Articles by Crafty Pint
Crafty Pint Supporter News – 08.09.17
It's a seriously bumper update for Crafty Pint supporters this week with heaps of new ballots and giveaways plus some new offers and a stack of signup bonuses for new members too.
Beer Food: Paul West
River Cottage's Paul West recently collaborated with the team at Melbourne's Stomping Ground to create a beer to launch at a degustation at the Beer Hall. We chatted to him and Brewer Asher Hall about the partnership and also grabbed the recipes for the dishes presented on the night.
Another Prize For Pirate Life
There was more awards joy for Pirate Life overnight as it was named Brewer of the Year at the International Beer Challenge in London. The Adelaide-based brewery was one of three Australian breweries to collect gold alongside Prancing Pony and Hawkers.
The Crafty Dozen – August 2017
With plenty going on, we've been a little slower than usual in getting new brewery, venue and bottleshop listings up on the site. But, with the arrival of Batch Brewing Co, it's time for another roundup of the latest dozen.
Pirates Aiming For Port
With the title of Australia's Best Brewery bestowed on them from the biggest ever survey of the country's craft beer drinkers, we chatted to Pirate Life co-founder Red Proudfoot about the recognition and where their ambition will take them next.
Australian Craft Beer Survey Results 2017
Pirate Life and pale ales are Australia's most popular, according to the results of the biggest ever survey of craft beer drinkers. Beer Cartel's survey of 17,000 drinkers also revealed that independence matters and The Crafty Pint remains the most read Australian beer at new source.
It's Business Time
The Crafty Pint is set to add a business directory to the site to give beer-related businesses a platform to showcase their offering to our audience. If you'd like to find out more, read on.
Crafty Pint Supporter News – 19.08.17
We've got some juicy updates this week for both existing Crafty Pint supporters and readers thinking of joining The Crafty Cabal and taking advantage of all the benefits that come your way in return.
Box Clever
With the fourth Bendigo On The Hop approaching, we caught up with the city's sole commercial brewer, Doug Brooke. Now into his fifth year at Brookes Beer, we picked his brains about the challenges of being small, independent and regional.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Imperial Stouts Revisited
After a four year break, we returned to the most epic of beer styles, imperial stout, for our latest blind tasting. Old favourites and beers not around four years ago went into battle. Who would win?
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West City Brewing For Sale
West City Brewing is the latest brewing company to be put on the market. The gypsy operation based in Melbourne's west is best known for its Footscray Ale.
Canvas. Comic Strip. Can.
Following on from our look at branding in the beer industry, Ross Lewis chats to a couple of designers working on Australian breweries' cans as well as a brewery owner whose tinnies are among the most spectacular you'll see.
Who Brews Slipstream Beers?
The brewing scene in and around Brisbane continues to expand. In recent months, Slipstream launched its first beers and is now opening the cellar door bar at its brewery in the south of the city. Here's founder Deale Stanley-Hunt to tell us more.
Crafty Pint Supporters News – 04.08.17
Time for another update from The Crafty Cabal, the beer lovers bonus scheme in which readers can become supporters of the site and in return get access to heaps of offers, exclusive events, festival tickets and more.
Who Brews With Two Heads?
Two Heads are better than one – at least according to the Hedley brothers. Campbell and Greg decided to abandon life in Sydney and start a brewery. Today, you'll find them and their beers in a converted mill in Bathurst. We find out more...
Bodriggy Takes Top Award In SA
It was a mixture of faces old and new as the trophies were handed out at the 2017 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. Among the winners were Pirate Life, Bodriggy, Nail, Vale, Coopers and Little Bang Brewing.
Roll Out The Barrels
This week sees Hawkers Beer release not one, not two, but four different barrel aged imperial stouts at the same time. With even grander plans for its barrel program in the future, we find out more from CEO Mazen Hajjar.
Craft Beer Awards Winners 2017
Dainton Family Brewery, 4 Pines, Fixation and the Wheaty Brewing Corps were the big winners at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards, collecting the major trophies at the Independent Brewers Association's big night in Adelaide.
Craft Beer Heroes: Trev Birks
Bendigo has arguably the most developed craft beer scene of any city outside the state capitals. In large part, that's down to Bendigo Beer, the group promoting better beer there since 2011. Ahead of its latest festival, we chat to one of its founders.
BrewDog Down Under
One of the UK's leading craft beer brands, BrewDog, has announced it is to set up operations in Australia. They will be opening a brewery and venue in either Brisbane or Newcastle.
Our Man In NZ: ParrotDog Surfs On
From brewing in a toilet to trophy-winning rising stars of the New Zealand brewing industry, it's been quite the ride for the three Matts behind ParrotDog. Jono Galuszka joins them as they settle into their impressive new Lyall Bay home.
Stomping Ground Strikes For Melbourne City
Melbourne brewery Stomping Ground has struck up a partnership with Melbourne City FC. They brewed a beer for the club's FFA Cup launch in what's the latest win for craft brewers striving to gain a toehold in an area traditionally dominated by the big brewers.
Help Us Get Blind: Imperial Stouts
Having brought our blind tasting panels back last month – and taken them public – we're aiming to run them every two months now. Next up is imperial stouts and, once more, we're asking you to help us decide which beers to put to the test.
