Making Beer
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From the brewing process and ingredients to beer history and the art of running a brewery.
Key Topics
ingredients starting a brewery brewing beer history homebrewing beer basics beer education
Fresh, Wet, Green & Hoppy
Hop harvest has started across Australia, with the first fresh or wet hop beers already hitting taps and fridges. But what are they and why are more and more brewers looking to brew them every year?
Drinking Even More History
Early in 2016, Peter Symons published Bronzed Brews, a collection of 42 recipes for long lost Australian beers that homebrewers could bring back to life. He enjoyed it so much, he's already produced a second book.
The Collaborators: More Craft Malt
Hops tend to grab most of the craft beer world's attention when it comes to beer's core ingredients, but as more maltings – big and small – open across Australia, giving brewers new malt varieties to play with, the much-loved flowers may soon be sharing a little of the limelight.
Infographic: American & Australian Craft Beer Timeline
There's been much talk of how far the Australian craft beer industry lags behind that of the US. Here, tied in with our look at the state of play, we present a graphic timeline of the rise, fall and rise of the two countries' craft beer industries.
Our Man In NZ: Kiwi Hops
The New Zealand hop industry produces some of the most sought after varieties in the world. Jono Galuszka spent time with NZ Hops and one of the lead scientists behind the development of new hops to find out more.
Starting A Brewery: The Early Days
Thinking of starting out in brewing? Keen to learn more about the realities of chasing that dream? Here, we find out what four Australian brewing company owners have learned in their first year of operation.
Get Fresh
It's hop harvest time across Australia. And this year's offers more chances than ever to get up close and personal with the little green flowers, not least thanks to a pair of festivals celebrating the harvest and fresh hops beers.
The Collaborators: Not For Horses
The rise of craft beer has spawned all manner of related businesses. Among them are small malting operations dedicated to providing malt for microbreweries. They include Not For Horses. Bert Spinks caught up with the man behind the Launceston business.
What Is Oktoberfest?
As Munich's Oktoberfest comes to a close, and with scores of imitators taking place across Austalia, we look at where the global phenomenon started and how the Bavarian organisers are trying to keep tradition alive.
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.
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Beer In Australia: An Introduction
This is a slightly shortened version of one of the chapters in The Great Australian Beer Guide, written by The Crafty Pint's founder James Smith and published by Hardie Grant in 2016.
Cold As Ice – Brewing In Antarctica
In Antarctica, beer selection is understandably limited. But a group of Australian Antarctic researchers is helping to broaden the options via a growing homebrewing program at Australian research base Casey Station.
Being Pure
The most famous – and contested – beer law in the world turns 500 at the weekend. To mark the occasion, Ross Lewis spoke to one WA brewer who is a passionate believer in Reinheitsgebot and one Melburnian who certainly isn't.
Starting a Brewery Part II
Thinking of starting your own brewery? Then part two of our series featuring advice from people already in the beer industry is for you. Following last week's top tips from brewers, here are the thoughts of six experts in other fields.
Starting A Brewery Part I
More people than ever are hoping to open their own brewing company in Australia. But turning a dream into reality isn't easy; in fact, it's bloody hard work. Over two days, we're offering advice from experts, starting with brewers themselves.
Beer History: The Kingdom of Hops
We've written plenty about the latest goings on in the Australian hop industry. But what of the past? In his first article for The Crafty Pint, beer loving historian Will Ziebell delves into the earliest days of hop growing in Tasmania's Derwent Valley.
Drinking History
After researching the Australian Sparkling Pale Ale style for America's Brewing Network, Peter Symons began to delve further into historical Australian beer. The result is Bronzed Brews, a book blending history with 42 home brew recipes for historical beers.
Respect
Stone & Wood has kicked off a series of beers that pay tribute to the people that helped create the beer scene we enjoy in Australia today. We chat to Forefather number one: Phil Sexton.
The Original Craft Brewer
In the week that Coopers launched its 2015 Vintage Ale, we look at how the 153-year-old family business continues to plough its own furrow as the country's longest established craft brewery.
Beer Travel: NZ Hops
With the Southern Hemisphere hop harvest coming to a close and fresh hop beers on their way, we chat to the man heading up NZ Hops.
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)…
Project X
If you had the last keg of a limited release baltic porter, what would you do? Most of us would grab an empty glass and start pouring but Justin Fox, head brewer at Colonial Brewery, instead saw an opportunity…
Hop Plotting
In their increasingly challenging battle to meet the world’s insatiable desire, hop producers the world over are constantly looking to produce more hops. Not just more in terms of volume, but more in…
The Bicep's Back
It started as a bit of fun. Challenged with brewing an unusual beer for the Media Brew beer competition at Beervana, The Crafty Pint approached Murray’s to be its partner. They agreed and were soon afterwards…
Hand Carved Stone
With distinguished titles like Chief Judge of the Australian International Beer Awards, Chairman of the Craft Beer Industry Association and Head Brewer at Stone & Wood, you might think Brad Rogers spends…
Starting a Brewery: The Boatrocker Story Pt IV
Well, we were expecting to be running this article well before now – as the owners of Boatrocker Brewery would have been, no doubt. But, as seems to be the way with even the best planned brewery, it…
Beer Travel: Hops Spring Eternal
Big brewer: bad; craft brewer: good. It's a hoary old perception and one to which no thoughtful beer drinker would give any credence. Just because beer brand X is ultimately owned by brewing giant Y, it…
James Halliday Article: On The Hop
This week sees the launch of the eighth edition of James Halliday’s Wine Companion Magazine, in which we have an article looking at the Australian craft beer industry’s position in the wider world.…
Starting A Brewery: The Boatrocker Story Pt III
Over the past few months, we’ve been bringing you the story behind the development of the forthcoming Boatrocker Brewery. Many of you will know Boatrocker’s beers, such as Alpha Queen and Hoppbier,…
Hyper IPA
Right then, readers: sit down and strap yourselves in for a spot of beery education… International Bitterness Units – or IBUs as they are more commonly abbreviated – are something that really…
No Fuss Home Brew
Home brewing has come a long way from the foul-tasting concoctions of sugar and baker's yeast that your granddad used to make. The modern home brewer has access to many of the same ingredients that commercial…
Starting A Brewery: The Boatrocker Story Part II
At the start of the month, we kicked off a mini-series featuring Boatrocker Brewing and the tale of how founder Matt Houghton and his wife Andrea have set about moving from home brewing to owning a brewery.…
Starting a Brewery: The Boatrocker Story
Ever wondered what it’s like to undertake the journey from home brewer to commercial brewer? As he stands on the verge of commissioning his own brewery, Matt Houghton, co-founder of the Boatrocker Brewing…
Beer Travel: A Journey Into Hops
The year was 1824. Beethoven was still alive and composing his symphonies, though you'd need to hear them live because radio wouldn't be invented for about another eight decades. In that year, the MCG…
A Little Green
The people that have done as much as anyone in Oz to introduce drinkers to hops in beer have been playing around a little. Coinciding with this year’s hop harvest, the brewers at Little Creatures attempted…
Past. Present. Future?
He’d already spent long weekends in Victoria’s State Library digging up every piece of information he could find on the history of brewing in Australia – and even employed a PhD student to help with…
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…
Beery words for beginners
Once you start exploring the world of real beer, you're likely to come across all sorts of phrases and terminology you're not familiar with. It's not essential you know them to enjoy good beer, but they…
