was Six String’s intention to release a flagship beer that showcased who they were: big, bold, and full of flavour. At this stage, red IPA was not… Read more
Style
Dark Red IPA
ABV
14.0%

Six String Urban Bohemia & Wet Wet Wet Hop Pale Ale

Published April 29, 2022
I quaffed Urban Bohemia from Six String after a 10km trail run and it was a perfect post-run rehydration pilsner that didn't touch the sides and will most certainly be stocked in the fridge come next summer. The crew call it a beer that's reminiscent of 90s music festivals with their epic lineups; however, it could clearly become a favourite of the ultra-marathon running set. A traditional pilsner brewed with a long lagering period in the Bohemian style while showcasing German malts, it’s certainly… Read more
Style
Pilsner & Fresh Hop Pale Ale
ABV
5.2% & 4.6%
Bitterness
35 & 40 IBUs

NZ Hops 2022: Deeds & Six String

Published January 17, 2022
If you're planning to compile a mixed pack of beers showcasing hops, Deeds are always likely to be high up your list of potential suitors. With Centre Stage the Glen Iris brewers return to the familiar territory of a hazy, 8 percent ABV IPA pouring with a solid yellow haze and a loose white head. Expect to find sweet passionfruit curd from yay to nay, a boozey touch of gooseberry, with a touch of drying bitterness there to aid drinkability. Central Coast-based Six String are best known for their… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA & Dip-Hopped DIPA
ABV
8.0% & 9.0%
Stockists

You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here

Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5

Six String Cold Dip & In Bloom IPAs

Published November 13, 2021
Following on from their recent Electric Feel seriesSix String continue their exploration of newer beer styles and brewing techniques. This time round we have the Cold Dip IPA, which is their take on both the on-trend cold IPA and dip-hopping techniques, and you could be forgiven for thinking there will be a spate of breweries rethinking the branding of IPAs as La NiĂąa appears to be settling in for another cooler year. The Cold Dip is crisp, light and refreshing, brewed with NZ hops Wakatu and Motueka,… Read more
Style
Cold IPA & IPA with Honey
ABV
6.0% & 6.4%
Bitterness
25 & 13 IBU

Six String Electric Feel: West Coast IPA

Published July 23, 2021
It's been a fine few weeks for Central Coast's Six String Brewing. They claimed an AIBA trophy for their Coastie lager and followed that with Best In Show for their stand at GABS Sydney. Now, aiming to show that good things do come in threes, they've launched their Electric Feel series, which will also come in threes – three beers designed to showcase what brewers can achieve with Cryo Hops, a form of hops designed to deliver intense flavours and aromas. First up, they're doing so with a West Coast… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
7.2%
Bitterness
72 IBU

Six String Double Trouble & Crème de la Crème Is Who I Am

Published June 23, 2021
Plug the amp in and turn it up to 11, as the team at Six String Brewery have pumped additional wattage into their Dark Red IPA. Using double the malts and triple the hops, this beer will hunt you down if you leave it in your fridge. Double Trouble is all Lyons treacle and the kind of toffee that comes with a mini mallet to smash it into pieces, while the crew has managed to squeeze fresh grapefruit and a slice of pineapple into the mix. At 10 percent ABV, it is liquid velvet in the mouth with a sweet… Read more
Style
Double Red IPA & Dessert Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0% & 8.9%
Bitterness
100 & 18 IBUs

Six String Brewing Sleight Of Hand White Chocolate Stout

Published April 9, 2021
It could be a line from an epic rock song: "Sip from the can Before you pour this Sleight of Hand." Six String Brewing's April limited release offering is a magnificent, creamy, sweet stout masquerading as a "white" ale. Sleight of Hand refers to manipulation and entertaining, and that's where the team at Erina step in: what Six String have done is manipulate the meaning of the name Sleight of Hand, coupled with their own "Easter egg", to perhaps point their loyal followers… Read more
Style
White Chocolate Stout
ABV
6.8%
Bitterness
18 IBU

