Holgate Brewhouse: Beautiful pub hotel in Woodend, Australia

One of the major highlights for me from our 2019 visit to Melbourne in Australia was staying overnight at the Holgate Brewhouse, a brewery that operates a hotel, bar, and restaurant right on site in the town of Woodend. Holgate Brewhouse is an independent family-owned brewery that has been brewing beers in Australia since 1999, a time when the craft brewing industry in the country was still limited.

Originally co-founded by Paul and Tash Holgate as a microbrewery selling into Melbourne and Central Victoria, the pioneering business has been at the forefront of Australia’s craft brewing movement for over 20 years.

Their beers are available in bottles and tap throughout the Melbourne area and I’ve tried some of their bottled beers in the Philippines like Norton Draught Lager, Road Trip IPA and Mt. Macedon Pale Ale, but nothing beats drinking beers fresh on tap from the tanks. It was great to be able to not just visit, but to stay the night in an actual brewery.

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Location

Holgate Brewhouse is located in Woodend, a small and charming town in Victoria about an hour’s train ride from Melbourne. It’s located in the Shire of Macedon Ranges, about halfway between Melbourne and Bendigo.

The brewhouse is an easy 5-minute walk from the Woodend train station, making it a convenient day trip from Melbourne. If you leave mid-morning, you can easily take a day trip just to have a lunch and drinks, than hop on the train back to Melbourne in the afternoon.

But if you want to maximize your stay and chill back in a county town, you can also opt to stay the night. The town is close to attractions like Mt. Macedon and Hanging Rock located at nearby Newham and numerous waterfalls. I really liked the peaceful and laid-back vibe here. The vintage-looking shops had a lot of character and there were bike-friendly parks and trails nearby. Not a lot of cars on the road too.

Hotel Accommodations

The brewhouse put down its roots in Woodend in 2002 taking over a historic local hotel to establish a cellar door and production base for their business. Holgate Brewhouse runs a hotel with 10 stylishly refurbished guest rooms located on the second floor right above the brewery and restaurant.

The hotel has three room types: Mountain View Rooms, Village View Rooms and cozy Alley Rooms. Each room comes with a huge en suite, Queen size Beds with crisp, white linens, a small fridge, electric heater, hanging space, desk, ceiling fan, phone, tea and coffee making facilities and windows showing the beautiful views across the Village of Woodend or Mt. Macedon.

Since I was traveling solo, I made a last minute booking via Agoda and got a Mountain View Room as a birthday treat last year. The bed could have fit two people, but was a nice size for a solo traveler.

The ground floor and hallways felt like a mini-beer museum, with all the memorabilia, posters and bottles on display. I loved the homey touches, like the magazines and brochures near the reception to give guests an idea of tours and other activities to explore in the area and old bottles repurposed as flower vases and decor.

Bar and Restaurant

Holgate’s beautiful brick structure is very visible from the main street of Woodend. As I stepped inside, I could really feel the warmth and spirit of the historic country corner pub. The bar and restaurant serves fine dining cuisine and award-winning craft beer brewed on site and available on tap.

Holgate Brewhouse prides itself in being a non-gaming venue. It’s not your typical dark sports bar and watering hole where you’d go to party or get wasted, but is the kind of place you’d go with friends and family to enjoy good drinks over live music and quality conversations.

Just kick back and explore the flavors of Holgate’s masterful range of ales and lagers. For non-beer drinkers, the bar also serves a wide range of superb wines from the many local Macedon Ranges wineries.

The bar offers great value pub meal and appetizers, while the restaurant offers hearty meals highlighting locally available meats, as well fresh local produce and ingredients.

Ambiance

The atmosphere at Holgate Brewhouse was very welcoming and friendly. I actually had a hard time deciding where to sit, because there were so many cozy nooks in different corners to choose from including the sunny dining room, classic main bar, snug parlour bar, and cozy lounge.

For those who prefer to drink al fresco, there are tables in a shady courtyard, where you can enjoy views of the village clock tower. During chilly winter months, the brewery has five log fires to keep you warm and toasty inside as you drink your beer.

One of the most beautiful spots in the parlour lounge faces wide stained glass windows that look like they belong in a church. The morning sun streaming in at the bar just adds to the magical quality of the place. How gorgeous is that window? What a dream bar!

