Near & Far is the bar Brunswick Street has been crying out for. A destination for lovers of beer, supporters of independent producers, seekers of new flavours to explore, and those just looking for a fun night out in a cool bar. 18 taps of rotating, independent craft beer and 100’s of different beers filling the fridges and walk-in cool room will keep even the fussiest beer aficionados happy for a long time, while the hand selected wines by the glass and bottle will also be constantly changing and evolving to challenge our guests perceptions.

It’s a warm and welcoming environment, with exposed brick walls flowing into beautiful Tasmanian oak finishes, and comfy Brunswick green leather booths to settle in for the night. Upstairs you'll find the best seats in the house, perched at 100 year old blackwood tables in the windows overlooking the Brunswick St world go by. We wanted to create a bar that everyone would feel at home in, and believe we've pulled this off really well.

But we wanted to create more than just a bar that people will feel comfortable in. We want people to feel like they're a part of the bar, and on the journey with us. When talking about this we decided it would be a great idea to have a "People's Tap", a tap that our customers can have input to and start to become part of the Near & Far family. We want our most passionate regulars to be able to help us decide what beer from anywhere across the globe to put on tap next, and as such the "People's Tap" was born. At the time we had already committed to installing 16 taps which is a huge expense in itself, so decided the best way to engage the crowd we want to frequent Near & Far, and to raise some extra funds to extend our taps to 17 would be a crowdfund campaign. Then we decided we really wanted (needed) a Nitro tap for those super smooth dark beers we all love, so we quickly adjusted plans to now become an 18 tap venue!

We’re opening the doors to the public this Thursday 19 December, launching with a bang showcasing one of Europe’s hottest new-age craft breweries, Dry & Bitter from Denmark. We’ll have 9 taps of their super fresh hop forward beers pouring alongside 9 more taps of a selection of our favourite brews from Near & Far (local & imported). 

This will be the first in what we hope will be a long series of weekly Thursday events on the taps at Near & Far. Coming up next we're celebrating Boxing Day on Thursday 26th with an Australia vs New Zealand Tap Showdown. 9 vs 9. May the best team win. 

Aside from these events, our drinks menu will literally be changing on a daily basis so there's always something to keep you coming back for more! Think sour beers from cult Belgian brewers and natural wines from France, juicy IPA’s from Vermont and award-winning cocktails from Bar Americano. 

The joint owners are Jason Cameron & Mike Hildebrand.  Jason founded Maverick Imports while living in London and has been importing & exporting beer between Australia and Europe/Canada for about 5 years. Mike was originally customer of Maverick while Manager of Belair Fine Wines, and has worked at the Uraidla Brewery and has recently returned from a stint in Canada working at Hidden Bench Winery.

We have bootstrapped this whole concept from start to the nearly finish, but to pay for our new lofty 18 tap plans including the "People's Tap" and Nitro Tap we need some help. We've already paid a small fortune to convert the old existing kitchen into a coolroom to keep all of our beer cold (number 1 priority), get the best installers in the business in to do our tap lines and refrigeration, and build the bar of course, so funds have been stretched to the absolute limit.

But we also don't want people to feel like they're paying for the privilege, so we've come up with a method that everyone wins from! Everyone that pledges money will become a founding member and get a say in what we put on tap. Throw in a bit more and we will reward you with an extra $50 in "Tap Tab" on top to use whenever you come in to check out Near & Far. And there's some killer exclusive merch to grab too!