News & Feature Stories
Best New ACT Beers Of 2017
With new openings, new venues and growth aplenty, it's been a big year in beer for the nation's capital. Here, we sift through around 40 new releases from ACT's brewing companies and try to agree upon the best.
Through The Looking Glass II
As in 2017, we attempt to peer into the future and decipher where the industry is headed and what issues are likely to dominate the coming 12 months. From independence and education to packaging and brewpubs, here's our thoughts on what lies ahead.
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017
For our roundup of the Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2017, our inimitable wandering contributor Bert Spinks seeks the thoughts of beer folks across the state and ponders whether, in 2018, he should deliver the outcome in sonnet form.
Best New Queensland Beers Of 2017
We head to the Sunshine State to find out what our panelists thought were the best new beers released by Queensland brewers in 2017. There were so many, the ten became 11 – and even then there's some honourably mentions too.
The Crafty Pint's Top Stories Of 2017
There's no denying 2017 has been a tumultuous year for craft beer in Australia, with multiple high profile sales, the odd closure, masses of new breweries, venues and bottleshops opening and thousands of new beers released. But which stories most caught the imagination of our readers?
Best New NSW Beers Of 2017
With more new releases to try than ever before, we invited contributors from across the state to sift through the buyouts and the startups, the hops and the haze to come up with a list of the ten (or so) best new beers to come out of New South Wales in 2017.
Best New Victorian Beers Of 2017
It's the state with the most brewing companies in Australia, which means there were plenty of new beers to taste in 2017. So, we cast our net wider than ever before seeking input before getting our panel together to select ten of the very best new Victorian releases of the year.
Behind Bars: Adam Lesk
It's not be that long since Adam Lesk switched working for a builder for running one of the craftiest bottleshops in Australia, but he's wasted little time becoming a guru. Already a Certified Cicerone and hunter of the world's best beers, here he offers some insight as part of our Behind Bars series.
Best New SA Beers Of 2017
We kicked off our annual Best New Beers lists in WA and now move across the Nullarbor to SA where a panel convened to cast their eyes over another big year for beer in the state. Who made their top ten?
Who Brews At The Mill?
At the start of 217, The Mill Brewery opened its doors in Collingwood for the first time, joining the suburb's ever expanding craft community. As the year draws to a close, The Crafty Pint called in for a chat with the brewery's founder, Mirek Aldridge.
Get more Crafty!
Sign up to our newsletters and get the latest craft beer news delivered free to your inbox. Choose from our Friday Roundup of the week, the quick-read, social feed-like Crafty Cuppa – or both!
Melbourne Airport Gets Crafty For Summer
Melbourne has a deserved reputation as Australia's craft beer capital. But anyone arriving here for the first time at Tullamarine Airport would be hard pressed to know. That's set to change for summer, however, with a ten-tap Stomping Ground pop-up bar.
Best New WA Beers of 2017
Big beers. Small beers. Hazy beers. Crazy beers. Which new releases from WA's brewers made our Best New Beers of 2017 list? Here, Guy Southern and Pia Poynton present the rundown selected by beer gurus from across the state.
The Crafty Dozen: December 2017
As a momentous year for beer in Australia draws to a close, it's time to round up the latest dozen new brewery and venue listings added to our directory.
Pioneer Brewing
Pioneer Brewing is a new farm-based brewery in rural New South Wales. It uses its own grain in its beers and has started growing hops with the intention of using as much of its homegrown crops in the brewing process.
Voting Open For The Tenth Hottest 100 Beers
We've seen a growing number of breweries celebrate major milestones in recent years. Now even events celebrating the local craft beer industry are growing up. As voting opens in the tenth Hottest 100 Beers poll, we chat to one of its instigators.
Bottling The Farm
Van Dieman have released the first of their "estate ales" – beers brewed with ingredients grown and sourced entirely on Will Tatchell's family farm south of Launceston. Bert Spinks joined him for a tasting and tour of the farm he's finally bottled.
All Inn Goes All Out
All Inn Brewing was one of the first of the new wave of Brisbane breweries to open. Now, five years on, the Banyo operation has unveiled a new look, new beers and eye-catching new tinnies too.
Who Brews Whalebone Beers?
Hoping to add local beer to the long list of reasons for visiting Exmouth is Whalebone Brewing Company, which takes its name - and some of its building materials - from the area it calls home.
