Wayward Brewing Co

Brewer

Name
Wayward Brewing Co
Address

3 Gehrig Lane
Camperdown
NSW 2050

Phone
(02) 7903 2445
Open Hours

Thur: 2pm to 10pm
Fri: 2pm to 10pm
Sat: midday to 10pm
Sun: midday to 8pm
Mon: 4pm to 9pm

Regular events

Food trucks Friday, Saturday & Sunday until 7pm (or until sold out)
Sunday Sessions Live music in the cellar door on Sunday afternoon

Tours

Saturdays at 2pm and 4pm
Guided tours cost $25, last 40-60 minutes and include a tasting paddle. Buy tickets at the bar.

For several years Peter Philip was one of Sydney’s most archetypal gypsy brewers. He’d brew small test batches at his house, hoard homebrew, fine-tune recipes then head to a local brewery to borrow a bit of tank space and release a commercial batch under the Wayward Brewing label. He certainly got around; in the three years following the first commercial release in 2012, Wayward’s beer came out of at least seven different Sydney breweries. But late in 2015 the gypsy brewing journey came to an end when the door was rolled up on the brand new Wayward brewery, nestled in a quiet lane on the border between Annandale and Camperdown.

The brewery itself is based on having considered the good, bad and downright dysfunctional parts of other breweries and having it custom built into something perfect for their own needs. That’s resulted in a four vessel system that belies its relatively diminutive physical size by allowing Pete and Shaun Blissett – the well-regarded former Illawarra brewer now in charge of Wayward’s day to day brewing activities – to brew several times a day if needed. It was a canny move that, in actual terms, means shorter brew days but a larger potential total output. They’d soon need it.

Wayward’s approach to beer, as the name suggests, has always been a little esoteric. The starting lineup for many new brewers generally goes something along the lines of: golden ale, pale ale, IPA and a variant on a dark beer. Wayward’s releases came roughly in the following order: India Red Ale, German Kellerbier, Biere de Garde, Jasmine Saison, Eisbock, Chocolate Dopplebock and Oatmeal IPA.

When you head to the brewery with the intent of trying some of these fresh out of the tank, you’ll do so in the most unique – and in the eyes of many, the best – cellar door of any Sydney brewery. Entering off Gehrig Lane will have you walking by a blazing yellow mural tracing a motorcycle rider’s distinctly whimsical road trip towards a brewery. Art meets life at the end of this passage, with your metaphorical journey to beer enlightenment manifesting itself physically in the form of the real motorcycle bolted to the wall next to a pile of luggage which seems to suggest that, once here, you’re in for a long visit or an adventure, or both.

On top of the regular goings on in the brewery they have a small pilot brewing system for experimental beers and a barrel program – both of which get used frequently – resulting in the bar having 14 taps to pour a sometimes dizzying array of beer styles. Plus they often throw on a keg or two from a passing gypsy brewer – Pete’s way of paying it forward for his time using other breweries. You’ll need a bit of time to try everything.

There’s a certain irony – or perhaps just a nod to changing tastes – in the brewery being set up in an old winery that once stretched all the way down Gehrig Lane and beyond. What were once enormous concrete vats housing fermenting grapes now form a series of connected rooms running off the main serving area and fully kitted out in retro furniture. But despite still being able to see and feel remnants of site’s former life in the thick wax-covered and juice-stained walls, you can smell, see and taste that with Wayward you’re firmly in beer country.

Looking at Wayward with a wider view, something that for so many years was just Pete and his wife, Yvette, working away at an idea became, with the opening of the brewery, something tangible. They’ve now got a real home of their own, won awards for their beer and the bar, have roots in a community and a growing team, effectively making them de facto parents to a whole Wayward family. You get the sense they’re proud as punch of what Wayward has become, and well they should be.

