Articles by Guy Southern
About the author: Guy drinks and writes about beer, goes for a run most mornings and makes his own chilli hot sauce. Find out more on Goodtimes Craft Beer via Facebook and Instagram.
For me, beer writing is about sharing experience with others, most of which is as much about what happens around the glass as what’s in it. It’s why I started a blog in 2014 after years of drinking beer and through quite literally bumping into founder James Smith at Good Beer Week began writing for The Crafty Pint. Many amazing friendships have developed from the love of water, malt, hops, yeast, adjuncts and hype!
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer
Early 90s experience with Dogbolter and bottles of Delirium Tremens at the Sail and Anchor proved that there was more to beer than the cheap stuff I was drinking. A few years later, Chimay Blue once again teased before Little Creatures Pale Ale and Feral Hop Hog set the course for beer with flavour and nuance.
Favourite beer styles
Balance and drinking context are key but a short list includes Brett saisons, super fresh West Coast IPAs, well constructed BA sours, BA imperial stouts and fresh India pale lagers.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
Depending on the beer and circumstance, bitterness and acidity are the hurdles to overcome.
- Right now, Eagle Bay’s IPL is a great modern expression of technique and approachability. The hop presence arrives in soft mango and lime with enough bitterness but it’s the tight carbonation and refreshingly super dry finish that seals the deal.
- Boston Brewing’s Afterglose: Raspberry gose brings a near-perfect fruit / salt / acidity balance to a vibrantly coloured beer. It’s a real talking point which can lead to conversation about the history of beer styles, acidity on the palate or just: "Do you want another one?"
- Any fresh Czech-style pilsner. This has to be fresh in order to pick up the grassy noble hop characters and zippy bitterness on the slightly more biscuity malt body. While familiar to many, a really fresh expression is great starting point for a massive world of beer.
Tell us about a standout beer moment
A favourite beer memory involves spending an afternoon sitting under the dripping eaves of a café in the 5th Arrondissement watching Parisians run in and out of a bakery with fresh baguettes while I drank large goblets of Duvel as the winter rain soaked the tiny cobblestoned square. So much about beer is context!
Who Brews In The Brew Garage?
Another suburb of Perth has a brewpub to call its own with Brew Garage opening in East Victoria Park. Guy Southern dropped in to soak in the charms of a venue that's also an urban winery serving up damn fine pizzas.
Blasta: Five Years In Five Beers
As Blasta turn five this weekend, it's a chance to reflect on a trophy-filled start to life driven by relentlessly high standards. Yet, with huge plans for the year ahead, founder Steve Russell is just as keen to look to the future.
Funkin' The Otherside
A new joint venture between two of WA's indie booze producers is the latest example of collaboration in Australia's maturing beer market, with Otherside and Funk cider set to launch a new shared sales team model from next month.
Who Brews Aetheon Beers?
Kevin Martinovich’s fascination with all things fermented led him into a career encompassing retail, hospitality, and global travel. Now with his own brewing company, we invited him to take part in our Who Brews...? series.
The Best Of Beer 2022: WA
Join us as our touring review of the year in beer touches down in WA. It's a cracker too, not just looking at the trends and highlights of 2022 in the state but also addressing some of the broader issues at play for beer in Australia right now.
Found Further Afield: FOUND. Lab
With construction on their ambitious Perth Girls School project pushed back, the team behind FOUND. are set to launch a new venture in the meantime. FOUND. Lab will open south of Perth in early 2023, and could become their "wild workshop".
Nowhereman: Five Years In Five Beers
Five years ago to the day, Nowhereman opened the doors to their West Leederville brewpub for the first time. Here, the team reflects on five years of meaningful fun via five of their favourite beers.
Who Brews Txoko Beers?
From a small takeaway pizza joint to a farm-brewery with an eye on a future filled with organic ingredients and wild ales, family-run Txoko has come a long way since homebrewing son started sharing his beers with his dad.
Behind Bars: Miles Hull
It's more than two decades since Miles Hull was brought in as GM of a new brewery in Freo called Little Creatures. With his latest hospo venture, Ruinbar, now open in Perth, we sat down for a chat about the evolving beer scene.
