Salt Brewing Co

When a group of ten locals headed by friends Tim Wood and Phil Johnson bought the iconic Aireys Pub in 2011, they planned to save it from developers. What they didn't plan to do was build a brewery on the site too.

Yet, after repelling the repeat advances of multinational breweries wanting to take over their taps and fridges, they decided they'd rather retain control. This way they could serve beer brewed fresh onsite, rather than going down the easier, but less satisfying, route of offering their customers the usual suspects.

So, at the start of 2015, they turned this idea into reality and Rogue Wave was born. It was quickly embraced by the locals and, a year after commencing brewing, picked up a trio of medals at the 2016 Australian International Beer Awards. Among them was a silver for the hugely popular Moby Pale Ale, a hop driven number that was originally brewed for the Sea Shepherd, and another for their seasonal Ink Stout, a beer brewed with coffee beans roasted fresh onsite.

Salt, a European-style lager, soon made it into the brewery's core range and quickly rose to be one of the surf-side brewery's better known releases. At the close of 2017, the Tim and Phil decided it was time for the brewery to undergo a name change and so Salt Brewing Co was born.

Brewing all those beers is Chris Muggeridge, who moved from Little Creatures up the road in Geelong to indulge his passion for hands on brewing.

The emphasis on local and fresh is matched in the kitchen, where there's a focus on seasonal produce. Both beer and food can be enjoyed inside by an open fire while gazing upon the historic lighthouse in the distance or the ocean nearby, or outside in a huge beer garden. Call in at the right time and you could be entertained too as the vast and sprawling Aireys Pub has live music playing throughout the year.

All of the beers on tap can be sampled via surfboard shaped wooden tasting paddles, while several of them, including Salt, Moby and Cranky Mrs, are available in bottles across Victoria or to take home from the pub; 10 percent of profits from Moby sales goes directly to environmental warriors Sea Shepherd as promised by their "Drink a Pale, Save a Whale" slogan. You can even display your loyalty to the pub and its beers on your chest as the design conscious owners have produced t-shirts for pretty much the entire lineup.

Salt has become an exciting addition to the burgeoning craft beer scene on the Great Ocean Road and the centrepiece of the iconic Aireys Pub. With its focus on quality, local, and fresh, it's a place well worthy of a visit on your next trip along the Great Ocean Road – or simply as a destination in itself.

Mark Tucker

Name
Salt Brewing Co
Address

425 Great Ocean Road
Aireys Inlet
VIC 3231

Phone
(03) 5289 6804
Open Hours

11.30am til late

Tours

By appointment


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Salt Brewing Co Regulars

Rogue Wave Moby Pale Ale

Alongside Salt, this is the beer for which Rogue Wave is becoming best known. You might argue that it's in part because of the association with Sea Shepherd; it was first brewed for the conservationists, pours on board their ship and 10 percent of the profits of each bottle sold goes towards the organisation's cause. Yet it's just as likely to be popular because it's a damn tasty take on the American pale ale style, a style that beer lovers across Australia can't get enough of. At launch, it was… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
5.1%

Rogue Wave Session

From the off, the mindset of the group that saved the pub and then built the brewery was to celebrate local. And, when it comes to their beers at least, you won't find the message spelled out any clearer than in the Session. It's the ale on their lineup designed for those wanting something simple, to do the role for which Furphy was designed by Little Creatures. Brewed with all Australian ingredients, including old school Pride of Ringwood hops, there's a touch of fruitiness to taste, alongside some… Read more
Style
Beer
ABV
4.7%

Rogue Wave Salt

Of all the label designs Rogue Wave has plastered on its bottles, Salt has to be the most eye-catching; look closely when you next have a bottle in your hand and you'll notice it even has the texture of fine sand – a nod to the brewpub's location and its owners' passion for surfing. As for the beer inside, it's a Euro-influenced lager: a simple, pale straw coloured blend of grainy malts and floral, herbal hops that deliver a dry finish.… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.5%

Rogue Wave Cranky Mrs IPA

You could be forgiven for looking at Rogue Wave's location – in a vast pub on the Great Ocean Road – and the beers taking up most of its taps – lager, session ale, pale, mid-strength mild – and thinking that here's a place that has every reason to play things safe and is going to do just that. Then you chance upon Cranky Mrs, a beer that says IPA on the label but has a double IPA inside, one that clocks in above 8 percent ABV. no less. Like Moby, it started out as a showcase for punchy US… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.2%

Salt Brewing Co Specials

Rogue Wave Ink Stout

Published June 1, 2016
When you've got both a brewery and a coffee roaster onsite, you've got to combine the two, right? And that's what the Rogue Wave team has done with its seasonal Ink Stout: added some cold drip coffee brewed onsite into a beer. The coffee aromas are really quite lovely, with the extract drawing out the sweeter side of the beans and lending the beer an after dinner liqueur like character. There's heaps of chocolate amid its opaque black body too, with a restrained bitterness finishing things off.… Read more
Style
Coffee Stout
ABV
5.8%