Nick Oscilowski

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Stories featuring Wayward Brewing Co

Core Range

Wayward Brewing Aqua Lupa Sparkling Hop Water
Hop Water with Electrolytes etc
0.0%
Wayward Brewing Everyday Lager
Aussie Lager
4.2%
Wayward Brewing Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA
5.8%
Wayward Brewing Hazy Mid
Hazy Mid-Strength
3.5%
Wayward Brewing W Seltzer Range
Hard Seltzers
All 4.3%
Wayward Brewing Red IPA
6.5%
Wayward Brewing Raspberry Berliner Weisse
Fruit Berliner Weisse
3.8
Wayward Brewing India Pale Ale
India Pale Ale
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Everyday Ale
Pale Ale
4.2%
Wayward Brewing Pilsner
Pilsner
4.2%
Wayward Brewing Co. Charmer
India Red Ale
5.0%
Wayward Brewing Co. Camperdown 1
Pale Ale
4.6%

Limited Releases

Tallboy & Moose Spruce Springsteen & Wayward Cosmic Crush
American Strong Ale & American Pilsner
5.0% & 5.8%
Bintani & Friends Flood Relief Pale Ale
Pale Ale
5.0%
Wayward Brewing Sunshine Juice
Hazy IPA
6.5%
Wayward Brewing Wayward Son Lupulin IPA 2021
Lupulin IPA
7.3% ABV
Wayward Brewing Barely Wine
Barleywine
11.7%
Wayward Brewing Sourade
Electric Blue Gose
4.0%
Wayward Brewing Peaches & Cream: Peach And Vanilla Sour
Peach And Vanilla Sour
5.2%
Wayward Brewing RSA Hazy IIPA
Hazy IIPA
8.3%
Wayward Brewing Big Birthday Beer
Imperial Raspberry Berliner Weisse
7.6%
Wayward Brewing Cashmere Cat Hazy IPA
Juicy IPA
6.3%
Wayward Brewing Wayward Son Lupulin IPA
Juicy IPA
7.3%
Wayward Brewing Midnight Barley Cowboy
Hoppy Porter
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Ohana Tropical Gose
Tropical Gose
4.3%
Bad Shepherd Unicorn Beer & Lumberjack IPA
IPA Variants
5.5% & 6.0%
Wayward Brewing Mango Mosaic Magic
Fruit Sour
4.0%
Wayward Brewing Funky Pineapple Hand Grenade (Cans)
Brett IPA
6.8%
Wayward Brewing Passionista & Fusami Victory (Cans)
Fruit Sour & IPL
3.8% & 6.1%
Wayward Brewing Appalachian Mist Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Discovery Series: Ripasso Bianco & Ripasso Rosso
Beer-Wine Hybrids
6.1%
Wayward Brewing Discovery Series: Balthazar 2019
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
9.4%
Wayward Brewing Coffee & Donuts
Milk Stout
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Dead Dingo Brut IPA
Brut IPA
6.2%
Wayward Brewing Juicy Boy Pineapple Orange Gose
Gose
3.8%
Wayward Brewing Funky Pineapple Hand Grenade Brett IPA
Brett IPA
6.5%
Wayward Brewing Kveik To Market IPA
Kveik IPA
6.5%
Wayward Brewing Passionista
Passionfruit & Yuzu Berliner Weisse
3.8%
Wayward Brewing Ripasso
Beer-Wine Hybrid
5.0%
Wayward Brewing Saint Basil's Russian Imperial Stout
Russian Imperial Stout
9.0%
Wayward Brewing Slapshot Black IPA
Black IPA
6.5%
Wayward Brewing Passion of the Puss
Berliner Weisse
3.8%
Wayward Brewing The Wayward Son & Big Richard
West Coast IPA & Doppelbock
7.3% & 9.7%
Wayward Brewing Company Midnight Barley Cowboy
Hoppy Porter
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Company Fat Charmer
Double India Red Ale
8.3%
Wayward Brewing Co. All Day Nelson
Single Hop IPA
6.8%
Wayward Brewing Dad Rock Imperial IPA (Gluten reduced)
Double IPA
8.0%
Wayward Brewing Rose Kolsch
Kolsch
5.1%
Wayward Brewing Lilliput IPL
Session IPL
4.1%
Malt Shovel & Wayward Camperdown Collective West Coast IPA
West Coast IPA
6.7%
Wayward Brewing Co. Sourpuss
Raspberry Berliner Weisse
3.8%
Wayward Brewing Co. Oatis
Oatmeal IPA
6.1%
Wayward Brewing Co. FUSAMI Victory
India Pale Lager
6.3%
Wayward Brewing Co. Furious Gnome
Extra Special Bitter
6.0%
Wayward Brewing Co. Raconteur
Biere de Garde
6.3%
Wayward Brewing Co. Keller Instinct
Bavarian Lager
5.0%