Have You Done A Rallings? is a fun campaign we're running in partnership with the team at Rallings Labels and Stickers. It's designed to shine a light on the good beer citizens going above and beyond who are found in every corner of the country.
You can nominate the people or businesses you think deserve to be celebrated in the form below. Every month, we'll showcase some of our favourites on The Crafty Pint Podcast and here on the site, with the winners receiving vouchers from Rallings.
Thanks to everyone who has already nominated people and businesses from across Australia – and the one from Portland, Oregon. We've received call-outs from far and wide, and of all shapes and sizes, making it a tough choice to pick our first winners. But pick we have...
And the first winners of our Have You Done A Rallings? campaign are Reece Palmer, Divaan Ireland, and Michelle Ireland from Buddy Brewing in Brisbane (pictured above left). They've been nominated by Alexia Smith from men's mental health campaign "Cheers to Change" for their "outstanding support, generosity, and advocacy".
Alexia says they went "above and beyond what I could have ever expected, showcasing not only their dedication to the craft beer community but also their commitment to making a real difference in our local community."
After approaching the Buddy with her idea for a "Crack Open a Conversation" event, they offered their venue, brand, and personal time to support the cause at no cost, ultimately raising more than $15,000 for the Black Dog Institute. She says Reece was a constant presence throughout the campaign, promoting the event to patrons and using his influence to bring more people on board, while Divaan and Michelle not only supported the campaign through their business but also personally championed the cause, collaborated on marketing efforts, spreading awareness through their social media channels, and helping secure additional sponsors.
She adds: "Buddy Brewing's team exemplifies the spirit of collaboration and generosity that makes the craft beer community so unique. Their actions during Cheers to Change didn't just benefit my campaign, they helped spark important conversations about mental health in our community, leaving a lasting impact."
Honourable mentions this time around go to Will Horan of Du Cane Brewing in Launceston, and the team at Murray's Porters Liquor in the Blue Mountains.
Will (pictured top right) was nominated by Joshua Tompkins who, at 41, decided to change his career and get into brewing. Once he told Will of his plans, he was invited to shadow the brewers and learn how to brew on commercial gear a couple of days a week. Josh says they were "super generous with their time, put up with my endless questions, and will no doubt turn me into a useful brewer."
As for Murray Croft and his team (pictured bottom right), described as "champions" by nominator Lance Haeden, they got the nod due to their willingness to go above and beyond for their customers, including putting on a bus to and from the Blue Mountains for the GABS Saturday night session in the city.
"This is an amazing service to make GABS more accessible to the less dedicated craft drinkers of the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney," Lance says.
Congratulations to all involved, and thanks to everyone who's nominated so far. There's a few we've already received that are likely to get a future nod, but we're always eager to hear about more great deeds from the country's good beer citizens. So let's have your nominations!
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
