News & Feature Stories
Help Us Get Blind: Hazy Pales
Having managed to squeeze in a post-lockdown(s) blind tasting just before 2020 drew to a close, we're kicking off the new year with a look at hazy pales. And we'd love your help compiling a long list of those available in Australia.
Two Birds Bought By Fermentum
Two Birds have been acquired by Fermentum, the parent company of Stone & Wood and Fixation, among others. It comes ten years after founders Jayne Lewis decided to form Australia's first female-owned brewing company.
Who Brews In Karratha?
It's one of the most remote breweries in Australia, but after surviving year one in good shape, the team at North West Brewing in Karratha are expanding and looking forward to sending beer outside the Pilbara.
Ryefield Hops: Securing A Future
At the start of last year, the small-scale Ryefield Hops' entire harvest was destroyed by drought and the subsequent bushfires. We caught up with co-founder Jade McManus to talk about the year that was and their plans for the future.
Who Brews Straddie Beers?
Anyone who's visited North Stradbroke Island – or Straddie – will know it's a gem of a place. These days, it also has a brewing company producing beers inspired by its natural beauty. We got in touch to find out more.
2020: The Year In Beer – NT
The Northern Territory may have lost much of its tourism trade in 2020, but support from the local community and a willingness to adapt ensured brewers were able to end the year on the up.
Summer On The South Coast
A year ago, instead of preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve, many in Australia were fighting for their lives, including those on the NSW South Coast. We caught up with some of the region's beer people as they look forward to a brighter summer.
2020: The Year In Beer – Victoria
It might have been a year to forget in many ways, yet there was still plenty to admire and celebrate in Victoria's beer scene in 2020. Join us as we try to make sense of the madness.
2020: The Year In Beer – SA
Despite the bushfires and the pandemic, SA's craft beer industry continued to grow in 2020. With the support of dozens of industry experts, here's Matt King with his look at the year in beer in South Australia.
2020: The Year In Beer – WA
Supporting local while broadening horizons, new openings, cracking beers, and #bigdumbdelicioussoughtaftercheckedinthings, here's Guy Southern with a look back at the year in beer in WA in 2020.
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2020: The Year In Beer - Queensland
Take a break from complaining about 2020 to celebrate with the annoyingly optimistic Mick Wust as he looks over a year of beer in Queensland.
Jervis Bay: Fighting Fit One Year On
Jervis Bay Brewing Co opened as bushfires swept the region, closed to the public due to COVID-19 months later, yet are looking forward with optimism after celebrating their first anniversary in the lead up to Christmas.
2020: The Year In Beer – NSW
Great beers, standout moments and horrific, unnecessary analogies... Judd Owen casts an eye over the year in beer in New South Wales.
2020: The Year In Beer – Tasmania
Following our look at the standout trends in the Australian beer scene, we head to Tasmania to kick off our state by state by territory roundup of the year in beer that was 2020.
The Curious Case Of Lord Howe Island's Breweries
Last week, Lion's managing director announced their plans to help build a brewery on Lord Howe Island. It turns out this was news to many of those running the island – and the existing Lord Howe Island Brewing Co.
2020: The Year In Beer
Well, who saw that coming? We kick off our end of 2020 coverage with a look back at some of the biggest trends and standout moments of the past twelve months.
Headin' Down To Castlemaine's Love Shack
New Year's Eve at Castlemaine's Theatre Royal is always a hoot. And the ringing in of 2021 is set to be bigger and beerier too, with the opening of Love Shack Brewing Co on New Year's Eve.
A Beer World Legend Retires. Into A New Job
After more than three decades of brewing beer and teaching others how to, Peter Aldred decided to retire. It didn't last long, as he swapped the brewing courses of Federation Uni for the brew deck of new Ballarat brewpub Aunty Jacks.
Crafty Crawls: The Adelaide 'Burbs
We've presented guides to good beer in the heart of Adelaide and many of SA's tourism regions, but there's plenty to be enjoyed in the 'burbs too. Matt King toured the city checking out the breweries, bars bottleshops and more besides.
Hepburn Springs A Surprise
Hepburn Springs Brewing Co's trophy triumph at the 2020 Indies was one of the highlights of the night. We got in touch with the tiny family-run operation to find out more about their inspiring win.
Ten Years Of Eagle Bay Brewing
Their brewery is one of the most spectacular in Australia, they're responsible for some of WA's best-loved beers, and today celebrate ten years since they poured their first beers. But does anyone know much about the Eagle Bay tale?
Getting Blind With Crafty: Non-Alcoholic Beer
For our first and only blind tasting of 2020, we went with a suitably 2020 lineup: non-alcoholic beers. They may well ruin the pun in the series title, but how do they stack up in front of our panel of industry experts?
Beer Travel: The High Country Breweries Pt 2
In part two of our guide to the High Country breweries, we start off in Myrtleford before taking the long, winding and beer-soaked road back to Melbourne. Join us!
BrewBox: Making Homebrewing Simpler
A pair of 4 Pines brewers have launched a new business designed to ease people into the world of craft brewing at home. We chatted to Henry and Dylan about their hopes for BrewBox.
Who Brews Bandolier Beers?
At the end of 2019, Bandolier Brewing opened the doors and gave the people of Warragul a brewery of their own. This year might not have turned out how they expected but those locals helped them survive two waves of COVID.