Australia's Generation XPA
From humble beginnings – and no little confusion as to what they actually are – XPAs have made a pitch to be regarded as the modern Australian pale. We examine their rise from obscurity to uniquity.
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Gage Roads Freo Set To Open
Sixteen years after launching, Gage Roads are days away from opening their “spiritual home” on Freo’s Walyalup Waterfront. Guy Southern caught up with CSO Aaron Heary to find out what it means for them and WA's beer lovers.
Who Brews Golden West Beers?
Golden West Brewing Co bears a name familiar to many in WA, and now the brewing company has a home of its own. The mates behind the Perth brewing company opened the doors to their Subiaco brewpub just before Christmas.
Best New WA Beers Of 2021
Yes, it's that time for The Crafty Pint team and friends to attempt the ever trickier task of encapsulating the best of Aussie craft beer for another year. And once again we kick off our annual Best Of series in Western Australia.
Who Brews Tall Timbers Beers?
Fifty years on from Swan's aborted plans to build a brewery in Manjimup, a group of locals took over the building and created one themselves. We caught up with the team at Tall Timbers Brewing Co to find out more.
Feral To Close Their Iconic Swan Valley Brewpub
After close to two decades, Feral's iconic Swan Valley brewpub is set to close in five weeks. The trailblazing brewing company, acquired by Coca-Cola Amatil in 2017, will move its pilot brewery to Bassendean with last drinks on October 3.
An Elegantly Craftd Renaissance
Craftd brought stylish glassware to many beer lovers' homes. Now, the company is reborn after a pair of mates in WA bought the business from its founders and relaunched it with a new look range.
Blasta Secure $1m Government Grant
The good news keeps coming for Perth brewery Blasta after the trophy-winners secured a $1 million Federal Government grant to help fund the construction of a second brewery.
The Collaborators: The Vanilla Man
With adjunct-laden beers, particularly pastry stouts and sours, consumed in ever greater numbers by Australian drinkers, we met with Natural Vanilla’s Owen Henderson, one of Australia’s largest suppliers, to talk all things vanilla.
Aussie Beerstagrammers: beers.2.review
The latest in our series focusing on the best of Australia's Beerstagrammers returns to Victoria's Surf Coast, where Guy Southern chats to the mates behind @beers.2.review.
Who Brews Campus Beers?
After taking over a defunct brew-on-premise business in Canning Vale, a group of mates launched Campus Brewing earlier this year. We called in to taste some beers and chat about inspirations and future plans.
Want to know more?
Who Brews Impi Beers?
Impi Brewers' unique beers have been available around WA for a few years now. On the eve of the opening of their cellar door, we find out more about the South African-inspired family affair.
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.
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?
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.
WA Trailblazers Feral Turn 18
Feral are one of a few breweries you can say without any doubt changed beer in Australia forever. As they turn eighteen, and with co-founder Brendan Varis no longer involved, we chatted to the new team about the future.
Running With Thieves
With their cans now landing in the fridges of WA retailers, Guy Southern caught up with the team behind Running With Thieves for a chat about the development of their South Fremantle venue, brewery and distillery.
Ya Wee Blasta!
Blasta cleaned up at the 2020 Perth Royal Beer Awards, claiming four trophies including Champion Small Brewery and Champion Beer. It was a great night for home state brewers, with WA taking out almost every title.
Pirate Life Perth Takes Shape
Just under a year after the plans were unveiled, construction begins today on what will become Pirate Life's Perth brewery venue. The 1,000 capacity venue will house what will be Pirate Life's third brewery.
Gage Roads To Build New Freo Home
Gage Roads have today announced plans for a brewery and venue at Fremantle's Victoria Quay. The family-friendly destination overlooks the stretch of ocean that inspired the brewery's name.
Postcards from the Edge No.47: Interstate Mates
During the first lockdown, everyone in the beer industry was faced with similar challenges. Now, with some states rolling back restrictions while Victoria is suffering again, the brewing industry is rallying to help mates in need.
Aussie Beerstagrammers: Sticking With Beer
Our Aussie Beerstagrammers series with a young account that's quickly become one of the country's most popular thanks to its creator's unique concept and humorous approach.
Postcards from the Edge No.31: Once In A Brew Moon
After a detour into making sanitiser from cheap wine, Perth's Whipper Snapper Distillery got stuck into one more project before returning to whisky: turning kegs from 21 WA breweries into a one-off batch of Moonshine.
