Articles by Crafty Pint
Aussie Beer Blogs: New South Ales
It's time to showcase another Aussie beer blog. New South Ales is one of the best-looking we've seen, run by a writer / photographer couple who focus on the people and stories making the NSW beer scene what it is.
Brew & A: Green Beacon
It's a big year for Green Beacon. The Brisbane brewery came close to winning an AIBA Champion Brewery trophy, won at the Craft Beer Awards and has started work on a production brewery. Here's the man behind their beers.
Serendipity on the Sunshine Coast
We meet the man heading up Brouhaha on the Sunshine Coast, a man who sent off a job application from Hong Kong airport in hope and ended up overseeing the expansion of London's Beavertown Brewery.
Beer Nuts: ‘Manda Lê
Beer Nuts is our occasional series that showcases the most colourful characters in Australia's craft beer community. And few are more colourful than ‘Manda Lê, a chameleon-haired longstanding fixture in the Melbourne scene.
CANimalia
It's not just standard tinnies that are on the rise in the local craft beer world. Slowly but surely, more venues and breweries are investing in CANimals, the repurposed food packing technology pioneered by Oskar Blues in the US.
Getting Blind with Crafty: IPA (Part II)
After two sessions, we've now put 40 Australian brewed IPAs to the test. In part II, we set about blind tasting beers weighing 6.5 percent and above. And here's the results; how did your favourites fare?
Drinking In Style: IPA
In advance of publishing the results from part II of our IPA blind tasting, our Resident Beer Scholar returns with a look at the style. Busting myths and telling the IPA's tale from the 18th century through to today's frenzied hop obsession.
The Great Australian Beer Guide Is Out
The Crafty Pint's founder has written his second beer book. The Great Australian Beer Guide is out across the country from today. It's a colourful snapshot of the local beer scene told through 150 beers and breweries.
Home State Glory In Perth
Most of the silverware stayed at home at last night's Perth Royal Beer Show. Indeed, much of it ended up headed to one place: the joint brewery shared by Feral and Nail, with other winners including Billabong, Gage Roads and Elmar's.
Cabal Update – 29/07/2016
We've got another party, another competition and our first "get in quick" exclusive event for you in the latest update from The Crafty Cabal, the beer lover bonus scheme for supporters of The Crafty Pint.
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The Crafty Dozen – July 2016
It's only a few weeks since our last roundup of new listings on the site but, as the Crafty team expands with the industry, we're adding them faster than ever. So here's 12 more breweries, bars and bottleshops for you.
Pirate Life Sails On
Pirate Life continued its dream start to life by taking out the Champion Large Brewery trophy at the Craft Beer Awards in Brisbane last night. Other big winners included Little Creatures, Green Beacon and Hope Brewhouse.
Who Brews Australia's Highest Beers?
If there's one brewery above all others that won't be struggling to keep its beers chilled this winter it's Blizzard. "Australia's highest brewery" opened in the Victorian alps in March, brewing next to a Dinner Plain ski lift.
The Story Of: Little Creatures Pale Ale
The first two beers in this series looked at quirky contemporary cult favourites. So, for the third entry, we thought we'd do something different and look at a beer that's done as much as any to change Aussie beer culture: Little Creatures Pale Ale.
Crafty Cabal Update – 15/07/16
It's been a busy fortnight since our last Cabal update, including the brewing of the very first Crafty Cabale with the legends at The Wheaty in Adelaide. We've got plenty of winners to announce as well as some forthcoming goodies.
Beer Travel: Darwin
While there's much talk of craft beer booming across Australia, what of the Top End? As Bert Spinks discovers, the microbrewing industry there has just doubled in size. OK, so that still means there's just two, but they're beery and boisterous.
Best Beers of 2016 – So Far
We're not big fans of lists here at Crafty Towers, but with so many new beers released every week we felt we'd make an exception to take stock midway through 2016. We asked contributors to nominate their best new brews and here are the top picks.
Crafty Cabal Update – 01/07/16
With our second launch party done and dusted in Brisbane, it's all eyes on Adelaide for the next week or two. We've got lots of winners to announce and some new swag to give away too – read all about it in our second update from The Crafty Cabal.
Pint of Origin Hits SA
A plethora of Aussie beer never before seen in SA is making its way to Adelaide as Pint of Origin takes its first steps outside Good Beer Week. The ever popular multi-venue showcase of Aussie beer appears across the city from July 2 to 10.
Crafty Cabal Update – 17/06/16
With The Crafty Cabal officially launched earlier in the year and a series of follow up launches and events now underway across the country, we're starting fortnightly roundups of what's new here on Crafty, alternating with our New Events wraps.
Getting Blind With Crafty: IPA (Part I)
It's been a while, but our blind tastings are back. And, having punished panelists with some less than thrilling lineups previously, here we tackle flavour of the month IPA. With so many now available, we're splitting the tasting over two panels.
Where Art Meets Science Meets Art
It's often said that brewing is where art meets science. Yet, thanks to the new brewing team in control at Indian Ocean, on Perth's northern fringe, it's becoming a case of art meets science meets art as they get creative with their decals.
The Past, Present & Future Is Bright
Today sees Bright Brewery mark ten years since they first opened the doors of their brewery site in the Victorian High Country. Much has changed – and is changing – so we fired some questions at co-founder, and still owner, Scott Brandon.
Beer Is Your Friend
Glen Humphries is the man behind the beer site Beer Is Your Friend. Last month, he won the AIBA Beer Media trophy, sponsored by The Crafty Pint. Here, we find out more about the man, why he can't stop writing and his thoughts on beer.