SA Stalwarts Shine At Royal Adelaide Awards
Some of the breweries that helped lay the foundations for SA's beer scene today took centre stage at the 2020 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. Lobethal Bierhaus, Vale and Coopers were among the big winners.
Little Bang To Release 12,000 Hazy IPAs
Need more hazy IPA in your life? Then you're in luck as Adelaide's Little Bang are releasing 12,000 of them this December. We chatted to the lunatic behind the venture.
Manuka Oval's Crafty Takeover
In an historic decision, BentSpoke, Capital and Lion have each been given two bars each at the ACT's Manuka Oval for the upcoming 2020 cricket season.
Postcards from the Edge No.60: Distilled Good Times
Left with kegged beer that no longer had a home when the pandemic hit, both Sparkke Change and Stone & Wood decided to turn it into something else.
Range Abbotsford Opens Today
Just over a week after they cleaned up at the Indies awards, Range Brewing are opening their Abbotsford taproom. Will Ziebell called in for a sneak peek with co-founder Gerard Martin.
Bad Shepherd: Five Years In Five Beers
It's five years since Bad Shepherd opened their Cheltenham brewpub, a half decade of huge change in beer. We invited co-founder Dereck Hales to take a trip down Memory Lane via five of their beers.
Win A Crafty Cabal Table Tennis Table!
Want an eye-catching, all-weather table tennis table for your brewery, venue or other beer business? We're giving one of Pongo's epic aluminium tables away to a Crafty Pint partner with a Crafty Cabal deal in place.
Blackman's Grovedale Groove
Having well and truly outgrown their Torquay home, Blackman's are set to open a new brewery in Geelong next year. Will Ziebell spoke to founder Renn Blackman about the latest expansion for the family brewery.
Jetty Road To Lorne Pier
Mornington Peninsula-based Jetty Road are set to welcome beer fans to another popular tourist spot from next week as they set up home in Lorne. They've also confirmed they're no longer going ahead with a South Melbourne brewpub.
Otherside Go On Tour
COVID-19 gave the team behind Otherside Brewing Co and Freo.Social to take stock and reassess their model. One outcome launches tomorrow as they kick off three weeks of Welcome to the Otherside as a taster of what could lie ahead.
Craft Beer For Dogs
Dogs feature heavily in the beer community: there are brew dogs, events for dogs, breweries named after dogs, social accounts featuring dogs as heavily as beer. And now there are craft beer treats for dogs too.
Who Brews As Springside Brewing?
A new baby birthed a new hobby. A new hobby attracted a new community. A new community led to a new brewing company. This is the story of Springside Brewing.
Hop Nation's Zymurgy Zone
Today sees Hop Nation open a new venue with the team behind Yarraville's fine diner Navi. We caught up with brewery co-founder Sam Hambour to find out more about the West Footscray space.
The Rise Of Activebeer
We're already written numerous times about non-alcoholic beer in 2020. Now, two Aussie companies are looking to take things a step further when it comes to healthy drinking with the launch of beers designed for enjoyment post-exercise.
Range Win Big At 2020's Indies
Range had an impressive night at the Indies 2020, taking out four trophies including Champion Australian Independent Beer. Perennial award winners Dainton and Moffat Beach also added to their considerable collection of silverware.
Who Brews As Manly Hops?
Many brewers want their beer distributed as far as possible. But if you want to drink Manly Hops' beers, you'll have to go to Manly. Here's the story of this exclusive brewing company making "bullshit-free beer".
A Summer Of GABS
The pandemic has ensured 2020 became a year of cancellations but the team at GABS is hoping 2021 will look a fair bit different with the festival organisers announcing two new Queensland events for January.
Disco Monks From Outer Space
To celebrate the relaunch of our beer club, The Crafty Cabal, we got together with our good mates at Fixation and Molly Rose to brew a one-off beer. Disco Monks From Outer Space is a members-only release.
Love Beer? Join The Club!
We've been beavering away behind the walls of Crafty Towers ready to relaunch our beer club, The Crafty Cabal. It's now bigger, bolder, more expansive yet still the same price it's been from the start.
Beer Travel: The High Country Breweries Pt 1
No less than eight months on from when we planned to run our post-bushfires guide to the High Country, and with COVID-19 seemingly under control, the rig of steel down, and the NSW border opening, it's finally time...
How Do You Build A Brewery?
What do you do if you want to start a brewery, but can't find the information you need? If you're Chris Hayton, you interview brewers and other industry professionals, make a podcast, and share it with the world.
Postcards From The Edge No.59: The Indies Reinvented
Most major beer events have been cancelled in Australia this year. But, having had to cull most of theirs, the IBA was determined the Indies awards would survive. We found out how they reworked it for our COVID times.
Cheeky Monkey Win Inaugural WA Beer Of The Year
Cheeky Monkey's Hazy IPA claimed top spot in the inaugural WA Good Food Guide Beer Of The Year awards. The 18-months-in-the-making beer headed a top three featuring their fellow South West brewers Eagle Bay and Beerfarm.
Total Eclipse Of The Hop
Seven years after the launch of Enigma, Hop Products Australia today unveil the latest` hop variety to graduate from their breeding program. Eclipse is a sibling of star pupil Galaxy set to bring a hit of mandarin to an IPA near you soon.
Who Brews At 22 Paces?
The beer lovers of Tassie will be able to sample the first release from new brewing company 22 Paces this weekend. Dorian Broomhall caught up with co-owner Steve Tully to find out more.
