It's rare to come across a chef eager to praise beer's qualities over wine, let alone one operating at the level of Rob Kabboord, now back in Melbourne at the pop-up Lekker! after four years helming Quay in Sydney.
April 2009 sees Melbourne brewery Boatrocker celebrate ten years of brewing. They've gone from early gypsies to barrel-ageing innovators, so we asked them to reflect on what their first decade has taught them.
From one of the largest barrel programs in the Southern Hemisphere to one 50 times its size... Here we step inside Goose Island's Barrel House in Chicago, home to 15,000 barrels and the legendary Bourbon County Stout.
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.
Australia's craft spirit industry is enjoying a rapid rise not dissimilar to that enjoyed by beer in recent years. The connections between the two are strong, particularly at a growing number of breweries that are distilling in house.
Chef Paul Kasten explores the nuances of pairing sour beers with food, and how to work with varying levels of carbonation, sourness and the broad range of flavours to be found in sour beer.
Boatrocker is to merge with award-winning gin and vodka producer Hippocampus Metropolitan Distillery. The West Perth distillery will move in its entirety to the Boatrocker Barrel Room in the coming months.
Earlier in the week, we looked at the history and recent renaissance of cans in the beer world. Today, in part two of her Big Issue feature, Marie Claire Jarratt delves deeper with a panel of experts.
New year, new beers, new offers! The Crafty Cabal is kicking into action for 2017, and there are plenty of cool events and offers in the wings to grab the attention of our existing and future Cabalistas.
Each year, we assemble panels of experts around the country to come up with lists of the best new releases to come out of Australian breweries in the previous 12 months. This year, we kick off in Victoria, home to the most brewing companies in the land.