Odd Culture at The Taphouse, Darlinghurst

Odd Culture is being billed as a separate bar venue within The Taphouse in Darlinghurst. It specialises in sour beers and natural wine.

The pub, formerly The Local Taphouse, was taken on by new owners in 2017.  The new gang have set about making it their own while retaining some of the features that made it a catalyst for good beer in Sydney.

Celebrating Wild Fermentation

Odd Culture is the new name for the bar on level two of the venue. It’s a celebration of wild fermentation with the drinks list featuring mostly sour, barrel aged and wild beers, as well as natural wines.

It’s The Taphouse’s latest project to revitalise the venue and provide something new and interesting. In doing so, they’re helping push the boundaries of beer and wine within inner city pubs.

Specialist Venue With Mass Appeal

The Taphouse is a specialist venue. It’s had a focus on adventurous beer for some time. But thanks to its locality to trendy businesses, gentrified residential areas, and the Sydney Cricket Ground precinct, it serves as something of a mainstream pub. It’s a specialist venue with mass appeal.

That means that Odd Culture is exposing a mainstream audience to the wonders of funky and very different beers and wines. The likes of Wildflower, Two Metre Tall and Boatrocker featured at the launch of the venue. These being some Australia’s pre-eminent producers of barrel aged beers.

These local names sit alongside benchmark setters like Boon and Rodenbach. There’s also a 30 page bottle list that includes famous names from Australia, Belgium, America, the UK, and further afield.

There’s still room on the taps for local NEIPAs and double IPAs but the focus is on drinks that capture and showcase the intricacies and eccentricities of fermentation.

As the lines between craft beverages blur, we’ve seen more and more venues compile lists of good wine and good beer.

A Trend Of Specialist Craft Beverages

Locally, sister venues Bitter Phew and Creek & Cella share bottles across locations. Bitter Phew has a tight selection of excellent wines. Creek & Cella has excellent tap beers and an extensive bottle list to rival its focus on wine.

The likes of The Dolphin, The Unicorn and The Lansdowne are all doing similar things will exciting beer and wine. Aside from The Dolphin’s wine room though, there aren’t many places that offer a dedicated space focused around a niche product.

Odd Culture probably isn’t the place for Friday night schooners, particularly as many of the beers come in at a higher price point. What the venue intends is to offer an experience and a place to appreciate some of the finest beers and wines we have access to in Australia. In that intention it succeeds.

Have you visited Odd Culture at the Taphouse in Darlinghurst? Leave a comment below and share your experience of the venue.