Beer Travel
From walkable brewery crawls to journeys through beer cultures around the globe.
The Beer In North Korea
If you're a regular reader of The Crafty Pint, chances are high you've been on your fair share of brewery tours. But one in North Korea? We got in touch with the man leading the first of its kind for tourists to find out more about the DPRK beer scene.
Beer Travel: Cruising The Murray
Sinking a few beers on the banks of the Murray on a visit to the Woolshed Brewery is a pleasure in itself. But what about taking out one of the operation's houseboats, complete with two taps pouring the beers of your choice?
Beer Travel: Thirsty In Hungary
Our resident wanderer (can you be such a thing?), Bert Spinks has been soaking up the good times in Budapest. Join him as he calls in on the pioneers of Hungary's craft beer scene.
Crafty Crawls: Brisbane's West End
Brisbane's West End (and the adjoining parts of the city) is awash with great beer venues these days. Heck, there are even breweries that call the 'burb home. So we made the area a focus of a Crafty Crawl – and have since updated it with even more goodness.
Aussie Exports: Natalie Wollenberg
From Darwin via Perth to a small "island" in Ontario, it's been a long road from first homebrews to commercial brewing. But, says Aussie Export Natalie Wollenberg, since their opened 555 Brewing Co, it's been full on.
Lessons From America
For years, the Australian industry has followed the lead of its American counterpart. So what can we learn from a beer culture that's far more ingrained than ours and has fought many of the battles facing local brewers and beer lovers today?
Crafty Crawls: South Brisbane & Beyond
Much is made of the growth in breweries in and around Brisbane, but the bar scene is no slouch either. So, less than two years after publishing a South Brisbane/West End Crawl, we've had to divide and conquer, creating two where there had been one...
Crafty Crawls: Rozelle, Balmain and Barangaroo
Sydney's challenging topography can make it a challenge to get around. But in challenges, we see opportunity, which is why Judd Owen embarked on a mission to create a Crafty Crawl tying together some of the less easily accessed venues – with a ferry trip to boot.
Sydney's Thai Tribe
The Sydney based operation behind Stockade Brew Co has launched a new craft beer brand for the Thai market. Will Ziebell chatted to the man heading up the launch of Chao Siam about their intentions – and his days in a Thai monastery.
Our Man In NZ: Craftwork Brewery
Wizards, a tumble dryer, Belgian-inspired ales, porno beer, the tiniest of tasting rooms and a dark lord... Our Man In NZ heads to Craftwork Brewery and falls under the spell of Michael O'Brien and Lee-Ann Scotti.
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Wild And Wise
Jaega Wise from Wild Card is one of the London brewers appearing in Melbourne as part of Good Beer Week's Good Beer Mates program. We caught up with the brewer-singer-campaigner-presenter-van driver-chemical engineer at her Walthamstow home.
Crafty Crawls: The 86 Tram Pt II
As promised, here's part two of our reworked 86 tram Crafty Crawl. This one starts in Clifton Hill and heads north to Thornbury with many and varied places to check out along the way.
Crafty Crawls: The 86 Tram Pt I
We kicked off our Crafty Crawls series of guides to Australia's best beer venues, grouped by their proximity and easily navigable by foot, bike or public transport, with the 86 tram. Two years on, there's so much more to find, it's now a two-parter.
Aussie Exports: Craig Thorn of BAOS
He's a hip hop artist who runs a Canadian beer podcast, YouTube channel and writes about beer too. But, before that, Craig Thorn was in Melbourne drinking macro lagers and feeling fancy. Now, as part of our Aussie Exports series, he tells us how that all changed.
Beer Travel: Yarra Valley
The region might still be best known for wine but today the Yarra Valley offers visits a plethora of food and drink options. It's home to a growing number of breweries and venues where you'll find a few crafties too, so here's our guide to finding grain amid the grapes.
A Beer Drinker's Guide To The Commonwealth Games
With the Commonwealth Games in full swing and the Gold Coast home to much in the way of great beer, expat Kiwi Steffan Paton serves up his first article for The Crafty Pint.
Crafty Crawls: The 19 Tram
Two years on from launching our Crafty Crawl series with a tour along Melbourne's iconic 86 tram route, we're hopping about PT again. This time, it's the turn of the city's 19 tram, from Coburg to the CBD and taking in the vibes of Brunswick's Sydney Road.
Beer Travel: Christchurch
For a city with an extensive brewing history, Christchurch breweries are not as prominent in beer drinkers’ thoughts as those from Wellington and Auckland. But Our Man in New Zealand, Jono Galuszka, found a beer culture comfortable in its own skin.
Aussie Exports: Cristal Peck – Parasite Produktions
If you picked up some cans of Wolf Of The Willow's third Acidulus release, you've experienced a little bit of Berlin's Parasite Produktions. Formed by an American-Australian couple and focused on experimenting with booze, here's the Aussie half, Cristal Peck, to tell us more.
Aussie Exports: Jess Wolfgang
Jess Wolfgang spent years working with Keith Grice at Hunter Beer Co before being convinced to move to her partner's homeland in New Zealand. Together, they started Rhyme and Reason in Wanaka, where they brew local beer for anyone enjoying the town's splendour.
