Collaborators
Featuring the people working with and alongside the beer industry.
The Collaborators: Ryefield Hops
The owners of a former dairy farm in the south of New South Wales have embarked on a new direction: hop farming. Ryefield Hops harvested its first crop earlier this year, with some of those hops going into Waratah, an all NSW beer released by Wildflower during Sydney Beer Week.
Heathcote's Hops
A nanobrewery and tiny hop farm join forces this weekend to launch their collaborative Wet Hop IPA as part of a mission to show Heathcote can be known for more than Shiraz. We spoke to Skull Gully Hops and Cornella Real ahead of the launch.
Bombers Beer
At the start of a big week for the club, Essendon has just lined up an end of season treat for its fans. Players were on hand at Colonial's brewery today to help package Bombers Beer, now available in cans decorated in the club's iconic colours.
The Collaborators: Binary Beer
A homebrewer is working with a team at the University of Wollongong to create a keg tracking device that could offer brewers real-time information their kegs. Binary Beer is currently being trialled with Five Barrel Brewing and the Headland Hotel.
Stomping Ground Strikes For Melbourne City
Melbourne brewery Stomping Ground has struck up a partnership with Melbourne City FC. They brewed a beer for the club's FFA Cup launch in what's the latest win for craft brewers striving to gain a toehold in an area traditionally dominated by the big brewers.
A Sporting Chance?
If you were to name one facet of Australian life small breweries are least likely to crack in a hurry, the nation's sporting citadels would be up there. But, asks Will Ziebell, do small wins here and overseas suggest there's hope?
Boatrocker's Kindred Spirits
Boatrocker is to merge with award-winning gin and vodka producer Hippocampus Metropolitan Distillery. The West Perth distillery will move in its entirety to the Boatrocker Barrel Room in the coming months.
The Collaborators: Voyager Craft Malt
The Collaborators is an ongoing series looking at businesses growing in tandem with the local craft beer industry. Here, Marie Claire Jarratt chats to the man behind a craft malthouse in NSW and brewers who use his malts.
The Collaborators: Spark Breweries & Distilleries
We know plenty about the Aussie brewers, hop growers, venues and festivals helping the local industry grow. But did you know there's a local business designing and installing innovative breweries? Meet Spark.
The Collaborators: Growing Gladly
We've often shone a light on Australian businesses that have launched or discovered new and fruitful avenues thanks to the rise of craft beer. Today, we chat to a New Zealand maltster winning fans at home and abroad.
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WA Clubs Together Again
With WA Beer Week imminent, Guy Southern takes a look at some of the highlights from the many beer collaborations spawned at this time each year by an extremely tight beer community. They involve more than brewers, with spirits, coffee, chefs and more getting involved.
Star Crossed Clubbers
As the Australian beer landscape becomes ever more crowded, brewers are seeking innovative ways to get beer to market and rise above the noise. Club Brewing is one such operation – one that comes with added star power.
Arts & Craft
The link between beer and art has never been stronger than it is today. Kerry McBride speaks to three breweries from Australia and overseas in order to explore how a label can be so much more than just a label.
Starward Bound
Australian whisky makers are garnering serious attention across the world – and from local brewers keen to lay their hands on used barrels. We visited Melbourne's Starward, best known to beer lovers for its involvement in Boatrocker's Ramjet.
The Collaborators: Kracking New Hops
Three years ago, Britt and Colin Butler knew next to nothing about hops. Now, as new owners of Hopswest in Albany, they're expanding their hop farm and providing new ingredients to local brewers, including the hybrid Kracanup.
The Collaborators: Where There's Hope, There's Hops
An American couple who have been growing hops for their home brew for years have launched a hop farm in Margaret River. Karridale Hop Farm has enjoyed a successful first harvest and is looking to bring an old variety back to life.
'Bo Hop Selecta
The owner of Oscar's Ale House in Belgrave is embarking on a long held dream to run a brewing company. Yellingbo comes with a difference though: Brad Merritt and wife Gypsy are using hops from the farm planted on their land first.
The Collaborators: Getting A Handle On The Beer World
It's not just brewers and those that sell their beer that are thriving as the craft beer industry grows; others are sharing in the success. One WA firm has a fast-growing division that has small brewers to thank for its existence.
Stop, Collaborate & Mill In
As recently as five years ago, a brewing collaboration was a genuine novelty in Australia. These days, as this look at what's brewing in SA right now, it's far more commonplace, even if the outcomes turn out to be genuine novelties themselves.
Arrogant Bootlegging Bastards
Margaret River brewery Bootleg has scored quite the coup and been invited to become one of a handful of breweries invited to brew Stone's legendary Arrogant Bastard. And all because of a bit of cheek and a spot of mountain biking through WA.
The Collaborators: A Glimmer Of Hops
With hops in ever greater demand and supply shortages increasingly common, a South Australian is hoping to bring hop farming back to the Adelaide Hills. Matt King caught up with Stuart Binnion as he prepares for his first harvest.
The Call of Hops
It was such a big deal, at first they thought it was a wind up. But it was true. The makers of Call of Duty: Black Ops III – one of the biggest gaming releases in history – really did want Gold Coast's Black Hops to create a beer for them.