Six String Pinoy Fiesta

Published March 11, 2021
They know how to throw a party in the Philippines. My wife and I lucked out while taking our time moving to Melbourne back in 2008, spending a few days on the tiny island of Malapascua either side of the Sinulog Festival. Despite measuring a mere 2.5km by 1km and with only a few thousand inhabitants, the island became a riot of colour and noise (memories embellished by the laughing cops posing for my camera while chowing down on BBQ skewers, rifles casually pointing skywards from their hips). Presumably… Read more
Style
Pineapple Gose
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
4 IBU

Six String Hop Hesher DDH IPA

Published November 4, 2020
For those not in the know, a hesher refers to a diehard enthusiast of heavy metal music, so one can assume a Hop Hesher refers to those among us who are diehard enthusiasts of hops. That's certainly the case with this spring small batch release from Six String, with their Hop Hesher DDH IPA a great all round sessionable quaffer, one that's double dry-hopped with Meridien, Citra and Styrian Fox. Hazy in colour, the hop profile featured citrus, blackcurrant and berry with a light mouthfeel. Certainly… Read more
Style
DDH IPA
ABV
5.5%
Bitterness
43 IBU

Six String Strange Brew Oat Cream IPA

Published August 10, 2020
In ’67, Eric Clapton took hold of the mic and sang lead for the first time with Brit band Cream, the legendary outfit with the original superstar drummer, Ginger Baker. Strange Brew was the name of their Top 20 hit and it’s no real surprise to see the team at Six String doff their caps at Clapton, Baker and Jack Bruce. If you know your bands and you know Six String, you can see how the world’s first supergroup has influenced the brewery this time round; just check out the can’s design with… Read more
Style
Oat Cream IPA
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
15 IBU

Six String & Distillery Botanica Mr Black Coffee Milk Stout

Published June 10, 2020
One of the most endearing outcomes of this pandemic lockdown has been the remarkable ability of locals to help out locals, as they stand together in their respective neighbourhoods keeping an eye out for each other. Case in point: Six Strings and Distillery Botanica have a relationship that goes back to 2013, when the brewery poured their beers at the launch of Mr Black, a cold press liqueur featuring single origin arabica beans from Ethiopia, Brazil and Papua New Guinea, coupled with Australian… Read more
Style
Coffee Milk Stout
ABV
8.0%

Six String Brewing Space Hop Odyssey IPA

Published March 12, 2020
Back in ‘87, a very younger version of your writer crammed himself into Wembley Stadium along with 40,000 other fans to watch the resurrection of Ziggy Stardust. As Space Oddity enveloped our senses, breaking the tethers that anchored us to the earth, we soared up into the stratosphere searching for Major Tom. Either that or someone had slipped a Mickey Finn into our beer... Fast forward to today and there are no psychoactive drugs in Space Hop Odyssey IPA: it’s purely glammed up with Galaxy,… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Six String Blood Orange Vanilla Magik

Published October 18, 2019
Few breweries make a Kolsch for the Australian market. Fewer still will make a Kolsch and advertise it as a Kolsch, often simply selling it as a lager. And fewer still experiment with the style. But Six String have taken the traditionally clean style and gone to town on it. To be fair, we should stick with the brewery's language of “inspired by a Kolsch” - after all, Blood Orange Vanilla Magik wasn't brewed in Cologne, and it most definitely doesn't abide by Reinheitsgebot regulations. Nor is… Read more
Style
Citrus & Vanilla Kolsch
ABV
4.7%
Bitterness
20 IBU

Six String Foxy Dragon XPA

Published October 11, 2019
Things I Didn’t Know #3816: a foxy dragon is apparently a common anime-style hybrid mythological creature. But this beer isn’t so common. It’s a one-off made for BrewCon 2019 by a supplier (Hopco), a brewer (Six String), and a distributor (Hops & More), who all collaborated on this XPA to play around with a couple of experimental hops, SV Fox and SV Dragon. It brings together complex aromas - big sweet bursts of pawpaw, flowers, passionfruit, citrus zest, dried apricot - but there’s nothing… Read more
Style
XPA
ABV
4.2%

