Articles by Crafty Pint
Who Brews Beaten Track Beers?
You can find breweries off the beaten track in Australia these days, but few, if any, in as remote a location as Beaten Track itself. For our latest Who Brews? we find out the story behind the Boulder brewery six hours drive inland from Perth.
The Big Issue: Hops
There have been shortages in the supply of certain hops in past years but 2016 promises to be the first in which there is a significant impact on Aussie brewers. We speak to four key growers and suppliers to find out why – and how to prepare.
Reduced To Beers
A Perth restaurant is taking the beer cocktail concept to another level. At Baby Mammoth, they're creating beer vermouths with local and imported craft beers to use within cocktails, a Pia Poynton discovers.
Calling All Beer Media
Submissions are open for the 2016 Australian International Beer Awards, which includes a new trophy for New World Pale Ales. It's also a third chance for people covering the beer world to be crowned AIBA Media champ.
The Story Of: Watermelon Warhead
We're kicking off a new series looking at the story behind some of the coolest, most iconic and downright funky beers to come out of Australia. With 100 kegs ready for a major release, first up is Feral's Watermelon Warhead.
Drinking History
After researching the Australian Sparkling Pale Ale style for America's Brewing Network, Peter Symons began to delve further into historical Australian beer. The result is Bronzed Brews, a book blending history with 42 home brew recipes for historical beers.
Who Brews Norman, Brian & Randy Daniels?
From a Surry Hills vegetarian restaurant of the same name sprung Yulli's Brews. Stepping in tandem into the brewing world are Yulli's founder Karl Cooney and homebrewing staff member James Harvey. With their first of their beers now in cans, we find out more.
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.
Beer Travel: Hunting Down The Hottest 100
At the denouement of the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2014 poll, Dan "Crafty Kev" McEvilly set himself the challenge of trying them all. A year on, he tells us about his mission and how the beer world rallied to help his cause.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: Analysis
Once again, the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers results have led to much debate. There were some clear winners and some surprises too. Here's what we thought the 2015 results suggested about the local beer scene.
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Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: The New Kids
Among the winners in yesterday's Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015 countdown were three breweries new to the list in 2015. Pirate Life and Hawkers Beer both launched in 2015, while Big Shed came in with three entries. We spoke to them all.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: The Results
The votes are counted, the results are in, and we have a new (returning) number one: Stone & Wood Pacific Ale. Feral moves to number two while the big story is Pirate Life, with the new brewery taking two of the top four spots in its first year.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: Infographic
The results of the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015 are out. So, as in 2014, we've done some number crunching so we can present some of the keys stats and trends to you in handy Infographic form.
Craft Shopping
Building upon their runaway success at in Croydon, the Public Brewery team has opened a second venue in a most unlikely spot: a shopping centre. The Cellar Door showcases local beer, wine and produce at Eastlands and could make mall shopping actually enjoyable.
Mining A Rich Seam
Visitors to WA's Great Southern region will probably have visited Boston Brewery and sampled its wares. Now, with a new brewery in place and bottling line on the way, you may not have to travel quite so far to check them out, as Pia Poynton discovered.
Beer Nuts: The Fletcher Brothers
There a few beer lovers anywhere in Australia who have tried as many beers as Jez and Sam Fletcher; certainly none who have documented their sampling in such fastidious detail. So we invited the brothers to be our first Beer Nuts double act.
The Smoky, Hoppy, Spotty Dog
At the end of 2015, another new brewing company launched its first release into Tasmania's increasingly busy beer scene. Spotty Dog Brewers were already known to locals for their smoked BBQ treats; now they've got beer to go with it too.
The Big Issue: Quality
Is there anything more important when it comes to beer than quality, both when it leaves the brewery and the experience enjoyed by each drinker who buys a beer? For our first Big Issue feature of 2016, six experts share their views.
Best New Beers of 2015: Queensland
We reach the end of our state-by-state (and territory) look back at 2015's best new beers in Queensland. Darren "250 Beers" Magin sat down with fellow beer gurus to pluck ten of the finest new drops to grace the Sunshine State last year.
Best New Beers of 2015: ACT
ACT welcomed a new brewing company into the fold in 2015 as champion home brewer Kevin Hingston took his beers to market as Pact. It gave our ACT panel four local breweries to pick from for their best new releases in the territory this year.
Best New Beers of 2015: Victoria
For the fourth of our Best New Beers of 2015 roundups, we look at the state with the largest number of breweries and brewing companies. Which ten beers did our panel reckon were the best of the year? And do you agree?
Merry Christmas!
We received an early Christmas gift at Crafty Towers when, earlier this month, we passed the 1,000,000 page views mark for the year for the first time. So we're giving a couple of Crafty Cabal memberships away to celebrate. Merry Christmas!
Best New Beers of 2015: Western Australia
We're (almost) at the halfway mark in our look back at the new beers released across Australia in 2015. This time we move to WA, where two of our regular contributors joined a pair of local beer experts to select their pick of the year.
Who Brews As Bad Shepherd?
It's not that long ago that Dereck Hales took up home brewing. Soon afterwards, he was winning competitions for his beers. And now he's quit the corporate world to open the Bad Shepherd brewpub with wife Diti Haniotis in Cheltenham.
Who Brews Watts River Beers?
When Lion announced its decision to move White Rabbit to Geelong, many bemoaned its loss from Healesville. But now two former White Rabbit brewers and their partners have set about bringing a new brewery to the town.
