ar

Postcards From The Edge No.57: Back In The Van

Beer tourism was hit hard during the COVID-19 shutdowns, but now venues are open and borders are closed, local customers are keeping Hop On Brewery Tours busy. We chatted to them about beer tourism in a pandemic.

Postcards from the Edge No.58: #ShoutAVicADrink

With Melbourne's venues finally set to open as restrictions ease significantly across Victoria, the team at an Armadale bar and bottleshop have launched a campaign enabling people to shout people exiting lockdown a drink.

Dark Emu – Telling Stories With Beer

Sailors Grave are among the country's most avid and adventurous collaborators and harvesters of all things local to East Gippsland. But the Orbost brewery's latest collab really gets to the heart of the brewery.

Postcards From The Edge No.56: Duking It Out

While many beer venues have struggled during the pandemic, the Thorpe Hospitality Group managed to increase their revenue, tripled their staff, and have now acquired a new pub, The Duke of Enmore.

Postcards from the Edge No.55: Check Yourself

Venues across the country have implemented COVID-Safe plans to let punters inside and now the Night Time Industries Association is calling on customers to do their part too.

Crafty Crawls: The Barossa

It's known globally for its wine, but over the years the offering from local breweries has grown. With a few venues supporting local beer and even a craft maltster in the region, the Barossa has plenty to offer beer tourist now too.

Dollar Bill's Dream Edges Closer

The family behind Dollar Bill Brewing is hopeful they'll be able to open their unique cellar door experience in spring 2020 after reaching the advertising stage for their "Invermay Beer Farm" in Ballarat.

Postcards from the Edge No.54: So Long, Farewell...

Among the thousands of Aussies stranded overseas are Ben and Maria Kraus and their kids. A planned year long stay has been extended by flight cancellations, so Ben is now helping commission a new brewery in Innsbruck.

Postcards from the Edge No.53: Monkey Brews

The couple who brought craft beer to Dubbo put the COVID-19 lockdown to good use: taking the skills learned over ten years of homebrewing to follow through on a long-held plan to brew their own beers for their regulars.

Postcards from the Edge No.52: Live & Loud

The live music industry has been hit just has hard as beer – if not harder – by COVID-19. As it starts to return in new COVIDSafe fashion, long-time good times supporters Young Henrys are back supporting gigs in Sydney.

Pickled OnMarket
CBCo Goldy
Ten Years Of Crafty: The Time Barrel

We've spent most of this series looking back over the past decade. Now it's time to look at the here and now. We're going to create a time capsule – well, barrel – that represents beer now ready to be opened in 2030.

Ten Years Of Crafty: In Ten(ish) Beers

It took The Crafty Pint's founder eight years to put his name on an article, but now we've forced him to open up about some of the beers and stories that have guided his time in the beer world.

Ten Years Of Crafty: Changing Tastes

Styles have come and gone, limited releases are a growing focus, and there's never been more choice for drinkers. Here, we look at just how far and fast tastes have changed since we launched The Crafty Pint.

Ten Years Of Crafty: Beer In The Media

For most people, the idea that beer writers even exist is a hard one to conceive. Yet there's an evolving media landscape dedicated in one way or another to the beer world. Here we look at how it's changed over the years.

Ten Years Of Crafty: Meet The Team II

In part two of the midway feature in our Ten Years Of Crafty series we again hand the mic to some of the people who've been part of the growth of the site over the past decade.

Ten Years Of Crafty: Meet The Team I

We've been blessed to have some wonderful people contribute to The Crafty Pint in various ways over the past decade. Here we kick off a two-parter featuring some of them and their highlights of the past decade.

Ten Years Of Crafty: The Big Ones

Lists. Bad news. Controversy. That's all people want, right? Thankfully, a perusal of the most read stories of the past decade on The Crafty Pint suggests you're a more discerning audience.

Ten Years Of Crafty: Infiltrating And Taking Over

The beer industry today is far bigger, far better in many ways, far more colourful and far more competitive. It's also changed plenty with independence now declared with the same gusto once applied to craft. Here's a look at how.

Postcards from the Edge No.50: Pivoting Properly

While they await the day they can open again, the team at The Cambrian in Bendigo have been keeping busy. Once they finished renos they embarked on a course to understand how to make their business better post-COVID.

Ten Years Of Crafty: In Pictures

If a picture says a thousand words, then many millions have been spoken over the past decade in beer. Here's a collection of beers from the past decade. We could have run many, many more...

Ten Years Of Crafty: The Wobbly Boot

Today we kick off a series of features looking back over the ten years since The Crafty Pint launched. And where better to start than the start. Or, more accurately, before the start...

Little Bang Top The GABS Can Design Awards

Little Bang claimed the inaugural GABS Can Design Awards title for their Face Inverter beer, designed by Matt O'Connor. Moon Dog and Fixation completed the podium with our designer Jessie Jungalwalla landing two in the top ten.

Mid Strength, Max Satire

Jason Mangelsdorf is a Brisbane local who's regularly hosted art shows at legendary bar The Scratch and has also combined his love for MAD Magazines and XXXX to create MID Magazine. George Levi sat down with him to find out more.

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.

Postcards from the Edge No.49: Wombating COVID

Three years ago, KAIJU! founders Nat and Callum Reeves chatted about collaborating with a New York brewery. When the pandemic shut the world down, instead of putting an end to such talk, it sparked Mortal Wombat.

