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Crafty Crawls: Freo Beer-Ho!
The Fremantle BeerFest returns in a few days at the start of the 2016 WA Beer Week. So what better time to run a Crafty Crawl on the place where the modern Australian craft beer world was spawned. Graham Frizzell took a tour of his old stomping ground.
Cabal Update - 4.11.16
It's all eyes to the West this week, as The Crafty Pint lines up a long-mooted WA launch party at the Dutch Trading Co, while new offers abound in South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria, where we've got a couple of exclusive new events coming up too.
Beer Food: A Feast For The Saison
Following our saison blind tasting last month, food and beer expert Paul Kasten has put together a few dishes perfectly matched to saisons for you to try at home, including two featuring the top two beers from that blind tasting: Boatrocker Saison du Bateau and Saison Dupont.
Star Crossed Clubbers
As the Australian beer landscape becomes ever more crowded, brewers are seeking innovative ways to get beer to market and rise above the noise. Club Brewing is one such operation – one that comes with added star power.
Brew & A: Morrison Brewery
Morrison Brewery turns five this week. It's a family affair based in Launceston that launched with a focus on Old World styles but has since expanded its scope. Here's head brewer Paul in a birthday Brew & A.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Saison Revisited
It's a style that's much loved at Crafty Towers and a favourite of many brewers, as well as one that's broad and complex. So, 40 months on from last time, we assembled another blind tasting panel to assess a lineup of saisons.
Behind Bars: Dane Adkins
We've written plenty about the burgeoning SA beer scene. Now, in our second Behind Bars feature, the owner of Sweet Amber Brew Café tells us what's hot at his bar and where he sees Adelaide's beer scene heading.
Brew & A: La Sirène Ben
Costa Nikias is the face of La Sirène, Melbourne's "urban farmhouse" brewery. But, through 2016, a brewer previously at Beavertown has become central to all things La Sirene. He's Ben Turley and is the focus of this Brew & A.
South Australia's Next Wave Pt II
Last Wednesday, we showcased three of the new brewing companies set to launch in SA in the coming months. Here, Matt King gets the lowdown on four more that hope to have their first beers out soon.
South Australia's Next Wave Pt I
Recent years have seen the South Australian brewing scene expand rapidly. And there's little sign of things slowing down soon, as Matt King discovered when he made contact with the next wave of brewers coming through.
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A Grave You Can Dig
Sailors Grave is a brewery breathing fresh life into the historic former butter factory in Orbost. Its core range includes a gose featuring locally harvested seaweed and its beers will start hitting Melbourne this month.
Now Is The Sour
While some might have forecast the renaissance that beer has been enjoying globally, would many have predicted the rise of sours? Award-winning writer Michael Donaldson laps up the tsunami of sours breaking on Kiwi shores.
The Story Of: Bridge Road Brewers Chevalier Saison
It's Australia's longest brewed saison, a style that's becoming increasingly popular, and continues to charm drinkers and judges alike. Will Ziebell brings us the story behind Bridge Road's Chevalier Saison.
Beer Travel: NZ Tiki Tour III Greater Wellington
Wellington may have the big name reputation when it comes to craft beer, but it’s being rivalled by what’s brewing in its outer regions, as Nick O discovers on the third of his four-part saunter through the North Island.
Canning & Expanding
It's all change at Barossa Valley Brewing as one of the longest-established of SA's microbreweries expands and repackages its beers in cans. It's also in the process of establishing its Tanunda base as a mid-size contract facility, as Matt King discovered.
Making Capital
Until recently, Canberra had little in the way of beer to call its own. Today, with Capital Brewing having followed both BentSpoke and Pact Beer, it has five brewing companies operating there. Will Ziebell caught up with the newest.
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.
Pint of Origin Hits SA
A plethora of Aussie beer never before seen in SA is making its way to Adelaide as Pint of Origin takes its first steps outside Good Beer Week. The ever popular multi-venue showcase of Aussie beer appears across the city from July 2 to 10.
Beer Travel: North Carolina
For most Aussies visiting the US the West Coast takes priority. But, as part of his mission to explore global beer cultures, Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery chose to spend time in North Carolina. In his second article for us, here's what he discovered there.
Aussie Exports: The Lone Pine
For our latest missive from an Aussie overseas, we return to the UK. There, former 4 Pines man Adrian Lugg has landed a role at Sambrook's Brewery in London. He offered Kerry McBride his insights into brewery life on both sides of the planet.
The Past, Present & Future Is Bright
Today sees Bright Brewery mark ten years since they first opened the doors of their brewery site in the Victorian High Country. Much has changed – and is changing – so we fired some questions at co-founder, and still owner, Scott Brandon.
