Searchlight Brewery
An independent brewery with nineteen taps and a grassed beer garden, about 15 minutes' walk from town in Industrial Place.
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Guide
Photo: Altitude Brewing
Sip local beer in a taproom on the trails, a sunny beer garden or a bar in town.
Queenstown's craft beer scene is small, local and full of character.
Follow a lakeside walk with a tasting paddle, enjoy a hazy on a terrace overlooking the Shotover River, or ask what’s pouring at a bar in town. This guide brings together breweries where you can drink on site and pubs serving beer from around the region. Tap lists change, which means there’s room to try something different each visit. Some venues rely on visiting food trucks, so check before you go hungry. On a Gibbston wine day, the tavern and several cellar doors along the trail pour local beer too: see Gibbston by bike.
Showing 10 places
Try a craft beer in Queenstown where it’s brewed, with a marina, river or courtyard setting to enjoy while you sip. You can reach a taproom from the Frankton Track, look out over the Shotover River at Arthurs Point or find a hidden courtyard spot in Industrial Place, a short walk from town. Keen to go behind the scenes? Hop on a private tour, which visits local gin, sake and beer makers.
4 places
An independent brewery with nineteen taps and a grassed beer garden, about 15 minutes' walk from town in Industrial Place.
Read more: Queenstown Craft Beer Scene
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Brews on site and works with Central Otago farmers on local ingredients; fourteen taps and a beer garden over the Shotover River.
Read more: Queenstown Craft Beer Scene
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A behind-the-scenes private tour of local gin, sake and beer makers.
The first brewery in the Whakatipu, founded in 2013, with a taproom by the marina reached on the Frankton Track; well-behaved dogs welcome on a lead.
Read more: Queenstown Craft Beer Scene, Queenstown’s Dog-Friendly Cafés and Accommodation
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Some of the region's brewers have no taproom of their own, so you'll find their beer on tap elsewhere. In Arrowtown, you can try a brew from Kingston or visit the pub where a local craft brewery was first dreamed up. In Glenorchy, an eco lodge serves beer delivered fresh by the local brewing company. Ask what’s on tap when you arrive.
3 places
Glenorchy Brew Co delivers its beer here fresh.
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Where Arrowtown Brewing Co was dreamed up, and a place to try its range on tap.
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Pours Double Cone Brewing's beers, from Kingston, on tap in Arrowtown.
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For the widest choice in one place, head to the craft beer houses in town. They pour local beers alongside brews from around New Zealand, with rotating and seasonal taps, staff happy to talk you through the local ones, and live sport on the screens. Look out for labelled vegan beers and a bar where dogs are welcome inside. Easy to fit into an evening in town.
3 places
A wide range of New Zealand beers, with staff who guide you through the local ones; upstairs on Shotover Street.
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Twenty-six rotating taps of New Zealand craft beer, live sport, and dogs welcome inside; its vegan beers are labelled.
Read more: Queenstown Craft Beer Scene, Queenstown’s Dog-Friendly Cafés and Accommodation
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A long-time supporter of local brewing on the lakefront, with regular and seasonal beers.
Read more: Queenstown Craft Beer Scene
VeganVegetarian