Articles by Crafty Pint
What's The Damage?
A homophobic meme posted on Facebook by an Australian brewery has brought into sharp focus the impact such actions can have on the wider community.
Crafty Dozen – June 2019
Time for another roundup of new brewery, bar and bottleshops added to the site as we've listed another dozen since the last wrap.
Winter's Still Coming
Winter is traditionally the toughest time for brewers as sales slow. With competition already fierce and more brewing companies closing or selling, can we expect to see bloodshed? Or does the future remain bright?
Crafting A Healthy Conversation
Craft Beer Coopery is a beer club with a difference – it aims to tackle mental health issues by helping start conversations among mates. And now The Crafty Pint is joining forces to help them start even more.
Aussie Exports: Dean McLeod
After working with many of the pioneers of Australia's craft beer scene, Dean McLeod headed to Vancouver Island with his Canadian wife. Here, he offers insight on the beer scenes in both countries.
Sydney Beer Week 2019 Cancelled
The organisers of Sydney Beer Week have decided to cancel this year's festival, citing a "combination of reduced registrations and a pull-back of sponsorship support".
Australian International Beer Awards Winners 2019
Familiar faces were among the big winners at the 2019 Australian International Beer Awards, with Balter, Green Beacon and 4 Pines adding to their swollen trophy cabinets and Blackman's claiming a big one too.
Help Us Get Blind: Pint Of Origin Championship II
Time for the second and final vote to help us decide which 16 IPAs will go head-to-head in the first Pint of Origin Blind Tasting Championship at Good Beer Week 2019.
Stump The Brewer
Fancy getting up close and personal with some of the country's best brewers at GABS this year? Enter the Stump The Brewer competition and you could join The Crafty Pint for a unique sit down session.
Help Us Get Blind: Pint of Origin Championship
At Good Beer Week 2019, we're combining two of our favourite things: Pint of Origin and blind tastings. We'll pit an IPA from each of the 16 regions against each other and you get to choose them.
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Help Recreate Brewing History
The author of two books bringing old Australian beer recipes back to life is embarking on another. Peter Symons is keen to fill the gaps in the country's brewing past and is after your help in doing so.
Sydney Brewers Smash Crowdfunding Record
Sydney's independent Inner West breweries have smashed past crowdfunding records, securing $200 million via their drive. They will now merge to form Australia's largest independent brewing company.
Crafty Dozen – April 2019
We've clocked up another 12 listings in the brewery, venue and bottleshop directory, which means it's time for another roundup in case you missed them first time around.
Gold Coast Brewers Dominate Queensland's Beer Awards
It was another day of triumph for Gold Coast brewers as Burleigh Brewing, Black Hops and Balter all picked up trophies at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show Beer Awards, with Burleigh's new Bock taking out Champion Beer.
Help Us Get Blind: XPAs
For our first blind tasting of 2019 we're going to look at XPAs. Sure, it's a category that remains open to some interpretation but plenty of people are brewing and drinking them so it seems only right.
Brew & A: Jack Beavis of Woolshed Brewery
There's few breweries in Australia with as picturesque a location as Woolshed in SA's Riverland region. At the helm for most of its existence has been Jack Beavis, a local lad who returned to Renmark to follow his brewing dream.
Behind The Hottest 100 Beers Of 2018
There's been a couple of days for the dust to settle on the eleventh running of the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers, which has given us enough time to chat to the people behind the breweries and beers making the stories in 2018.
Crafty Dozen – January 2019
After a rush to start the new year and with more waiting in the wings, it's time to round up the most recent new additions to our brewery, venue and bottleshop directories with a dozen(ish) stretching from Albany in WA to a trio in Brisbane.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2018: The Results
Well, what an interesting countdown that has proven to be. The top four might not have changed but there's some big wins for some unlikely newcomers and big drops for the breweries that are now part of bigger brewing companies.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2018: Infographic
The results of the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2018 have been revealed, which means it's time for the annual Crafty Pint infographic! We pored over the results and made them into pictures for your visual pleasure!
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2018: Analysis
Maybe there's as much of the data nerd as the beer nerd within the Crafty team but we do enjoying taking the Hottest 100 results and seeing what, if anything can be surmised. And here's what we came up with from the 2018 results.
Who Brews Seven Mile Beers?
After stints at Riverside and 4 Pines, Matt Wilson headed to Ballina to join his dad Lou and launch their own brewery. Within months, they'd snagged an Indies gold and discovered there was huge appetite for their beers.
Brew & A: Jack Purser
Indian Ocean Brewing Co, found in a marina on Perth's northern fringe, is a much-changed brewery from three years ago. Much of that is down to head brewer Jack Purser, so we decided to find out more about him.
Big Years In Beer – 2018
It's been a big year for beer in Australia, but some have had bigger years than other. Here, we invite people from each state and territory who've had momentous years in one way or another to reflect on the past 12 months.
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2018
The beer scene in Tasmania continues to evolve, with the state's brewers as happy taking inspiration from overseas as they are showcasing local produce. But which beers impressed most in 2018? Bert Spinks endeavoured to find out...
Crafty Cabal Update - December 2018
As 2018 draws to a close, it's time for a final update from The Crafty Cabal for the year. We've got heaps of festival tickets to give away, our largest beer prize pack to date, new offers plus plenty of great new signup offers too.
