More than a decade after moving into a warehouse in Melbourne's inner northeast, the farmhouse and wild ale specialists at La Sirène have opened their doors to the public. We called in for a chat, beer, food and champagne.
While living in the US, Alex Jarman quit the corporate life to start working at San Francisco breweries. Now he and wife Yvonne are making yeast-driven European ales at a small brewery around the corner from One Drop in Botany.
Many brewers love them, their characteristics are ideal for Australia's climate, they offer diversity and are wonderful with food. So why are saisons proving a harder sell than most in today's beer world?
The man who created the most successful Aussie craft beer of the past decade has been back on the tools. Stone & Wood co-founder Brad Rogers has returned to hands-on brewing with the launch of the new farmhouse range Forest For The Trees.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For our latest Who Brews feature, we find out all about Little Bang, a small Adelaide startup with plans to make a rather bigger bang over the coming years.
We catch up with Brisbane man about town Gavin Croft as he prepares to launch his first beers under the Croft Brewing banner. It comes after years working in and around the beer industry and sees him launch with the pink and fruity Saison Grenade.
There was an interesting build up to the most recent Crafty Pint Blind Tasting Panel. In our hunt to gather a solid collection of Australian and top international versions of the saison style, we found…
Want to know a little more about the beers you love? Then read on, as Crafty’s resident “beer dork” Chris Brady (his words, not ours) kicks off what will be regular features looking at the beers of the world. Kicking it off is a look at saisons.
Just before Christmas last year, we brought you news of a brand new brewing company in Australia that was preparing to release its first beer into the world. Since then, the La Sirène Saison has gone…