Pikes Beer Company

The Pike family's story begins a long time ago; indeed, the brewery’s foundations were laid long before any of us were even born. Theirs is a tale of long distance ocean travel, all in the hope of starting life anew in Australia and creating a long lasting legacy.

It all began in 1878, when a 41-year-old Henry Pike arrived in South Australia from Dorset, England, aboard a ship called the Oaklands. A jack of all trades, he soon found work as a carpenter, a joiner, a builder and even an undertaker, a career that ultimately saw him assisting with the expansion of the Johnston brewery at Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills.

Prior to arriving in Australia, Henry had learnt about brewing from his mother, Emma, when he was just a boy, as she believed it would be handy skill later in life. And, when he first attempted a few hobby batches, he enjoyed instant success; the beer was so popular, in fact, that he was persuaded to make more. So he did, resulting in the launch of the "Dorset" Brewery.

In 1885, Henry and his wife Emma bought land on Elizabeth Street in Oakbank, which would later be used to house his brewery. The same year, the company name H Pike and Son (the son being Walter Pike) was made official. The brewhouse arrived the following year and between the years 1886 and 1900 the brewery continued to expand, with additional houses built and more land purchased.

Ale was delivered throughout the area via a pony drawn cart. A five-gallon keg would cost seven shillings and sixpence, a dozen ales four shillings – five for the fully matured ale. The brewery continued to be an integral part of the area for many years and the Pikes name was so successful they started buying hotels at which to serve their beer: Duke of York, Crafers Hotel, Hahndorf Arms, Belair Hotel and the Railway Hotel to name just a few.

As time went on, the company passed from generation to generation until 1973, when the brewery was sold at auction and promptly went out of business. By then the Pikes name had found its way into the wine industry through fourth generation Australian Edgar Pike, who had established himself as a vineyard manager and private grape grower. Together with his two sons Neil and Andrew, and Andrew's wife Cathy, he launched Pike’s Wines in 1984 in the Polish Hill River region of the Clare Valley.

It wasn’t too long – at least in the grand scale of the Pike family’s brewing legacy – before it started all over again. In 1996, the family began having beer produced for them under contract before, in late 2014, they brought it back to the Clare Valley where they’d installed a brand new 20 hectolitre Italian brewhouse.

The family’s brewing tradition continues firsthand to this day, with Alister Pike overseeing the brewery. The core range is made up of a pale ale, a stout, an IPA and a pilsner while the brewery’s regular limited releases give the team a chance to really experiment with styles and ingredients and brew the kind of beer that the early Pike brewers might not quite recognise as beer. In early 2021, the brewery started canning too, giving the iconic fish that adorns their labels a fresh new look.

You can sample them all at the source, with the brewery operating a cellar door operation that's open seven days a week and allows you to delve deeper into the family's unique history while working your way through the lineup. The Pikes home was given a serious renovation and expansion in 2018 too, making it an even more welcoming stop for anyone touring the region.

Set on the vine-covered plains of the Polish Hill River, it's a resurrection of a brewing tradition nearly 140 years old that ensures the legacy of Henry Pike and his mother lives on.

Matt King

Name
Pikes Beer Company
Address

233 Polish Hill River Road
Polish Hill River
SA 5453

Phone
(08) 8843 4370
Open Hours

10am to 4pm

Tours

Tours by appointment only


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

Pikes Beer Company Regulars

Pikes Beer Co IPA

Published November 7, 2019
There are many directions a core range IPA can head in and for Pike, there's mixes Eureka with Mosaic and pours a wonderful light orange pours light orange in colour and super clear. That the journey led here is no surprise, with distinct, Eureka-led aromas of punchy pine and resin that come together to ooze a certain dankness, with a side of sweet orange marmalade. The medium body presents sweet biscuit flavours initially, but it's a brief moment: this IPA is definitely hop driven. On the palate,… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.5%

Pikes Beer Co Pale Ale

Published July 8, 2016
The Pale Ale entered Pikes' core range in the middle of 2016 and is an all Australian drop, combining local hops Galaxy and Melba with a variety of specialty malts used to obtain the caramel hue. In the glass, the pale has a soft burnt amber colour with a gentle carbonation on the pour. The hop aromas are delicate and are only really present as the first sip is taken. Instead, easy toffee tones mixed with a little caramel take over, with the beer ending with a refined hop bitterness. Registering… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

