Territory’s tipples top-line

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

From local brews to top-end gins, Ben Groundwater samples the beverages from Darwin and Alice Springs in this extract from Ultimate Food & Drinks: Australia.

You're right: the Northern Territory does not have any wine regions. It’s far too hot (and in parts, rainy) up here to think about tending vines. In fact, it’s often far too hot and rainy up here to think about much except a cold beverage, which goes some way to explaining the recent proliferation of craft breweries centred around Darwin/Garramilla, but also beginning to flourish in Alice Springs/Mparntwe. We’re talking great beers served in friendly surrounds, the sort of places where you feel like a local before you’ve even polished off the first schooner.

We’re also talking about artisanal distillers, which have begun cropping up in the Top End as well, and who are putting their own welcome spin on gin and other tasty spirits, often using native ingredients that you won’t find anywhere else in the country.

Artisinal distillers and breweries are popping up around the Northern Territory.

There’s so much more to experience in the NT too, from attractions such as Uluru and Kata Tjuya, to the natural wonders of Kakadu, to the multi-faceted charms of laidback Darwin itself. First Nations cultures in the NT are strong, and easily accessible for visitors. The food scene is also coming on in leaps and bounds, taking influence from a huge range of global traditions that have found their place in the Top End.

There’s all of this magic in Australia’s north, all of this beauty — and now, if you find yourself in need of refreshment, there’s always something good to drink.

Alice Springs Brewing Co

This local success story brings tasty brews to the red centre.

Alice Springs, the team here admits, is a terrible place to brew beer. It’s always too hot. It costs a lot to truck in supplies. And yet, they’re doing it — and they’re doing it extremely well. Alice Springs Brewing Co opened in 2018, and it’s been going absolutely gangbusters ever since, requiring more equipment and specialist expertise, with plans now to begin distribution interstate. These guys have taken everything in their stride, and their Red Centre brewpub is already a venerated local institution, a place where you’ll find plenty of regulars crowding in for a range of hot-weather-friendly ales and lagers, paired with pizzas and wings.

alicespringsbrewingco.com.au

Beaver Brewery

If it’s Friday night and you’re in Darwin, there’s good news: Beaver Brewery is open. This is a pretty small operation, family-owned and run, that only welcomes guests one night a week, but when they do, they do it properly. There’s a different food truck parked here every week, churning out meals to go with the brews, which are designed to suit the Darwin climate. We’re talking lager, pale ale, mango lager, and even a boozy lemonade, with plenty of seasonal offerings taking up the extra taps.

beaverbrewery.com.au

Charlie’s of Darwin

It’s all about local ingredients at this gin bar and distillery that is both classy and casual.

It’s a great idea — a gin that is not just distinctly Territorian, but distinctly Darwin; a gin whose botanicals come from the local area, foraged from the local surroundings, native ingredients that you couldn’t find anywhere else. That’s what Darwin Distilling Co has done, creating a signature gin using Kakadu plum, waterlilies and native lemongrass, and it’s Darwin in a bottle. It’s also on to taste or buy at Charlie’s of Darwin, the swish gin bar and restaurant run by the same team, a speakeasy-style venue the likes of which you probably didn’t think you would find in the Top End. Charlie’s is a classy though friendly space, and the perfect spot to try unique Darwin gin. The distillery is in the same building, and offers gin-blending classes, from which you will walk away with your very own unique bottle.

charliesofdarwin.com.au

Top End distillers are putting their own spin on gin.

Heli Pub Crawl

Strap yourself in — literally — for one amazing and truly memorable day, a tour of five Top End pubs in seven hours, with transport via helicopter. That’s right, the team from Airborne Solutions will ferry you and a bunch of friends by air from Darwin to some absolute icons of the Top End scene, including the Lodge of Dundee, Crab Claw Island Resort, the Darwin River Tavern and Goat Island Lodge. Along the way, you’ll be able to spot billabongs and creeks, long stretches of coastal splendour, endless forests and more, before making a rock star landing at a well-known boozer and calling in for a beer and a bite to eat. There’s nothing else in the NT like this.

airbornesolutions.com.au

A great way to visit Top End pubs is by helicopter.

One Mile Brewery

Two friends have brought their passion for good ale to Darwin’s outskirts.

There’s nothing too fancy about One Mile Brewery, which is exactly what people love about it. Set in an industrial estate just south of Darwin Airport, the One Mile brewpub has both indoor and outdoor spaces, relaxed areas designed for the casual sampling of the local product. That comes in the form of a highly smashable kolsch, as well as plenty of session-friendly ales, and boozy ginger beer and lemonade. This is a passion project for owners and brewers Stuart Brown and Bardy Bayram, a business that began in a shed and has bloomed into a fully-fledged Darwin institution. Call past and become part of the story.

onemilebrewery.com.au

Purple Mango Brewery

This country cafe is all about small batches and big flavours.

Marrakai is not in Darwin, but when you’re heading to Kakadu, go past Coolalinga, about an hour down the road, and through Humpty Doo until you find the turn-off for the Purple Mango Cafe. And then you’ve arrived. This is an unlikely brewery in an unlikely location, a very small operation doing a great line of refreshing beers, available in schooner form, or lined up on a tasting paddle. There’s pizza at the cafe, plus if you really like the look of the place (or you’ve overdone it on the schooies), you can camp out — the Purple Mango has powered and unpowered campsites.

purplemangocafe.com.au

There is no shortage of great scenery either.

Six Tanks Brew Pub

Set in the heart of the Darwin CBD, Six Tanks is one schmick micro-brewery, featuring not just those eponymous six tanks, but a whopping 26 beer taps featuring the full local range, as well as cracking craft brews from around Australia. You could come back here every day and never get bored. Six Tanks also has a full restaurant serving perfect beer food, the likes of pizzas, burgers, salads and other classic dishes, as well as a menu for the little ’uns. This is a convivial, comfortable space, the perfect spot to down a few drinks and meet a few local characters.

sixtanks.com.au

Willing Distillery

Willing Distillery wears its heart on its sleeve — and its label. Printed on every bottle in large letters, as big as the brand name itself, are the words "Made in Darwin". This is a proudly local operation, family owned and run, situated in the Winnellie industrial area near Darwin Airport. Willing is producing mostly gin at the moment, made using a suite of local NT botanicals with the standard juniper, though there’s also vodka in the mix, and whisky on its way. Sample it all at the distillery and cellar door, a friendly space, big on community, where you can sip drinks. It’s $13 to taste three different spirits, $9 to try two, plus there are several local craft brews on tap. You can snack on cheese boards, charcuterie platters, and … crocodile jerky. Because this is, after all, Darwin. Don’t you forget it.

willingdistillery.com.au