Beer Notes

Anyway, moving on to the beers. Holgate Brewhouse’s has a range of core beers which are packaged in bottles and cans and served on tap. These include:

Mt. Macedon Pale Ale – award-winning Australian Pale Ale that showcases all-Australian malts and hops
Holgate Draught Lager (previously Norton) – Draught Lager uses locally grown hops to transform a classic German-style lager into the ultimate Australian session beer
Holgate Temptress Choc Porter – Brown Porter infused with cocoa and whole vanilla beans; this luscious winter warmer has garnered a cult following since its release in 2008.
Apple Berry Beer – brewed with freshly-crushed local Harcourt orchard apples from our mates up the road – plus a splash of raspberry; this low-alcohol beer is highly sessionable
Love All Pale Ale (Alcohol-free) – a non-alcoholic beverage that is dry and refreshing with true beer flavours, great hop aroma and character worthy of a craft beer.

Blush Wild Berry Sour Ale – wild berry version of Holgate’s original semi sour pale ale, the Hop Tart; a fruited variation made in the classic Belgian sour beer tradition
Alpha Crucis Australian XPA – named after the brightest star in the Southern Cross constellation, Alpha Crucis XPA sings of sweet tropical fruits and zingy citrus
Session Ale – amber session ale boasts a popping aroma with fresh orange, berry, passionfruit and floral notes
Road Trip American IPA – their take on a classic Pacific North-West American IPA; loaded American hops resulting in an explosion of piney, citrus and grapefruit flavour and aroma

Holgate also releases seasonals and special releases of their special single-batch brews, annual releases, or vintage Holgate classics.

Empress – an Imperial Mocha Porter that makes use of English and German speciality malts together with Belgian Candi Syrup and oats
Millennium Falcon Emperial IPA – made with pale malt and an interstellar hopping rate to produce an “Emperial” IPA that is simply out of this world.
DIPA Hopinator – an old-school IPA brings a massive hop arsenal to create citrus, pine and spice on a chewy malt backbone

Holgate has rotational taps where they brew their classics and special keg releases. There’s a lot to choose from, so after checking in and stashing my bags in the room, I immediately ordered a beer paddle of eight specials on tap and spent a lovely afternoon getting a nice buzz in their sunny dining room near the fireplace.

After taking a walk around the forest trails and checking out some shops in Woodend, I headed back for an early dinner paired with more craft beer. The Chocolate Porter was amazingly rich and luscious.

Brewery, Visitor Centre & Taproom

I took most of the photos of the restaurant’s dining areas the next morning when other guests hadn’t arrived yet. Visitors can get a sneak peek into the actual brewing process right along the main hallway outside the restaurant leading to the restrooms. The brewery and equipment is visible through a glass window.

While going around, I noticed a small meeting going in one room. Apparently, the brewhouse also offers an event spaces that has been refurbished for parties, functions, meetings, or boutique conferences. With the carpeted rooms and old-world charm, the brewery provides a delightful venue for small meetings and conferences, complete with a roaring log fire. The space can be arranged to suit requirements of guests.

While taking photos around the property, I ran into brewer Paul Holgate who was nice enough to give me an impromptu brewery tour and peek at the modern and well-lit taproom and visitor center they were setting up in time for Oktoberfest (now operational as of 2020).

The additional area provides space for private parties and events. With its own bar situated in the brand new state-of-the-art brewery, it’s the perfect size for cocktail parties or corporate events in Central Victoria. This section features 16 taps, its own amenities, and indoor and outdoor areas.

At the time of my visit, the brewhouse was selling the cans and bottles for takeout in the parlor area near the reception, but they were moving stuff to the visitor center to serve as the main souvenir shop. Before checking out, I ordered a six-pack of beers to take back to parents and hosts that night in Melbourne before our scheduled trip to Canberra.

A year has passed since this pleasant and peaceful birthday “beer-cation” at Holgate Brewhouse. Since I didn’t really celebrate this year , I thought I’d look back on this trip and relive the experience by finally writing about it and sharing photos. If you’re a beer-lover traveling to Melbourne, Holgate Brewhouse is definitely worth including in your itinerary.

P.S. Thanks to Andrew Chinalpan of Cerveza Sagada / Cellar Door for the suggestion to stay here. I felt that Woodend has a similar feel to mountain towns of Sagada and Baguio in the Philippines, so if you like that kind of vibe, you’ll feel right at home. Cheers!