Luxury Kurui Cabin perfect place to drink in Sunshine Coast craft brewing boom

We may have found the best winter getaway on the Sunny Coast, with this luxury Noosa hinterland getaway offering fantastic food, craft beer and a stunning firepit to sit by as the sun sets.

The best spot to take in ‘golden hour’ from Kurui Cabin at Cooroy.

What do you think of when you plan a Sunshine Coast getaway? Mountains, markets, beaches and … booze?

Beer has never been at the front of my mind ahead of a Sunshine Coast getaway, but it turns out the region has quietly become brewing central, with more craft operations per capita than any other part of the country.

Our mission on a recent mid-week visit was to test-drive just a few, while staying in rural splendour near Cooroy in a cabin that was a destination in its own right.

The Eumundi Markets continue to attract thousands of visitors every week.

Our first tipple was at Matso’s on Eumundi’s main street after a 90-minute stroll through the famous markets. An east coast expansion of a famous Broome brewery, Matso’s opened here just before Christmas. With the traditional pub facade of the original Joe’s Waterhole remaining, a modern addition at the back reveals a slick brewing set-up, bar, kitchen (we enjoyed a spicy pork pizza and lobster rolls) and restaurant seating.

There’s also a beer garden and space for kids to stretch their legs.

My partner-in-crime is a beer aficionado, albeit one who remains sceptical of many craft offerings. His exclamation that “it tastes like real beer” on sipping the Hit the Toad lager was far higher praise than it may have initially seemed. Matso’s alcoholic ginger beer was my favourite, and the Mango Beer combined the two elements of its name in pretty good fashion.

The facade may be traditional, but Matso's is a thoroughly modern set-up catering to everyone in the family.

Our next amber adventure (after a 24-hour break) took us to Cooroy, where the local bowlo has been reimagined and rebranded as the Noosa Hinterland Bowls Pub by the team behind the Sunshine Coast born-and-bred Your Mates brewery at Warana.

Choosing a table overlooking the green – which still caters to the town’s social bowlers and the more casual barefoot variety – we ordered lunch (fish and chips and a “parmy”) and sampled Your Mates popular new (low carb, full flavour) lager (tick!) and Donnie the dark ale (tick! tick!) among others.

We change direction from there, our tasting journey veering into gin, vodka and liqueurs at the Pomona Distilling Co about 10km down the road. Stepping through the shopfront on Reserve St, we venture into the sprawling back courtyard and are immediately struck by the warm, welcoming vibe. We didn’t get to try the food from the smoker in the corner, but the menu has since come highly recommended by friends who live locally. Instead we sat down with bar supervisor Georgia, whose enthusiasm for and knowledge of the product is as impressive as the samples she shared.

The Pomona Distilling Co is a great spot to sample some locally crafted gins, vodkas and liqueurs, along with a full menu that makes great use of smoked produce.

There’s literally not enough space here to include what we tried, let alone what’s available, but our favourites give you an idea of the variety. The lemon myrtle gin scored highly, the butterscotch vodka gave the passionfruit version a run for its money and the coconut, chilli and ginger liqueur was definitely worth another sip. The flavours shouldn’t suggest a novelty approach – these are seriously sophisticated drinks.

If there is one issue with the surge in breweries and the like in this part of the world, it is that public transport, and taxi and rideshare options can be hard to come by. If a designated driver isn’t an option, it would be worth exploring private transfer options.

We stayed at Kurui Cabin between Eumundi and Cooroy and it was the perfect spot to explore the Noosa hinterland. It’s a stunning part of the world and a partnership between Queensland-based Reforest and the local tourism industry is striving to make it even better.

Kurui Cabin is designed to make the most of the stunning views.

As we arrive, we can see LandCare workers in the paddocks below helping to regenerate land once used for cattle grazing. This is big sky country, and the cabin’s back deck – and the adjoining heated plunge pool – is the perfect spot to watch the clouds slide over the top of Cooroy Mountain just a few kilometres away, while the outdoor firepit is made for what owner Lauren calls “golden hour” – when that same sun sinks into the horizon to the west and the sky catches fire before slowly turning black.

But you don’t have to be outside to enjoy the view – the cabin has obviously been designed to bring it in. With a wall of glass at the back and strategically placed picture windows and comfy day beds there’s no need to miss a thing. There’s a cosy open lounge and dining area with a freestanding fireplace, two bedrooms (one a bunkroom), a bathroom with a large shower and double basins, a potential office space, a laundry and full kitchen.

The cabin’s back deck - complete with a heated plunge pool - looks straight onto Cooroy Mountain.

Beyond that, there were numerous smaller touches that made us feel welcome – the gift of a bottle of wine, local coffee and chocolate on arrival, a bouquet of natives from the garden and the pantry stocked with a little more than just the staples – an excellent source of tea and delicious bush honey for our morning toast. Otherwise, the kitchen was largely obsolete, with an array of eating options nearby.

On our first night we visited Bella 101 on Eumundi’s main street. It is situated in a heritage building that is also home to a hair salon. Hairdresser Ash Collins has teamed up with her old Eumundi schoolmate Benni Molloy for a truly local operation that has menus covering brunch, lunch, tapas and evening mains. We are still thinking about the delicious eggplant chips with sweet soy and chilli caramel, and the shared brownie dessert.

The Doonan was a great spot for a Friday lunch, and the bottleshop next door carried many of the craft lines we’d tried during our stay.

On our last day we visit The Doonan, named for its location. The courtyard bulging with potted plants (some of them for sale) may create a relaxed garden centre vibe, but there was nothing casual about our wood-fired bread with rosemary and garlic, and mains of lamb rump with fregola and prawn linguine.

It was enough to have us heading back to Brisbane more than content after a few days well spent exploring this thriving section of the northern Sunshine Coast.

The writer was a guest of Visit Sunshine Coast

Kurui Cabin
Martins Rd, Cooroy

Stays from $550 per night

airbnb.com.au

Originally published as Luxury Kurui Cabin perfect place to drink in Sunshine Coast craft brewing boom