Articles by Will Ziebell
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.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.
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Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.
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Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."
The last beer you enjoyed:
Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.
Three things that represent you:
- Bruce Springsteen
- Ken Burns
- The State Library of Victoria
The Great Australian BeerFest Merger
Two Australian beer festivals are combining their might, with Kieran Blood from the Great Australian Beer Festival taking on new business partners, James Harding and Stacy File from BeerFest Australia.
Brewers Take A Cold Dip
Haze and DDH might be here to stay but brewers are trialling new ways to brew punchy, hoppy beers. We caught up with two Australian brewers taking cues from America to brew "dip hopped" and "cold IPAs".
Brewmanity Find A Home In South Melbourne
After a four year search, Brewmanity have finally unveiled plans for their brewery and taproom, which is scheduled to open in South Melbourne in early 2022. We caught up with co-founder David Neitz to find out more.
Something Good Lands In Traralgon
Ten years after he first imagined opening his own brewery in his hometown, and following stints at breweries in Edinburgh and the Netherlands, Jimmy Krekelberg will finally open Good Land Brewery in Traralgon this Friday.
Who Brews Kick Back Beers?
Kick Back launched in the beachside town of Aldinga in the middle of winter, but the cold weather hasn't stopped them packing in guests since they opened. We caught up with one of South Australia's newest breweries to find out more.
The Big Issue: Skills Shortage
It goes without saying that the COVID pandemic has created huge problems for the local beer and hospitality industries. One issue it's exacerbated is a skills shortage, both when it comes to brewing and running venues.
Mighty Craft To Buy Mismatch In $47m Deal
Mighty Craft continue to snap up craft breweries and other alcoholic beverages, today announcing plans to acquire the Adelaide Hills Group, which includes Mismatch Brewing, in a $47m buyout.
Looking On The Bright Side
It might not be the 15th birthday weekend they had planned, but the team at Bright Brewery have a lot to be cheerful about. We caught up with owner Scott Brandon to discuss the brewery's impressive history and what's around the corner.
Capital's B Corp Journey
Capital Brewing are on track to become the latest Australian brewing company to achieve B Corp status. We chatted to the man driving the process for the Canberran brewery.
Brick Lane Plan $50 Million Expansion
Melbourne's Brick Lane have their sights set on a major expansion, with the brewery investing $50 million to give them the capacity to brew up to 20 million litres a year.
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Communitinnies Return As Victoria Locks Down Again
As Melbourne's lockdown is extended, and Victorians face their own restrictions, Hop Nation have brought back their collaborative Communitinnies boxes, first launched during the early days of the pandemic.
Brouhaha's Brewery Boom
The Sunshine Coast is set to welcome a new brewery in the coming months, with Maleny's Brouhaha Brewery announcing expansion plans. We caught up with co-founder Matt Jancauskas to find out what's in the works.
More Facebook Beer Pages Removed
Boatocker Brewers & Distillers business page and the popular Beer Thread group have become the latest to disappear almost overnight from Facebook. We spoke to both to find out more.
Brew & A: Jum Ryan
Moving from Singapore and Hong Kong to brew in Alice Springs is one of the more unlikely moves you'll come across. Ahead of their tap takeover at Miss Moses as part of Good Beer Week, we chat to Jum Ryan, who swapped Little Creatures for the Red Centre.
Good Beer Week: Ten Years Of Beers
When Good Beer Week kicks off on Friday, the festival will finally turn ten – a year later than planned. To mark the occasion, we took a trip down Memory Lane with some of those involved in building and enjoying it over the past decade.
Is Fresh Always Best?
Fresh is best is a mantra we hear often in the beer world but can a beer be too fresh? Packaging shock is common parlance in the wine world but rarely raised in beer, while hazy, hoppy beers can perform better later too.
Federal Government Increases Excise Refund For Brewers
The Federal Government today announced that the excise refund cap for breweries and distilleries will increase from $100,000 to $350,000, with the decision welcomed by the Independent Breweries Association.
Follow The Beer Pioneer
William Buckley's tale of survival is one that's stuck with Australians thanks to one iconic phrase. Now, a Melbourne comedian is tracing Buckley's path while visiting as many local breweries as he can.
Beer Travel With Bright Eyes
How long do you think it would take to visit every single one of Australia's hundreds of breweries? Chelsea Bright is embarking on a mission to do just that – and plans to hit her target by Good Beer Week 2023.
The Collaborators: This Is My Boomstick!
Boomstick Glassware blend a love for craft beer, pop culture and collaboration into the design of unique creations from which you can enjoy your favourite crafties. We chatted to the small team behind the project to find out more.
Going Green: Bright Bins
Bright Brewery have long put sustainable practices at the core of their business and are now looking to take a recycling initiative nationwide.
We're Going On A Beer Hunt
Beer tourism is an oft-touted economic benefit of the rise of local breweries. Now two suburban areas with more local beer than most have invested in the establishment of local brewery trails with support from local government.
Who Brews Nice Guys Beers?
Melbourne is home to many suburban breweries with Richmond one that's played an essential role in the development in craft beer for decades. It's now home to Nice Guys, which brings a new aesthetic to the local beer scene.
West Bestern: The Rise Of The Hopheads
The Hopheads story started in Melbourne's outer west but has been moving closer to the city ever since. Ahead of their third store opening in Yarraville, we caught up with the team to chat about the bottleshop 'n' bar's rise.
Carwyn's Forgotten Beers
The mission at Carwyn Cellars has always been focused on bringing better booze to the people and now the bottleshop and bar team has started brewing. Well, brewing again. Well, releasing beer.
