Summer days are best spent with a beer at the beach. Unfortunately, beaches are the one thing sober-after-10pm Sydneysiders beat us at, with Melbourne left wanting for a strip of sand close to the city (bay beaches aren’t real beaches). But our deficit of CBD-approximate beaches has led some venues to get creative.
The team at Fitzroy Beer Garden have transformed their courtyard into a sandy, tropical paradise for summer. Inspired by the beaches of Sri Lanka, the venue has trucked ten cubic metres of sand into the beer garden for the summery activation as well as commissioning beachy murals from street artist Mikey xxi and re-landscaping the gardens so it really feels like you’re living on island time.
Photograph: Supplied
The beachy beer garden also features a new pop-up bar and cocktail list to boot. Try the tiki-style cocktail Haumia’s Island (a mix of Finlandia vodka, passionfruit, mango, lime and soda) or order a cocktail jug to share with your mates (we like the sound of the old-fashioned lemonade, spiked with Old Foresters American Whiskey and Pama Pomegranate liqueur).
You can also grab a cheap Kona Brewing Co Gage Roads Brewing Co tinnie for $5 between 6pm and 7pm ($8 thereafter). The sandy space is unsurprisingly proving quite popular, so book a table to guarantee your spot.
Fitzroy Beer Garden’s beach bar pop-up is open from 6pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of summer.