The Big Issue: Coping with COVID-19 Part II

Many of us face mental health challenges at the best of times. With the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting the beer and hospo industries, we look at the difficulties people are facing and the support they can seek.

The Big Issue: Coping With COVID-19 Part I

Many of us face mental health challenges at the best of times. With the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting the beer and hospo industries, we look at the difficulties people are facing and the support they can seek.

Postcards from the Edge No.48: A Hustling Hand

The speed at which beer businesses adapted and the rise of the growler were two of the standout features when the first lockdown hit. Now, a new family-run operation sparked by the unique challenges of that time has launched.

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.

Who Brews At The Bond Store Wallaroo?

A couple with a background in tourism have turned a rundown former bonded store into a brewery, distillery and restaurant in one. Matt King called into Bond Store Wallaroo to find out more.

Premium Machinery D2
Holgate at 25
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.

A New Competition For WA Brewers

This year's WA Good Food Guide Awards will feature beer for the first time. The competition will judge only WA beers with the judging panel led by The Crafty Pint's own Guy Southern.

Postcards from the Edge No.46: Lockdown Life

Streets are emptier, bottleshops and cellar doors are quieter, masks – and a greater sense of fear – are everywhere. Midway through the scheduled six weeks of Lockdown Mk II, we chat to two reps about life in Melbourne's beer world.

Postcards from the Edge No.45: Mr Frothy

Growlers played a huge role #keepinglocalalive during the first lockdown. Now much of Victoria is closed again, they're back, with one brewery even set to delivery them from the High Country to Melbourne homes.

Postcards from the Edge No.44: The Million Dollar Tip Jar

As soon as Lockdown Mk II hit, the team behind Tip Jar, a fund launched to support the hospitality sector, ramped up their efforts again. We chatted to them about their fundraising beer and cocktail and hopes for the future.

Postcards from the Edge No.43: Bingo – It's A Gas

Watching customers pull into and out of a servo in Wagga Wagga might sound like an odd way to spend a Tuesday night. But the Servo Bingo concept, launched by the Thirsty Crow during lockdown, is proving a hit.

Postcards from the Edge No.43: Open & Shut Case

It's a scenario all venue owners have feared since Australia started to move towards reopening: a second lockdown. And it came to Ascot Vale on the day Jimmy's Tap & Barrel was set to open for the first time since March.

High Sobriety

As Dry July kicks off, we look at the rise of alcohol-free beers: how a new yeast strain is helping brewers create them affordably, the challenges involved in brewing them, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Postcards from the Edge No.42: Good Beer Still Helps

The campaign to provide four-packs of indie beer to thousands of essential workers has entered a new stage with mixed A Good Beer Always Helps packs now hitting BWS and Dan Murphy's stores across the country.

Postcards from the Edge No.41: Let There Be Gin

In the space of a few months, Lee McAlister-Smiley, founder of Brisbane's White Lies Brewing, has gone from having no idea how to make hand sanitiser to producing wasabi gin alongside his beers.

Cryer E
Bintani- Updated Behind The Brew- E
Postcards from the Edge No.40: All Change, Please!

One of Melbourne's best-loved pubs reopens today. The Terminus changed ownership before COVID hit and the pandemic gave the new team the chance to bring forward planned renovations.

Postcards from the Edge No.39: It Ain't Weak To Speak

More than 20 Brisbane brewers plus other industry suppliers have joined forces to create a collaborative beer designed to raise funds and awareness for Queensland mental health charity LIVIN.

Postcards from the Edge No.38: Room At The Inn

Now venues are reopening across Australia, two mates keen to get back to their favourite watering hole have devised a new system that allows customers to find out if there's room for them at their local.

Postcards from the Edge No.37: Band Aid

The live music scene has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, longstanding live music supporters Young Henrys have joined forces with Inertia Music to sell local artists' vinyl with their beers.

Postcards from the Edge No.36: Centralian Care

With venues open again and restrictions eased more than elsewhere in Australia, Alice Springs Brewing Co have been doing their bit to get local hospo businesses going again with their Centralian Care Package.

Postcards from the Edge No.35: Keeping Local Alive Alive

The Keeping Local Alive campaign has been embraced by the beer community as businesses navigate unprecedented times. Some brewers have even put it on their cans, including Boatrocker with their new fundraising Local Lager.

Sun Dog World

Moon Dog World has attracted plenty of attention – and for good reason. There's another good reason to pay attention to the building too, as they've installed so many solar panels they're almost regarded as a power station.

Postcards from the Edge No.34: A Lucky Break

There's never a good time to break your leg, but during a global pandemic while running a regional business is most definitely not good. Yet, with a little help from their friends at Lallemand, Pioneer Brewing turned it into an opportunity.

Postcards from the Edge No.33: Gambling On A Better Future

With venues closed, The PBC not only took the chance to undertake much-needed renos, but the Sydney bowlo's president also took the opportunity to highlight the success they've had since ripping out their pokies.

Postcards from the Edge No.32: Keeping Hospo Alive

An initiative providing meals and support for hospo workers impacted by COVID-19 has already provided more than 6,000 meals since launching in March. Will Ziebell spoke to one of the founders of CoViD-19 EAD.