Making Beer: Brewing

Supported by Cryer Malt

From the brewing process and ingredients to beer history and the art of running a brewery.

Making Beer
A Yeast For The Senses: Life Inside A Sensory Lab

Getting paid to drink beer - that's the dream, right? "It can be very tough, I tell you, to do beer evaluation in a cage for one hour..." See what sensory analysis is really like with Gabriela Montandon, head of sensory at Fermentis.

Episode 008: Derek Lacey of Bluestone Yeast

While spending time as a stay-at-home dad, medical researcher Derek Lacey had a "Eureka!" moment that inspired him to launch Bluestone Yeast. As he puts finishing touches to his new yeast production facility, we invited him for a chat.

In Hop Pursuit: A Guide To New Hop Products

Innovation within the world of hops has been in hyperdrive *checks that's not a trademarked term* with heaps of advanced hop products with funky names firing up your beers. So let's attempt to demystify this fragrant new world.

Episode 002: Lindsay Astarita of Stomping Ground

Ahead of the 2024 Indies awards, we sat down with Lindsay Astarita, sensory and quality guru at Stomping Ground, for a chat about her role, what it's like to be a beer judge, and a life spent travelling the world via craft beer.

Down The Barrel Hole With Fox Friday

Winter's chill makes it a perfect time to enjoy barrel-aged beers. Ahead of Fox Friday releasing beers from their first ever foray into this field, we spoke to the team – no strangers to working with oak – about their approach.

Working Title's Hot Climate Coolship

Tradition dictates that coolships should be used to create spontaneously-fermented beers in the cooler months in cool climates. So Working Title decided to give it a go in subtropical Queensland. Judd Owen joined them.

Snappy 'n' Hoppy: The Rise of West Coast Pilsner & Cali IPA

Leaner, crisper styles of hoppy beer are growing in popularity. We spoke to some of those exploring West Coast pilsners and California IPAs to find out where they've come from and where they're going.

Beer Basics: Milling & Mashing

We've covered the key ingredients in beer – water, malt, hops and yeast – so now it's time to take our Beer Basics series to the next stage and get stuck into the brewing process. First up: milling and mashing.

Biotransformation: Where Hops & Yeast Meet

Many fans of hoppy beers will have enjoyed the fruits of Sam Bethune's labour from his days at Fixation. These days, he's with ingredients supplier Bintani where he's been experimenting ahead of the 2022 High Country Hop.

Embracing The Fruits

Brewing may be an industrial process reliant on stainless and manufacturing capacity but some brewers are working closely with farmers to showcase the seasons via their beers, including Future Mountain and La Sirène.

IBD 2025
Podcast B2
Brewers Take A Cold Dip

Haze and DDH might be here to stay but brewers are trialling new ways to brew punchy, hoppy beers. We caught up with two Australian brewers taking cues from America to brew "dip hopped" and "cold IPAs".

Beer Basics: Waters Ain't Waters

It might seem like the most mundane of beer's four main ingredients, yet in his latest Beer Basics guide to the world of beer and brewing, Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery argues it's one of the key elements that turns a good beer into a great one.

Is Fresh Always Best?

Fresh is best is a mantra we hear often in the beer world but can a beer be too fresh? Packaging shock is common parlance in the wine world but rarely raised in beer, while hazy, hoppy beers can perform better later too.

A Day In The Life Of: A Technical Brewer

He gets to play around with new ingredients and techniques as much, if not more, than any brewer in the country, yet you'll never taste his beers. We spent A Day In The Life Of Ellerslie Hop's technical brewer Glenn Harrison.

Beer Basics: Hops

Hops are the star in many of the big hits of the modern beer world. In the second of his Beer Basics articles giving readers an introduction to beer and brewing, Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery moves from malt to hops.

High Sobriety

As Dry July kicks off, we look at the rise of alcohol-free beers: how a new yeast strain is helping brewers create them affordably, the challenges involved in brewing them, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Brewer Be-Guiled

Since launching his first book on historical homebrewing recipes, Peter Symons has continued scouring the world for more. As he returns with Guile Brews, we got in touch to find out where his research took him this time.

Brew & A: Wilson Hede of Two Birds

He may not be a "bird", but Two Birds head brewer Wilson Hede has certainly played an important part in helping the Spotswood brewery stretch its wings. Here, he shares his brewing tips and insights as part of our Brew & A series.

Holgate's Bloody Big Endeavour

Before Paul Holgate sat down to chat about the sizeable expansion his brewery is undertaking, he said something to Kerry McBride that was immediately apparent on entering the new space. “It’s bloody big, isn’t it?” He wasn’t lying.

A Day In The Life Of A: Senior Brewer

What's life like as a commercial brewer? We spent a day with Adrian McNulty, the well-travelled brewer now in the Señor role at Moon Dog, to find out what goes into heading up brewing operations at one of Australia's quirkiest breweries.


Want to know more?

Making Beer

The Crafty Pint's Making Beer section is supported by Cryer Malt

How Beer Is Made

Learn the basics of brewing beer, from the ingredient that go into to the processes brewers go through before a beer leaves the brewery and makes its way to your glass.

James Halliday Article: Lock, Stock & Barrel

The latest edition of James Halliday’s Wine Companion Magazine has been dropping through the letterboxes of subscribers this week. It features an article we wrote on Farmhouse Ales (well, mostly Saisons)…

How Beer Is Made 2

It’s been around for millennia and takes on all manner of guises, yet making good beer’s really all about understanding how to use four simple ingredients in harmony: water, grain, yeast and hops. In…

How Beer Is Made

Beer: in essence just water, grain and yeast – usually with a bunch of hops added – yet capable of being tailored into all manner of weird and wonderful concoctions. With a history stretching back…