In Hot Pursuit Of Hoppiness
When it comes to delivering the message of "Fresh is best", has anyone gone to greater lengths than the duo from Adelaide's Big Shed Brewing Concern? Matt King reports on their unique Cannonball Run of beer.
The Latest Dozen
Each time we've added another dozen breweries, venues and bottleshops to our directory, we like to gather them in one place so you know they're there. So here's 12 new listings featuring good beer folks from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
World Beer Cup Winners
Two of Australia's bigger breweries flew the flag for the country's beer industry at the prestigious World Beer Cup. James Squire and Stone & Wood took gold and silver in the same category and took time out to share their thoughts with us.
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.
Ocho's Online Brewery
The flurry of new brewing companies opening in Tasmania continues apace. Yet it's fair to say that Ocho stands out. Not just because it opened with a barrel-aged saison, but because its means of getting beer to punters is rather unusual.
More Brew From The Boys
One of South Australia's longer established microbreweries is expanding as it prepares to mark eight years in business. Brewboys is opening a second site in Adelaide's west as it looks to cope with increasing demand for its beers.
Beer Travel: Japan
Nic Sandery is on a worldwide beer tour on which he plans to take inspiration for his new brewing company, Molly Rose. While on the road, he is sending us a series of articles documenting his travels, starting with this report from Japan.
The Micro Malting Man
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.
Educating Molly Rose
Young brewer Nic Sandery is off on a round the world research trip part-funded by a successful crowd-funding campaign. His learnings in the different beer cultures will be brought to bear upon Molly Rose, his new brewing company, on return.
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.
The Collaborators: A Glimmer Of Hops
With hops in ever greater demand and supply shortages increasingly common, a South Australian is hoping to bring hop farming back to the Adelaide Hills. Matt King caught up with Stuart Binnion as he prepares for his first harvest.
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: Analysis
Once again, the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers results have led to much debate. There were some clear winners and some surprises too. Here's what we thought the 2015 results suggested about the local beer scene.
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.
Beer Travel: Adelaide's Craftiest Beer Gardens Part II
Last week, we kicked off a tour of some of Adelaide's craftiest beer gardens on a mission to find out what makes a beer garden great. Here's part two, as Matt King checks out another half dozen combining craft beer with al fresco action.
Beer Travel: Adelaide's Craftiest Beer Gardens
Summer's here, which means it's beer garden time. Matt King has been visiting many of the best and craftiest that Adelaide and surrounds has to offer, asking owners and patrons what makes a beer garden great.
Beer Nuts: The Fletcher Brothers
There a few beer lovers anywhere in Australia who have tried as many beers as Jez and Sam Fletcher; certainly none who have documented their sampling in such fastidious detail. So we invited the brothers to be our first Beer Nuts double act.
The Geeks Inherit
More good news for SA's beer lovers as the brewing duo going by the name Little Bang have opened their own brewery and venue. It means bigger batches of their beers and yet another place where you can enjoy beer as fresh as fresh gets.
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.
Best New Beers of 2015: Tasmania
We kick off our end of year best of roundups in Tasmania. A panel of beer gurus gathered at Saint John Craft Beer to chew the fat and come up with their top 10 from all the new releases in the state in 2015.
From Cellar to Shed
After almost a decade manning one of the most archaic brewing setups in Australia, Lord Nelson brewer Damon Nott has abandoned cellars and ladders for life in Adelaide's Big Shed. Matt King caught up with him as he started in his new role.
A Dozen More
We've added a dozen more new listings to our brewery, venue and bottleshop directories since our last roundup. So, as has become our habit, here they are collected in one place in case you missed them first time around.
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.
The Big Issue: Ownership
Takeovers and buy-ins, supermarket craft and vague labelling. Both here and internationally, the issue of ownership and its impact on the beer world is constantly in the news. Over two days, we look at what it means for craft beer and those who drink it in Australia.
The Big Issue: Ownership Infographic
Today, we launch a two-part series looking at the issue of ownership in the Australian beer world. As well as seeking the views of various people in the industry, we have compiled a fun graphic showing who's behind some small Australian brands.
Same Same But Different
Mountain Goat's new GM tells us that nothing will be changing at the brewery since Asahi's takeover, other than the brewery having access to Asahi's greater reach. Meanwhile, what does the news mean for beer in Australia?
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.
Mountain Goat Bought By Asahi
Melbourne's longest established microbrewery, Mountain Goat, has been bought by Asahi. The Japanese company has taken a 100 percent ownership stake in the Richmond based company as of today.
Respect
Stone & Wood has kicked off a series of beers that pay tribute to the people that helped create the beer scene we enjoy in Australia today. We chat to Forefather number one: Phil Sexton.
Throwing Open Their Robe
South Australia's newest microbrewery sees historical brewing return to Robe Town as a Latvian couple open the doors of one of the country's most unlikely breweries.
