Come for the lager, stay for the chips on a stick at beer legend Chuck Hahn’s brewery

You know you’ve reached craft brewery Valhalla when Chuck Hahn is your glassie and Whole Beast Butchery is making your double cheeseburger. Yup, you read that right. Doctor Charles Hahn, the founder of Hahn Brewery (later renamed Malt Shovel Brewery) and mastermind of such backyard barbecue hits as Hahn SuperDry and Kosciuszko Pale Ale, is not above clearing a table of empties.

He is also an engineer with a passion for niche brewing who passed that passion on to his son, Scott. Together, they’ve created this independent brewery in an old warehouse out the back of St Peters.

Craft brewing is no longer reserved as a special-interest subject for IT professionals, it’s a mainstay of the Sydney drinking and dining scene, with many breweries focused on playing a substantial role in their community.

If you’re an interested onlooker when it comes to the inner west and its bustling craft-brewery scene, this is a good place to start. Here at Chuck and Son’s, they cater to a broad spectrum of inner westies with Friday night meat raffles, care of Marrickville’s Whole Beast Butchery, and a family buffet on the last Sunday of every month.

There’s plenty for the brew boffins, but it’s also a fun and relaxed place that’s both dog- and small person-friendly. Chesterfield lounges and Persian rugs are dotted about the place, but if you’re worried about getting too cosy, bag a dedicated dining table – all the better for accommodating tasting paddles and large-scale snacking.

Now the weather’s turned, it’s time to whip out the light knits and the dark ales. Here, the Superdelic Stout brings chocolatey, fruity flavours without being overwhelmingly heavy. For those who dig the heavyweight brews, the Alpine Hazy is a real one-and-done situation. Dense, creamy, hoppy. The Old World Lager (just like a British lager, with all the bitter complexity, only cold and fizzy) is probably my favourite, and it’s a favourite with staff behind the bar, too.

Cocktails are no slouch, either. There’s a menu of Spritzes, Bellinis and negronis, a mini martini menu ($9 each or three for $25), and then there’s the Maple Walnut Old Fashioned: bourbon and bitters sweetened with a lick of maple syrup, poured over a big hunk of ice and garnished with a whole candied walnut. A perfect way to break the chill.

Outside, there are plenty of places to sit in among the vintage pots filled with succulents and ferns. There’s no better place to soak up a bit of mild sun while blowing the top off a frosty. It’s also where you go to order snacks from Tony Eats, run by Marcus Papadopoulo and Amina Latypova – the couple behind Whole Beast.

Think of it as really, really good carnival food. Chips on a stick (yes!) sees a curly tornado potato weaved on a giant skewer – it tastes the way you always wished a novelty fried potato would taste, replacing waxy, too firm and underseasoned with fluffy, crisp and salty. While we’re on the subject of fun bites, try creamy labneh drizzled with smoked honey, lemon oil and a pile of Jatz for dipping. Sticky chicken wings definitely require a back-up pile of napkins if you’re in polite company.

The lurid crimson house-made hotdog arrives on a toasted roll, squiggled with mayonnaise, tomato sauce and American mustard and sweetened with caramelised onions. It’s a great few-bites treat, but if you’re here to fuel up, the dry-aged beef burger is the one to bet on. Make it a double if you’re ravenous. That’s a juicy beef pattie, tomato, cheese slice, pickles, onion and a tangy special sauce. Dessert? Order the soft-serve and beef-fat caramel.

Sign me up for another run at that meat raffle, please.

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