Articles by Crafty Pint

Behind The Hottest 100 Beers Of 2017

There were plenty of stories and talking points to be found in this year's GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers results. Here, we chat to the brewers behind four of them, from Balter, BentSpoke, Black Hops and Hop Nation.

Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017: The Results

The results from the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll are set to be revealed from 100 to one on January 27. We'll be announcing the results as they come in here from 12.35pm AEDT before publishing our analysis and annual infographic.

Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017: Infographic

The results of the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017 are in, which means it's time for the annual Crafty Pint Infographic. Here, we break down some of the stats and trends from this and previous years.

Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017: Analysis

At a glance, there are some obvious stories that leap from the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017 list. Yet, if you drill down a little deeper and look at how the list has evolved over the years, you find much more revealed.

Trailblazing Women Of The West

The trailblazing women of Two Birds Brewing and the AFL Women's team Western Bulldogs have launched a new beer together. The Trail Blazer lager will be available throughout the 2018 season and sold across Australia too.

Throw A Foo Town Down

Newtown brewery Young Henrys is no stranger to the rock 'n' roll collaboration. But, as someone commented to us the other day, they may have reach peak collab with their latest, a beer brewed for the Foo Fighters 2018 Australian tour.

Help Us Get Blind: Session Sours

For our first Getting Blind With Crafty tasting of 2018, we're going to embrace the broad church of beers that might be tagged "session sours" – Berliner weisse, gose, kettle sours and so on. And now is your chance to help us decide which to feature.

The View From The Top

When we published our series of Best New Beers features for 2017, there was one thing missing: an entry for the Northern Territory. With a new brewery opening soon, that may change in 2018. For now, an update from NT's original craft brewery, One Mile.

Show Us Your Sour Side

For the first Getting Blind With Crafty of 2018, we've decided to focus on all things acid. Alongside NEIPAs, at the pointier end of the beer world, sours have started appearing in ever greater numbers so we figure we should give them a blind taste test.

Best New ACT Beers Of 2017

With new openings, new venues and growth aplenty, it's been a big year in beer for the nation's capital. Here, we sift through around 40 new releases from ACT's brewing companies and try to agree upon the best.

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Through The Looking Glass II

As in 2017, we attempt to peer into the future and decipher where the industry is headed and what issues are likely to dominate the coming 12 months. From independence and education to packaging and brewpubs, here's our thoughts on what lies ahead.

Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017

For our roundup of the Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017, our inimitable wandering contributor Bert Spinks seeks the thoughts of beer folks across the state and ponders whether, in 2018, he should deliver the outcome in sonnet form.

The Crafty Pint's Top Stories Of 2017

There's no denying 2017 has been a tumultuous year for craft beer in Australia, with multiple high profile sales, the odd closure, masses of new breweries, venues and bottleshops opening and thousands of new beers released. But which stories most caught the imagination of our readers?

Best New Victorian Beers Of 2017

It's the state with the most brewing companies in Australia, which means there were plenty of new beers to taste in 2017. So, we cast our net wider than ever before seeking input before getting our panel together to select ten of the very best new Victorian releases of the year.

Melbourne Airport Gets Crafty For Summer

Melbourne has a deserved reputation as Australia's craft beer capital. But anyone arriving here for the first time at Tullamarine Airport would be hard pressed to know. That's set to change for summer, however, with a ten-tap Stomping Ground pop-up bar.

The Crafty Dozen: December 2017

As a momentous year for beer in Australia draws to a close, it's time to round up the latest dozen new brewery and venue listings added to our directory.

Voting Open For The Tenth Hottest 100 Beers

We've seen a growing number of breweries celebrate major milestones in recent years. Now even events celebrating the local craft beer industry are growing up. As voting opens in the tenth Hottest 100 Beers poll, we chat to one of its instigators.

Bottling The Farm

Van Dieman have released the first of their "estate ales" – beers brewed with ingredients grown and sourced entirely on Will Tatchell's family farm south of Launceston. Bert Spinks joined him for a tasting and tour of the farm he's finally bottled.

Kicking Goals

The connections between the country's smaller brewers and professional sports continue to grow. Stomping Ground is now pouring beers at Melbourne City home games, Six String has released a Central Coast Mariners beer and the trend looks likely to grow.

Music To Our Ears

Forum Melbourne has long been regarded by many as the city's best music venue. If you're a fan of local craft beer, it's got a whole lot better. During a major refurb, the owners installed their own tap system and now pour all Victorian beers.

Getting Blind With Crafty: Pale Ales Pt II

Two months on from our look at American pale ales, we completed our two part blind tasting with a look at New World style pales. Who came out on top according to our panel of experts?

Crafty Cabal Update – 01.12.17

We've been a little slack in providing updates on what's been going on with The Crafty Cabal via the main Crafty site recently, relying on socials and the EDM. But we're here with plenty of updates now...

Pirate Life Sold To CUB

Pirate Life Brewing has been sold to CUB / AB InBev. You can read the media release here and find our interview with co-founder Mick Cameron linked below too.

More On The Pirate Life Sale to AB InBev

Following the announcement that Pirate Life has been sold to CUB/AB InBev, we chatted to the Adelaide brewery's co-founder Mick Cameron and Peter Filipovic of AB InBev to find out more.

Changing The Date

Following the ABC's decision to move the date of the annual triple j Hottest 100 from Australia Day, the team behind the GABS Hottest 100 Beers poll has followed suit. The countdown for the best new beers of 2017 will take place on the fourth Saturday of January, with voting opening mid-December.

Drinking Even More History

Early in 2016, Peter Symons published Bronzed Brews, a collection of 42 recipes for long lost Australian beers that homebrewers could bring back to life. He enjoyed it so much, he's already produced a second book.

