Insight & Analysis
Deep dives, trends, hot topic issues and lessons learned.
Locals Heroes
They rarely rise to become big sellers for the breweries that make them and are often lagers or approachable pale ales, yet that hasn't stop a growing number of local brewers launching beers with their locals and locale front and centre.
Best New ACT Beers Of 2018
We wrap up our look at the year in beer for 2018 in the nation's capital as Mat Farrington, the man behind CanBEERra, collates the thoughts of two dozen ACT beer aficionados to see what's impressed most in the past 12 months.
The Best Of The Crafty Pint In 2018
For a final reflection on 2018, here's a look back at the year through the eyes of The Crafty Pint writers who spent their time covering the biggest year yet for Australian beer – as well as some of our coverage from beyond these shores.
Best New NSW Beers Of 2018
In his last Best New Beers roundup before he heads back to New Zealand, Nick Oscilowski commandeers the votes of many to land upon a list that flits from barrels to peat to the rainforest and back – and even includes a humble pilsner.
Big Years In Beer – 2018
It's been a big year for beer in Australia, but some have had bigger years than other. Here, we invite people from each state and territory who've had momentous years in one way or another to reflect on the past 12 months.
Best New Victorian Beers Of 2018
It's been another monstrous year for beer in Victoria, with more breweries launching, more beers in more styles released than ever before and competition fierce as anything. Here, we try to cut through the noise and highlight some standout beers.
Best New SA Beers Of 2018
At the current rate of development, there will be few corners of South Australia without a brewery to call their own. So, as another big year for beer in the state comes to a close, our SA team looks back at the new releases that impressed.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2018
At the end of another momentous year for beer in Queensland, we look to pluck the shiniest gems from a grotto's worth of gems in our 2018 Best New Beers feature, ably stewarded by Mick Wust.
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2018
The beer scene in Tasmania continues to evolve, with the state's brewers as happy taking inspiration from overseas as they are showcasing local produce. But which beers impressed most in 2018? Bert Spinks endeavoured to find out...
Best New WA Beers Of 2018
It's been a phenomenal year for beer in WA in 2018, however you look at it. Here, Guy Southern looks back at the past 12 months and puts together a rundown of the year's best beers as selected by contributors from across the state.
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The Most Importantest Beers of 2018
What's the best thing about December? No, not the impending summer holidays, the festive season or the music festivals. It's the torrent of Best Of lists. And we're getting in quick this year at The Crafty Pint.
The Big Issue: Drinking
Working with beer is a dream job: free-flowing deliciousness, fun people and cool places. But alcohol is also a poison and working long or odd hours and being surrounded by beer poses challenges too.
The Golden Age Of Mids?
There's never been a better time to be in the market for a lower alcohol beer. But why is that? And is demand growing as fast as the quality new releases? We speak to brewers and retailers to find out whether it's the golden age of mids.
The Big Issue: Copyright Or Wrong?
Borrowing from pop culture is one way in which many breweries have fun with their beers and branding. But is there a danger of overstepping the mark? And what are the consequences for anyone that does?
Best Beers Of 2018 – So Far
With the number of breweries continuing to grow and many putting out more limited releases, it's ever harder to keep track of everything. But, with the help of 60-odd contributors, here's our take on the best new releases of 2018 to date.
The Big Issue: Sexism
Typically, it's overtly sexist labels or crude marketing that brings the beer world's relationship with women into the spotlight. But, as Marie Claire Jarratt finds, there's a more permanent and insidious form of sexism affecting women every day.
A Day In The Life Of: A Hop Farmer
Of beer's four main ingredients, it's hops, those pungent, sticky wee green cones, that have done more to drive the growth of craft beer than any other. Pia from girl + beer spent a day during harvest at Karridale in WA getting up close and personal with them.
Bubbling Up: The Rise Of Craft Lagers
There's been talk of a renaissance for lager within the craft beer world for some time now. And, with more small breweries adding one to their lineup and a rise in the number appearing in the 2017 Hottest 100, maybe we're starting to follow America's lead once more.
Best New ACT Beers Of 2017
With new openings, new venues and growth aplenty, it's been a big year in beer for the nation's capital. Here, we sift through around 40 new releases from ACT's brewing companies and try to agree upon the best.
Through The Looking Glass II
As in 2017, we attempt to peer into the future and decipher where the industry is headed and what issues are likely to dominate the coming 12 months. From independence and education to packaging and brewpubs, here's our thoughts on what lies ahead.
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017
For our roundup of the Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017, our inimitable wandering contributor Bert Spinks seeks the thoughts of beer folks across the state and ponders whether, in 2018, he should deliver the outcome in sonnet form.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2017
We head to the Sunshine State to find out what our panelists thought were the best new beers released by Queensland brewers in 2017. There were so many, the ten became 11 – and even then there's some honourably mentions too.
The Crafty Pint's Top Stories Of 2017
There's no denying 2017 has been a tumultuous year for craft beer in Australia, with multiple high profile sales, the odd closure, masses of new breweries, venues and bottleshops opening and thousands of new beers released. But which stories most caught the imagination of our readers?
Best New Victorian Beers Of 2017
It's the state with the most brewing companies in Australia, which means there were plenty of new beers to taste in 2017. So, we cast our net wider than ever before seeking input before getting our panel together to select ten of the very best new Victorian releases of the year.
Best New SA Beers Of 2017
We kicked off our annual Best New Beers lists in WA and now move across the Nullarbor to SA where a panel convened to cast their eyes over another big year for beer in the state. Who made their top ten?