Six String Triple Dark Red IPA

Published June 15, 2019
For many of us, Six String’s Dark Red IPA was the first red IPA we could consistently get our hands on. It’s a beautiful, balanced drop, with the hops and malt intertwining masterfully and with intensity. When Six String brought out the double, they amped it up, put a tiger on the label, and we all raced to try it. The increase in malt was more prominent than the increase in hops, which was a little surprising, considering they’d doubled the malt but tripled the hops. The result was a little… Read more
Style
Triple Dark Red IPA
ABV
12.0%

Six String Brewing Five

Published October 5, 2018
It’s almost impossible to identify with any real degree of accuracy, but at some point during the life of a business there comes a time where you can’t imagine it not being there. You’re so used to it that you probably take it for granted. By that point, you’ve almost certainly forgotten what it was like before it existed. That’s what’s so good about an anniversary, the chance to reflect. When the Six String Brewing Company opened its doors in Erina in 2013 there was nothing else like… Read more
Style
Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
9.4%

Six String Brewing Chai Porter

Published June 21, 2018
The passage of time easily confuses a busy mind, but trudging through the mental archives brings a faint recollection that this beer has been around before. Five years ago, perhaps – it can’t be more because the brewery that made it is barely older than that. And such distinct blends of ingredients tend to linger in the memory for one reason or another. So, whether you treat it as the return of a long lost friend or view it as something new, Six String has released a Chai Porter. This is the… Read more
Style
Chai Porter
ABV
4.7%

Six String Brewing Black & Gothic

Published May 10, 2018
Things have clearly taken a turn at the Six String Brewing Company. Where the warmer months on the Central Coast were once characterised in the main by new and fruity IPAs and lagers, these early parts of the cooler seasons have seen the brewers turn towards the darker side of beer styles – very dark, as it turns out. Indeed, they've gone so dark the first large scale release is an oatmeal stout that’s been called, simply, Black. Yet if it’s a beer that’s meant to appear menacing – and… Read more
Style
Stouts
ABV
5.1% & 9.4%

Six String Up Jumped The Devil

Published March 9, 2018
The Six Stringers have gone all Aussie for their late summer/early autumn release, combining Australian pale malt, Astra hops, Nick Cave and Tasmanian devils to form a limited edition lager. Up Jumped The Devil takes its title from a Cave song while the artwork comes from the hand of Central Coast artist Kelly-Anne Love. Driven by a passion for conservation, she created a series of works called Endangered, the proceeds of which went to the Devil Ark project aimed at saving the Tassie devil. Six… Read more
Style
Hoppy Lager
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

Six String Brewery

Plonk

And select good beer stockists in ACT & NSW

More stockists...

Six String Garage Born IPA

Published January 31, 2018
The first seasonal to come from Six String in 2018 is a literal mashup of amateur and professional brewing. Last year, they held a homebrew competition where the winner would receive the coveted prize of heading to the brewery, scaling up their successful recipe to a commercial size and having it released in cans and kegs to good beer venues far and wide. The champion beer was a Citra dominated IPA brewed by Dan Koorey and now it's getting its time in the spotlight under the name Garage Born IPA.… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.0%

Six String Brewing Aloha NEIPA

Published December 1, 2017
Brewers across Australia just can't help themselves from fruitifying their fruity IPAs and juicying up their juicy ones. And that includes Central Coast's Six String, who hooked up with near neighbours Eastcoast Beverages and “threw all the brewing rules out the window” on their Aloha New England IPA. To this very hazy beer has been added the juicer’s POG blend which is short for passionfruit, orange and guava, and those are flavours you get in high doses within this tropical riot of a beer.… Read more
Style
Juicy NEIPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Six String Ram Stein Märzen

Published September 15, 2017
In the lead-up to Oktoberfest, it’s fair to say a lot of places will preparing to encourage their guests to raise a glass of pale lager into the air while whumping and thumping on tables to the merry sound of an oompah band. Not Six String. As is their style, the Central Coast rockers will instead be revelling in something darker, harder and louder – namely metal music and a healthy serving of Ram Stein. Their annual Oktoberfest / Märzen beer has been released in its 2017 incarnation, in both… Read more
Style
Märzen
ABV
5.4%

