Articles by Mick Wust
Mick Wüst is the author of the book Beer Drinker's Toolkit, a fun and approachable guide to beer. He's also a freelance copywriter for the beer industry. You can find him on Instagram as Schoonerversity.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
I'm sure I'd had good beers before this, but the first barrel-aged imperial stout I ever tried made me feel like Popeye with spinach.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Balter XPA
- Wayward Raspberry Berliner Weisse
- Boatrocker Ramjet
The last beer you enjoyed:
A IIPA from Woopi Brewing that tasted like fruit salad and resin.
Three things that represent you:
- Book - World War Z (seriously, give it a go - it's better than it sounds)
- Travel - Greece
- Food - all the bread and hot chips
The Big Issue: Coping With COVID-19 Part I
Many of us face mental health challenges at the best of times. With the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting the beer and hospo industries, we look at the difficulties people are facing and the support they can seek.
The Collaborators: KegSwappa
“It seemed like such an obvious thing to do. Why is no one else doing it?” If you've ever used Swap'n'Go gas bottles, then you basically already know how KegSwappa works. Read on to see how this simple idea came about.
Postcards from the Edge No.41: Let There Be Gin
In the space of a few months, Lee McAlister-Smiley, founder of Brisbane's White Lies Brewing, has gone from having no idea how to make hand sanitiser to producing wasabi gin alongside his beers.
Who Brews 7th Day Beers?
It all started with the hunt for a good craft pilsner and grew from there. From footy dads in a garage to a crowdfunding campaign to a brewery in Brookvale, you have to ask: Who Brews 7th Day beers?
Crafty Crawls: Sydney's Northern Beaches
Whether you're going for a beach weekend or a beer weekend, Sydney's Northern Beaches has plenty to offer - you just need to know where to look.
Behind Bars: Harts Pub At Ten
Inside a 130-year-old building in The Rocks, Harts Pub is a ten-year-old bar that's won the gratitude of Sydney beer drinkers and Australian independent breweries alike as one of the city's earliest adopters of craft beer.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2019
The beer industry in Queensland keeps growing and changing, and even the drinkers are changing. But the more things change, the more they stay the same: great beer came out of the Sunshine State again in 2019.
Crafty Crawls: Canberra's Breweries & Brewpubs
If Canberra's a good place from which to run the country, it must be a good place to brew beer. (That's how they choose a location, right?) So, here's our guide to where you can drink beer at the source in our nation's capital.
Behind Bars: Beer Cartel At Ten
What started as two guys hand-packing boxes of beer to put in the mail has grown into one of Australia's largest online beer retailers. It's fair to say Beer Cartel have come a long way in ten years.
Insect The Unexpected
Craft breweries are no strangers to innovation. But BentSpoke Brewing have arguably set a new standard by making a beer with local yeast, a hangover relief drink, crickets and fly larvae.
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Who Brews Wild Polly's GF Beers?
Can brewing with ancient grains win you the title of Australian Father of the Year? Probably not. But Tim Sides is having a fair crack at it with Wild Polly, one of the newer brewing companies found in ACT.
Who Brews Reckless Beers?
From homebrew in the bathtub to brewpubs in Portland then gypsy brewing in Sydney's Inner West, the story of Reckless Brewing is one of three friends who could have their own sitcom.
Aussie Exports: Brent Soutar
In this Aussie Exports, we chat with globetrotter Brent Soutar about his brewing journey, and peek voyeuristically behind the curtain at his current employer, the world renowned Firestone Walker.
Tasting Notes: Music For Your Mouth
Sonic seasoning is an experimental concept that uses sound to affect perception of flavour. Sydney Brewery joined music artist Hylander in combining a Galaxy-forward beer and spacey soundscape to create music for your mouth.
Three Cheers For Shepparton
Shepparton is a regional Victorian city that hasn't had its own brewery for a hundred years. So what will it look like now three new breweries are set to come to town within 12 months of each other?