Pikes Brewery

Pikes Beer Co Pilsener

It's said that it takes a lot of beer to make a good wine. And, as a family that should be able to confirm such a claim better than most, given their involvement in both worlds in South Australia, we imagine that this sort of beer would be one to quench many a thirst at the end of a long day during vintage. It's about as traditional a European inspired pilsener as you could wish for: the hops are gently floral and herbal, the malt presents tight and crisp and the bitterness is there to cleanse the… Read more
Style
Pale Lager
ABV
4.5%

Pikes Beer Co Stout

A stout was among the beers produced by the original Pikes back in the 19th century and it was one of the beers their descendants first brought back to life when they reanimated the brewing company, even before they brought brewing back in house in the Clare Valley. Their stout is what we'd tag a "drinking stout". Relatively light in body and more cola-coloured than pitch black, it shares some characteristics with dark ales more than it does with some of the heftier stouts doing the rounds… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
5.2%

Pikes Beer Co Mid-North Draught

The Clare Valley region boasts an abundance of quality raw materials, and is best known for its riesling grapes and the wines from which they're created. In 2022, however, Pikes (who know their way around a riesling too) decided to champion another local product: barley. Mid-North Draught is a mid-strength lager and, while it may sound like a simple beer, the reality is far different. You'll find elements of classic lagers in this flavoursome offering (Pikes Pilsener is a cracking Euro-inspired… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Australian Lager
ABV
3.5%

Pikes Beer Company Specials

Pikes Beer Co Raspberry Berliner Weisse & Hazy IPA

Published March 31, 2023
Not one but two new releases to report on from Clare Valley brewery Pikes. First up is a trophy-winning, kettle sour with loads of fresh raspberries added post ferment: a re-release of the original Raspberry Berliner that took out Champion Specialty Beer at the 2020 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. As you'd expect, it pours a cloudy pinkish colour, with an off white head from which fresh raspberry aromas and flavours rain forth early. There's a touch of fruit sweetness, a little wheat character,… Read more
Style
Raspberry Berliner Weisse & Hazy IPA

Pikes Beer Co Passionfruit Witbier & Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Imperial Saison

Published December 12, 2022
Summer took a long time to appear in South Australia this year, but now it's here Pikes have served up two very summery limited releases for their loyal following. The first is a Passionfruit Witbier featuring fresh passionfruit added alongside orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove so as to emphasise the yeast-driven esters typical of the style. It chimes in at 5 percent ABV, finding a balance between sessionability and a decent mouthfeel. The yeast characteristics really do shine, equal parts… Read more
Style
Fruited Witbier & Barrel-Aged Imperial Saison
ABV
5.0% & 8.1%

Pikes Beer Co American Brown Ale

Published September 6, 2022
Clare Valley-based Pikes Beer Company have started making the transition from the darks of winter to something a touch lighter in colour for spring. Their American Brown Ale blurs the lines between a red IPA and a brown ale, with flickers of red malts laying a backdrop for the hops – classic US Cascade and Chinook hops early on and Aussie-grown Vic Secret late in the ferment – to punch through. The Vic Secret fires off citrus aromas, largely grapefruit with a little orange, alongside a touch… Read more
Style
American Brown Ale
ABV
7.5%

Pikes Beer Co & Dawn Patrol Coffee Stout

Published August 1, 2022
For Pikes' 2022 midwinter limited release, the brew team caught up with another sort of brew team, collaborating with Dawn Patrol Coffee to make a stout. After plenty of trialling, they settled on Coffee was added twice during the process too, with gold, wet-fermented Red Bourbon coffee from Colombia, which featured as a course-ground whirlpool addition then again post-ferment as cold brew. Little surprise then that the coffee exudes from the first moment the can is cracked: pungent espresso aromas… Read more
Style
Coffee Stout
ABV
5.8%

Pikes & The Suburban Brew Chilly Bin

Published November 15, 2021
When it comes to language, New Zealanders often stand further apart from us than the expanse of water separating the two countries. They call thongs jandals; an esky is called a chilly bin. And, while Aussies like to lay claim to Russell Crowe, Phar Lap and pavlova, there are no immediate plans to weave these and other terms into our lexicon. Clearly, however, the teams at Pikes and Suburban see the funny side of these differences, naming their limited release collab Chilly Bin. The beer, a 5.2 percent… Read more
Style
NZ Pilsener
ABV
5.2%

Pikes Beer Co Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout & Choc Hazelnut Porter

Published August 3, 2021
Pikes have crossed the beams of their beer and wine operations before, but this time things are a little different. In creating their second Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, ex-shiraz barrels were sent to Starward in Melbourne to create whisky, before being sent back to the Clare Valley and filled with a Russian imperial stout. Now transferred to cans and, ultimately, the glasses of beer drinkers, it's a take on the style that showcases subtle barrel and liquor qualities, working in harmony with… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout & Choc Hazelnut Porter
ABV
10.0% & 6.5%