I'd Buy That For A Dollar

Wu-Tang Clan, Papua New Guinean bank notes, Norwegian farmhouse brewing, truffle cheese, German techno DJs and pseudo-Lambic ales... It's fair to say Ballarat based Dollar Bill Brewing isn't your common or garden brewing company. We caught up with the couple behind it.

Brew & A: Charlie Hodgson

The rapid growth of the beer industry in and around Brisbane continues apace. Among the newcomers is Helios Brewing, a Yeerongpilly based operation that made a great signing before launch, snapping up Mash's trophy-winning brewer Charlie Hodgson.

The Perks Of Being Crafty

If things like free beer, exclusive events, competitions and free festival tickets get you excited, you should become a Crafty Pint supporter by joining The Crafty Cabal. Here's a short video explaining how it works.

Price Wars Revisited

Back in May, we ran a two-part Secret Brewer feature looking at the price war going on in parts of Australia. Six months on, it's intensifying and spreading, according to a number of brewers we've spoken to.

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Brew & A: Keith Grice

The Hunter Valley today boasts quite the collection of diverse microbreweries. But, for many years, there was just one: the Hunter Beer Co based at Potters Hotel. Keith Grice has been at the brewing helm for the past decade; we find out more.

Help Us Get Blind: Pale Ale Voting Round II

With American style pale ales done and dusted, it's time for part two of our two-part pale ale blind tasting. Here, we're looking at more New World style pales and want you to help us select the field for the panel.

Aussie Exports: The Beer Podcast

For the most part, our Aussie Exports series has focused on Australians who have found work in breweries in other parts of the world. Today, we feature a pair doing something rather different: running a beer podcast from their adopted home of London.

A Day In The Life Of A Barrel Room: Boatrocker

In May, Boatrocker and Goose Island came together to create a barrel aged beer together. Given they're at the forefront of barrel ageing in their respective countries, the release of October Beer seemed a perfect opportunity for us to run side-by-side features on life in their barrel rooms.

Who Brews Farmhouse Ginger Beer?

Both farmhouse ales and soured beers have been rising in popularity for some time. Yet has Australia seen a farmhouse ginger beer yet? It's the beer chosen by the team behind the Welder's Dog bars to launch their brewery. We find out more.

Craft Beer Heroes: Clodagh Harris

As The Fox Hotel in Collingwood prepares to host its tenth birthday bash, we caught up with one of its three founders. Clodagh Harris has been working in and around beer in Melbourne for two decades, educating and inspiring many others along the way.

Getting Blind With Crafty: American Pale Ales

With so many pale ales on the market today, we split our latest tasting into two rounds. First to be put to the blind taste test was American style pales, with New World to follow before the year is out. Who did our panel put on top?

Coca-Cola Amatil Buys Feral Brewing

WA trailblazer Feral Brewing has become the latest leading Australian craft brewery to sell its business to a multinational operation. Today, it was announced the business has been acquired 100 percent by Coca-Cola Amatil.

Bickford's Buys Vale Brewing

Two of the country's biggest craft brewers have been sold on the same day, with news that The Bickford's Group has bought Vale Brewing following Coca-Cola Amatil's purchase of Feral Brewing Co.

The Story Of: La Sirène Saison

Traditionally, saisons were brewed to be consumed in the warmer months. As we (allegedly) head in that direction in Australia, we caught up with the man who has put farmhouse style ales at the heart of everything he does.

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Rocks Taken Off The Market

The owners of Rocks Brewing have taken the brewery off the market. Earlier this year, they announced the brewery and venue in Alexandria were for sale, although they planned to continue making beers under the Rocks banner.

Goat At 20 – Part II

Time to bring the story up to date. In part II of our look back at two decades of Mountain Goat, we tell the last 11 of the 20 stories of people, moments and beers that helped build the Melbourne legend.

Mountain Goat At 20 – Part I

Mountain Goat wasn't the first craft brewery to launch in Australia but for many beer drinkers, especially those from Melbourne, it has a special place in their heart. As it turns 20, we head back across the two decades in the company of owners and staff, past and present.

New Business Directory Goes Live

The Crafty Pint has added a new business directory to the site. It is designed to complement those we have for breweries, venues and bottleshops and help beer businesses reach our audience to find new customers.

Craft Beer To Pour At New Perth Stadium

Gage Roads has continued its run of success on multiple fronts by winning the right to pour its beers at the new Perth Stadium. It is reported that the Palmyra based brewery beat off competition from brewing giants to seal the deal.

AB InBev Buys 4 Pines

In news that will send shockwaves through the Australian beer industry, it has been announced today that AB InBev has taken 100 percent ownership of 4 Pines. It is the global brewing giant's first Australian purchase since merging with SABMiller.

4 Pines: Behind The Sale

Following a courtship of more than 12 months, 4 Pines today became a 100 percent owned subsidiary of AB InBev. We spoke to brewery co-founder Jaron Mitchell and Peter Filipovic at AB InBev to find out more on the background to the sale.

Russian Moo-lette

In one of the more innovative promotional gambits we've seen, Moo Brew founder David Walsh has commissioned a roulette style vending machine filled with the brewery's cans – and one option drinkers may wish to give the bullet.

Brewsvegas Celebrates Its First Beeries

Queensland's craft beer community came together en masse last night to celebrate The Beeries, an awards with a difference. Instead of judging beers and breweries, it handed out awards to the people that make up the state's industry.

Help Us Get Blind: Pale Ale Double Header

For our next blind tasting, we're going to return to pale ales for the first time since 2013. With so many available, we're splitting the tasting into two sessions – New World and American pales – and want your help compiling the lineup.