The Local Summer Beers You Have To Try

For fans of refreshing tropical and citrus flavours, this one’s for you. Rocky Ridge have released this summertime banger that features a medium hazy body with a creamy mouthfeel to finish, making it oh so delicious and drinkable. Best enjoyed with the feet up on a sunny day.

Rocky Ridge in Busselton is a great place to while away a few hours, it really feels like you are visiting a mate (who happens to have an incredible beer selection). Margaret River Burger Co are on-site every day ensuring bellies are full.

Beerfarm’s Hazy Standard is a new release from the team, and this flavour bomb is definitely one to add to your esky. An easy drinking mid strength, this Hazy Pale Ale has citrus and tropical notes with low bitterness.

Beerfarm is also the perfect spot for those sultry summer afternoons, with the converted dairy farm looking out over bucolic pastures, shady trees down by the dam, and a waterslide for the kids.

Shelter’s Summer Sour is a crisp, summery sour, with watermelon and citrus notes, and a hint of salt.  It’s ripe for refreshing the senses after a long day on the water.

Their venue occupies prime real estate on the Busselton Foreshore, and overlooks the historic old jetty.  It’s the best kind of brewery; relaxed, welcoming, genuine, and a place where you can watch the bay, taste the sun and soak up the good vibes.

The Eagle Bay XPA is something special for beer-lovers who want a drink that’s easy on the alcohol, but still offers plenty of bright, juicy, and happy flavour.

It’s the perfect lunchtime treat, and bursting with bright guava, grapefruit, and passionfruit tropical flavours, all packaged up in a sessionable mid-strength option at 3.5% ABV.

It comes on tap at Eagle Bay or in takeaway cans from local bottle-os.  The cans are a hazy sunshine yellow, which is exactly what you can expect from the taste.

Cheeky Monkey’s award-winning XPA is ridiculously refreshing and bursting with citrus.  It’s perfect for a post-surf tinny, or watching the sun go down at Prevelly, Yallingup, or any other regional favourite. In 2022 it has taken home the Perth Royal Best Pale Ale, and the Australian International Beer Award’s Best Australian Pale Ale.

It also goes down a treat on tap at Cheeky Monkey’s Caves Road Brewpub, and the central Caves Road location makes it the perfect post-surf stop off after a jaunt down to Margs or Gracetown, or coming back from up the coast.

Bootleg’s Juicy Pale Ale is perfect for a blistering summer’s afternoon.  It’s a hazy style pale ale, dry hopped with Sabro and Amarillo hops.  With notes of tropical, coconut, tangerine, and citrus, it’s the taste of summer in a mouthful.

Bootleg’s Caves Road brewery is also just about smack bang in the centre of the region, right in the heart of the region’s most prolific wineries.  It makes a great stop on a boozy beer or wine tour, and is also a great place to enjoy a few afternoon ales on tap, no matter whereabouts in the region you live or stay.

The Brewhouse’s Mer Mid is a hazy mid-strength, easy drinking style. Described by Jono Outred from The Crafty Pint as having “vibes that are very much tropical meets coastal: ripe stone fruit, mango, grassiness and a light minerality all feature.”

It’s a cracking summer thirst quencher and packed with flavour.  The Brewhouse is at the bottom of the hill in Margaret River, and a great place to kick off a night out or enjoy a few beers on a lazy summer afternoon.

Out on the boat, after a hard day’s yakka, or as a post-surf frothy, keep this in the arsenal for every occasion.

Black Brewing are huge proponents of summer, and their annual release of a limited-edition Summer Sour is always a crowd-pleasing favourite.  This year it’s a Blueberry Elderflower Sour, a delicious Blueberry and Elderflower Berliner Weisse with natural acidity created by the Lactobacillus probiotics. During ferment the brewer has added a big blueberry punch, along with subtle undertones from the addition of European elderflower.

Keep an eye out for when it is released on the 1st of December; it goes down a treat on tap at the brewery, where you can sit on a shady veranda overlooking the large dam, or out in the stunning, shady grounds out back.

Life in Margaret River is uncomplicated, and so is the philosophy of CBCo.

They pride themselves on the beauty of simplicity, and their Watermelon & Raspberry Sour is a fruity and refreshing twist on their much-loved South West Sour. The addition of real watermelon and raspberries strikes the delicate balance between sweet and sessionable, making it the perfect brew for a hot sunny day. Pouring a beautiful rose gold colour, this ale bursts with the flavours of summer that will satisfy your thirst and is begging to be drunk in the warm afternoon sunshine.

Cowaramup Brewing Co make more traditional, European style beers, and as one of the oldest breweries in the region they have plenty of years’ experience in crafting a delicious brew. Their Pilsner is refreshing and with great drinkability for the summer ahead, make sure that this one is on your must-try list.

The brewery is set on a picturesque rural property just a smidge north-east of Cowaramup township, with a shaded deck area and large grassed beer garden that’s just perfect for sunny day picnics with friends. And to top it off, the playground means the kids will be happy too!