The best craft beer bars in Melbourne

The taps at The Alehouse Project poke from behind the bar wall like secret springs, filled with local and international craft beers and changing too often to warrant branded decals. This is beer geekery at its best, so as the to-do list on the wall says; drink decent beer, and live a little.

Named People's Choice at the Time Out Pub Awards 2015, the huge tap beer list at Beer DeLuxe hails from all over the world, with a focus on local craft and Euro brews. Even on a busy night, the staff will take the time to walk you through the extensive collection. Also located in Fed Square.

You’ve got to give it to brothers Will and Mick Balleau. They know fun. They’re the rockabilly cowboys whose hearts beat hard for fiddle-rich folk tunes, fine liquor and smoky meats of Southern wilds, and in Collingwood they’ve built their magnum opus – a candlelit, copper-hued restaurant and bar uniting all of the above.

They’ve got Coopers in the fridge for the crowd who won’t drink anything else, but the lines belong to different brewers every week. It might be Bridge Road’s chestnut lager, or Cavalier’s take-no-prisoners IPA. Chances are both will be a distant memory on your visit – they usually get one keg of most things which makes each visit a game of beer roulette.

Cookie is the little black dress of bars. You might come here for the sharply crafted cocktails or even to eat at the Thai restaurant, but they've also long been a champion of the craft beer scene. We’re talking 200 local and international craft beers, from Stone and Wood’s breezy Pacific Ale right down to syrupy Belgian La Chouffe Tripel.

Some of the rarest brews you could ever hope to get a run at. The five taps host a constant turnover of robust, oddball brews – Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black IPA; Brooklyn Brewery’s Grand Cru – which you can try by the schooner, pint or litre.

From the brew aficionados behind the Royston and the Terminus, Forester's is Collingwood's beer mecca with over 50 brilliantly curated taps, late-night pizzas and a giant clam shell/stage for live bands.

Concept venues that serve good drinks are as rare as unicorns, but damned if art and live entertainment space Howler didn't gallop into Brunswick with a helluva booze list impaled on its horn. On our last visit they even had Japanese craft beer Hitachino Nest classic ale on tap. On tap! 

Three! Hundred! Beers! That’s how many different kinds of brewski make an appearance at The Local Taphouse every year. Founders and beer loyalists Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone serve a weekly rotating selection of local and imported brews here – 20 on tap and 30 by the bottle – which represent the finest craft beer from around the world.

In 2010, brothers Jake and Josh Uljans and their mate Karl van Buuren opened their Abbotsford micro-brewery with nothing but a fistful of coins. Now their beers are pouring in most Melbourne pubs and even their own brewery bar.The list, chalked up behind the bar, is Moon Dog-centric with the odd ‘fancy’ guest pour. Brace yourself for potent thrills.

Melbourne is a city that really knows how to do pubs. From beer halls with more than 50 craft beer taps to cozy locals with a great fireplace, there's a pub for every occasion.

Melbourne's craft beer scene is going from strength to strength, and it means we have a whole host of brewery bars where we can take a tour, meet the beer geeks behind some of our favourite local beverages and drink the freshest ales in town.