Pikes Beer Co Red IPA 2021

Published May 31, 2021
It's autumn (just, at time of writing), a beautiful time of year, particularly in the Clare Valley. A time when fallen leaves turn the ground an array of brilliant oranges, contrasting browns and vibrant reds. So what better way to celebrate this fine season than with a limited release Red IPA. Pikes’ version showcases the New Zealand hop Waimea, a choice which takes the flavour profile straight to the pine forest. Autumn colours flow in the form of a deep dark red hue, with the Waimea throwing… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
6.5%

Pikes Beer Co Double IPA

Published April 29, 2021
Pikes have been releasing their Double IPA for a few years now, describing it as "an ever-evolving beast", one that tends to receive a little nip and tuck with each fresh brew. So this batch, released in April 2021, may not be exactly the same as the one you pick up down the line, but should give you a ballpark idea of what they're striving for. And that's a DIPA which isn't going to leave the drinker wondering. Pouring a deep copper, this is much more of the old school ilk than the fruit-bowl-and-bag-of-homegrown-in-a-blender… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.3%

Pikes Beer Co Choc Vanilla Stout

Published July 6, 2020
When the colder months come calling, there are many who reach for a stout as if by Pavlovian response [which in these pastry stout days could have a very different meaning too – Editor], And it's no different in the Clare Valley. This Pikes winter release comes in the form of a 7.8 percent ABV chocolate vanilla foreign extra stout featuring additions of vanilla and roasted cocoa nibs post ferment. The beer does everything it says it should on the label: the chocolate and vanilla absolutely reign… Read more
Style
Choc Vanilla Stout
ABV
7.8%

Pikes Beer Co Split Batch IPAs: Centennial & Mosaic

Published July 1, 2020
When working out their winter limited release schedule, the team at Pikes Beer Co was divided, so they created a new "Split Batch"’ series. They brewed the same IPA base beer, using Super Pride for bittering plus Mosaic and Centennial in the whirlpool. It was then split into two separate fermenters, dry-hopped with different varieties and fermented using different yeast strains. One features Centennial and an American yeast, the second Mosaic and an English style strain. The Mosaic version… Read more
Style
IPAs
ABV
6.0% & 6.8%

Pikes Beer Co Lemon Verbena & Ginger Gose

Published April 3, 2020
Pikes' fourth limited release for 2020 ventures into sour territory in the shape of a lemon verbena and ginger gose. The beer was kettle soured with the lemon verbena and ginger added late in the boil. The former is a plant native to South America that imparts subtle lemon flavours and is often used in cooking or in warm tea. Here, it complements a load of ginger, presumably aiding our health while it tickles our taste buds. The ginger aroma is powerful and demands your attention from the first… Read more
Style
Spiced Gose
ABV
4.0%

Pikes Beer Co Hazy IPA

Published September 23, 2019
Keeping things moving with their fish scale-liveries limited release series, the Pikes team ventured into the land of the haze with this Hazy IPA. Sitting at 7.2 percent ABV, Pikes’ Hazy IPA gets its cloudiness and hoppy punch from two huge dry hop additions of Citra and Galaxy hops. There's just a slight haze in a beer with a dark orange glow and frothy, big white bubbly head. Those hops lead the way with no malt aromas or flavours presenting themselves any more than is necessary to balance the… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
7.2%

Pikes Beer Co Belgian Quad

Published August 20, 2019
The Pikes team have been at it again, using their sibling winery's barrels to age something big, bold and Belgian. Initially brewed for GABS 2019 but now on wider release, the 10.7 percent ABV Belgian quad was built around a collection of Belgian specialty malts before being aged in seven wine barrels that previously housed three different red wine varieties: shiraz, mourvedre and cabernet. The beer was left to sleep for five months, long enough for the barrels to leave their mark in terms of colour,… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Belgian Quadrupel
ABV
10.7%

Pikes Beer Co Red IPA

Published August 20, 2019
Pikes Beer Co’s sixth limited release comes in the form of this Red IPA, housed yet again in 500ml bottles sporting an embossed scaly label that tips a wink to the brewery's fishy logo. Unlike many such beers that tend to venture down the road towards overpowering hop aromas and flavours, Pikes' version is slightly different. Malt is king, with the hops Amarillo and Cascade encouraged to take a back seat. Meanwhile, at 7.2 percent ABV, the Pikes brewers have nearly hit imperial territory. Pouring… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
7.2%