Amalgamation For The Nation
Australia's longest running beer week kicks off tomorrow night. One of the defining features of this year's WA Beer Week is the proliferation of colourful collabs. Guy Southern gets the lowdown.
Music To Your Beers
Hear the band, drink the beer! The Crafty Pint explores the not-so-unlikely world of collaborations between musician and brewer. And discovers a surprising number of beer nuts that fall into both camps.
Brooklyn Down Under
As venues begin to tap the first kegs of Brooklyn Lager brewed under contract by Coopers, Kerry McBride speaks to Brooklyn Australia ambassador Miro Bellini on why it seems to be a match made in (sustainable) brewing heaven.
Art Meets Science Meets Art
Inspired by their Hand Crafted events across the country, Cavalier has launched the Art Series: a range of beer labels showcasing local street artists.
Getting Into The Spirit
Marrickville's Batch Brewing Company has teamed up with Rosebery spirit producer Archie Rose to create a rye IPA and a rye spirit distilled from the same beer.
Cali-borations
Three small Victorian microbreweries have been given the opportunity of a lifetime – collaborating with Californian breweries on new beers for Good Beer Week.
Seeking Council
Local councils might not seem the coolest brewing collaborators but two new projects in Sydney feature just that, highlighting, perhaps, the growing understanding between small brewers and local government.
Time For A Paddlin'
Former Masterchef Australia contestant turned brewing company owner Chris Badenoch has turned his hands to a new venture: bespoke beer paddles.
So Much Pink
International Women's Day was also the day of the second International Women's Collaboration Brew Day. It saw five separate all-female brews take place across Australia.
A Touch Of Glass
Tiny Melbourne start up Cratfd Glass is looking to bring a touch of class to beer lovers' drinking with a range of sexy glassware.
Stockings & Spice
Admittedly, you are opening yourself up to all sorts of danger when inviting a whole bunch of brewers into your home to brew a collaborative beer for which there is only a loose concept, plans to design…
Little Emerson
Other than play around with its younger sibling, White Rabbit, when creating the Little Rabbit beer for the 2012 Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, Little Creatures has kept its brewing mitts to itself.…
Coopers Collaborates
Yesterday, Coopers brewed a pale ale. “So what?” you may ask, with good reason. “They must brew heaps of the stuff every week.” And you’d be right. Except this pale ale wasn’t the familiar…
The Yeastie Noise
Brisbane is a city transformed. In the past couple of years, the growth in popularity of craft beer has been nothing short of phenomenal. Where once your choice of quality beer bars was pretty much limited…
King Henrys
While they may not have enjoyed Australia’s brand of cricket, it seems that the Brits rather like Australian beer. Hot on the heels of the success of Redoak, Hawthorn and 4 Pines at last year’s International…
TransPacific Thunder Nuts
When he began exploring the idea of launching a microbrewery in Australia, Thunder Road founder Philip Withers spent several weeks on the road in the USA checking out a quite phenomenal number of breweries…
All Together Now
It’s a Tuesday and I’m in the brewhouse at Eagle Bay Brewery looking down at a drain. "This is the Rolls Royce of brewery drainage," says Cowaramup Brewing’s’s Jeremy Good as Justin Fox, brewer…
Brew Am I
Having blown up Melbourne’s Cherry Bar on the last night of Good Beer Week with a night of hard rock, blues and craft beer, the original instigator of the Rockstar Brews concept in Oz is teaming up with…
Milling Vanilla
Every year for the past three years, female representatives of the Victoria brewing industry have gathered to make a special beer. And this year they’re brewing it for Good Beer Week. They come from…
Mashed On The Inside
The second beer from the Stone & Wood side project, The Mash Collective, is out and about on taps and in bottles. It brought together an eclectic collection of people to create the beer, Aureus Chrysalis:…
Enter The Pig Pen
To mark its 20th anniversary last year, the organisers of the Australian International Beer Awards commissioned a commemorative beer. The Collaborator from WA’s Feral and Victorian brewery 2 Brothers…
Here Beer Here
Anything that allows us to (sorta) paraphrase Withnail and I in the title of a news story has to be a good thing. And when that good thing involves the launch of a trans-global brewing partnership, better…
Our Dark Secret
What do you do when you know two champions of the brewing world are coming to your country at the same time? At the very least you invite them to collaborate on a beer together, even though one of them…
Perfect Harmony
The word "collaborate" has been thrown about quite a bit lately. In fact, the word probably hasn't had such wide usage since 1990 when Vanilla Ice had a number one hit after urging the world to "Stop,…
When Old Meets New
One is the world’s oldest existing brewery, a place of legend that has created beers that are the very definition of their style. It is known by drinkers in every corner of the globe and in its thousand…
Band Of Gypsies
Denmark is perhaps most famous for providing the world with Lego, nice design and Hans Christian Andersen. But more recently Australia has been on the receiving end of a new kind of Danish export: Gypsy…
When Gypsy Met Goat
The 20th anniversary Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is about to draw to a close after a massive 20 day celebration. It’s been the biggest ever festival and the one in which craft beer has taken centre…
The Scandinavian Invasion
They’re like buses, these Scandinavian brewers. You wait an age for one to come along and then you get three at once. Mind you, they make much better beer than buses. In fact, at the minute they’re…
