Banks Brewing

Back in 2016, beers bearing the name Mr Banks started appearing across the Mornington Peninsula and in a handful of Melbourne venues. While the appearance of new breweries is pretty commonplace these days, it did raise one question: who was Mr Banks? Was he the guy on the side of the cans? Was he the bloke behind the brewery? Or was he some combination of both?

Not quite, it turns out. Banks was a dog. Specifically, it was the dog owned by Chris and Penny Farmer, the couple behind a new brewery in Seaford. In turn, Banks the dog was named after a fictional man: Adam Banks, the Mighty Ducks’ star player.

It seems fitting that Mr Banks, which changed their name to Banks in 2021, was named after Chris and Penny’s dog, particularly since the brewery is very much a family story. By the time they launched, Chris had more ten years of “obsessively homebrewing” under his belt, while Penny’s background in accounting made her well positioned to handle the financial side of the brewery.

What’s more, it was while running his dad’s business that Chris first pondered starting his own brewery, with him and a mate regularly brewing together and buying whatever equipment they could get their hands on. The push to go professional came when Chris’ old man decided to sell his business, leaving Chris faced with the option of either taking over the family operation or start one of his own.

After finding a home in Seaford, Mr Banks became a reality and tinnies soon made their way into the world. Those beers also happened to stand out from the crowd thanks to the detailed, frequently eye-catching images decorating each can. Over the years, those beers became increasingly creative too and boundary-pushing too, with the brewers' talent for creating high ABV hazies and oat cream IPAs in particular making them one of the most sought after brands for the country's beer chasers. But among the experimentation, new hops, hop products and heavy pastry stouts, Banks has also built a quieter reputation for the quality of their lagers, with Foam being a house favourite among team Crafty Pint

It wasn’t long before the small brewery soon couldn’t keep up with demand so Chris and Penny expanded into a new one complete with a new bar late in 2017 on the same site. What was previously a brewery and small cellar door turned into a serious beer destination in Melbourne’s south-eastern fringe.

It’s an open space filled with old couches and shared tables, large murals and festoon lighting, with every detail seeming to serve as a reminder that Mr Banks is about the good times. That includes space to shoot hoops next to the beer garden and a pool table across from the bar.

You’ll often find a fair number of local families at the venue, and this is very much by design too. Whether it's locals or haze heads, and lager lovers that have travelled from afar seeking out the Banks beers, the taproom kitchen provides the exact kind of food that feels right to accompany beer, namely burgers and pizza.

Given its location at the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula, it’s also a handy stop for visitors making their way to and from the local beaches, wineries and breweries. And, given it’s also only a short walk from the nearest train station, it’s not uncommon to witness beer fans from further afield wandering lost through this outer-suburban industrial lot wondering which converted panel beaters will be the one they are seeking.

Considering Seaford’s proximity to Frankston, the family-friendly brewery is also helping with the rehabilitation of the much-maligned town’s reputation. Every hoop scored outside and every beer enjoyed both inside and out contributes to a picture a million miles from the stereotypes peddled by comedians for decades. All thanks to the Mighty Banks.

Name
Banks Brewing
Address

12 Hi-Tech Place
Seaford
VIC 3198

Open Hours

Friday: 2pm to 9pm
Saturday: midday to 9pm
Sunday midday to 7pm

Current Cabal offers

Two For One Beers at Banks


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

Banks Brewing Regulars

Banks Brewing Night Moves

Published May 7, 2023
An oatmeal stout has been part of the Banks oeuvre ever since the early Mr Banks days, these days appearing as their cool weather seasonal Night Moves. The name is highly appropriate too: if you come across a stout more black with a darker brown head under 5.5 percent ABV this winter then you'll have done well. There's plenty of freshly ground coffee bean and high couverture chocolate in keeping with the appearance, not to mention a touch of leather, a velvety body and a dry, roasty finish. An autumn… Read more
Style
Oat Stout
ABV
5.4%

Banks Brewing West Coast IPA

Published September 1, 2018
You can trace a line between Mr Banks' Extra Pale Ale and this West Coast IPA, an addition to the core range introduced in the second half of 2018. It's hazy and pale and serves up some of those candied tropical fruit characters of its stablemate too. But then it adds its own personality. While not as aggressive as many of the beers that defined the style, the bitterness here is feistier, sharper and more pointed than its little sibling, while you can pick out pineapple, pine, lime and grapefruit… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.2%