Crafty Crawls: New Farm, Teneriffe & Newstead
Join us on a Crafty Crawl through some of the first Brisbane inner 'burbs to embrace the good stuff. Mick from Schoonerversity may not know exactly where New Farm, Teneriffe and Newstead start and end, but he knows where to find good beer.
Aussie Exports: Trystam Hayden
He grew up skateboarding around the bar of Sydney's oldest continuously licensed pub, the Lord Nelson. Now, having moved to the other side of the planet, Trystam Hayden is keeping the family brewing tradition alive at the Britannia Brewing Co in Vancouver.
Beer Travel: Bavaria
Himmel Hünd Brewery co-founder Annabel Meagher won a Pink Boots Society scholarship last year that saw her travel to Germany's south. There, she immersed herself in Bavarian beer culture –
Beer Travel: The South Of The Great Southern State
While better known for its wineries, the region to the south of Adelaide has long been home to a number of small breweries too. With three more set to open venues in and around McLaren Vale in 2018, we figured it was ripe for a beer-themed travel guide...
Crafty Crawls: The Hunter Valley
It's not all wine, you know. The Hunter Valley now has four breweries amid the vines. Neil Richardson took a tour of them all for this Crafty Crawl.
Aussie Exports: Beerbliotek
Just before Christmas last year, a barman at Mother Kelly's in Bethnal Green was eager to point us in the direction of beers from Swedish outfit Beerbliotek, explaining they were producing some of the…
Crafty Crawls: Brisbane's Suburban Bars II
In part two of her Crawl through Brisbane's 'burbs, Julia Charalambous heads to the south. There, new breweries sit alongside crafty venues and bottleshops to offer locals plenty of the good stuff, often as fresh as you could wish for.
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.
Aussie Exports: The Beer Podcast
For the most part, our Aussie Exports series has focused on Australians who have found work in breweries in other parts of the world. Today, we feature a pair doing something rather different: running a beer podcast from their adopted home of London.
Crafty Crawls: Redfern
As the 2017 Sydney Beer Week kicks off, we return to the streets of the New South Wales capital for another Crafty Crawl. Here, Judd Owen takes us through Redfern in the manner only he can.
Crafty Crawls: Far North Queensland
In late 2013, The Crafty Pint travelled with Mountain Goat to Cairns for the launch of their Summer Ale cans. It's fair to say, those cases were almost the only craft beer to be found in the region. Since then, however, much has changed.
Beer Travel: Nelson-Tasman
While Wellington claims to be New Zealand’s "craft beer capital" and cities like Christchurch and Auckland occasionally stake a claim for the title, the Nelson/Tasman area feels like its home. Our Man In NZ Jono Galuszka recounts his weeklong road trip through the area,
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.
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?"
Crafty Crawls: The Great Ocean Road
Any trip along the Great Ocean Road always came with the promise of natural beauty and jaw-dropping experiences – unless you were after good beer. Today, with a number of small breweries calling the region home, the situation is much improved.
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.
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.
Our Man In NZ: ParrotDog Surfs On
From brewing in a toilet to trophy-winning rising stars of the New Zealand brewing industry, it's been quite the ride for the three Matts behind ParrotDog. Jono Galuszka joins them as they settle into their impressive new Lyall Bay home.
Aussie Exports: Zac From Zenith
Our Aussie Exports series makes a first visit to South America. There, in Peru, we find Zac Lanham at the helm of Cervecería Zenith, a microbrewery he founded with wife Milka in Cusco, the historic city in the heart of the Peruvian Andes.
Crafty Crawls: Preston
As craft beer nudges ever further outwards from its original Melbourne heartlands, so do our Crafty Crawls. Here, Will Ziebell finds much to satisfy in the evolving suburb that of Preston.
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.
Our Man In NZ: Beer Camp Heads South
Beervana has lined up a meaty exclusive, luring Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp outside the US for the first time. With more American breweries looking at the Australasian market, Jono Galuszka looks at what it means for the festival and the NZ beer scene.
Breaking China II
In Breaking China, we spoke to Australian brewers looking to secure export to China on the challenges they faced. In part two, we seek a different perspective from Chinese beer writers and an expat in Melbourne working to establish a distribution network for Aussie brewers.
Beer Travel: The Other High Country Beer Trail
The High Country Brewery Trail in North East Victoria is one of the most popular and rewarding trips an Aussie beer tourist can take. The region is also home to some fine craft beer supporting pubs. And here are the best of them.
Beer Travel: Istanbul
Storyteller Spinks is off on another meander through the Northern Hemisphere. In his latest update, he calls in on two of the craft brewers of Istanbul and discovers the issues facing Aussie brewers pale in comparison.
Aussie Exports: From Melbourne To Tallinn
During Good Beer Week in 2016, if you called in to the Canadian Pint of Origin venue, you may well have been served by Rob Dooley. A year later, he's working for a brewery in Estonia after following his girlfriend when she headed home.
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.
Breaking China
A growing number of Australian brewers is looking to break into the Chinese market. The craft beer market may be tiny percentage wise, but is still large in numbers. So how can brewers hope to make it there? And what beers are in demand?
Our Man In NZ: Brewpubs
The brewpub model is growing in popularity on both sides of the Tasman. In his latest article for The Crafty Pint, Our Man In NZ, Jono Galuszka, chats to three people heading down that path in Wellington and Palmerston North.