Aussie Exports: Zac From Zenith
Our Aussie Exports series makes a first visit to South America. There, in Peru, we find Zac Lanham at the helm of Cervecería Zenith, a microbrewery he founded with wife Milka in Cusco, the historic city in the heart of the Peruvian Andes.
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.
Fresh Prints
The unofficial campaign to educate drinkers about the important of drinking (most) beer fresh continues with the launch of a new video by Modus Operandi highlighting the benefits of checking the age of any beer you buy.
River Of Gold
In just 18 months, the trophy cabinet at Brewhouse Margaret River has become a well-stocked affair. On the back of trophies at the Perth Royal Beer Show awards, Ross Lewis finds out more about the young brewery and its fine dark beers.
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.
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.
Crafty Cabal Update – 07.07.17
Following the cracking event at Pirate Life's brewery, what's new for Crafty Pint supporters? Well, plenty, with a new competition, new deals, an imminent bar shout and more festival bonuses in the offing too.
The Golden Handshake
Outgoing Feral sales boss Steve Finney was sent off in fine style last night as the beer brewed as his farewell gift picked up a trophy at the Perth Royal Beer Awards. There was major success for Margaret River Brewhouse too.
Who Brews Ballistic Beers?
When your name suggests an intention to go big, it doesn't hurt to walk away from your first major beer awards laden with gold. That's what happened to young Brisbane brewery Ballistic Beer Co. We find out more...
Beer Nuts: Leith Booker
Beer Nuts is an occasional feature we run that shines a spotlight on people who take their passion for good beer to the extreme – and sometimes beyond. Here, we step inside the beer cave of Leith Booker.
The Australian Craft Beer Survey Returns
Last year, Sydney bottleshop Beer Cartel launched its Australian Craft Beer Survey, collecting feedback from 6,500 people. The 2017 version is live now as they look to capture a more detailed picture of the local beer landscape.
Brew & A: The Innovative Goat
Little did we know until recently, but a chance meeting with Alana Rees set her on the path to becoming a brewer. In a short space of time, she's gone from homebrewer to Innovation Brewer at Goat to AIBA trophy winner.
Our Man In NZ: Beer Camp Heads South
Beervana has lined up a meaty exclusive, luring Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp outside the US for the first time. With more American breweries looking at the Australasian market, Jono Galuszka looks at what it means for the festival and the NZ beer scene.
Is The Tide Turning On Tax?
In today's increasingly polarised society, it takes something special to bring opposing factions together. Maybe craft beer can be the answer. This week saw Labor and Liberal politicians unite to call for fairer treatment of and greater support for craft brewers.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Hoppy Reds & Ambers
After an unplanned seven month break, we brought our blind tasting panel back. We focused on hoppy reds and ambers, with readers helping select the featured beers. Here's the results – and how readers can join us for a public version of the tasting.
Making Inner West The Best
Five brewers today launched a new brewing association for Sydney's Inner West in the company of a trio of local politicians. They've grand plans for their home, which has the greatest density of microbreweries in Australia.
Crafty Cabal Update – 16.06.17
This update on what we've got lined up for Crafty Pint supporters is as much about saving dates as anything else. We've got more events coming in various states, as well as some more giveaways and enticing signup bonuses too.
The End Of A Cult?
As he settles into a new role as a shift brewer at Stone & Wood, BrewCult founder Steve "Hendo" Henderson has words of warning for others looking to follow him into the brewing game.
Aussie Beer Blogs: Sydney Beer
Sydney Beer is, we'd suggest, rather more than a blog. Tim Hodge has created a place where he gathers news, events, opinion and more, all united by one thing: they take place in or are about the burgeoning Sydney craft beer scene.
A Drop In The Ocean
For the first time in its history, Phillip Island has an operational commercial brewery. Ocean Reach is a small brewpub operation that opened in Cowes at the end of 2016 and is already winning over the locals.
Rocks Puts Its Brewery Up For Sale
One of Sydney's largest breweries is going on the market. One of the partners in Rocks Brewing has decided to exit the business meaning the brewery and venue in Alexandria – but not the brewing company – is set to be sold.
Breaking China II
In Breaking China, we spoke to Australian brewers looking to secure export to China on the challenges they faced. In part two, we seek a different perspective from Chinese beer writers and an expat in Melbourne working to establish a distribution network for Aussie brewers.
Carry On Grifting
The Grifter Brewing Co started out almost by chance. Today, it calls an impressive Inner West factory home to both its brewery and bar. As they mark five years in brewing, we invite two of its founders to look forward and back.
Help Us Get Blind: Reds & Ambers
After an eight month hiatus, we've found the time to bring our Blind Tasting Panel back together. And, given there's so many beers to pick from these days, we're inviting our readers to help us pick the beers we'll put to the test.
Beer Travel: Istanbul
Storyteller Spinks is off on another meander through the Northern Hemisphere. In his latest update, he calls in on two of the craft brewers of Istanbul and discovers the issues facing Aussie brewers pale in comparison.
Crafty Cabal Update – 26.05.17
With the last of the 70-odd people we're sending to GABS for free preparing to hit the Dome in Sydney, time to reveal the latest events, offers and prizes we've got lined up for Crafty Pint supporters around Oz.
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.