Best New Beers Of 2018: An Introduction
Ahead of our state by state by territory look at the best new releases of 2018, we thought we'd take an overarching look at how we go about it and the challenges inherent in attempting such a task in this crazily busy beer world.
Paying For Beer
As Endeavour becomes the first Australian brewing company to launch a public equity crowdfunding campaign, we look at the growing number of options on the table for brewery owners looking to build their businesses.
Getting Blind With Crafty: NEIPAs
For the first time in many years of running blind tastings, we've had a brewery go back to back in top spot. In our final panel tasting of 2018, we looked at NEIPAs from breweries across Australia and here's how they fared.
Double Ton Up For Radio Brews News
Many beer sites, blogs and podcasts have come and gone since the first episode of Radio Brews News was recorded. As the team prepares to mark its 200th episode with a live special, we caught up with Brews News founder Matt Kirkegaard.
Biz Directory Update
We'll be introducing a few changes, some cosmetic, some more substantial, at The Crafty Pint in the coming weeks. One will see the Business Directory integrated with our brewery, venue and bottleshop directories.
Major Brewery Supplier DME Is In Receivership
One of the largest suppliers of brewing equipment, Canada based DME, went into receivership yesterday leaving customers around the world unsure how they will be affected.
Help Us Get Blind: NEIPAs
Having brought our blind tastings back from a hiatus earlier this month, we're closing out 2018 with another one looking at NEIPAs. To whittle the list down to a manageable number, we're asking you to help.
The Beer Festival Six-Pack
As beer festival season hots up, we chat to the BeerFest team running no less than six major events across the country to find out more about the people behind the festivals and how they're navigating an increasingly busy market.
Where Next For The Wig & Pen?
In June 2019, Canberra's Wig & Pen will turn 25. But, following its owners decision to sell, it's likely a new chapter will be underway in the brewery's tale. We chatted to Lachie McOmish about his decision and hopes for the future.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Mid-Strengths
Following our article on the golden age of mid-strengths, we gathered a panel to assess more than 20 available around Australia for our latest blind tasting. So who came out on top...?
Good Beer Week & The IBA Become One
The country's leading beer week and the national body representing Australia's independent brewers have today announced they are to merge with both parties confident the move will help both achieve more in the future.
Help Us Get Blind: Mid-Strengths
Following our Golden Age Of Mids? feature, we're bringing our blind tastings out of hibernation to see who's doing such beers the best. We're getting a panel together in early November and want your help picking the lineup.
From The Pacific To The Forest
The man who created the most successful Aussie craft beer of the past decade has been back on the tools. Stone & Wood co-founder Brad Rogers has returned to hands-on brewing with the launch of the new farmhouse range Forest For The Trees.
Toe The Line
The Independent Brewers Association has today released an exhaustive set of labeling guidelines for brewers. The aim is to ensure they are compliant and aware of anything that could potentially get them into hot water or hold them back.
Podcast People: Sessionable
Sessionable is one of the longest running beer podcasts in Australia, hosted by a team of Sydney based beer lovers and movers and shakers. Ahead of their events at Sydney Beer Week, we fired them some questions to find out more.
Bigger Business
We've made some additions to The Crafty Pint Business Directory, both in terms of featured businesses and new categories too. It's part of our ongoing mission to create a one-stop-shop resource for the local craft beer industry.
Crafty Cabal Update - October 2018
Keen to get your hands on free festival tickets, cases of Philter's beers, free brewery tours, tasting paddles galore and invites to exclusive events? Then you need to check out the latest update for Crafty supporters.
Our Man In NZ: Liberty Brewing
Liberty Brewing is one of the brightest stars in the New Zealand beer scene and has recently started brewing some of its beers in Melbourne for the Aussie market. Jono Galuszka called in on founder Joe Wood to see what makes him tick.
Crafty Crawls: Hobart – The Venues
Whether it's classic pubs with great beer on tap, sparkling new brewpubs, journeys into beer's past or brewing by the waterfront, there's plenty to enjoy in Hobart these days. In our updated Crafty Crawl, part one takes in the city's beer venues.
Australian Beer Festivals 2018/19
For beer lovers, there's never been more opportunity to enjoy beer in the company of thousands with all manner of beer festivals taking place across the country. Here's our guide to where and when to find them.
Crafty Dozen – September 2018
It's that time again... We've added another dozen new breweries, bars and bottleshops to the Crafty directory since our last update so here they are in case you missed them first time around, covering the south of WA to the north of Brisbane.
Behind Bars: Hopheads
Back in the early days of The Crafty Pint, Adrian Chong was one of the keenest beer lovers we'd see at events across Melbourne. Since then, he's opened craft beer bars in Malaysia and recently added a second Hopheads in Melbourne's west.
Beeries Winners 2018
The wider Brisbane beer community came together last night for the annual celebration going by the name The Beeries. There were popular wins aplenty on a night Cameron Dick MP was christened the "Minister for Craft Beer".
Brew & A: The Gold Coast Pioneers
Long before the Gold Coast became a hotbed of world class beer, a couple with young kids jacked in their jobs and built a brewery there. Eleven years on, we got back to the beginning and beyond with Peta and Brennan of Burleigh Brewing.
