August 21, 2009
An awesome beer bar that represents the local scene to the fullest. Surprisingly it can be pretty fuckin hard to find quality micros in Melbourne and this is where the Taphouse comes in. There’s 20 taps available all above the average - BrewBoys Ace of Spade and Moo Brew IS were drinking very well. The taps are constantly rotating and there is often a showcase for a particular brewery. Great support given. A visit mid week was more enjoyable to chill out on the lounge and enjoy the beers, the weekend is pretty hectic as expected. Great food and beer and the staff are switched on and know the beers. A fantastic beer bar, and along with the one in Sydney I loved the place. Now if only they’ll open a Taphouse in Brisbane....

April 2, 2009
Visited there twice last week whilst I was in Melbourne enjoyed it both times, called in during the day when it was a little quiet which was probably better for me to relax and enjoy the beers available subjectively. Very good range of tap beers, pizza was good and staff very friendly and knowledgeable.

March 18, 2009
...went down on a Friday night to check it out for the first time. Weird vibe downstairs, I didn’t know there was an upstairs untill I left. They had some guy playing a keyboard, with a drummer for the "live music". I guess it was alright, but the stuff they were playing was stupid. There were gay-fags dancing around with some ripped guy in a wheelchair, and lots of drunken buisinessmen that were trying to look cool by ordering expensive vodka drinks, and jager-mixers. They did have a decent amount on tap, but the matilda bay intrusion was not known untill I came on here to rate the beers I had had. Beer was too cold, and the bar-chic was obviously new mixing up orders, and serving weizens in mugs, haha. Anyway, I might go back there again, even though they were out of an american wheat I wanted to try. Oh yea, you have to walk past lots of manly looking hookers to get there, oh well, that’s St. Kilda for ya.

January 19, 2009
Dunno why I haven’t rated this place already. It’s awesome. Best range of beer in Australia by a mile. Twenty beers on tap, always changing. They get stuff from all kinds of places around the country - HEAPS of beers you’d never otherwise see available. Dunno how they do it. And the beer list is constantly updated on the blog - thelocaltaphouse.blogspot.com. Brilliant, I wish more places would do that. I’m with voota on prices - not bad at all, at least on tap beers. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Themed quarterly SpecTAPulars are awesome. I really should go more often than I do. Only gripes: pizzas aren’t great, beers too cold and whilst I LOVE the idea of doing away with branded glasses sometimes I wish I could drink some of the more straightforward styles out of a more simple glass - I should get a pint I guess.

December 15, 2008
Wish it was my LOCAL. Extensive range on tap. I will forever hold a grudge against Qantas for robbing me of an addittional 2 hours here.

September 27, 2008
Great place to go to for beer. 20 beers on tap, great care to lower the carbonation on their ales and serve at appropriate temperature. There are 4 guest taps that have specialty beers and 16 other more common beers. Pricing is reasonable and there is also a decent range of imported bottle beers. Recomended for any real beer lover.

June 16, 2008 [ Updated June 11, 2009 ]
The new benchmark of beer pubs in Melbourne in my opinion. Nice decor, no trashy shit, just couches and an awesome (belgian style) beer board. They had Redoak DIPA, Hergreaves hill ESB, Feral Rust, The beast, and a bunch of other exellent beers on the 20 or so taps. Service is excellent, haven’t eaten there yet but will be sure to in the coming weeks. Crowd is pretty young and a bit busy on Fridays when they have live music. Not far from Balaclava station (300m west down carlisle st). Beers seem expensive at first but the pint prices are pretty solid, and coopers best extra is pretty cheap. I still really like the royston but this probably has the edge at the moment.

February 7, 2008
I think The Local is going to be seriously good joint to have a beer at. Popped in for a beer at the soft opening tonight and I was impressed. Classy fitout uncluttered, non-pretentious, not pool table / big screen TV bullshit. 21 taps with some really good kit (Beast IPA, Red Hill Blonde, Coopers Yellow, Redoak?, Dogbolter etc). Priced up a touch at about $4.5 - $5.0 for a glass but bugger it well worth the effort. Steve (owner) gives a shit about good beer and is committed to showcasing it properly. Could be the best place in Melb to have a beer.