News & Feature Stories
Trans-Tasman Beer Love
If the craft beer world isn’t careful, people are going to start suspecting that the famed Aussie – Kiwi rivalry is nothing but a sham. We’ve had Kiwi brewers heading for home post Good Beer Week…
Milking The Cow
When you have the likes of Sierra Nevada’s Steve Grossman saying the craft beer scene here is as good as that in the States, it could be easy to get carried away when in reality there’s still…
Blog of the Month: A Great Set Of Tipples
While we avoid rating beers on The Crafty Pint, preferring instead to talk about them and leave you to make up your own mind, it doesn’t mean we’re opposed to the idea. Especially when it’s done…
Far From Bitter
As his friend and brewing mentor Brendan Varis walked off stage clutching Feral’s third straight Champion Ale trophy at the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards, Jeremy Good heard the presenter…
Plenty To Crow About
Given his brewery had only been operating a month, Craig Wealands thought long and hard about sending a keg of his Vanilla Milk Stout off for judging. Sure, he reckoned it was a pretty good beer, but the…
Hawk Your Wares Here
As you may have noticed, we’ve had a couple of ads up on The Crafty Pint for the past few weeks. With no mysterious silent backer, no trust fund to pillage and all attempts at alchemy having proved as…
Crafty Crawl Winners
Here at Crafty, we’d like to think beer was the winner from the first ever Good Beer Week in Melbourne. But as the brewers got to win stuff, it was only fair to give you guys the chance to pick up prizes…
Beer Awards Winners
It was a night of surprises – and familiar faces – as the winners of the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards were announced in Melbourne at the weekend. Serial winner Feral picked up the Champion…
AIBA 2011 Trophy Winners
Here is the full list of winners at the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards, announced at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 20, 2011. Only 15 of 17 trophies were awards this year…
Our Man In: London
There’s no shortage of brewers in Australia who will tell you the inspiration to get started came while drinking pints of real ale in British pubs. The UK has a long and proud brewing history, with the…
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Thundering Into Town
The long wait is almost over. The old school trucks are bedecked in their bold livery, the snazzier-than-thou brewery is up and running, the brewers have purpose once more and the beer is about to be put…
Crafty Crawl Kicks Off
OK. So little over 24 hours into Good Beer Week and we’ve had some cracking entries for The Crafty Crawl as you can see above. We’ve also had a few queries raised about it too. We thought we’d…
GBW: The Crafty Crawl
As if lining up a whole seven days of events in celebration of the wonders of good beer wasn’t enough, here at The Crafty Pint we thought we should give you good people the chance to win stuff while…
Good Beer Week Is Go!
It seems like only a few days have passed since the idea was first mooted, but today – in the same venue that the idea for Good Beer Week was first discussed back in February – it all kicks…
More Beer For Crafty
It’s lucky 13 for The Crafty Pint today as we welcome more breweries, bars and bottleshops into the fold, with listings added for venues in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia.…
Food, Wine & Beer Fest
After flirting in past years with the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, craft beer made its first appearance on the official Masterclass lineup this year. In the wake of the event, we were told that…
Dark Side Of The Duck
A braggot that combines mead and barrel-aged strong ale in a 14.3% concoction dating from Medieval times. An Egyptian bread beer. And a witbier / Berliner weisse hybrid made with rhubarb and raspberries.…
Bright Beauty
The Crafty Pint is well acquainted with Jon Seltin. He’s the home brewer turned Bright brewer who has been turning out some fine beers, such as the MIA IPA, in his time in Victoria’s High Country.…
Crafty Folk: The Feral Tap Takeover
Sadly, Crafty couldn’t make it to the Feral Tap Takeover – the event that saw all 20 taps at The Local Taphouses in St Kilda and Darlinghurst handed over to the WA brewer. Thankfully, we were…
Start Your Planning!
The official Good Beer Week guide is finished and good to go. Several thousand hard copies – A3 foldout maps that should fit snugly in your pocket – will be distributed around Melbourne and…
Once Upon A Time...
It seems weird to think that just ten weeks ago, Good Beer Week hadn’t even been invented, let alone grown into the rather impressive beast it is now, complete with its own theme song, specialty…
Blog of the Month: From Beer To Eternity
A bit of a change in direction here. While last month’s featured bloggers were a bunch of Sydneysiders casually documenting their drinks and pub visits in between surfing trips, this time it’s the…
Feral's Taphouse Takeover
It’s today, folks. The long-heralded takeover of all 20 taps at both Local Taphouse venues in St Kilda and Darlinghurst by WA’s awesome Feral brewery starts at midday. There aren’t many…
Turning Water To Beer
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: beer has a lovely habit of bringing people together and making things happen. Things such as this, a song about the joys of good beer that comes…
Battle Lines Are Drawn
With little over two weeks to go until the inaugural Good Beer Week in Melbourne, the buzz is building nicely. Already two events are sold out – the Beermen.tv Hair of the Dog Breakfast and Brewers…
Brewers Wanted!