Best New WA Beers of 2017
Big beers. Small beers. Hazy beers. Crazy beers. Which new releases from WA's brewers made our Best New Beers of 2017 list? Here, Guy Southern and Pia Poynton present the rundown selected by beer gurus from across the state.
Confusion Deposit Scheme
New legislation designed to tackle litter in New South Wales is set to go live this Friday. Yet there are serious and growing concerns throughout the craft beer industry that the scheme is flawed and is set to affect small brewers disproportionately.
The Big Issue: Brewer Shortage
As the craft beer industry continues to expand at a rate of knots, it's experiencing growing pains. Among them is a shortage of experienced brewers, an issue that can prove costly, time-consuming and, potentially, dangerous.
Price Wars Revisited
Back in May, we ran a two-part Secret Brewer feature looking at the price war going on in parts of Australia. Six months on, it's intensifying and spreading, according to a number of brewers we've spoken to.
A Day In The Life Of A Barrel Room: Goose Island
From one of the largest barrel programs in the Southern Hemisphere to one 50 times its size... Here we step inside Goose Island's Barrel House in Chicago, home to 15,000 barrels and the legendary Bourbon County Stout.
A Day In The Life Of A Barrel Room: Boatrocker
In May, Boatrocker and Goose Island came together to create a barrel aged beer together. Given they're at the forefront of barrel ageing in their respective countries, the release of October Beer seemed a perfect opportunity for us to run side-by-side features on life in their barrel rooms.
The Big Issue: Branding Revisited
With the marketplace becoming ever busier, cans on the rise and breweries rebranding seemingly every week, it's time to revisit the issue of branding. Over two days, our trio of WA writers examine one of the great challenges facing brewers.
Getting Into The Spirit
Australia's craft spirit industry is enjoying a rapid rise not dissimilar to that enjoyed by beer in recent years. The connections between the two are strong, particularly at a growing number of breweries that are distilling in house.
Big Beer Monopoly
One of the visitors to this year's Craft Beer Awards was a German journalist and storyteller who has penned a book on the globalisation of beer. Matt King caught up with Dr Ina Verstl to find out more.
Best Beers of 2017 – So Far
With so many new releases hitting taps and fridges every week, it can be hard to keep up. So here's a mid-year refresher featuring the thoughts of 40 beer writers, educators and venue operators on the best of 2017 so far.
Tap Contracts Here To Stay
Small, independent Australian brewers didn't get the news they were hoping for today. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released the results of its multi-year investigation into tap access and declared the status quo was here to stay.
Where It's At: On Beer's Frontier II
Global or hyperlocal. Independent or "crafty". The beer world isn't just getting more competitive, it's getting more complex too. Here, we try to unpick the state of play today by studying the craft beer scenes both here and in the US.
Enjoy By
Some breweries print a best before or packaged date on the label, some put a date on the bottle, others have nothing at all. For the consumer in a bottleshop, how are they to know what’s new, what’s old, and what’s been kept in a warm warehouse for months?
The Golden Goose: On Beer's Frontier
Goose Island's arrival in Australia represents the meeting point between the biggest of Big Beer and Australia's craft beer industry. We find out why it's a big deal and ask what it means within the rapidly evolving landscape here and globally.
The Secret Brewer: Price Wars Pt II
Yesterday, we presented an article from The Secret Brewer claiming a price war poses serious challenges and issues for the Australian craft beer industry. Here, a brewery owner, a sales rep and a venue owner respond to those claims.
The Secret Brewer: Price Wars
For the past couple of years, there has been much discussion around the prevalence of low priced kegs – and more recently cases – hitting the markets, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. This Secret Brewer two-parter asks if it's good for beer.
A Day In The Life Of: A Beer Judge
Next month sees brewers and beer experts from across the globe gather in Melbourne for the Australian International Beer Awards. But what goes into being a beer judge? Is it the best job in the world. Nick O find out.
The Secret Brewer: Gypsy Brewing Pt II
Yesterday, we launched a new series, The Secret Brewer, in which an unnamed brewer laid out their concerns about gypsy and contract brewing. Today, brewers from here and overseas respond to the points raised in the article.
The Secret Brewer: Gypsy Brewing
The Secret Brewer is a new series in which a local brewer lets off steam about an issue that's troubling them. First up: gypsy brewers. Tomorrow, we'll present responses to the points raised by our mystery brewer in part two.
The Big Issue: Exploitation
The official line is that craft beer is a resoundingly good thing. And that working in the industry means you're the luckiest person alive. Yet what happens when someone's goodwill or eagerness to be part of it is exploited beyond all reasonable limits?
The Big Issue: The Canned Wagon Pt II
Earlier in the week, we looked at the history and recent renaissance of cans in the beer world. Today, in part two of her Big Issue feature, Marie Claire Jarratt delves deeper with a panel of experts.
The Big Issue: The Canned Wagon Pt I
After a slow start, the rise of craft tinnies has been little short of phenomenal. Today, we kick off a two-part Big Issue feature, looking at how and why they've come to prominence and how popular they may become.
The Crafty Pint’s Top Stories of 2016
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.
Best New ACT Beers of 2016
We may have crossed the threshold into 2017, but we've still got one final blast from the year just gone. Completing our around-the-country best new beers review comes our panel's pick from ACT's burgeoning beer scene.
Through The Looking Glass
While 2016 was a monumental year in many pretty terrible ways globally, for craft beer in Australia it was another in which we witnessed huge growth and ever greater diversity. So surely we're set for even greater things to come.