Banks Brewing Alriiight

This beer has experienced quite the journey, which you can read about in the Banks rebrand story here. In short, it started out as a limited release with a pun on a famous actor's name, and has since become a core range offering without a pun on a famous actor's name. The beer remains pretty much the same as first time out, however, when we said of it... They love a play on words at Mr Banks and McConaughaze – the name given to a DDH hazy pale that has made a couple of appearances in 2019 – is… Read more
Style
DDH Hazy Pale
ABV
5.1%

Banks Brewing Foam Pilsner

Ask any number of Banks' most avid fans to name what they love about the brewery, or indeed their favourite of all of their very many beers, and you'd expect their hefty hazies or even heftier pastry stouts to feature highly. Yet Foam has a special place in founder Chris Farmer's heart, and with good reason too: it's one heck of a pilsner, and a sign that his steady release of lagers in a variety of forms over the years has been a fine education. Built upon a base of floor-malted pilsner malt and… Read more
Style
German Pilsner
ABV
4.7%

Banks Brewing Day Trip Pale Ale

When I tucked into this beer for the first time, I'd have sworn there were Mosaic hops in the mix: pour into glass, swirl, shove nose in and it's like dunking your head into a giant bag of Starburst. However, Banks have achieved such a candied fruit salad with Citra and Amarillo. But whatever the means, all you need to know is you'll be welcomed by heaps of oily, juicy, tropical hops with a vibrant red berry streak shot through them. As with many of Banks' beers, a wisely-tuned pH and carbonation… Read more
Style
Tropical Pale Ale
ABV
4.7%

Banks Brewing Juice Fit DDH IPA

One of two IPAs in the Banks core range (and why the hell not when you're so good at them), as well as one of their beloved DDH (double dry-hopped) beers, Juice Fit is the endgame of their experiments brewing IPAs to try to achieve "the most drinkable & approachable juice bomb". It's one in which they've employed the notably fruity El Dorado, Centennial, Citra and Mosaic too. While less punchily aromatic than Alriiight – there's subtle stone fruit and gentle citrus on the nose initially,… Read more
Style
DDH IPA
ABV
6.6%

Banks Brewing Specials

Banks Brewing Fairly Traditional

Published May 7, 2023
The beer fairies at Banks are back playing in the realm of lagers again, doing so in a seasonally appropriate manner with their Fairly Traditional Vienna lager, in very traditional livery compared to the rest of their lineup. If you want the shortcut as to what to expect, imagine Lotus Biscoff biscuits turned into beer. The longer version? Fairly Traditional pours a clear, light chestnut colour from which I picked up some nutty nougat aromas, cola without the overt sweetness of some brands, something… Read more
Style
Vienna Lager
ABV
5.2%

Banks Brewing Bold Strategy

Published May 1, 2023
They make a lot of bold beers at Banks Brewing and it's a strategy that's paid dividends in finding them fans. Just last week, members of our beer lover’s club, The Crafty Cabal, were guided through the brewery’s love for hazy and their juicy process by founder Chris Farmer and if you didn't make it, you can check out what you missed here. Among those beers enjoyed, was Bold Strategy, an oat cream IPA was made with a heavy dose of oats to keep things smooth, along with lactose and Citra Cryo,… Read more
Style
Oat Cream IPA
ABV
7.5%

Banks Brewing Secretly Ripped & Don’t Chase Me, I’m Buzzed And Full of Chocolate

Published April 6, 2023
Sometimes it feels like not a day goes by when Banks Brewing aren’t dreaming up a new hazy and Secretly Ripped is dedicated to satisfying juicy cravings. Sure, ripped might be in its name but what we have here is instead a lush, soft and fundamentally gentle hazy IPA while the featured hops are HBC’s experimental 586 plus Simcoe and Citra in Cryo form. Pouring with a light golden haze, the IPA immediately lets loose pine on the nose and to taste, that aroma is joined by mango, guava, lychee and… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA & Imperial Pastry Stout
ABV
7.2% & 12.7%

Banks Brewing Way Too Much Serenity & Probable Paws (with Otter's Promise)

Published March 31, 2023
Countless Melbourne brewers have taken the Hume up to the High Country to get their hands on fresh hops but Banks took the road less travelled: the Maroondah Highway. What does that road and the many other highways along the route get you that the Hume doesn’t? Bonnie Doon and all its serenity. Way Too Much Serenity is a celebration of not just Hop Product Australia’s fresh Galaxy but the pub meal at Bonnie Doon on the way home to Seaford. Maybe it’s all thanks to that time in the pub but this… Read more
Style
Wet Hop IPA & Cali IPA
ABV
6.2% & 6.0%

