Welcome to Beenleigh Artisan Distillery
OPEN 7 DAYS
Open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
Tours currently run Wednesday to and Sunday from 10:30am, with the last tour starting at 2:30pm. In line with COVID-safe practices bookings are essential, please contact us in advance to book.
Tastings available daily at any time.
VISIT THE DISTILLERY
TOUR INFORMATION
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes before your tour time.
- The maximum group size for tours is 20 people. For larger groups, please contact us in advance.
- All visitors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times.
- All tour guests must wear closed-toe shoes (no thongs or sandals) as a safety requirement.
- It is a Health & Safety requirement that tour guests must not consume alcohol prior to taking the tour.
- Our Distillery tours visit production areas, and include obstacles as to be expected within a working distillery. Please advise on arrival, or when booking, if you have any mobility issues.
- Following your tour, adult guests aged 18 years and over are also invited to participate in a tasting experience, sampling various products from the Beenleigh range.
HEAR FROM VISITORS
-
Excellent tours of the Distillery which has an extensive and interesting history, especially for visitors either from other other areas or Australian States, or from overseas.
Souvenirs are not... read more
-
Loved this tour and now am loving the souvenir bottle of Honey Bee Run. Who knew there were so many varieties? This one suits my sweet tooth but there... read more - The Beenleigh Artisan Rum Distillary is certainly worth a visit if you want to see a little bit of local history and how Beenleigh Rum is made at one of... read more
- After over an hour drive from our accommodation to Beenleigh Artisan Distillery
we arrived in time for our booked tour,which was 10_30am today (Monday)the tour was booked and paid... read more - We had lived in the area for some 15 years and never took a tour there, moved away from the area 11 years ago. We booked our tour which was... read more
- Had some time to waste in Beenleigh and saw they had a working distillery. Arrived too late for a tour, but did a tasting. We’ve had Caribbean rums in the... read more
- The tour guide was very informative and interesting. Told the story of how Beenleigh Artisan Distillery came into being. How the place also survived the floods and carried on (not... read more
- Enjoyed the tour and tasting experience. Loved the history and science of the distillery on a tour with Liam. Tasting afterwards was also enjoyed but can't say the early rums... read more
- We had a great time there. The staff are so lovely and helpful. We ordered a limited edition box and it is a quality product. Can’t wait to come back... read more
- If you are thinking about doing something different with a group of friends, I highly recommend the tour and tasting at Beenleigh Artisan Distillery. Liam was our guide, he was... read more
OUR HISTORY
Beenleigh Artisan Rum more than just a rum, more even just a spirit – it is a tribute to bold Australian enterprise and the stuff that legends are made of.
Welcome to the Australia’s oldest registered distillery and the people and the rum that made it what it is today You’ll find tall stories, colourful characters, and a heritage as rich and distinctive as Beenleigh Rum itself.
Our Beginnings
In 1865 a duo from England by the names of John Davy and Francis Gooding purchased 300 acres of land fronting the Albert River. They named the clearing after their old Devonshire farm, which was called Beenleigh.
Originally, they had intended to grow cotton on this land, but as fate would have it, a more lucrative alternative presented itself- sugar cane.
As legend would have it, around the same time, a man called James Stewart, known as ‘The Bosun’ was operating a floating sugar mill, aboard the S.S. Walrus, along the Albert and Logan Rivers. He soon found a productive use for the excess molasses he produced- making Rum on the sly.
One day in 1884 the SS Walrus washed ashore on our banks. No-one was aboard- except The Bosun’s Copper Pot still. Beenleigh Artisan Distillery was born
The Big Red Shed
At the end of Distillery Road there’s an old red building that is, in parts, the original Beenleigh Distillery from 1884. It’s home to ‘The Old Copper’.
The Old Copper is a very special Copper Pot Still that has a signature shape and style known as a Vat Still. It is the only one of its kind in Australia. Other similar international examples of this equipment include the Port Mourant Still- famous for classic Demerara style Rum. Another significant link between Beenleigh Distillery and Demerara is that our previous Distillers once worked with similar stills along the Demerara River, Guyana in the early 1900s.
We are true artisan distillers. Only four people work in The Big Red Shed, including our Master Distiller, who has been here for forty years. Our Distillers manage all parts of the Rum-making process, from fermentation, to nursing the still throughout the day, to cask-aging our exceptional Rum. Fine Australian Rum must legally mature for a minimum of two years to be sold as “Rum”- so we gently let our Beenleigh spirit age amongst our historic surroundings. You just can’t rush artisan Rum!
