brewing
What's In A Name?
While many brewers are happy to stick to the [Brewery Name] [Beer Style] format when naming their beers, there are plenty who take great pleasure coming up with beer titles. We find out why from three of the most avid fans of beery wordplay.
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.
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.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2017
We head to the Sunshine State to find out what our panelists thought were the best new beers released by Queensland brewers in 2017. There were so many, the ten became 11 – and even then there's some honourably mentions too.
Best New SA Beers Of 2017
We kicked off our annual Best New Beers lists in WA and now move across the Nullarbor to SA where a panel convened to cast their eyes over another big year for beer in the state. Who made their top ten?
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.
Who Brews Whalebone Beers?
Hoping to add local beer to the long list of reasons for visiting Exmouth is Whalebone Brewing Company, which takes its name - and some of its building materials - from the area it calls home.
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.
Who Brews On The Western Ridge?
From a single keg first release to expletive-bearing tinnies and nine other beers along the way, it's been a busy first 11 months for the fiercely local and independent Western Ridge Brewing Collective from the Barossa Valley.
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Strait Forward
In the grand scheme of things, Tasmania isn't that far from the mainland. Yet the Bass Strait has proven a challenging hurdle for most of the state's small brewers. Change could be at hand, however, as Will Ziebell discovers.
Garage Project On Top At NZ Beer Awards
Garage Project was named New Zealand's Champion Brewery at the weekend's NZ Brewers Guild Beer Awards. Other winners included names both familiar and unfamiliar to Aussie beer drinkers, while the Beer Writer of the Year went to a woman for the first time.
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.
Whitfords Brings Craft Beer To Westfield
The team behind Perth's Northbridge Brewing Co has opened its second venue. Whitfords Brewing Co is find in the unlikely location of a suburban Westfield shopping mall and looks set to pull the crowds.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Imperial Stouts Revisited
After a four year break, we returned to the most epic of beer styles, imperial stout, for our latest blind tasting. Old favourites and beers not around four years ago went into battle. Who would win?
West City Brewing For Sale
West City Brewing is the latest brewing company to be put on the market. The gypsy operation based in Melbourne's west is best known for its Footscray Ale.
Canvas. Comic Strip. Can.
Following on from our look at branding in the beer industry, Ross Lewis chats to a couple of designers working on Australian breweries' cans as well as a brewery owner whose tinnies are among the most spectacular you'll see.
How The West Was Won
The west of Melbourne is undergoing a period of massive growth, and craft beer is expanding right alongside it. The Crafty Pint visited new venues Mr West and Bar Josephine, as well as Two Birds, to find out what the west will do next.
Gone To Pot
The search for new techniques, flavours and experiences in the beer world continues apace. At The Craft & Co in Collingwood, brewer Heath McVeigh has been brewing with the sort of clay amphora used for beer and wine in the Roman Empire.
Craft Beer Heroes: John Preston
John Preston is one of the country's most unassuming craft beer heroes. In various ways, he's been helping drive the country's homebrew scene forward while supporting many ventures in the commercial brewing world too.
Rocks Puts Its Brewery Up For Sale
One of Sydney's largest breweries is going on the market. One of the partners in Rocks Brewing has decided to exit the business meaning the brewery and venue in Alexandria – but not the brewing company – is set to be sold.
Beer Travel: Istanbul
Storyteller Spinks is off on another meander through the Northern Hemisphere. In his latest update, he calls in on two of the craft brewers of Istanbul and discovers the issues facing Aussie brewers pale in comparison.
Aussie Exports: From Melbourne To Tallinn
During Good Beer Week in 2016, if you called in to the Canadian Pint of Origin venue, you may well have been served by Rob Dooley. A year later, he's working for a brewery in Estonia after following his girlfriend when she headed home.
Cheers To Change
From the deep bush of Papua New Guinea via one of Mexico's most dangerous cities to creating Eden in the Southern Highlands, Marie Claire Jarratt discovers one couple's journey to brewery owners has taken the road less travelled.
Brew & A: Wilson Hede of Two Birds
He may not be a "bird", but Two Birds head brewer Wilson Hede has certainly played an important part in helping the Spotswood brewery stretch its wings. Here, he shares his brewing tips and insights as part of our Brew & A series.
Looking For New England – The Haze Craze
New England style IPAs are appearing with ever greater frequencies on these shores. Frontiersman Guy Southern dove deep into their swirling, muddy pool in the company of four local proponents to find out more.
Holgate's Bloody Big Endeavour
Before Paul Holgate sat down to chat about the sizeable expansion his brewery is undertaking, he said something to Kerry McBride that was immediately apparent on entering the new space. “It’s bloody big, isn’t it?” He wasn’t lying.