Banks Brewing Follow The Festoons, Blackberry Parfait & Good Times

Published March 17, 2023
As a general rule in this country, if you see festoon lighting in the distance, you know you’re near one of two things: a brewery or a wedding. If you’re really lucky, you might even be at a wedding in a brewery and drinking a West Coast IPA. Banks Brewing’s Follow The Festoons is a tribute to the omnipresent lighting and features the American hop trio of Simcoe, Columbus and Mosaic. Together, they bring deep berry flavours, sweet ruby grapefruit and light pine while the yellow colour has shades… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA, Blackberry Cream Sour & Hazy Pale
ABV
7.4%, 6.5% & 4.7%

Banks Brewing Citra Feels

Published February 23, 2023
If you’re a fan of Banks and their hazies,* Citra Feels is a beer that likely needs no introduction. Well before they dropped the Mr from their name, Banks were throwing multiple kinds of Citra hops together in a beer as cloudy as the can it comes in. The oat cream double IPA features both Citra pellets and Citra Cyro which bring out rich lashings of fresh pineapple, tropical fruit juice and fleshy, ripe orange. Pair that with the slick and smooth mouthfeel and finish that's both lean and lush… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.5%

Little Bang Brewing & Banks Colorado Weed Money

Published March 1, 2022
If you're going to brew a beer with the crew at Banks, there's a good chance it's going to be hoppy and hazy, given it's what the Seaford brewers are best known for, even if they've released some damn fine lagers and dark beers over the years. Here, Little Bang did just that, making it an oat cream pale for good measure too, and adorning it with a suitably dreamy, sunset landscape on the labels. It's a rather different beast to the vast majority of of oat cream pales, IPAs, and DIPAs I've come across,… Read more
Style
Oat Cream Pale
ABV
4.9%

Bright & Molly Rose & Mr Banks Jam Band Vol.1

Published November 8, 2021
Well, they tried their damnedest to make Darker Days happen in 2021, but Bright's winter – and then spring – festival was destined to fall foul of too much damn COVID. Had it taken place, they would have been joined by mates from Molly Rose and Mr Banks for the High Country weekender; as it is, they still got the band together to create a beer. Called Jam Band, it's a hazy IPA in which the brewers' sights were very firmly trained on tropical fruity fun thanks to the very du jour choice of Strata,… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA with Bergamot
ABV
7.0%

Mr Banks Super Secret Beer Drinking Beer Competition

Published September 15, 2021
They'll throw any amount of hops at hazies, fruit at sours and adjuncts at stouts but, when it comes to lagers, Mr Banks tend to keep things simple and let the classic styles stay, well, classic. Oktoberfest is a fitting time to be brewing traditional lagers too, and Mr Banks have set their classically-minded brewing techniques to a Märzen, letting their version lager for an extended period before being released in September 2021. Although not quite as historic as the style, the beer's name of Super… Read more
Style
Märzen
ABV
5.2%
Stockists

Available through the Mr Banks webstore and good beer retailers.

Mr Banks Dawn Patrol

Published October 1, 2020
The team at Mr Banks have picked up many fans with hazy release after hazy release so how do you think the brewery might approach a West Coast IPA? With a healthy helping of haze of course. To be fair, Dawn Patrol isn’t any ordinary West Coast, it’s a DDH West Coast DIPA and, when you've got that many letters, no style guide should dictate how your beer looks. Embark on your own Dawn Patrol and within the yellow and opaque liquid, you'll discover a smooth mouthfeel which lands the beer within… Read more
Style
DDH West Coast DIPA
ABV
8.1%

Mr Banks Idaho Feels & Innocence For Days

Published May 18, 2020
There's plenty to be said for finding something you love and spending time doing it over and over again, not just for personal satisfaction but because the end result is only likely to get better and more consistent. And this duo from Mr Banks could be presented as exhibits A and B. If you've been following the brewery over the past couple of years, you know the drill by now: a stream of hazy, pale golden beers laden with hefty grams per litreage of characterful hops. In the case of Idaho Feels –… Read more
Style
Oat Cream DIPA & DDH Pale
ABV
8.5% & 5.9%

Mr Banks Cake Eater 3 & Peach Hat

Published December 17, 2019
Of the many hazy IPAs and double IPAs released by Mr Banks over the past couple of years, the first iteration of Cake Eater is one of the most popular. It's spawned a Cloudwater-esque series, in which borderline insane amounts of hops are added to an oats 'n' cream double IPA, with the hops in question changing each time. For number three, they've gone with NZ superstar Nelson Sauvin and fruity American variety El Dorado. If you're familiar with those hops, you'll be going in expecting a tropical… Read more
Style
Hazy DIPA & Peach Cream Sour
ABV
8.0% & 3.5%

