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Best New WA Beers of 2017

Big beers. Small beers. Hazy beers. Crazy beers. Which new releases from WA's brewers made our Best New Beers of 2017 list? Here, Guy Southern and Pia Poynton present the rundown selected by beer gurus from across the state.

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.

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.

The Other Side Of The Coin

When Feral sold to Coca Cola Amatil last month, two iconic WA brands were affected. The other was Nail, which had been in partnership with Feral for the past six years. We caught up with Nail's John Stallwood to see what the sale means for him.

Crafty Crawls: Brisbane's Suburban Bars I

Breweries and venues serving up the good stuff are popping up further and further away from Brisbane's CBD. Here, in part one of a two-part Crafty Crawl, Jules Charalambous checks out some gems in Brisbane's northside.

Cans, Bands and Beer Lands

The combination of good music and craft beer has become a common sight at music festivals across the United States. In Australia, progress is slower, but the ironclad grip of the big boys is slowly loosening and local Australian breweries are sneaking their way in.

Coca-Cola Amatil Buys Feral Brewing

WA trailblazer Feral Brewing has become the latest leading Australian craft brewery to sell its business to a multinational operation. Today, it was announced the business has been acquired 100 percent by Coca-Cola Amatil.

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.

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.

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The Story Of: La Sirène Saison

Traditionally, saisons were brewed to be consumed in the warmer months. As we (allegedly) head in that direction in Australia, we caught up with the man who has put farmhouse style ales at the heart of everything he does.

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.

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.

Beer Travel: 48 Hours In Portland

To suggest you could conquer Portland in anything less than literal years is an utter falsehood. If time is limited, the best one can hope for is to tick off beer meccas such as Deschutes or Cascade while hoping to get under the skin of one of the world's best beer cities. Kerry McBride gave it a go.

A Brewer Walks Into A Winery...

Ahead of the launch of Molly Rose Brewing, young brewer Nic Sandery has been immersing himself in beer cultures across the world and writing about them for us. More recently, he immersed himself in wine too.

Beer Travel: Much Ado About Pliny

Russian River Brewing Company - the home of Pliny the Elder - is one of the world's most admired breweries. Kerry McBride caught up with its owners to hear the lengths they go to so in keeping their fans sated and asks: "Will their beers ever make it to Australia?"

Beer Food: Paul West

River Cottage's Paul West recently collaborated with the team at Melbourne's Stomping Ground to create a beer to launch at a degustation at the Beer Hall. We chatted to him and Brewer Asher Hall about the partnership and also grabbed the recipes for the dishes presented on the night.

Retro Philter

The Craft Beer Awards have had a tendency to turn the spotlight on new brewing companies. And that was no different in 2017 as four-month-old Philter took out Champion Pale Ale. We chat to the well travelled brewer at the helm.

Who Brews at the Ministry Of Beer?

While the state's bigger names tend to grab the headlines, South Australia has seen a large number of smaller operations come to life in the past couple of years. One of them is the experimental, farm based Ministry of Beer.

The Collaborators: More Craft Malt

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.

Beer Travel: Yorkshire

In the last of four articles inspired by his global travels, Nic Sandery recounts his time spent in one of the world's lesser discussed traditional brewing regions. In Yorkshire, he soaks up beers old and new, but mainly midnight curries with giant naan breads.

Big Beer Monopoly

One of the visitors to this year's Craft Beer Awards was a German journalist and storyteller who has penned a book on the globalisation of beer. Matt King caught up with Dr Ina Verstl to find out more.

Beer Travel: Bamberg

Nic Sandery is a young brewer set to launch Molly Rose Brewing in the second half of 2017. He embarked on a global beer tour seeking inspiration for his beers and has been documenting his experiences for us. Here, he visits German home of smoke, Bamberg.

Beer Nuts: Michael Doulton

When it comes to dedication to the cause, you'll find few who can top Michael Doulton. For our latest Beer Nuts feature, Matt King steps inside one of the more remarkable beer caves you're ever likely to see.

