Drink up before November 2026 when the famous Boags beer disappears from Tasmania. This historic pub in Launceston is a classic and also home to a mini Boags museum.

Like all Launceston teenagers, when it was time to try my first beer, it was Boags. I still drink it today and when I am in town, I always head for Boags Brewhouse to catch up with people.

Most people think of the brewhouse as the place to go on a tour of the brewery, but the attached pub is a great local secret.

Boags is generally thought to be a great, big, blokey drink but in my experience, women love it too.

In fact Boags beer had a woman, Anne Tolson, as its technical officer in its heyday.

She once supervised Launceston schoolchildren at the brewery, testing water samples as part of their science classes.

Possibly the best work experience of their lives.

PM Albanese Drank Here

Boags is not your average beer and Boag’s Brewhouse is not a regular pub.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is just one visitor to this famous historic watering hole, next to the South Esk River.

It’s all a short stroll from the centre of town and a nice escape.

The pub, serves beer flights (four glasses of different beers to try on a long plank of wood, basically) and quite a few historic beer cans to admire, on the walls. There’s also a shop if you’re a complete fan.

No More Tasmanian Boags

The sad news that Boags is to close its Launceston production (it’s moving to the mainland) means the famously pure Tasmanian water will no longer be swirling around in your glass.

You can still enjoy the local history, however, when you come to Launceston.

This enormous Boags Brewhouse pub today was once The Lame Dog pub in 1826. Then it became The Golden Lion.

It was The Prince Albert, then The Prince Alfred, then finally became The Tamar Hotel.

This pub has seen it all. It used to be a favourite stop for Tasmanians catching the train nearby – back when there was a train.

Now it’s Uber, of course. Or you can saunter back into Launceston for your next Boags session, at The Royal Oak Hotel, which is (even) haunted.

Original Fireplace, Original Beer

This place isn’t haunted, as far as I know, but the original fireplace is certainly here along with the basic original beer recipe.

Boag himself was a Scotsman who didn’t find gold in the Victorian Gold Rush – but discovered a big business in Launceston instead.
He said goodbye to Melbourne, landed in Tasmania, then realised that the pristine water, local barley and hops was perfect for a new beer.

There’s a gigantic model can of Boags outside to mark the spot, in the brewhouse car park.

The pretty original wallpaper surrounds the fireplace as you walk in and you can either sit up at the bar and read a pile of books about (yes) beer – or gather outside on group tables.

Formerly Known as The Lame Dog

The historic cans, now under glass, are also sought-after collectables.

If you ever kept a 1984 can celebrating the local Lake Barrington Kings Cup rowing, it’s now worth a great deal more than you would have paid for it 40 years ago.

I suppose if you had any souvenirs of The Lame Dog days it would be worth even more.

The Lame Dog of Launceston was well-known to the beer fans of 1831, and described as follows:

“At the foot of George Street there was a ferry, and near that ferry stood another public house. It was named the “Lame Dog.” The poor doggie, depicted on the signboard, was a deplorable looking object with one leg in a sling. Beneath were the lines:
“Step in my friends and rest awhile,
And help a lame dog over the stile.”

The Beer Lovers’ Ballroom

Back in its time as The Golden Lion (The Lame Dog having fallen over) this same pub was even hosting balls for Launceston beer lovers.

Admission was a mere three shillings. The old Golden Lion even had twelve apartments for visitors to the Launceston Regatta – and stables.

Even better, back in 1857, it had its own skittle ground and piggery. Could somebody bring that back, please?

Honouring Queen Victoria

The Golden Lion became The Prince Alfred in 1868, honouring Queen Victoria. He was her second son. He was also the first royal to visit Tasmania, thus the name change.

The pub has survived fire, bankrupt owners, court cases and more. Hopefully it will also survive the transferral of Boags brewing to the mainland.

Boags has also been serving beer right through the Suffragette movement (women celebrating the vote must surely have tried to order a beer here) and women’s liberation in the 1970’s.

The Pioneering Boags Landlady

Launceston’s pioneering landlady Sarah Turner was running the old pub by 1913 although she got into trouble for letting a man onto the premises on Sunday. (He also happened to be her fiancée, though, so the judge let her off.)

Sarah would not recognise the place today. It had a $2.4 million renovation in 2025 and has been fitted out with stunning Tasmanian oak.

The beer menu is also much longer than in Sarah’s day.

Choose from Triple X Ale. Premium. Premium Light. St. George. Draught.

Occasionally Boags also release limited edition beers, reusing old recipes from the archives. There might be one when you visit.

The First Tasmanian Beer

The wallpaper around the fireplace dates from the 1920s and builders found it when they peeled off the many layers on the wall in the front room.

The fireplace itself is also Regency and extremely rare. It’s made of Australian cedar.

This isn’t the home of the very first Tasmanian beer, though. This claim to fame goes to Richard Clark who began brewing in Van Diemen’s Land, as it used to be called, in 1818.

He made beer for his family and friends in the suburb of St. Leonards in Launceston. It would be 16 years after settlement that Tasmanians drank their first commercial beer.

Lemon Cordial and Ginger Beer

Enjoy your drink. You can book a tour or just walk in for a drink and something to eat. There’s a big beer garden and a welcoming long bar inside.

Gone are the days when Boags used to make ginger beer, lemon cordial and sarsaparilla, but the beer is award-winning stuff.

Boags started out making seven hogsheads in the 19th century. Today quite a few more hogsheads have been exported around the world. Be quick to taste one of the 45 million litres of the brew that’s still made locally, in Tasmania’s oldest Boags pub.