Brew & A: Hobart Brewing Company
The return of our not-often-enough-for-our-liking brewer Q&A series heads south to Hobart. There, amid a flurry of new brewery openings, you find Hobart Brewing Company, whose head brewer Scott Overdorf has seen more beer than most.
The Latest Dozen
Each time we've added another dozen breweries, venues and bottleshops to our directory, we like to gather them in one place so you know they're there. So here's 12 new listings featuring good beer folks from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Australian International Beer Awards Winners 2016
Stone & Wood backed up a medal at the recent World Beer Cup in the US by taking out the Champion Large Brewery title at the Australian International Beer Awards last night. Other big winners included Two Birds, Pirate Life, BrewCult and Gage Roads.
Surfing The South West's Breweries
Julian Lelah and his surfing buddies used to love nothing more than touring Margaret River's breweries after a morning catching waves. Now he's turned the tours they used to do for fun into a business, launching the region's only beer only tour company.
Craft Beer Heroes: Kate Paterson
Craft Beer Heroes is a series that shines a spotlight on people doing great things for beer in Australia, including the unsung heroes. Kate Paterson is truly one of those: you may never have heard of her, but she's probably given you a good time.
Breaking New Ground
The irrepressible trailblazers behind The Local Taphouses and GABS are adding another string to their bow. Later this year, they open Stomping Ground Brewery in Collingwood. Before then, you can have a sneak peek during Good Beer Week.
World Beer Cup Winners
Two of Australia's bigger breweries flew the flag for the country's beer industry at the prestigious World Beer Cup. James Squire and Stone & Wood took gold and silver in the same category and took time out to share their thoughts with us.
Pint of Origin 2016 Preview Pt II
Time for part two of our preview of the biggest Pint of Origin yet. Good Beer Week 2016 will see 12 Melbourne and two Victorian pubs join the fun, while we've got the first hosted PoO buses and the return of the comp with Now Tapped.
Pint of Origin 2016 Preview Pt I
The ever popular Pint of Origin returns to Good Beer Week for a fifth time in 2016 bigger than ever. As well as a dozen Melbourne venues, there are two regional showcases in Geelong and Bendigo and a PoO Bus, hosted by The Crafty Pint.
2 Brothers 2.0
Melbourne's southeast may be turning into a hub for microbreweries these days, but it was 2 Brothers who were first to set up stall there. With their Beer Hall just redesigned and expanded, we called in to find out what else is new.
Surfing A Rogue Wave
The beer choices along Victoria's Surf Coast are unrecognisable from a few years ago, with many of the beers appearing on tap and in fridges coming from breweries that call the region home. Among them is Aireys' Inlet's Rogue Wave.
Ocho's Online Brewery
The flurry of new brewing companies opening in Tasmania continues apace. Yet it's fair to say that Ocho stands out. Not just because it opened with a barrel-aged saison, but because its means of getting beer to punters is rather unusual.
Don't Be A Cult
The Crafty Pint's beer lover bonus scheme, The Crafty Cabal, has grown up a lot since first appearing late in 2015. In advance of its launch party, here's the lowdown on what it's become, what's on offer and how to get involved.
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.
Aussie Beer Blogs: Brewed, Crude & Bitter
Time to shine a spotlight on another Aussie beer blog: a transglobal double header, no less. Brewed, Crude & Bitter was started by two inhabitants of Brisbane's beer scene but has since spread its wings further afield.
Colonising the East
When asked to forecast five breweries to watch out for in 2016 for James Halliday's Wine Companion magazine, we included Colonial. The WA brewery has long had the potential to explode; its new Eastern outpost should see that happen.
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.
The Crafty Pint To Expand
Australia's leading beer website is to expand after entering into a partnership with News Limited. This will see a print edition of the site introduced in early 2017 and will see a stronger focus on maximising commercial opportunities.
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.
Educating Molly Rose
Young brewer Nic Sandery is off on a round the world research trip part-funded by a successful crowd-funding campaign. His learnings in the different beer cultures will be brought to bear upon Molly Rose, his new brewing company, on return.
The Story Of: Boatrocker Ramjet
For the second in our series looking at the story behind some of the coolest, most iconic or most sought after beers in Australia we showcase Boatrocker's Ramjet. The imperial stout even has its own day, with the first Ramjet Day on April 9, 2016.
Beer Travel: Orange
If you're looking for evidence of the growth of craft beer in Australia, you need only look at Orange in Central West NSW. There, as Tim Hanlon discovered, within a 25km radius of Orange's city centre you'll find three microbreweries, with more on the way.
March's Crafty Dozen
It looks like we've added another dozen new brewery, bar and bottleshop listings since last time we did a roundup. So, if you missed them, here's the latest additions to the Crafty directory from QLD, NSW, VIC, SA and WA. More very soon!
'Bo Hop Selecta
The owner of Oscar's Ale House in Belgrave is embarking on a long held dream to run a brewing company. Yellingbo comes with a difference though: Brad Merritt and wife Gypsy are using hops from the farm planted on their land first.
Aussie Beer Blogs: The Beer Healer
When he left his job with Lion, Chris Lukianenko was still keen to have an outlet for his passion for beer. So he launched The Beer Healer blog in the middle of 2015, a blog that has been developing very nicely ever since.
Brewsvegas III Is Coming
Of all the beer weeks in Australia, Brewsvegas has a strong claim to be the most fun and community-minded. Launched by a group of venue operators, it's about to celebrate its third year. We get the lowdown from one of its founders.