Ballistic Beer To Open Springfield Brewpub
Ballistic Beer will soon open their third venue in three years: a brewpub in Brisbane's western suburb of Springfield Central in addition to their Salisbury brewery and West End Alehouse & Kitchen.
Who Brews BrewiColo Beers?
Ocean Grove is a relaxed coastal town, but BrewiColo are keen to take things even further, encouraging people to slow down and enjoy a taste of island life. Find out more as part of our Who Brews...? series.
Going Green: Ocean Friendly Brews
What would it take for breweries to go plastic free in their tap rooms? Not much, apparently. We spoke to Surfrider to see how they've helped some of Australia's biggest craft brewers say no to single-use plastic.
Sydney's State of Brews Rises Again
When Sydney Beer Week collapsed earlier in the year, a few of the city's venues saw it as an opportunity. The first fruits of their partnership kicks off today as State of Brews launches as a standalone venture.
Modus Operandi: Five Years In Five Beers
Modus Operandi have reached their five year mark, and are showing no signs of slowing down. Mick Wust talks with owners Grant and Jaz Wearin about the five beers that have shaped Modus into the brewery it is today.
Brew & A: Sam Clayman
Sam Clayman loves the uncertainty of nature, from the biochemistry of snails to the distinct characteristics of different yeasts. Find out how the All Hands head brewer balances science and creativity in this Brew & A.
Who Brews Watsacowie Beers?
Half of Drew Coleman's heart is in rural South Australia; the other half is in northern Europe. See how both halves come together at Watsacowie Brewing in this entry in our Who Brews...? series.
Making A Stand
From trestle tables and pull-up banners to 50s themed diners and entire breweries made of cardboard, brewery stands at beer festivals have come a long way. Mick Wust asks why it's important to stand out.
The Drinks Adventurer
Do you like exploring the links between drinks? Past AIBA Best Media winner James Atkinson's podcast Drinks Adventures looks at beer, wine, and spirits, and the collaborations between those world.
Mission To Mahrs
Stephan Michel from Mahrs Bräu makes some of the best lagers in Germany. So, when he visited Australia recently, Mick Wust chatted with him about lagers and their place in a craft beer market.
Beer Travel: 48 Hours In Rome
While you shouldn't make your hunt for beer too much of a distraction from the city's iconic charms, Rome does have plenty to offer the visitor with a penchant for tasty local beer.
Who Brews Hop & Clover Beers?
It started out as an impulse buy on Gumtree, led to a media buzz and is now taking shape as a brewery in Capertee. Mick Wust got in touch with Dave Henderson to find out more about Hop & Clover.
Brew & A: Ken Friend
He went from homebrewing in the Air Force to trainee brewer to head brewer in just a year. Now settled in at the helm of 4 Hearts in Ipswich, we invited Ken Friend to be part of our Brew & A series.
A Day In The Life Of: A Festival Volunteer
Volunteers are often the unsung heroes of the beer festivals that bring joy to beer lovers across the country. But why do they do it? And what makes a good one? We chat to one of the best to find out.
Oscar & Glenn: Rocker, Skater, Brewers
In 2012, two brewing companies launched in Sydney's inner west, both brewing beers on the same kit. Among the founders were a frontman in a rock band and a skater. We caught up with them seven years on.
Who Brews With Sea Legs?
He was studying in Colorado as it was experiencing its craft beer boom so now, years later and on the other side of the world, Jon Fuchs has persuaded his mates to join him to become part of the Brisbane boom.
Now That's Good Drinking
We all know that beer can be good and, for a number of Aussie beer businesses, it's also being used for good. Mick Wust got in touch with five people using beer to raise funds and awareness around a number of causes.
Black Hops II Launches
The milestones keep flying past for Black Hops Brewing with the opening of their second brewery and venue on the Gold Coast the latest.
Kveik – Something Borrowed, Something True Blue
In part one of this mini-series, Mick Wust took a journey into the history of Norwegian "super-yeast" kveik. Here, he speaks to some of the early adopters in Australia to find out more about its unique appeal.
