Scott and Vanessa Wilson-Browne originally started Red Duck Brewery on a farm near Lake Purrumbete in 2005, before moving operations to a much larger site just outside Ballarat in 2009. And though it’s still one of the smallest micro-breweries in Australia, Red Duck has built a reputation for both quality and sheer range that belies its size.
Seasonal styles often hero left-field flavours, such as a liquorice and aniseed in a dark lager; and coconut and pineapple in a cocktail-inspired IPA. Other limited releases in the past have included an oatmeal stout and a barrel-aged red ale. A core range of accessible brews includes the Supernormal lager, Altitude 435 pale ale and the Easy Tiger amber ale.
The brewery’s relaxed and cheery tasting bar features a rotating selection of brews on tap and a small menu of local cheeses to accompany your brew. Timber benches provide enough real estate to lay out a board game from the brewery’s stash. There’s also an on-site bottle shop for takeaway sales.
For a time, the brewery space was also home to the Kilderkin Distillery – a collaboration between Scott and fellow booze aficionado Chris Pratt (the pair met at Red Duck’s then minted taproom in Pratt’s quest to taste 365 beers in a year). The distillery has since moved to a dedicated space in Mount Pleasant on the other side of Ballarat.
