With March now in full swing, it's time for an update from The Crafty Cabal, our beer lovers bonus scheme for readers who want to support what we do and get heaps of good stuff in return.

Before we start, Crafty Cabal key rings have all been sent out so, if you're a member, you should receive yours imminently if you haven't already. Each is stamped with your individual Cabalista number and we think they look pretty nifty too.

A quick reminder to take a look at our Crafty Cabal Facebook page too, which we launched to make it easier to keep up with all the events, prizes and new offers.

So what's going on...?

Win Some New Look Hargreaves

Congratulations to Matthew Beggs, Tony Pretty and Stephen Morris on each winning a case of New England's Pale Ale.

For March's main prize draw, we've got two cases of each of Hargreaves Hill's recently released JNR and Lager (pictured above) to give away. We'll pick those winners at the start of April.

You can check out our competition rules here or login here to enter the competition now.

Beers In Bendigo

Bendigo Craft Beer Festival & Cider Festival returns on March 24, bringing together brewers and cider makers from across the country to pour more than 100 tasty beverages for attendees.

You can read all about it here.

We've got eight tickets worth $35pp to give away to Cabal members. Just enter the ballot in your member's area before March 13, when we'll pick and notify winners via email.

And, if you're not a member yet, now's the time to join as we have three VIP passes to the festival to give to new signups (well, two, as one's gone already).

Head here to grab one of those VIP passes before they're gone!

Dine With Us!

If you're planning on heading to the Brewsvegas Launch Party on March 9, make sure you flash your Cabal membership to grab a free beer. We've also finalised the details of our Crafty Cabal exclusive for this year's Brewsvegas that will take place on the closing Saturday of the festival.

Helsby's Ale House is one of the newest beer bars in Brisbane and White Brick Brewing one of the newest breweries in the city too.

White Brick founder Adam (a Cabal member himself) will be bringing a selection of beers down from his North Lakes brewery and Les from Helsby's will be providing food to accompany them, with Will from Crafty Pint on hand to co-host.

We'll be kicking off at midday on Saturday, March 17, and we're inviting Cabal members and a plus one along. There's a small fee of $10 that covers food, beer and witty repartee for Cabalistas and their mates. Head here to book your spot.

On top of the existing Brisbane Cabal offers, there's a trio of other Brewsvegas specials too:

Brewhouse Brisbane is offering pints of NSW Pint of Origin beers for pot prices
Head to Fitz + Potts' Broad's Bicep Battle on March 16 and there's a free glass of Ekim After Battle for Cabalistas
And head to Netherworld when they host Hop Nation for a Pint of Origin brewery showcase on March 16, find Crafty Will (who should be with brewer Dunc) as we're shouting a beer for the first ten Cabal members to rock up.

Go On A March

Brewmanity, the beer company launched by former Melbourne FC captain Neita and mates that's raising money for FightMND, has embarked on its biggest venture yet.

Beer March involves 29 Melbourne venues, is a little bit treasure hunt and a bit bar crawl, and is all about raising thousands for the fight against MND. You can read our interview with Neita and Neale Daniher here and find out how it works and how to take part here.

There are spot prizes to be won throughout the month and major prizes that will see two groups of four join the Brewmanity team for a VIP experience at The Big Freeze at the MCG in June.

On top of that, if you're a Cabal member and take part, you could enjoy an intimate chat and tasting with Neita and his team, featuring their flagship Social Beast, doppelbock Dr Freezemeister and a forthcoming "juicy lager" brewed with experimental hop variety HPA-1705, before the end of Beer March party at Beer DeLuxe on March 31.

To be in with a chance of a spot at the tasting, simply include the hashtag #craftycabal when you take photos while on the Beer March.

High Country Hops 2018

Bridge Road Brewers' celebration of the hop harvest returns over two days later this month. As part of the event – which you can read all about here – they're running brewery tours and tastings of four beers brewed with unreleased experimental hops.

Spaces are limited and tickets cost $15pp. However, they've made a number of tickets available for Cabalistas for a special price of just $2.50 plus BF.

Head to your member's area to find out how to claim yours.

NB Dave's Travel & Events is running bus tours from Sydney and Canberra too.

The Rest...

We've got some very exciting giveaways involving GABS coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled. We've also had a space become available for our Wild Blend event at Tallboy & Moose – first come, first served!

Other than the above, Cabalistas can now take advantage of the following new deals:

Head to Fury & Son's newly opened bar and get your first beer on the house (then do the same once a month, over and over).
For those members who find themselves in Redfern, consider heading along to The Noble Hops to get happy hour prices on happy hour beers at any time.
You can get 20% off your first purchase of Philter beer and gear
And there's also 10% off tickets to dinner with Wolf of the Willows at Hopscotch next week

Don't forget to use the NEARBY button to see where your nearest good beer venues are wherever you are or use Crafty Recommends to see which breweries or venues near you have offers for members.

If you're still wondering what The Crafty Cabal is, it's perhaps best described as our equivalent to the subscription service you find community radio stations running. You can access everything we do at The Crafty Pint free of charge but if you want to support us in our good beer mission you can by signing up to the Cabal.

We've created a club of sorts so in return for your hard-earned you get deals and freebies at venues across Australia, invites to exclusive events, entry into heaps of awesome competitions with prizes worth tens of thousands every year and more.

About Will

Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.