You'll find breweries in most parts of Brisbane these days, but long before the city's craft beer scene exploded a young couple decided to open a brewpub in the CBD. Seventeen years on, we joined them for a trip down Memory Lane.
Ballistic Beer have welcomed two more brewpubs into their family, with the announcement the Queensland brewery has bought The Whitsunday Island Brewing Company in Airlie Beach and Bargara Brewing in Bundaberg.
Sam Holloway has combined his passion for craft beer (which includes owning a brewery) with his academic career in business management and entrepreneurship to help advise small brewery owners on building sustainable businesses.
The rise of the brewpub and taproom model is one of the most striking aspects of the changing beer landscape in Australia. And it's an area in which the world's biggest brewing companies and their brands are playing too.
For years, the Australian industry has followed the lead of its American counterpart. So what can we learn from a beer culture that's far more ingrained than ours and has fought many of the battles facing local brewers and beer lovers today?
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.