What if we could harvest grain crops for five years instead of having to re-plant them every year? It would be better for farmers and the environment. That's the promise of mountain rye, a perennial grain that could be a game-changer.
Regenerative farming and the grain grown by such methods have been gaining more attention in recent years. Now, the Good Grain initiative aims to raise awareness and support for both much further, with beer as the vehicle.
“We wanted to use beer as a catalyst for change.” We examine how one ingredient – malt made from regeneratively grown barley – can make all the difference, and why Stone & Wood are so eager to showcase it to punters and brewers.
It was while travelling around Australia that Eric and Kirsty Blue decided to turn their Bodalla café into a small brewery. Benedict Kennedy-Cox dropped in for a drink and a chat at one of the country's smallest operations.
AMSAT Character Malts is a new malting company based in South Australia which has just launched a range of specialty malts for craft brewers and distillers. But it's also steeped in malting history.
Malt doesn't tend to elicit the same excitement in craft beer circles as hops or even yeast yet it sets the stage for all beer. A recent innovation looks set to boost excitement levels, however, and driving it is an Australian brewer.
There are many people who have changed the nature of beer and brewing in Australia over the years. Yet what's happening in the Riverina region of NSW feels as transformative as anything else happening in the industry right now.
She started out in the beer industry as a 20-year-old that didn't drink beer but has become one of the best-known individuals both here and in NZ. We sat down with Steph Howard as she steps into an even bigger role at Cryer Malt.
One of the most influential figures of the past three decades in the Australian and NZ beer industries has today announced his retirement. We chatted to David Cryer (and friends) about a stellar life in beer.
Voyager Craft Malt enjoyed major awards success at the weekend, with the craft maltsters picking up gold at the Malt Cup – the first time a gold medal has gone to any malthouse outside the US.
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After studying brewing at ECU and gaining brewing experience at Little Creatures, Rex Rowles moved back to the family farm to combine his love of brewing with his experience growing barley to create Mortlock Malt.
A couple of years back, we launched a new series aiming to teach people about the basics of beer and brewing. It slipped through the cracks but is now back, ready to boost your beer knowledge and enjoyment.
Mark Gamble swapped London for Melbourne and has been working with local breweries in his role as a visual designer and art director. Here, he tells us about his approach to Instagram with his Malt & Lead account.
Less than 18 months after it launched, Coopers' malting plant has been named the world's best, sharing the title with an operation in the Netherlands. Matt King called in to spend time with manager Dr Doug Stewart.
Provenance Flour And Malt works with farmers using regenerative techniques to supply single source flour and malt to Australian producers. Hannah Louise Grugel spoke to founder John Campbell and one of the brewers using his malt.
The rise of craft brewers and distillers is creating ever more chances for cross-pollination. As Wolf of the Willows launches its Barrel Exchange Program with Lark, we speak to them as well as the small Gippsland operation blending boozes in house.
The rise of craft beer continues to have an affect on the industries surrounding it, with large scale malt producers Joe White and Barrett Burston both introducing new lines designed with small breweries in mind.
Another small business created to support the local craft beer industry is up and running in Ballarat. House of Malt is a small malthouse specialising in creating small batch, floor malted varieties.
Much is made of the growth in breweries in and around Brisbane, but the bar scene is no slouch either. So, less than two years after publishing a South Brisbane/West End Crawl, we've had to divide and conquer, creating two where there had been one...
Pioneer Brewing is a new farm-based brewery in rural New South Wales. It uses its own grain in its beers and has started growing hops with the intention of using as much of its homegrown crops in the brewing process.
The owners of a former dairy farm in the south of New South Wales have embarked on a new direction: hop farming. Ryefield Hops harvested its first crop earlier this year, with some of those hops going into Waratah, an all NSW beer released by Wildflower during Sydney Beer Week.
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.
Hops tend to grab most of the craft beer world's attention when it comes to beer's core ingredients, but as more maltings – big and small – open across Australia, giving brewers new malt varieties to play with, the much-loved flowers may soon be sharing a little of the limelight.
The Collaborators is an ongoing series looking at businesses growing in tandem with the local craft beer industry. Here, Marie Claire Jarratt chats to the man behind a craft malthouse in NSW and brewers who use his malts.
We've often shone a light on Australian businesses that have launched or discovered new and fruitful avenues thanks to the rise of craft beer. Today, we chat to a New Zealand maltster winning fans at home and abroad.
The rise of craft beer has spawned all manner of related businesses. Among them are small malting operations dedicated to providing malt for microbreweries. They include Not For Horses. Bert Spinks caught up with the man behind the Launceston business.
Thinking of starting your own brewery? Then part two of our series featuring advice from people already in the beer industry is for you. Following last week's top tips from brewers, here are the thoughts of six experts in other fields.
Adelaide Hills brewer Al Turnbull of Lobethal Bierhaus is nearing the end of a decade long dream. He's designed and built his own in-house malting that will him to create his own malt for brewing, becoming the first SA craft brewer to do so.
The Crafty Pint will soon be starting a series looking at the steps brewers are taking to reduce brewing's environmental impact. Before then, however, Young Henrys is highlighting the impact climate change could have on your beer via beer.
Hops tend to grab most of the glory in today's beer world, yet barley is beer's backbone. And barley is the star of one rural community's beer, a brew celebrating local Barellan farmers.
Two Metre Tall isn't the only Tasmanian brewery on a mission to create estate ales creating solely in homegrown ingredients. Van Dieman hopes to capture its farm in a beer soon too.