Mr Banks McConaughaze & Rancho Relaxo

Published December 17, 2019
They love a play on words at Mr Banks and McConaughaze – the name given to a DDH hazy pale that has made a couple of appearances in 2019 – is up there with our favourites. The beer inside the limited run of cans released in the lead into Christmas 2019 us up there with our favourite Mr Banks beers too. Very, very pale, it's one of the most easy-drinking of hazy pales we've come across. Aromas flit from lemon-lime-mandarin citrus to a touch of chalkiness, while it's grapefruit and lime all the… Read more
Style
Hazy Pale Ale & Mexican Lager
ABV
5.1% & 4.5%

Mr Banks In Bloom & Playground Insults

Published October 12, 2019
If there's one thing they love at Mr Banks it's an abbreviation. Actually, make that two things: they love IPAs. Although, if you think about it, they really love hazy beers too. Then there's the... actually, this is getting all Monty Python, or maybe Steve Martin at the end of The Jerk, so we should probably move swiftly on... to two beers that feature abbreviations, IPAs and haze galore. Starting with In Bloom, a DDH Pacific North West IPA they say is something of a blend East and West Coast American… Read more
Style
DDH IPA / DDH IIPA
ABV
6.7% / 8.5%

Mr Banks Distraction In A Barrel Triple IPA

Published June 8, 2019
Aside from running one of the most inviting brewery venues in Victoria and being delightful people, the thing the Mr Banks crew have become known for more than anything else is their love of IPAs. And, while they've brewed all manner of them, they have a particular penchant for hazy ones. Their Wheeze The Haze is one of the best NEIPAs around and, to mark turning three, they took that concept and, well, turned it up to three. With a name that's another reference to Chris Farmer's beloved Mighty Ducks,… Read more
Style
Triple Hazy IPA
ABV
10.0%
Stockists

Mr Banks

Penny Young

Mr Banks Wheeze The Juice Hazy IPA

Published April 8, 2019
Chris Farmer and his team at Mr Banks have played around in the ever-growing realm of IPAs more than most in their relatively short existence to date, with a visit to the brewery in Seaford likely to give drinkers the chance to sample a couple of hazy drops, a milkshake IPA and more besides. Wheeze The Juice is the best known of the hazy IPAs to leave the brewery, however, and was one of the earlier local examples to make waves too. Now back for another run out in autumn 2019 and still bearing the… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.1%

Mr Banks Melon Berry Gose

Published April 8, 2019
Unless we're missing something subtle, this is a rather atypical limited release from Mr Banks. Sure, it's not their first gose and they've played with fruit before, but where's the pun or pop culture reference in the title?!? At least you know what you're getting from the off here: melon (watermelon, to be specific) and berries (of the rasp variety) in a gently soured, lightly salted beer. And that is just what you get, with a soft, rounded nature to the fruit aromas, as if you're tucking into a… Read more
Style
Fruit Gose
ABV
3.8%

Mr Banks Hawaii 5-Gose

Published October 4, 2018
Is there an image that more colourfully conjures a tropical paradise than a pineapple catching a wave? If there is, the chances are good Mr Banks will have a go when summer fully rolls around. Yes, the Seaford based family brewery may have streamlined the look of its core range, but they're still having fun with the look of their eclectic limited release beers, including this, Hawaii 5-Gose, a Copacabana-coloured can filled with a gose laced with a mixture of guava, mango and pineapple. It’s also… Read more
Style
Fruit Gose
ABV
4.2%

Mr Banks Lager – RETIRED

Published September 1, 2018
One of the ways in which Mr Banks first caught drinkers' eyes in and around its Victorian base was through its can designs. From the off, they featured bold illustrations that became bolder and more flamboyant over time. As of spring 2018, at least when it comes to the brewery's new core range, the Farmers have decided to streamline things a little, creating a quartet of beers in which only a strip of colour sets them apart. Among the four is this Lager, which pours very pale with a little lemon… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.2%

Mr Banks Extra Pale Ale – RETIRED

Published September 1, 2018
Mr Banks has long had an XPA as part of its lineup; now it has an Extra Pale Ale instead – "Extra Pale and Extra Hoppy" according to the blurb. That extra hoppiness takes the form that's proving so popular in current climes, with candied tropical fruit and berry aromas one imagines is akin to working on the production line at a Starburst factory. Those tropical fruit lolly flavours persist on the palate, with a little resinous bitterness settling in to underpin matters.… Read more
Style
XPA
ABV
5.0%

