Homestead Brewery – Swan Valley

For a long time I rattled on about not having an uber-cool brewery in the Swan Valley. A spot that was found in a state of the art building, that also catered for families. Something like you’d find in the Margaret River region with a huge beer garden and modern playground. We’ve enjoyed lazy lunches at places like Eagle Bay Brewing Co, Cheeky Monkey Brewery, Colonial and many more and always wished there was something similar closer to home. Mandoon was once a small family run estate, which expanded in September 2014, to a huge multi venue spot – just what I’d been wishing for!

The large Mandoon building looms over its vineyards. We were there with our family from the UK who were visiting Perth. We thought Mandoon is a good choice for a spot of lunch that caters for all ages and tastes.

Mandoon is home to a cellar door for wine tastings, a function centre, fine dining restaurant and microbrewery – Homestead Brewery. You can drink and dine inside the brewery, on the decked veranda overlooking the vineyards or in the grassy beer garden under the shady trees, near the fenced playground. On the weekends, you’ll find a few football and crickets games played on the expansive lawns. Mandoon had a lovely family atmosphere.

Though it was a Monday, I was surprised at how busy it was. This time we opted to sit inside the airy, modern brewery. Chef had a pint of the “Kaisers Choice”, a German style beer that he usually chooses at Homestead.  For craft beer connoisseurs there is a good choice on tap at the brewery. Our food arrived, it looked delicious!

I chose the braised Moroccan lamb, $28. Mouth watering, tender pulled lamb sat upon chick peas, harissa sauce, capsicum and cous cous. The dish was brimming with middle eastern flavours and I loved it.

Both Chef and Little Chef had pizzas. Little chef had a Margarita ($10) from the”I’M A LITTLE PERSON & I DONT WANT ADULT FOOD” menu, which has a choice of four kids favourites. Chef thought the pizza, $25, would perfectly compliment his pint and he was right. The thin and crisp base was topped with chorizo, piquillo peppers, pickled guindillas (Spanish peppers) and red onion – Chef really enjoyed it.

We’ve eaten at the Homestead Brewery a few times. Each time the pub style food has been tasty, reasonable priced and good quality. Next time I’d like to go a little more up market and try the dego menu at their beautiful fine dining restaurant, Wild Swan.