Ultimate guide to the Gold Coast's hottest bars, breweries and even wineries

Going out for a drink on the Gold Coast used to mean going to bars with endless taps of XXXX and XXXX Gold, beside TVs showing footie and horse racing (beside a TAB counter). Sure, you could go to Surfers Paradise, but that was best if you were under 22. And we're not talking decades ago either - even seven or eight years ago, sports bars at (stunningly located) surf clubs still offered your highest-end entertainment option.

Then things started changing, circa 2017. Whiskey bars like the Cambus Wallace in Mermaid Beach and the Scottish Prince in Palm Beach, and laneway bars like Lockwood in Burleigh Heads opened, offering sophistication for all ages. From there, all manner of drinking establishments emerged (especially after COVID-19), some with no signage, down alleyways, requiring a secret text message to get in ... just like Melbourne.

At the same time, the Gold Coast craft beer revolution really escalated (though it had started in 2006 when Burleigh Brewing Company opened its brewery). When Currumbin's Balter Brewing Company - started by a cool gang of locals including world champ surfers Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson - won beer's most illustrious prize: number one on the GABs Hottest 100 Craft Beers in Australia in 2017 with its XPA, the die was set: XXXX was out, hipster beer was in. It was all changing fast: "bogan" sports bars were out; hipster breweries and lounge bars as moody as a rainy night in Prahran were in.

Craft beer breweries have made the more industrial parts of the Coast exceedingly cool. All the best breweries are found among surfboard manufacturers, car detailers and mechanic workshops there. Balter Brewing Company is found within Currumbin's industrial estate. The coolest cats in the area (it's a pro surfer hotspot) congregate at its warehouse-style beer garden/tasting room, especially on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, where a food truck operates.

A few suburbs north in hip hang-out, Miami, Precinct Brewing Company is hidden behind a graffiti-covered facade in a transformed workshop, which reeks of industrial vibes. There's live acoustic music, too, and just around the corner, you won't miss the pink and mint-green Lost Palms brewery, the dream of three engineering students who experimented with homebrew during their uni years. Or head to Burleigh's industrial heart to taste the original Goldie craft beer. Burleigh Brewing Company has won 25 gold medals at the World Beer Championships - that's more than any other Aussie brewer.

Beaches are what set the Gold Coast apart, so drink right on the sand. Start south near the airport at Kirra Beach House. There are panoramic views from an enormous wrap-around terrace built only 100 metres from iconic Kirra Point. In beach-club style, it offers terrace cabanas, cocktail bars, DJs and a Mediterranean-style grazing menu set across 1200 square metres of space. It's just as cool at Burleigh Pavilion, built right on top of Burleigh Point (one of the world's top surf spots). This was the coast's first beach club, think: terrazzo tables, fairy lights set among a pastel pink and white colour scheme, so close to the water you'll taste the salt spray.

For an underground hint, try the bar at the region's dining hot-spot, Rick Shores, built so close to the water it's designed to allow the high tide in when the surf's huge. For views over everything on the coast, take the lift to the rooftop bar at Nineteen at the Star, sipping at a lounge bar beside a horizon pool.

The Exhibitionist Bar, Surfers Paradise: On this list as much for what it represents as how good it is. It's located on level five of the Gold Coast's Home of the Arts (HOTA). Order a cocktail (pictured) inspired by the exhibition downstairs and gaze across this impressive arts precinct, featuring Australia's largest art gallery outside a capital city. You'll also see canals and Surfers Paradise, but it's the sense of culture here that's overwhelming. theexhibitionistbar.com.au

Lockwood Bar, Burleigh Heads: The first hidden speakeasy bar on the Gold Coast (it opened in 2017) is still one of the best bars of all. Enter through a red door down a quiet laneway, using a text message to get in. Then you're escorted through a red curtain into an industrial-style bar for less than 50 people, where there are more than 70 kinds of whiskey to order. So indie-chic there's no website.