Feral Brewing Company

Love this place and love taking people there. It is a great place if you have a small group and love good food, adventurous beers and great service. A hidden gem but definitely worthy of a visit.

Came here on a tour through the valley last weekend. We decided on the food truck area so it was more relaxed. The food isn’t as good as the restaurant so not sure we will visit the truck area again to eat. A full bar is available in this area and a bottle of sparkling is very reasonably priced at $ 28! The food we tried was the chicken and pork belly, both $ 17. A little pricey for a food truck.

The beer and food here alone blew my mind! It has been a long time since I enjoyed both the food and the beer at a brewery!
Lets start with the food, it was hands down amazing. My favorite dish HAD to be the Beef Tartar. It come out looking like a beautiful flower and once you broke the egg and scooped up the meat it just melted in your mouth. I haven’t ever had a Tartar that delicious that made me wanting more. Not to mention it came out in a pretty decent size serving to share between two people. We did get other food like chips, olives and more, but this was probably the highlight of the food there.
We did two of only one of their beer boards, they have two different kinds. I think I loved all but one beer on that board but I have to say my favorite beer wasn’t on it for sampling. I got the Watermelon Warhead beer after the board was done. The Watermelon Warhead didn’t have a high alcohol content but my god was it sour! Just the smell of it made my mouth water. I have to say if you go here with a group try both beer boards, the Watermelon Warhead AND the Beef Tartar!
If I get a chance to go back again this will be my number 1 stop!

Amazingly I’d never been to Feral before. In thinking how much beer I drink and all the food that goes with it, I actually haven’t been to too many breweries up that way as it’s donkey’s years away from my house.
So when I was seeing off a mate who resided up that way for a farewell brew and feed, he recommended Feral as a worthy contender. It didn’t disappoint with the beer or the food and between us we ordered a Trussed Pork Belly each, Fried Beer Cheese, Chicken Liver Pâté and BBQ Octopus.
The Fried Beer Cheese certainly sounds weird but it’s like a deep fried crumbed cheese croquette made with beer and cheese. They were nice but not something I’d be likely to order again.
The Chicken Liver Pâté was lovely and I was happy to say that they didn’t burn the baguette or bread as they do at some places and seemingly a lot of tapas places I’ve eaten.
I wasn’t a big fan of the BBQ Octopus and found it a bit chewy but it was still nice but I’d have liked a bit more as far as serving sizes went for the money.
The Trussed Pork Belly, braised fennel, basil and shallots was another stand out dish but there was way too much of the green stuff and fennel for me to be functional. Sure it was great as garnish but I didn’t terribly like the flavours with the pork but the pork itself was sensational. I understand the purpose of the side in cutting through the fat but found it to detract from the dish for me.
The crackle was excellent though and great to see a restaurant that serves it with pork belly. For a while there restaurants were advertising pork belly but it would come out without the crackle and that’s despicable as Daffy Duck would say in my books and like making macaroni without the cheese, so it was refreshing to have my expectations for the crackle and how well cooked, succulent and juicy the flesh was beneath.
Overall we were both really happy with the meal, the service was reasonable as well. I’d expect a bit more bang for your buck with the octopus but I’d definitely recommend folks try the other things that we devoured with a few beers. I wouldn’t mind sampling a few other dishes on their menu but as things go with the north versus south rivalry, it’s a little far for me unless it’s a special occasion.

Living so close to the Swan Valley, I try to get out there as much as I can on the weekends. One of my favourite places is Feral Brewery. The staff are friendly and attentive, the food is amazing, the beers are delicious and it’s the perfect spot to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. Yesterday was no exception. I’d recommend a tasting tray as it’ll force you to try beers you might not usually go for and you won’t regret it! For lunch we ordered the hand cut chips, beer fried cheese (a must!), crab and prawn fettuccini and the steak. The food is staggered so don’t expect to be all eating at once — this is ok if you are just ordering sides to shares but can be annoying if you’re in a group. The fettuccini was nice but maybe a little too aldente for my liking. Like I said the beer fried cheese is a must and the chips are good too. But my hubby’s steak was out of this world! He does order his steaks ‘blue’ mind you which usually puts me off but after tasting it I was in heaven — it’s definitely how that piece of meat was meant to be cooked — just melted in your mouth. This place does get pretty busy so I’d recommend making a booking. The outside area is lovely, looking out onto the vineyards and it looks like they’re opening up an outside bar for those not wanting to sit in the restaurant. You can also purchase beers to take home, which of course we did!

