Embrace the countryside with your favourite hop creations at Small Batch Brewery; a small-scale microbrewery and hop farm with a relaxed, winery-style atmosphere.
If your perfect tipple resembles a craft beer but you can’t refuse Mudgee’s sun-kissed wine gardens, set your GPS straight to Small Batch Brew and Hop Farm, a micro-brewery that welcomes you to enjoy its unique setting. This isn’t your typical brick-and-mortar brewpub. Surrounded by 40 acres of scenic farmland, Small Batch Brewery embraces its natural surroundings, from growing hops on the property to using locally sourced ingredients and creating one of New South Wales’s most scenic beer gardens. Owners Anton and Amanda didn’t leave their Sydney lives for a run-of-the-mill indoor brewery; they dreamed up the best of both worlds.
It’s the only brewery in the region offering a true paddock-to-pint journey, but the surprises don’t stop there. Craft a unique beer and can design for your wedding. The hops start to pop up around October and are best seen in January – if you are visiting at this time ask about an immersive brewery hop tour. Small Batch is all about curating personal countryside experiences.
Since its opening in January 2023, it has quickly become a favourite for both locals and visitors, earning accolades like the Mudgee Small Business Champion 2023 and Most Outstanding New Business 2024 at the NSW Western Business Awards.
The vibes here are as relaxed as the friendly faces behind the business. After brewing out of their Sydney garage in 2016, Anton and Amanda fulfilled their Mudgee hop dream in 2020 and couldn’t be happier to greet you on their farm. For Anton, the head brewer, it was a long road from homebrewing to running a full-scale brewery. "Installing all the brewing equipment during COVID was like putting an IKEA store together," he jokes, but the effort was worth it.
Soak in breathtaking farmland vistas as Anton guides you through a tasting of their eight rotating, limited-release beer styles. With each sip, listen to stories about the brewing process, the nine hop varieties they’re cultivating on the farm, and the latest experiments in their brewing line-up.
Whether you’re in the mood for a crisp lager, a hoppy pale ale, a refreshing fruit sour, or a bold imperial stout, each beer reflects Small Batch’s creativity and passion. Don’t miss Anton and Amanda’s favourites – the Hazy IPAs and bigger hoppier beers, that pair perfectly with Bao2Mi’s Asian Fusion fare, served from 12 to 3 pm.
Not a fan of beer? Small Batch is always stocked with a collection of local Mudgee wines from the likes of Heslop, McIntosh Estate, First Ridge and Manners.
True to their local roots, Small Batch keeps distribution close to home. Beyond the Hop Farm, you can find their beers in popular Mudgee venues like The Barn at Blue Wren Farm, Yeates Wines, The Cellar by Gilbert, The Zin House, The Cooyal Hotel and Mudgee Golf Club.
The local business support continues with a series of partnerships, including brewing collaborations with Three Tails Brewery and Smokehouse in the heart of Mudgee. One of the most interesting relationships makes the perfect recipe for Small Batch’s limited-release High Whey IPA. Produced using fresh whey from local High Valley Cheese, this clever collab creates a “mouthfeel and subtle sweetness”, Anton notes. Finally, craft beers of this calibre need a creative can to match. Anton and Amanda work with renowned Mudgee artist, Michael Bourke, to create unique can designs; each telling a story of their block of land and Mudgee’s surroundings.
We’ll see you there on Fridays and public holidays from 12 to 5 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm.
