I travelled to try this beer legend's heady new brew - and it was worth it

What's it like to visit a $70 million "cathedral" for ale-lovers?

Something big's been brewing in Adelaide. The wine-famous city just became a serious beer destination, too, with the debut on August 28 of a $70 million visitor centre at Coopers Brewery.

Based at Coopers' Regency Park production facility, 20 minutes' drive north of Adelaide CBD, the centre boasts all kinds of attractions: brewery tours, a restaurant bringing food to Coopers for the first time, a museum and even a concert venue. The hefty spend shows. With two storeys and 1500 sq m of timber and concrete curves inspired by the circular Coopers label and designed by Adelaide-based Studio Nine Architects, the new centre could be an art gallery - if it wasn't for the tanks and whisky stills gleaming through the front window.

The stills are another first. They contain Coopers' first single malt whisky, expected to be ready around 2028 and progressing under the watchful eye of sixth-generation brewer Iain Cooper, now chief distiller. His ancestors star in the museum, a lively 162-year rewind to the brewery's beginnings. Fun fact: Coopers beer began as a medicine, when founder Thomas made a fermented tonic for his wife Anne in 1862.

That history springs to life through family heirlooms and interactive digital displays - from the original horse-drawn delivery carts to a design-your-own beer feature - then you cross a link bridge, don a high-vis vest and head into the source.

It's hard not to be impressed by the scale of Australia's largest family-owned brewery. If you're a beer or whisky lover there's something almost cathedral-like about spaces like the 13,000 sq m maltings, where giant charcoal tubs turn Aussie barley to aromatic malt. The smells are delicious, too.

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In the brewery, giant fermenters as tall as houses each hold 170,000 litres of beer (18,000 cartons!), and the bottling line adds unexpected wow factor. Filling 1200 bottles a minute, it's just a beery blur to the naked eye. Our guide's handy tip: film it in slo-mo to truly appreciate this almost religious spectacle. Head chef Fabio Castello (formerly of Melbourne's Vue de Monde) presides over the 400-seater restaurant and brings his deft touch to organic, seasonal produce, with a dash of the brewery's liquid hero in dishes like Coopers Original Pale Ale-battered flathead with classic chips and pink River Murray salt.

The restaurant and taproom are open to the public as standalone venues, and with a 3400 sq m swathe of outdoor seating on the plaza with space for live entertainment, it's set to be a go-to for locals as well as the 100,000 visitors a year the Coopers are expecting. Close enough to the city, the centre also offers an exciting beer option for Adelaide's wine tourists, says managing director Tim Cooper. "We're on the way up to the Barossa Valley and I think could be integrated very well into trips there."

SNAPSHOT

The 90-minute brewery tours, including a guided tasting, are $45 per person, open Tuesday to Saturday.

The restaurant and taproom are open 10am-6pm Tuesday to Saturday. Kids and walk-ins welcome.