I always lament that this place is too far away to make a good local! The Feral White is still one of my favourite. Today was a stop in to line the tummy whilst doing the tasting rounds. Shared the fried beer cheese, chips and aoli, tomatos and buffalo mozzarella, BBQ Octopus and chickpeas. Whilst nothing is extraordinary all the food is good and tasty with nothing wrong with any dish. The venue was busy as always but service was still pretty good and once we had sat and ordered we were quite regulary asked if we needed anything. Always recommend it as a good spot to stop by for a quick feed when in the valley and the beer never lets you down!

The beer here is excellent and the brewery restaurant is huge so as you can expect when they’re busy, service slows down slightly. But I’ve only ever experienced great service from their waitstaff and they’ve always been super fun and knowledgeable about their menu and more than willing to give you tips on what to have.
My husband and I played hooky on the holidays and spent 5 hours drinking there. If you go, try the avocado salad — it was to die for!
And if you want to try the beers, definitely go for their tasting paddles. Both are awesome and you’ll get a great idea of what you want/​like by the end of it!

The beer is really good. That’s why they call it a brewing company in the first place. The food is good unless they run out of what you want in the first place. Again, it’s a brewing company first. The area is picturesque but can be trouble if it’s raining and you’re seated on the edge.

Had the pleasure to have dinner with my family Fri 21 Aug. I found the staff very friendly and informative and made us feel very welcome. The food was served in good time and was well presented and very tasty. We will definitely come again.

This boutique brewery on the Swan Valley trail didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The beer tasting was more expensive than previous breweries we had been to during the day and to be honest I wasn’t quite the fan of the majority of them — perhaps boutique beers just aren’t my thing!
Food wise we only ordered a few snacks to accompany the tasting — go for the beer cheese balls (sounds crazy but you won’t be disappointed, trust me!)

Went for Fathers’ Day at the weekend and was shocked at the kitchen service. They took a drivers licence («to avoid run outs») which seemed strange to us at the time but now makes sense knowing how bad the service is.
After waiting for over one hour for our meal we complained. After promising it would be «just 10 minutes now» repeatedly we gave up and at 1 & ½ hours waiting we finally gave up. The meals arrived the instant we demanded our drivers licence back.
The meals were basic pub-​grub at elevated prices (over $ 40 for the steak for example) and the chicken was still raw in the middle. Two meals had to be sent back. All they did was microwave them a bit more.
So why give a star for a company that has no right serving food to the public? One has to be given for the interesting range of beers. These vary in quality from the great American IPA (Hop Hog) through to the weird novelties (Funky Junky, Watermelon Warhead etc). There are better breweries in the Swan Valley (Mash, Elmars etc) but they deserve a star for the range of beers to try. The $ 3 taster size is a great way to sample the range.
A star is also earned for the manager who apologised for the chef, ensured the poor meal was on the house and even organised vouchers to be mailed out to us. I’ll update the review if/​when the vouchers turn up. She provided a masterclass in how to apologise for a terrible restaurant experience.
Update: Vouchers for $ 100 arrived this weekend. This might be enough to go back for the beer but I doubt we’ll eat there again.
After checking out reviews by other people it’s clear that Feral really polarises opinion with some actually having a +ve experience. It seems the underlying factor is how busy the kitchen is that day. If you go, make sure it’s at a quiet time of day.

I haven’t been to this brewery in person, but I had to add a review and rating purely based on their Hop Hog India Pale Ale. I’ve enjoyed Hop Hog on tap at a few bars in Perth and in bottles everywhere else (it’s available in Dan Murphys).
Hop Hog, as it’s name suggests, is a big, hoppy IPA — but where many big IPA’s can just be too heavy after a short time, Hop Hog remains smooth, flavoursome and enjoyable beer after beer!

Beer nerds ahoy! This brewery is not well signposted, but that doesn’t matter. If you’re serious about beer you’ll find this place. 15 craft beers on tap inc award winning and amazeballs Hop Hog IPA. Take a beer loving friend here, they will be in brewing heaven!
Foods pricey and on busy weekends be prepared to wait a while for it. Can’t really say how good it is though, as I’ve only ever had wings — they were fine but not OMG.
But, BEER!