Eastbound And Down
The southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are now home to a remarkable number of breweries. Kerry McBride spoke to some of the brewers now – or very soon to be – calling the area home about what makes it so appealing.
Best New Beers of 2015: Tasmania
We kick off our end of year best of roundups in Tasmania. A panel of beer gurus gathered at Saint John Craft Beer to chew the fat and come up with their top 10 from all the new releases in the state in 2015.
Vote For The Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers
It's time to vote for your favourite beers of 2015 as the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll returns. The poll launched by The Local Taphouse eight years ago has become a national event, with results announced once again on Australia Day.
Down The Rabbit Hole
Last year, Lion announced it was closing the White Rabbit brewery in Healesville and moving Little Creatures' little sibling to Geelong. The move – and considerable expansion and diversification – is now complete, as Kerry McBride discovered.
Fixated On IPA
Australia is set to get its first IPA brewing company. Fixation is a new venture between the Stone & Wood Group and IPA-loving former Mountain Goat rep, Melbourne beer legend Tom Delmont, that will release nothing but India Pale Ales.
Enter The Cabal
Fancy helping us in our mission to elevate Australian craft beer to even greater heights and getting free beer and other awesome benefits at the same time? Then you can! By joining our new reader bonus scheme, The Crafty Cabal.
The Big Issue: Branding
As the beer landscape in Australia becomes ever more crowded and competition intensifies, it's not enough simply to brew good beer. How a brewery presents itself and its beers is perhaps more crucial then ever before, so we're addressing branding as our second "Big Issue" topic.
Beer Travel: Bushwalking with Beer
Having returned from the outer reaches of Northern Europe to his home state of Tasmania, wandering storyteller Bert Spinks has been out bushwalking. Here, he ponders the whys and wherefores of doing it with beer.
Who Brews Hair Of The Dog XPA?
They met as part of the Merri Mashers, one of the youngest yet most proactive home brew clubs in Victoria, then decided that if they were making good beer, while not test it out on the public. And thus was born Old Wives Ales.
A Dozen More
We've added a dozen more new listings to our brewery, venue and bottleshop directories since our last roundup. So, as has become our habit, here they are collected in one place in case you missed them first time around.
A Pallet For Your Palates
In a rare turnaround in traditions, Australia is exporting something crafted and beer-related to America. It's not beer, however, but new thinking drinker's beer mag Pallet, a joint venture between two Aussie journos and Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head.
High Five
Wollongong is set to welcome its second brewery. Glen Humphries joined Phil O'Shea at the home of Five Barrel Brewing as he prepared to brew his first beers. Look out for the brewery's launch in the coming weeks.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Pale Lagers
For our final blind tasting of 2015, we looked at a style that's becoming increasingly popular with Australian craft brewers: pale lagers. We lined up 26 different beers (including a few "New World" versions) from brewers big and small. And this is how they fared.
Chicks Drink Pink Beer
Recent successes for Two Birds Brewing here and overseas, plus a trophy for the Pink Boots Society's latest collaboration, shows the strength of women in beer. Beer drinking woman Kerry McBride finds out how life is for the ladies making waves in the craft beer world.
Who Brews The Other Castlemaine Beers?
A new brewing company that takes its name from its home town of Castlemaine has started up in Victoria. It brings a decidedly old school approach to its beers, so we decided to find out why.
BentSpoke Beer For All
Just 18 months after opening the doors of its Canberra brewpub, BentSpoke Brewing today took possession of a second site that will allow them to increase production and package their beers.
Frothing At The Mag
Beer-loving historical book editor Emily Day wanted a beer mag to read while drinking in her favourite Melbourne pubs. So she went and created one. The first edition of Froth is out now.
Touch Wood
Boatrocker's Barrel Room is set for a soft launch tomorrow. Sitting across the road from the brewery, it will eventually house 300 barrels, as well as the 15-tap bar, making it one of the most ambitious ventures in the Australian beer world.
Last Rites' First Rites
The microbrewery scene in Tasmania is in the midst of rapid growth. The latest to open its doors is Last Rites in Hobart. Premier Will Hodgman was there for the brewery's official opening. And so was Ruth Hawkins.
On A Mission
What with all the column inches and conversations we've dedicated to issues such as transparency, integrity, ownership and so on in recent weeks, we thought it was time The Crafty Pint came clean.
Craft Beer Risen
We will not be running Craft Beer Rising, our national day in celebration of Australian craft beer in 2016. Not that it isn't worth celebrating, we just won't be able to do it justice. And there are more ways than ever to celebrate this summer too.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Ownership Special
Part two of our examination of the issue of ownership in the craft beer world is a blind tasting special. In it, we pit beers from the big brewers, major retailers and multinationals against those from small independent Australian brewing companies.
The Big Issue: Ownership
Takeovers and buy-ins, supermarket craft and vague labelling. Both here and internationally, the issue of ownership and its impact on the beer world is constantly in the news. Over two days, we look at what it means for craft beer and those who drink it in Australia.
The Big Issue: Ownership Infographic
Today, we launch a two-part series looking at the issue of ownership in the Australian beer world. As well as seeking the views of various people in the industry, we have compiled a fun graphic showing who's behind some small Australian brands.
Breaking Out The Beers
Earlier this year, we revealed that four of Australia's to surfers were planning to open a brewery on the Gold Coast. As Balter's opening moves closer, we catch up with their trophy-winning brewer to see what he has planned.