As more and more Aussies start drinking craft beer, the number of breweries is growing and many established breweries are expanding. As such, they need more brewers to help get the beer out the door. There…
A Right Fruity Harvest
For the past few weeks, this year’s hop harvest beers have been flying out of breweries across the land. There’s been a fair bit of variety too: Red Hill’s velvety Hop Harvest Ale uses its homegrown…
Crafty Snaps: Preparing For Good Beer Week
Has there ever been a day quite like it at the Mountain Goat brewery? Or indeed in the history of Aussie brewing? Over the space of a few hours, in one corner of the brewery it was all hands on deck for…
Take A Journey Into Beer
It’s quite astounding just how many people are taking it upon themselves to help grease the wheels of the craft beer revolution in Australia. Seems you can’t even go for a pint these days without coming…
Brew & A: Stone & Wood
What with their Pacific Ale being named Australia’s Best Beer in the recent-released Critic’s Choice book – and their need to spend as much time as possible surfing off the Byron Bay coast – life’s…
Murray's Heads To Manly
Murray’s brewery owner Murray Howe has never been one to hold back when it comes to taking aim at the lack of craft beer outlets in Sydney – or the unwillingness of the city’s bar owners…
Four Weeks Til Good Beer!
Thirty-plus official venues, more than 40 events, multiple beer dinners, a couple of beer lunches and a beer breakfast, tastings featuring scores of amazing beers, several new beer launches, ample opportunities…
David. Meet Goliath
In the blue corner: the brewing behemoth that bestrides the Australian beer industry. In the red corner: the cheeky upstarts who are yet to commission their brewhouse and have teased the world with such…
Really Real Ale
Up until now, if you wanted to taste genuine real ale on tap in Australia – real ale as defined by the UK"s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – you had one choice: head to the Wig & Pen in Canberra. That…
Brew & A: At the AIBA Judging
More than 1,100 beers have been submitted for the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Melbourne on May 20, in the middle of the inaugural Good Beer…
'Tis The Season To Moo
Now that they’ve got their hands on a spangly new brewery, it seems the Moo Brew team is having a little fun. The Tassie brewers began pumping their range of Moo beers out of the new brewhouse a few…
Got Any Cask Wine?
Let’s be honest. Who hasn’t been to a restaurant for dinner, perused a menu that gets your taste buds tingling, cast your eye over an exquisitely curated wine list, then turned to the beers only to…
Blog of the Month: Back of the Ferry
Just like a micro bringing out a light beer, Crafty might be at risk of upsetting the purists here. Why? Because the first NSW blog we’ve asked to perform a show and tell doesn’t write exclusively…
An All Australian No. 1
“Humbled,” says Brad Rogers, when asked how he feels about his beer being named Australia’s Best Beer in the Critics' Choice poll announced today. The Stone & Wood Pacific Ale pipped Little Creatures…
Brand New Kooi
Whoever claimed it never rains but it pours might have had Kooinda in mind. The Melbourne mates who came to the craft beer world’s attention with a no-holds-barred American Pale Ale produced in their…
Breakfast In A Beer
Ever since Ben Kraus announced he was planning to make a breakfast beer to mark Bridge Road’s 500th brew, there’s been speculation as to what it might entail. Would it look to the Mikkeller series…
Crafty Films: Beer Invades the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
For the first time in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s history, beer made it onto the lineup for the Masterclass sessions when eight Aussie brewed craft beers lined up alongside three homegrown…
The Next Moove
You tend to remember your first encounter with Moo Brew. Whether it’s the time you first spot John Kelly’s artwork adorning one of their rather sensual stubbies, or when that first sip of their Imperial…
Crafty Snaps: Mountain Goat Dinner at Beer Deluxe
Beer DeLuxe recently took control of the Greek Grill upstairs from the bar at Fed Square, turning it into the Beer DeLuxe Grill with a focus on beer-friendly food – Jerk Chicken, BBQ ribs and the…
The People Have Spoken
Well, they certainly didn’t hang about getting noticed, did they? Two weeks ago, next to nobody knew who Cavalier Brewing was, now they’ve picked up the most votes in the People’s Choice…
Crafty Snaps: Victorian Women of Beer
Firstly, an apology. We’ve been so busy attending and filming events in recent weeks that we haven’t always found the time to bring you the goods. So, time to catch up, starting with a pictorial…
Good Beer. Great Week
Just how much excitement can you craft beer lovers handle? Fresh off the back of another packed Microbreweries Showcase at Melbourne’s Fed Square, with the Monk’s USA Craft Beer Week looming,…
Something For Everyone
“This is my fifth showcase,” says one guy, eagerly clutching the last of his tasting tickets and eyeing up his next sample. “It’s the first time I’ve been to one of these but I’m already a…
Show Us Your Hops!
Across the southern states, hop farmers, commercial brewers, their friends and home brewers have been busy picking this year’s harvest of hops in the past week or two, many of which will go into specialty,…
Win Out West
Entries are open for the 5th Annual Royal Perth Show, with both commercial and amateur brewers encouraged to take part. Last year, 250 beers were submitted – including 86 from home brewers –…