Kveik – Something Old, Something New
There's a new yeast in town. Actually, it's not new at all, but it is extraordinary. Here, Mick Wust delves into the romantic history of Norwegian kveik before speaking to Australian brewers and bar owners who've fallen for its charms.
Mine's A Sunshine State
Thanks to the launch of small hop farms, a local operation producing yeast for brewers and the production of malt with Queensland provenance, Archer in Brisbane have created QPA, which they believe is the first modern, all-Queensland beer.
Brew With A View
From brewing shit beer to champion brewery in three years and from taking two months to shift a keg of IPA to seeing an entire batch of double IPA disappear in a week, the Moffat Beach Brewing Co story is quite the ride.
Brisbane's Beer Yogi
Looking for a fun way to balance your festive (or year round) indulgences? Mick Wust joins yoga instructor Sammy Ball for a few sessions – with beer at the heart of it all.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2018
At the end of another momentous year for beer in Queensland, we look to pluck the shiniest gems from a grotto's worth of gems in our 2018 Best New Beers feature, ably stewarded by Mick Wust.
Sip, Speak, Repeat... Taking To The Soapbox
As Felons launches on Brisbane's river edge and with Soapbox and Stone & Wood coming to Fortitude Valley in the coming weeks, Mick Wust caught up with all three brewers and found them all keen to shout loud about the local beer scene.
Craft Beer Heroes: Newstead, The Mill & Brewski At 5
Three of the key players in Brisbane's burgeoning beer scene in recent years all turn five as 2018 draws to a close. We caught up with the founders of Newstead Brewing, The Mill and Brewski to look back, forward and ask who'd win in a fight.
Craft Beer Heroes: Chicks With Ales
At this year's Beeries, the Gold Beery for Best Community Contributor went to Chicks With Ales, a group for beer loving women. We caught up with brewer, microbiologist and former pro basketballer Kerry Claydon to find out more.
Festival Beers
Major music events used to be the preserve of industrial lager and RTDs at music festivals, but things are changing. Music festivals are even looking to create their own craftier beer offerings, as Mick Wust discovers.
Beer Travel: Bali, Hops, Water & Yeast II
In part one of his endeavour to hunt down good beer in Bali, Mick Wust focused on the offerings from Big Beer. In part two, he delves a little deeper, calling in to the country's only craft brewery and meeting some US importers.
Beer Travel: Bali, Hops, Water & Yeast I
"Is there any good beer in Bali?" Our intrepid writer Mick Wust followed the well-trodden path to one of the most popular holiday destinations for Australians and set out to discover whether those with crafty palates can find satisfaction.
Fresh Or Dead
As the audience for craft beer grows and competition intensifies, quality and education are more important than ever. We speak to a Brisbane brewery and Melbourne retailer finding their own ways of spreading the fresh is best message.
Felons To Storm Brisbane
The beer lovers of Brisbane can prepare to party like it's 1823 as a new brewery venue takes shape on the edge of Brisbane River, underneath the iconic Story Bridge. Mick Wust called in to meet the Felons as they took delivery of their tanks.
Crafty Crawls: South Brisbane & Beyond
Much is made of the growth in breweries in and around Brisbane, but the bar scene is no slouch either. So, less than two years after publishing a South Brisbane/West End Crawl, we've had to divide and conquer, creating two where there had been one...
Brewing By Design
There's been no shortage of new breweries opening in and around Brisbane in recent years. But, with its Scandinavian influences and no core range policy, Range Brewing looks set to stand out from the crowd, as Mick Wüst discovers.
Semi-Pro. But Not Half-Arsed
From a meeting at a beer festival to the need to find a name for a Brewsvegas competition via gypsy brewing at various Queensland locations to finally opening their own brewery in Brisbane, the Semi-Pro story is a classic "figure it out as we go" one, as Mick Wust discovers.