Cavitation Salvation
Could techniques similar to those used by the remarkable mantis shrimp help revolutionise brewing? According to a group of Italian scientists, a process called cavitation could save time, water, energy and waste. Dan Sandy takes a look.
Wildflower Blooming
Dozens of breweries will open their doors across Australia in 2017. They will come in all shapes and sizes, but we doubt any will be quite like Wildflower. Nick O spent time with the blendery's driving force, Topher Boehm.
Aussie Exports: Gerad Giles
Aussie Exports is a series in which we check in on Australians doing cool things in beer overseas. Here, we head to British Columbia where former Esperance inhabitant Gerad Giles is working for BNA Brewing.
The Breeder
Washington State based Select Botanicals Group has developed some of the hops most beloved of craft brewers. We met head breeder Jason Perrault when he was in Melbourne to talk torture, promiscuity and limitless possibilities.
Lion Quits Craft Beer Industry Association
Chuck Hahn, one of the figureheads of the Australian craft beer industry since the 1980s has today released a statement announcing Lion's departure from the Craft Beer Industry Association. We sought reaction from independent brewers.
Brew & A: Brendan O'Sullivan of 3 Ravens
As sour beers continue to grow in popularity, one man well set to reap the rewards is Brendan O'Sullivan. The 3 Ravens head brewer has been exploring that realm with success since long before he became a commercial brewer.
Stepping Up
Newstead Brewing is deep into stage two of its development, building a large brewery close to XXXX and launching a project to study Brisbane's indigenous yeasts. In a broad-ranging interview, Judd Owen speaks to founder Mark Howes and new head brewer Dr Kerry Claydon.
Beer Travel: 12 Hours In San Diego
When Aussie beer lovers head to the States, they usually give themselves several weeks to explore the beer scene. What if you've only got 12 hours? In San Diego for a conference, Marie Claire Jarratt discovered the answer is: plenty.
Dixon Buys Hawthorn Brewing Company
The fast-growing Dixon Hospitality Group has added another string to its bow. The business has moved into the craft beer sector after buying Hawthorn Brewing Company and launching new division Salt Brewing.
Cabal Update - 20.01.17
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.
Mall Brewing
The team behind Perth's Northbridge Brewing Company is set to open a brewpub in a northern suburbs shopping mall. And the move could be a sign of things to come as the nature of shopping centres evolves.
Too Big For The Big Shed
It's been a case of "You say hello, and I say goodbye" as brewing buddies Big Shed and Mismatch embark on new adventures in SA. Matt King spoke to both about their plans and how they see the beer scene developing.
Who Brews as Little Alchemist?
Ahead of their belated official launch – and a few months after we first bumped into brewer Riaz on a sofa during Sydney Craft Beer Week – we chat to new Sydney-based gypsy brewing company Little Alchemist.
Who Brews Once Bitter?
The founder of one of Melbourne's newest brewing companies first discovered a love for brewing in a place few could claim to have found theirs: the kitchen of an Israeli boarding school. We meet the man behind Collins St Brewing Co.
Best New Tasmanian Beers of 2016
It's time for the fifth of our seven roundups of the Best New Beers of 2016. This time, we head south to the state that's enjoyed huge recent expansion in the number of brewing companies, even though half a dozen hog this year's list.
Best New Victorian Beers of 2016
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.
Beer Nuts: Matt Kirkey
Beer Nuts is our semi-regular feature focusing on people taking their love of beer to extreme levels. People such as Matt Kirkey, who quit his job this year to travel the world doing research for upcoming beer book, Beer Around The World.
Who Brews Co-Conspirators Beers?
Melbourne's Merri Mashers is proving fertile ground for new brewing companies. A week after Old Wives Ales celebrated turning one, Co-Conspirators Brewing Co is set to launch its first beer, an IPA.
Brew & A: Doctor's Orders Brewing
Doctor's Orders Brewing could lay claim to being the archetypal gypsy brewing company in Australia (or cuckoo as the Doc prefers to call it). As they turn seven, we invite them to be latest guests in our Brew & A series.
Beers From The Otherside
Ideas for brewing companies can come from anywhere. In the case of Otherside, the aim was to create beers and cider for major events in WA. Guy Southern chats to the two guys charged with bringing Sunset Events plan to life.
Who Brews Sauce?
The concentration of breweries in Sydney's Inner West is set to increase again as Mike Clarke prepares to join the fray. In our latest Who Brews he shares the secrets of Sauce Brewing, launching as a gypsy brewer before opening its own warehouse venue.
Mashing In Anew
As it prepares to launch into its second decade of brewing, WA's Mash is starting afresh. Inspired by one of the newest members of the brewery team, they've unveiled a new look and are set to release some of their beers in cans too.