Where It's At: On Beer's Frontier II

Global or hyperlocal. Independent or "crafty". The beer world isn't just getting more competitive, it's getting more complex too. Here, we try to unpick the state of play today by studying the craft beer scenes both here and in the US.

Infographic: American & Australian Craft Beer Timeline

There's been much talk of how far the Australian craft beer industry lags behind that of the US. Here, tied in with our look at the state of play, we present a graphic timeline of the rise, fall and rise of the two countries' craft beer industries.

Beer Travel: Greece

Last time we heard from Storyteller Spinks, he was in Turkey. He's since moved on to Greece, where he's ensured plenty of time on his travels has been spent in the company of people working in and writing about the country's nascent craft beer scene.

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.

Our Man In NZ: Kiwi Hops

The New Zealand hop industry produces some of the most sought after varieties in the world. Jono Galuszka spent time with NZ Hops and one of the lead scientists behind the development of new hops to find out more.

Craft Beer Rides North

For all the talk about microbreweries bursting into life across Tasmania, the north has been lacking supportive retailers. That's steadily changing, with new venues opening and old ones enjoying a new lease on life.

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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.

Brewing Without Borders

Breweries will be able to hire brewers from overseas more easily after Hawkers successfully secured a 457 visa for one of their brewers. This is the first time brewing has been recognised as a skill suitable for a Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa.

Starting A Brewery: The Early Days

Thinking of starting out in brewing? Keen to learn more about the realities of chasing that dream? Here, we find out what four Australian brewing company owners have learned in their first year of operation.

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.

The Artisan

There are few people in Australia who have explored so many facets of the beer world as Brian Fitzgerald. Now winning plaudits for his Belgian style beers as Artisan Brewing, he's a beer judge, Cicerone, yeast importer and more.

Cabal Update - 3.2.17

It might be Autumn, but the beer calendar is still hot, with events and festivals going strong, especially as fresh hop season gets closer. Cabalistas can make the most of it, thanks to a bumper crop of special events and new offers.

Get Fresh

It's hop harvest time across Australia. And this year's offers more chances than ever to get up close and personal with the little green flowers, not least thanks to a pair of festivals celebrating the harvest and fresh hops beers.

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.

The Crafty Dozen – February 2017

With a handful of other directory listings waiting in the wings, time to round up the most recent dozen to be added to the site. It's the usual mixture of breweries, venues and bottleshops, this time from WA, NSW, TAS and VIC.

Broo Buys Mildura Brewery

For the second day running, we've received news of a buyout in the Australian beer industry. Broo has announced via the ASX that it has purchased Mildura Brewery. More to follow...

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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.

Brooklyn Back Down Under

Brooklyn Brewery is well on its way to becoming a global brand. We caught up with CEO Eric Ottaway during his current visit to Australia to chat lager, caution, over-saturation and the move towards hyper-local brewing.

Aussie Beer Blogs: The Craft Beer King

Readers of The Crafty Pint will be familiar with Matt King as he's responsible for most of our coverage of the SA beer scene. Now he's launched his own site that looks to cover the state in even greater depth.

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.

The Crafty Pint’s Top Stories of 2016

Time for one final look back at the year in craft beer that was 2016. This time, instead of reflecting via the prism of its best new beers, we gather together some of the most read stories on the site over the past 12 months.

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.

Best New WA Beers of 2016

Part two of our look back at 2016's best new beers heads to the birthplace of modern Aussie craft beer. There our panel finds fascination in collaboration and is impressed by some of the lesser known lights of the local industry.

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.

Cabal Update - 2.12.16

A whole year has passed since the Crafty Cabal was launched into the beerosphere. In that time, we've given away more than $10K in tickets and beers, poured 25 kegs for members, hosted 14 events – and it's just getting started.

Cabal Update - 18.11.16

WA Beer Week is coming to its finale, one that includes a trio of The Crafty Cabal events. And there's plenty happening for our supporters elsewhere too, with a ballot just opened for a birthday tasting with Old Wives Ales.