Location is lovely… Very «Australian»
Anywhere that contains just beer and can’t even cater for the non-​beer-​drinkers… (even just ONE cider option!?) is certainly no friend of mine. Left drinking an apple juice while everyone else indulges is so not cool.
The only way I’ll end up here again is if I’m forced to on another Swan Valley/​Wine tour…
Guys — you have so much more potential

Went to Feral for the SIL’s birthday dinner. Was sonewhat optimistic given Feral is in the Gold card section of the Ent Book. Wrong.
While my entrée, Salmon Gravlax bruschetta $ 18, was tasty and a generous size (4 decent sized slices of crusty bread dressed with salmon, capers abd salad), the rest if the night was hit and miss.
My main, Spinach and mushroom tagliatelle with feta, chilli and truffle oil $ 23, again was a good sized serving but I don’t recall there being much spinach. There was also only a small amount of feta on top as well and I don’t think the combo of balsamic, truffle oil AND chilli worked.
A few at the table had the hot wings for entrées. Definitely a decent sized serving of 6 chicken wings. The hot sauce also had a good punch. Price was good at $ 12, but a tad inconsistent to the price and serving sizes of other entrées.
The BF had a serve of chips $ 10 for his entrée and a pork schnitzel with slaw for his man. The chips for what you got was way overpriced at $ 10. You would have got better tasting and more chips from a $ 4 frozen bag from Woolies. The schnitzel looked dry and the BF didn’t touch the slaw, and he loves slaw so it wasn’t very good.
Beer prices were average but they wouldn’t serve me my choice in a pint (Fantapants 7.6% alcohol). If you’re going to serve beer, it should be up to the customer to choice the size. Not much difference me having one 7.6% pint vs two or three 4.6% pints. Disappointed. The White Feral was refreshing though, not too bitter, not too sweet.
I’m also a huge dessert fan so I was hoping for a reprieve. Not such luck. At $ 12 a pop, the BF and I decided to share the berry semifredo. Semi fredo shoykd be like half frozen mousse. Instead, this was way too frozen. So much so we had to chip away at it with our spoons to eat it. My SIL ordered the walnut pudding, again $ 12, but didn’t end up eating it. The pudding was better suited as a hockey puck at Sochi. Dry and hard as. Fail.
The service was something left to be desired. The waiters took forever to bring over menus and then didn’t bring enough for the table. They weren’t very attentive during the night despite our being the only table in the restaurant. We had to flag someone down anytime we wanted anything. Our waiter was bubbly though and our food did come out quick once ordered. After failing to flag someone down for the bill I went up near the front door register. No signs telling you where to pay. There were also 3 staff behind the bar when I wanted to pay yet they were all too busy helping another customer light a birthday cake. One cake, one light, one person.
Not sure how this place got in the Ent book gold section but at least we got a discount and the SIL didn’t have to pay for her hockey puck.

I enjoy the lay out both inside and out, great selection of beers on tap and also package take away. Pub food on the menu generous servings, friendly service, surprised to read some of the other reviews, with the negative spin, beer lovers rejoice and enjoy !

Feral Brewing Company offers a very casual atmosphere nestled in the heart of the Swan Valley with hearty grub and a great range of craft beers. Not being able to drink most beer due to gluten intolerance I cannot tell you much about their hand-​crafted beers, but they are currently title holders for the Australian International Beer Awards «Best Medium Australian Brewery». Their food is simple pub styled food priced reasonably well with modest portion sizes.

I am not a fan of this brewery, half the meal was not available and also half the selection of alcohol wasnt available either. Being that the Swan Valley is a common thing to do on a nice summers weekend, you think they would be more prepared for the customer base.
Food was okay, I would not be recommeding it for a birthday or work function. =/

No Vego options!!! Why!!! We came for lunch and there was nothing to have… Why have only 6 steaks and nothing else?

Feral Brewery is located in the picturesque confines of the Swan Valley, and they are a microbrewery with an interesting choice of beers.
Despite its rather savage-​sounding name and its logo, featuring a snarling, red-​eyed hog, Feral is actually quite a civilised establishment, with inside and outside seating. The wooden planks that are used for the building’s structure offer Feral Brewery a rustic, rough-​around-​the-​edges charm, similar to a friendly, country gentleman. Feral is quite spacious, but to enjoy the full ambiance of its setting, it’s best to sit outside.
The food at Feral is typical pub fare, but are generously portioned and done well. Their lamb, for instance, is quite tender and melts off the bone. The prices however are on the steep side, so for meals that cost $ 25+, you would expect some more imagination with their menu.
The beers, on the other hand, are somewhat hit and miss. The Feral White is a good example of their hit-​and-​miss approach — it is a wheat beer that attempts to replicate the taste of Hoegaarden White, but without the complexity on the palate. Many of their other beers are bland versions of IPAs, lagers and ales.
More interesting are their seasonal specials. One special brew in particular was a 13.5% beer — which was rich, warm and went down very smoothly. It is a shame that it wasn’t made into a regular beer, because that beer highlighted what Feral was capable of making.
If you are planning on a tour of the breweries in the Swan Valley, Feral Brewery is worth a stop, although there are better beers being made in the area.