Six String Double Dark Red IPA

Published August 17, 2017
When Six String launched back in 2013, the beer that won them the most beer geek cred was their punchy Dark Red IPA, a style few made at the time with any regularity and one the Central Coasters effectively made their own. Fast forward to IPA Day 2017 and the Six String brewers decided to take their beloved red IPA, run it through the amplifier and crank the dial all the way up to ten. The Double Dark Red IPA has double the malt and triple the hops of the original, making this ten percent ABV and… Read more
Style
Imperial Dark Red IPA
ABV
10.0%
Bitterness
100 IBU

Six String Hella Good IPA

Published January 18, 2017
While their lagers, pale ales and otherwise generally approachable beers have made them legends with loads of friends in their local community, the brewers at Six String are never afraid to give the flavour dial a decent twist to the right to cater for those who enjoy giving their palates a bit more punishment. That’s seemingly the target audience with their Hella Good IPA, a beer that first came out as a keg only release at the beginning of 2017 but which they felt warranted a re-release a year… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
50 IBU

Six String Mor Lam IPA & Celtic Stout

Published August 2, 2015
It's adjunct time at Six String on the Central Coast, with the two most recent limited release beers to leave the brewery packing more than water, hops, malt and yeast. One was their entry into this year's GABS festival, the other is a hook up with a local coffee roaster. The GABS beer is the Mor Lam IPA, a beer that brings some of the flavours and aromas of Thailand to bear upon an IPA, namely kaffir lime, coriander and lemongrass. The result is an IPA that will fit snugly in the love-it-or-hate-it… Read more
Style
Spiced IPA & Coffee Stout
ABV
7.0% & 4.7%
Stockists

Kincumber Hotel

The Landing Bar & Kitchen

The Prince of Wales Hotel - Merewether

The Edwards

The Mill on Constance

Archive Beer Boutique

Brisbane Brewing Co

Long Jetty Hotel

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Six String Brewing Bobby Brown

Published February 18, 2014
The name 'Bobby Brown' means different things to different people. If your formative years included the late 1970s, it might conjure up memories of Frank Zappa's confused sexual deviant. A decade later, the infamy of the name passed to another Bobby Brown whose prerogative was apparently excessive use of drugs and drop crotch pants. With those sorts of associations, you might expect a beer called Bobby Brown to be similarly twisted. But what's in a name, right? The Bobby Brown Ale from Six String… Read more
Style
American Brown Ale
ABV
5.1%
Stockists

Six String Brewing

Union Hotel Newtown

Spooning Goats

Quarrymans Hotel

Forest Lodge Hotel

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Six String Brewing Saison

Published November 2, 2013
It took them three years of jumping through hoops to get their brewery in Erina up and running. By in just six months since the doors were opened, they've wasted no time getting the word out that something different is brewing on NSW's Central Coast, via weekly gigs on a stage in front of their brewery tanks, the hairiest collection of staff at any Australian brewery (if their appearance at the Aus Hotel Beer Fest is anything to go by) and some fine beers too. The latest to appear is their take on… Read more
Style
Saison
ABV
4.6%
Bitterness
26 IBU
Stockists

Six String Brewing

Six String ESB

Published March 22, 2013
A homage to the Extra Special Bitters of England, the Six String ESB uses only UK malt and hops from the U.K. This has pretty much everything you'd seek from a classic ESB; copper colour, biscuity, malty aromas with floral notes and - despite the name - not overly bitter (at least not when compared to something like, say, the Dark Red IPA). A beer like this changes greatly depending on the system used to dispense it. Served at cellar temperature from a traditional beer engine - the way UK expats… Read more
Style
Extra Special Bitter
ABV
5.4%

Six String Hefeweizen

If you're heading to the Central Coast, chances are you'll spend some time in the sun on one of the many beaches in the region. And at the end a hard day's leisure, you'll no doubt want something flavoursome and refreshing to reward yourself. Look no further than the Six String Hefeweizen, a beer built for drinking on a warm summer's day. Made with a 50/50 blend of wheat to barley malts and at 5.2 per cent abv, it's light enough to have a few but packs enough of a flavour punch to stop you from having… Read more
Style
Hefeweizen
ABV
5.2%
Bitterness
11 IBU