Postcards from the Edge No.26: Hanging On By A Thread
This Postcards series has shown how many businesses connected to beer and hospo have suffered. Guy Southern joined Short Batch as they printed #keepinglocalalive t-shirts and we chatted to CraftyMerch about their roller coaster ride.
Aussie Beerstagrammers: All Of The Beers
He fell down the rabbit hole of beer in London and has brought his passion to bear with the @allofthebeers Instagram account. Guy Southern spoke to Matt Kukura for another entry in our Beerstagrammers series.
Postcards from the Edge No.4: #dontdrinkalone
Self isolation and, in all likelihood, a full lockdown of society at some point, will prove challenging for everyone, but some more than others. The #dontdrinkalone campaign launched by a WA bottleshop hopes to spread virtual cheer.
20 Years Of Nail
Few brewing companies in Australia have been around 20 years, few have picked up as many major trophies, and none has a story like that of Nail and founder John Stallwood. Guy Southern took a trip down Memory Lane.
Crafty Crawls: South West WA Part I
The South West of WA is increasingly fertile ground for beer lovers. With so many breweries and good beer venues to explore, we took a weekend break to put together an extended Crafty Crawl featuring much of the best the region has to offer.
Crafty Crawls: South West WA Part II
In part two of our guide to the beer-soaked delights of the South West of WA, we head into the heart of the Margaret River region. There, amid the natural beauty, you find a wealth of small breweries and a passion for supporting local.
Best New WA Beers Of 2019
Just as it kick-started the modern craft beer industry, once more WA kicks off our annual Best New Beers series. Guy Southern canvassed more than 30 beer experts to come up with the best of the best.
Boston Come To Town
Great Southern brewery Boston today open the doors of their new Vic Park outpost. The Perth venue will help them reach more customers in the city and offer a wider range of their beers than found anywhere else.
Gage Roads: Fifteen & Fizzing At The Bung
Since pouring their first beer fifteen years ago – a lager they're reinventing for the occasion – Gage Roads have carved out a unique path. Here, Guy Southern joins the WA brewery's "entwined peers" for a trip back in time.
Who Brews Terra Forma Beers?
They run one of Perth's leading digital agencies and have a passion for underground music and great beer. Now the team behind Terra Forma is combining their passions in a new nanobrewery based in West Leederville.
Artisan Brewing: Five Years In Five Beers
They're one of the smallest brewing operations in Australia but Artisan and their Belgian-inspired ales punch well above their weight. As they celebrate a half decade of brewing, we look back over those five years via five beers.
Aussie Beerstagrammers: beerstagram_au
As users explore the possibilities within Instagram, beer-loving users are becoming ever more creative. A fine example is Sergio Montenegro, who has started bringing beer labels to vivid live at @beerstagram_au.
Pirate Life Sail West
Pirate Life are to return to their home state, announcing plans to open a vast brewpub in East Perth in 2020. Guy Southern caught up with co-founder Red Proudfoot to find out more.
Cancer Dads Come Together For Bear Beer
A group of WA cancer dads have started working with Whitelakes Brewing to create Bear Beer, an annual release that raises awareness and funds for families whose kids have cancer. We chatted to the man behind it.
Behind Bars: Copper & Oak
The brothers behind Copper & Oak have been selling booze to the people of Perth for more than 15 years. Guy Southern called in for a chat to see what they make of the fast-changing beer scene that surrounds them.
The Besk Comes To Those Who Wait
It's taken rather longer than planned to get here and is a different beast to that originally envisaged by the founders, but ambitious Perth venue Besk is finally open. Guy Southern caught up with the team to find out more.
Aussie Beerstagrammers: Malt & Lead
Mark Gamble swapped London for Melbourne and has been working with local breweries in his role as a visual designer and art director. Here, he tells us about his approach to Instagram with his Malt & Lead account.
3 Ravens, Feral & Innate Win Big At Perth Awards
3 Ravens, Feral and Innate Brewers took out the top trophies at the 2019 Perth Royal Beer Awards on Friday night. The Thornbury brewery claimed Champion Beer as Feral and Innate took out Champion Large and Small Brewery respectively.
