Badlands Brewery

Badlands Brewery brews and pours on Summer Street, a few blocks east of the town centre, and its taproom has become a fixture of the Orange beer circuit. The range runs from core ales through seasonal winter beers to a house cider, the tasting paddle settles any first-visit decisions, and the venue keeps genuinely odd hours for a brewery bar: closed Monday and Tuesday, evening sessions Wednesday and Thursday, long days Friday and Saturday, and an afternoon session Sunday from 2pm.

The dog setup

The taproom's own policy page is clear about the arrangement: dogs are not allowed inside because the working brewery is a food production site, but two outdoor areas welcome them. The better of the two is a fully enclosed and undercover laneway with its own seating, heaters and dog bowls, which makes it usable right through a Central West winter. That is an unusually complete setup, and it comes straight from the venue rather than word of mouth.

Worth knowing

Because the laneway is enclosed rather than an open footpath, a settled dog is easy to manage even on a busy Saturday afternoon. The kitchen offer is lighter than a full pub menu, so plan Badlands as the drinks stop and eat elsewhere. The Sunday 2pm start makes it the natural wind-down after a morning at the dog park rather than a lunch destination.

Pair it with

Orange's dog-friendly map stacks up well around it. Byng Street Local Store handles the morning coffee, Bloomfield Reserve Dog Park burns off the dog's energy first, and the cellar doors out of town, including Heifer Station Wines, extend the day if the weather holds. The Orange guide and NSW dog friendly pubs list cover the rest of a weekend itinerary.