Pikes Beer Company Passionfruit Belgian Witbier

Published April 10, 2019
Pikes' second limited release for 2019 sticks to many of the themes of their first, adding fruit (and many other things) to a beer with roots in Europe. The Belgian witbier was inspired by the Hurricane cocktail and uses passionfruit pulp in generous quantities alongside Riverland-sourced orange and lemon zest, vanilla beans, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. As is typical for the style, it pours a very pale and hazy yellow, with a solid, bright white and fluffy head and a quite sprightly carbonation.… Read more
Style
Passionfruit Witbier
ABV
6.0%

Pikes Beer Company Mandarin Berliner Weisse

Published January 11, 2019
Pikes Beer Co continues to maintain a steady speed with its limited release program, with this Mandarin Berliner Weisse the third beer to appear on the shelves complete with scaly fish label design. It's the Clare Valley brewery's first kettle sour, to which estate grown mandarin peel was added to the beer throughout the brewing process. It's a 3.5 percent ABV refresher with the warm weather of a South Australian summer in mind. Super light yellow in colour, the mandarin sings loudly throughout,… Read more
Style
Mandarin Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.5%

Pikes Beer Company IIPA 2018

Published September 13, 2018
Increasingly, it seems rolling out a steady stream of limited release beers is a necessity in the modern world in order to satisfy drinkers' insatiable desire for the new. It's also a chance for brewers to explore new territory and showcase brewing prowess and it's a space in which Clare Valley's Pikes Beer Co has stepped up their game, with their second in quick succession this double IPA. With the brightness of spring arising from the bitter cold of winter, Pikes has added some illumination too,… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.1%

Pikes Beer Company 'Merica American Pale Ale

Published October 20, 2017
Pikes Beer Company set off for the States for their 2017 spring seasonal, a 5.5 percent ABV American pale ale aptly named ‘Merica. Loaded to the brim with US hops Cascade, Chinook, Mosaic and – one of the Pikes brewing team's personal favourites – Eureka, with Munich, wheat and a little roasted malt joining the pale malt to add texture, colour and some biscuity flavour. The hops create a citrus bouquet – lemon, orange and grapefruit – mixed with a dash of pine and resin in a beer that… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Keg only release – just 30 of them heading across the country

Pikes Beer Company Double Barrel Black IPA

Published June 9, 2017
Pikes’ first three GABS beers have consisted of a 2.3 percent ABV tonic ale, an 8 percent root beer and now a 7 percent heavily hopped black IPA that was aged in two different barrels. It's fair to say these beers have shown an interesting progression over the years. Bradley Nolen and Alister Pike are lucky in the sense they have quite a few used wine barrels to experiment with as the brewery lives side-by-side with the family-owned on site winery. As such, the Double Barrel started as a black… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Black IPA
ABV
7.0%

Pikes Beer Company Cherry Kriek (2015)

Published December 21, 2016
The planning and preparation for the Pikes 2015 vintage Cherry Kriek began in late 2015. A whole year later and the beer was finally ready to drink, meaning a lot of effort and love went into this vintage – and it was totally worth it. The base beer was brewed as a strong ale that used a Belgian yeast for the first ferment. The wort was then soured using lactobacillus and pumped into Pikes Wines barrels that had formerly housed Shiraz and Grenache. The Pikes family then enlisted the help of their… Read more
Style
Cherry Kriek
ABV
7.0%

Pikes Sparkling Ale (2016 onwards)

Published October 22, 2016
The original Sparkling Ales was one of the beers in the Pikes lineup said to enjoy a heritage stretching right back to the very earliest days of Henry Pike's brewing in South Australia in the late 1800s. And you could easily pick out similarities with another rather well known Sparkling Ale from SA that also dates from the 19th century. But, in 2016, with the arrival of the new Pikes Pale Ale, the decision was taken to give it a new identity. The beer itself was considered somewhat confused stylistically… Read more
Style
Sparkling Ale
ABV
5.2%

Pikes Tonic Ale (RETIRED)

Now here's something rather different. Back during Pikes' original lifespan, the business not only produced more traditional ales and stouts but also had a Tonic Ale doing the rounds in the early 1900s. Apparently, it was sold around SA as a "Non-intoxicating Healthy Drink". And now the new generation has brought the drink back using the original recipe. It's a recipe that features all Aussie malt and hops and much else besides: fresh orange and lemon peel, ginger, coriander and cinchona… Read more
Style
Tonic Ale
ABV
2.3%