Mr Banks Oatmeal Stout – RETIRED

Published September 1, 2018
An Oatmeal Stout has appeared as a winter seasonal in the past at Mr Banks, but is now part of the family of four sharing the same look from the Seaford brewery. It's also the sole beer to step away from the pale end of the colour spectrum, hotfooting its way pretty much as far to the other end as is possible. Thick and full-bodied, with oats lending it a smooth texture, stylistically it sits pretty much smack bang in the middle of stout territory. There's a hint of roast on one side and some sweet… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
5.5%

Mr Banks Champagne For My Real Friends Brut IPA

Published July 19, 2018
In its short existence to date, Mr Banks has shown a willingness to take on new trends in beer, particularly when it comes to IPA. The Seaford brewery has put out well received NEIPAs and now has trained its sights on the latest IPA craze to sweep the nation: Brut IPA. It's a style also referred to as Champagne IPA and you certainly know it when faced by these cans, wrapped in golden bubbles and declaring the contents as "Champagne for my real friends". Given the Crafty budget doesn't warrant… Read more
Style
Brut IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

Mr Banks

Bottle House

And select other Victorian good beer retailers

More stockists...

Mr Banks Venice Pils

Published June 1, 2018
There are plenty of brewers out there with their recipe books turned to winter right now, moving through red and amber ales into all things dark brown, black, rich, hearty and, often, barrel aged. But one of the final one-offs to leave Mr Banks' brewery in Seaford as autumn was drawing to a close looks to keep the sun beating down – even if it's just a mental thing. The Venice Pils, complete with sun-dappled shot of Venice Beach on the can, is their spin on a pilsner, a spin that's taken it all… Read more
Style
West Coast Pilsner
ABV
5.3%
Stockists

Mr Banks Brewing

Bad Shepherd Brewpub

And select good beer outlets

More stockists...

Mr Banks Red Ale

Published April 25, 2018
While there's nary a fallen leaf in sight, it’s hard not to look at a can of Mr Banks’ Red Ale and not have images of America in the Fall come to mind. Maybe it’s the woman draped in red wearing a wolf as a hoodie on the front – Little Red Riding Hood as her grandmother's nemesis, perhaps; something about which Freud, surely, would have plenty to say. But it’s fitting for such a package to conjure autumn, as this red ale is very much an autumnal beer. It’s got plenty of body and sweetness… Read more
Style
American Red Ale
ABV
5.6%

Mr Banks Tart City Blackberry Saison

Published February 28, 2018
Although a name like Tart City might make the mind drift to a particularly puckering and acidic gose or Berliner Weisse, for this seasonal release, Mr Banks has instead opted for a saison base upon which they've loaded blackberries. Despite pouring with a pinkish hue, in many ways Tart City is your classic saison: it’s dry, it’s yeast driven and it's pretty refreshing. The blackberries certainly contribute to the beer's refreshing qualities, while adding a fruit salad like quality to the beer,… Read more
Style
Blackberry Saison
ABV
5.6%

Mr Banks Wheeze The Juice NEIPA

Published February 1, 2018
Some might still question their validity, but many more brewers and drinkers are embracing the juicy qualities of New England IPAs. Mr Banks is one of them, with the brewery showcasing the beer’s juiciness and thickness front and centre on the can: here you'll find the hazy IPA coming straight from a slushie machine. In the glass, the beer is about as opaque as a lighter coloured beer can be and, when beer hits lips, its creamy mouthfeel – boosted by the use of lactose – only confirms what… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
6.1%

Mr Banks Oatmeal Stout

Published June 1, 2017
For Mr Banks’ winter seasonal, head brewer and co-owner Chris Farmer has decided to keep things approachable, if weather appropriate, in concocting his stout. It pours pitch black, with a light brown head that hints at the beer’s creamy, oat-boosted mouthfeel. Though its flavours are mostly of the coffee, dark chocolate and roasted variety, there’s also some orange and spice notes derived from the hops. Like the flowers on the can that add a little colour to the wintry scene, there’s a touch… Read more
Style
Oatmeal Stout
ABV
5.5%

Mr Banks Brown Ale (RETIRED)

While the ukulele playing man in deserted car lot on the can might be most reminiscent of American folk legend Woody Guthrie, it’s from England that Mr Banks seems to have taken its inspiration. Maybe head brewer Chris Farmer had the songs of Billy Bragg in his head instead... Pouring a copper brown with an off white head, you're immediately hit with flavours of toasted toffee and a slight nutty sweetness. There’s also some light coffee and chocolate, while, as it warms, you might even find a… Read more
Style
Brown Ale
ABV
5.0%