pirate life
Pirate Life Perth Takes Shape
Just under a year after the plans were unveiled, construction begins today on what will become Pirate Life's Perth brewery venue. The 1,000 capacity venue will house what will be Pirate Life's third brewery.
Crafty's Advent Calendar: Mick Cameron
After careers that took in bars, brewing and distribution here and overseas, Mick Cameron, son Jack and his best mate Red Proudfoot launched Pirate Life, a brewery that had instant impact before selling to AB InBev.
Pirate Life Sail West
Pirate Life are to return to their home state, announcing plans to open a vast brewpub in East Perth in 2020. Guy Southern caught up with co-founder Red Proudfoot to find out more.
The Big Issue: Ownership Revisited
Back in 2015, we looked at brewing company ownership, which was becoming a topic for regular discussion in the industry. Now, following a slew of acquisitions last year and with the launch of an independence seal, we take another deep dive.
Bubbling Up: The Rise Of Craft Lagers
There's been talk of a renaissance for lager within the craft beer world for some time now. And, with more small breweries adding one to their lineup and a rise in the number appearing in the 2017 Hottest 100, maybe we're starting to follow America's lead once more.
Pirate Life Lands A $2 Million Bounty
Pirate Life took a massive step towards the completion of its proposed $15m second brewery site today with the announcement that the SA State Government has given the business a $2 million grant.
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?
Pirate Life Sold To CUB
Pirate Life Brewing has been sold to CUB / AB InBev. You can read the media release here and find our interview with co-founder Mick Cameron linked below too.
More On The Pirate Life Sale to AB InBev
Following the announcement that Pirate Life has been sold to CUB/AB InBev, we chatted to the Adelaide brewery's co-founder Mick Cameron and Peter Filipovic of AB InBev to find out more.
Getting Blind With Crafty: American Pale Ales
With so many pale ales on the market today, we split our latest tasting into two rounds. First to be put to the blind taste test was American style pales, with New World to follow before the year is out. Who did our panel put on top?
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Another Prize For Pirate Life
There was more awards joy for Pirate Life overnight as it was named Brewer of the Year at the International Beer Challenge in London. The Adelaide-based brewery was one of three Australian breweries to collect gold alongside Prancing Pony and Hawkers.
Pirates Aiming For Port
With the title of Australia's Best Brewery bestowed on them from the biggest ever survey of the country's craft beer drinkers, we chatted to Pirate Life co-founder Red Proudfoot about the recognition and where their ambition will take them next.
Australian Craft Beer Survey Results 2017
Pirate Life and pale ales are Australia's most popular, according to the results of the biggest ever survey of craft beer drinkers. Beer Cartel's survey of 17,000 drinkers also revealed that independence matters and The Crafty Pint remains the most read Australian beer at new source.
The Big Issue: Branding Revisited
With the marketplace becoming ever busier, cans on the rise and breweries rebranding seemingly every week, it's time to revisit the issue of branding. Over two days, our trio of WA writers examine one of the great challenges facing brewers.
Bodriggy Takes Top Award In SA
It was a mixture of faces old and new as the trophies were handed out at the 2017 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. Among the winners were Pirate Life, Bodriggy, Nail, Vale, Coopers and Little Bang Brewing.
Best Beers of 2017 – So Far
With so many new releases hitting taps and fridges every week, it can be hard to keep up. So here's a mid-year refresher featuring the thoughts of 40 beer writers, educators and venue operators on the best of 2017 so far.
Brew & A: The Innovative Goat
Little did we know until recently, but a chance meeting with Alana Rees set her on the path to becoming a brewer. In a short space of time, she's gone from homebrewer to Innovation Brewer at Goat to AIBA trophy winner.
First Among Equals
A brewery’s first beer can tell you a lot about how the owners want to present themselves, acting as a marker of what's to come. Kerry McBride chats to three brewers about the nature of what comes first, and how it sets up all that follows.
The Big Issue: The Canned Wagon Pt I
After a slow start, the rise of craft tinnies has been little short of phenomenal. Today, we kick off a two-part Big Issue feature, looking at how and why they've come to prominence and how popular they may become.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2016: Infographic
In what's becoming a time-honoured tradition, we present a breakdown of the results of the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll in colourful infographic form. Complete, appropriately, with lots of hops.
Want to know more?
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.
Best New SA Beers of 2016
As in WA, collaborations make multiple appearances in our panel's selection of the best new beers released in South Australian in 2016. The ten ranges from mid-strength to triple IPA with some root vegetable there for good measure too.
What Drinkers Want
The biggest ever survey of Australian craft beer drinkers has been carried out by Sydney bottleshop Beer Cartel. The results of what they plan to turn into an annual survey are out today.
Samoyeds Still Smiling
Myponga brewery Smiling Samoyed made it two for two at the Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards, with its Dark Ale backing up last year's Best Beer win. Other big winners last night included Pirate Life, Goodieson Brewery and Coopers.
Best Beers of 2016 – So Far
We're not big fans of lists here at Crafty Towers, but with so many new beers released every week we felt we'd make an exception to take stock midway through 2016. We asked contributors to nominate their best new brews and here are the top picks.
Australian International Beer Awards Winners 2016
Stone & Wood backed up a medal at the recent World Beer Cup in the US by taking out the Champion Large Brewery title at the Australian International Beer Awards last night. Other big winners included Two Birds, Pirate Life, BrewCult and Gage Roads.
Turning Wine Into Beer
The rise of craft beer continues to win over converts. After years on the road taking guests to wineries around his home state of South Australia, Matt Berresford was bitten by the beer bug, as Matt King discovered when they hit the road.
Stop, Collaborate & Mill In
As recently as five years ago, a brewing collaboration was a genuine novelty in Australia. These days, as this look at what's brewing in SA right now, it's far more commonplace, even if the outcomes turn out to be genuine novelties themselves.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: The New Kids
Among the winners in yesterday's Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015 countdown were three breweries new to the list in 2015. Pirate Life and Hawkers Beer both launched in 2015, while Big Shed came in with three entries. We spoke to them all.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: Infographic
The results of the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015 are out. So, as in 2014, we've done some number crunching so we can present some of the keys stats and trends to you in handy Infographic form.
Best New Beers of 2015: South Australia
The beer scene is booming in South Australia. Recent years have seen an explosion of new brewing companies and there's now a growing number of venues supporting them. Matt King gathered a panel to pick the best new beers to come out of the state this year.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Ownership Special
Part two of our examination of the issue of ownership in the craft beer world is a blind tasting special. In it, we pit beers from the big brewers, major retailers and multinationals against those from small independent Australian brewing companies.
Beer Food: Butchers With Butchers
As the South Australian craft beer industry continues to grow, it's reaching beyond the breweries, brewpubs and beer bars to forge partnerships throughout Adelaide's food and beverage scene.
Pirates Plunder The West
Last night's Perth Royal Beer Show awards saw home state brewers win big. And even the trophies that went outside the state had strong WA connections.
Crafty Six: Independence Day
You could argue that American craft beer has influenced Aussie brewers more than any other beer scene in the world. So, for July 4th, we've chosen six of the best locally-brewed, US-inspired beers.