BrewDog Australia Ready To Grow Up
More brewpubs and bars, a hotel with shower beer fridges and catering for dogs, and new beers for Australian and NZ markets. We caught up with BrewDog's new main man here to find out more about the Scottish brewer's plans.
Fox Friday's Fantastic Foray
Fox Friday have announced major plans to expand in their home state of Tasmania and open a brewpub in Melbourne. We caught up with Benn Hooper from the hazy specialists to find out more.
Ballistic Add To Their Arsenal
Ballistic Beer have welcomed two more brewpubs into their family, with the announcement the Queensland brewery has bought The Whitsunday Island Brewing Company in Airlie Beach and Bargara Brewing in Bundaberg.
Quantum Physicist, Champion Beer Writer, Brewer
The country's biggest beer competition might have skipped a year due to COVID but the Australian International Beer Awards are back. With entries open, we caught up with the last winner of the Best Media Trophy, Marie Claire Jarratt.
Brew & A: Ben from Ida Pruul
Westside Ale Works in South Melbourne always have a wide variety of beers pouring from their 30 taps. These days, they tend to include wild ales created on-site by Ben Sewell under the Ida Pruul banner.
Brunswick's Booze-Free Bar
Alcohol-free alternatives to beer, wine and spirits have come a long way in recent times and soon Melburnians will have a dedicated space to try those offerings in. We got in touch with the Brunswick Aces team to find out more.
Who Brews Shapeshifter Beers?
Shapeshifter launched in 2019 and have been finding fans across South Australia for their limited release hazy beers. We caught up with the brewing company's founders to ask them Who Brews Shapeshifter beers?
Boekamp Bier Relaunches As The Albert Brewery
Boekamp Bier's sudden closure in December last year was sad news for Tassie craft drinkers and lager lovers. Now co-founder Mark French has relaunched with a new look and name but with the same dedication to lager.
Dollar Bill's Ballarat Dream Quashed
Dollar Bill's dream of opening a cellar door in Ballarat won't be turning into reality after the local council rejected their planning application. But the brewery's founders are already working on plans for what's next.
Putting The Micro In Microbrewing
Use of the term has dropped away somewhat in recent years, but there's really one way one to describe Edward Kerr's research into barley protein at the University of Queensland: microbrewing.
A Hazy Shade Of Pale
Hazy pale ales look set to be one of the styles of 2021 as more and more breweries add them to their core offerings and drinkers embrace their juicy, fluffy, fruity sessionability. But just what are they?
TikTok On The Beer Clock
TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform on the planet, but is there any craft beer content on there? And, if so, should Aussie beer lovers and breweries be using it? Will Ziebell heads down the rabbit hole...
Is The Growler Honeymoon Over?
The popularity of growlers reached new heights when pubs shut and the government relaxed rules around repackaging booze. Those regulations return next month and people in the beer industry aren't overly happy..
No Save Point For Moon Dog
Moon Dog have joined forces with a dozen other breweries worldwide as part of hip hop duo Run The Jewels' No Save Point collab. We chatted to the Melbourne brewery about how the project came into being.
Who Blends Sobremesa Beers?
At the end of 2020, Casey Grieve and Hannah McErlane released the first farmhouse style release as Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendery. We caught up with the couple to talk about their vision for the new brewing company.
Two Birds Bought By Fermentum
Two Birds have been acquired by Fermentum, the parent company of Stone & Wood and Fixation, among others. It comes ten years after founders Jayne Lewis decided to form Australia's first female-owned brewing company.
Ryefield Hops: Securing A Future
At the start of last year, the small-scale Ryefield Hops' entire harvest was destroyed by drought and the subsequent bushfires. We caught up with co-founder Jade McManus to talk about the year that was and their plans for the future.
The Curious Case Of Lord Howe Island's Breweries
Last week, Lion's managing director announced their plans to help build a brewery on Lord Howe Island. It turns out this was news to many of those running the island – and the existing Lord Howe Island Brewing Co.
Headin' Down To Castlemaine's Love Shack
New Year's Eve at Castlemaine's Theatre Royal is always a hoot. And the ringing in of 2021 is set to be bigger and beerier too, with the opening of Love Shack Brewing Co on New Year's Eve.
Beer Travel: The High Country Breweries Pt 2
In part two of our guide to the High Country breweries, we start off in Myrtleford before taking the long, winding and beer-soaked road back to Melbourne. Join us!
Manuka Oval's Crafty Takeover
In an historic decision, BentSpoke, Capital and Lion have each been given two bars each at the ACT's Manuka Oval for the upcoming 2020 cricket season.
Range Abbotsford Opens Today
Just over a week after they cleaned up at the Indies awards, Range Brewing are opening their Abbotsford taproom. Will Ziebell called in for a sneak peek with co-founder Gerard Martin.
Bad Shepherd: Five Years In Five Beers
It's five years since Bad Shepherd opened their Cheltenham brewpub, a half decade of huge change in beer. We invited co-founder Dereck Hales to take a trip down Memory Lane via five of their beers.
Blackman's Grovedale Groove
Having well and truly outgrown their Torquay home, Blackman's are set to open a new brewery in Geelong next year. Will Ziebell spoke to founder Renn Blackman about the latest expansion for the family brewery.
Jetty Road To Lorne Pier
Mornington Peninsula-based Jetty Road are set to welcome beer fans to another popular tourist spot from next week as they set up home in Lorne. They've also confirmed they're no longer going ahead with a South Melbourne brewpub.