Kicking Goals
The connections between the country's smaller brewers and professional sports continue to grow. Stomping Ground is now pouring beers at Melbourne City home games, Six String has released a Central Coast Mariners beer and the trend looks likely to grow.
Music To Our Ears
Forum Melbourne has long been regarded by many as the city's best music venue. If you're a fan of local craft beer, it's got a whole lot better. During a major refurb, the owners installed their own tap system and now pour all Victorian beers.
Beer Power
Beer is once again being used as a force for good thanks to the team behind the Little Gippsland Brewing Co. They have launched Craft Draught with the aim of supporting community projects in their home region.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Pale Ales Pt II
Two months on from our look at American pale ales, we completed our two part blind tasting with a look at New World style pales. Who came out on top according to our panel of experts?
Crafty Cabal Update – 01.12.17
We've been a little slack in providing updates on what's been going on with The Crafty Cabal via the main Crafty site recently, relying on socials and the EDM. But we're here with plenty of updates now...
Pirate Life Sold To CUB
Pirate Life Brewing has been sold to CUB / AB InBev. You can read the media release here and find our interview with co-founder Mick Cameron linked below too.
More On The Pirate Life Sale to AB InBev
Following the announcement that Pirate Life has been sold to CUB/AB InBev, we chatted to the Adelaide brewery's co-founder Mick Cameron and Peter Filipovic of AB InBev to find out more.
Igniting A Sparkke
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, an all female beer (and other booze) company has set about raising awareness and funds for a range of causes with slogan-plastered cans. Matt King caught up with two of the members of the Sparkke Change team.
Changing The Date
Following the ABC's decision to move the date of the annual triple j Hottest 100 from Australia Day, the team behind the GABS Hottest 100 Beers poll has followed suit. The countdown for the best new beers of 2017 will take place on the fourth Saturday of January, with voting opening mid-December.
Confusion Deposit Scheme
New legislation designed to tackle litter in New South Wales is set to go live this Friday. Yet there are serious and growing concerns throughout the craft beer industry that the scheme is flawed and is set to affect small brewers disproportionately.
Crafty Crawls: The Hunter Valley
It's not all wine, you know. The Hunter Valley now has four breweries amid the vines. Neil Richardson took a tour of them all for this Crafty Crawl.
The Other Side Of The Coin
When Feral sold to Coca Cola Amatil last month, two iconic WA brands were affected. The other was Nail, which had been in partnership with Feral for the past six years. We caught up with Nail's John Stallwood to see what the sale means for him.
A Fixed Abode
Fans of Fixation's IPAs have an additional reason to get excited. The award-winning brewing company is less than six months away from opening a brewpub in Collingwood. Will Ziebell finds out more from Mr Fixation, Tom Delmont.
Decapod Grog
Help save the world's largest freshwater invertebrate by drinking beer! Moo Brew has partnered with The Wilderness Society to raise money to help protect the endangered Tasmanian giant freshwater lobster.
Drinking Even More History
Early in 2016, Peter Symons published Bronzed Brews, a collection of 42 recipes for long lost Australian beers that homebrewers could bring back to life. He enjoyed it so much, he's already produced a second book.
I'd Buy That For A Dollar
Wu-Tang Clan, Papua New Guinean bank notes, Norwegian farmhouse brewing, truffle cheese, German techno DJs and pseudo-Lambic ales... It's fair to say Ballarat based Dollar Bill Brewing isn't your common or garden brewing company. We caught up with the couple behind it.
Aussie Exports: Beerbliotek
Just before Christmas last year, a barman at Mother Kelly's in Bethnal Green was eager to point us in the direction of beers from Swedish outfit Beerbliotek, explaining they were producing some of the…
Who Brews Hoppin' Mad Beers?
While there’s no shortage of breweries in Australia that contain a reference to hops in their name, we’d wager there’s few – if any – whose name is also a reference to jazz legends or plastic saxophones. Meet Sydney gypsies Hoppin' Mad.
The Big Issue: Brewer Shortage
As the craft beer industry continues to expand at a rate of knots, it's experiencing growing pains. Among them is a shortage of experienced brewers, an issue that can prove costly, time-consuming and, potentially, dangerous.
Crafty Crawls: Brisbane's Suburban Bars II
In part two of her Crawl through Brisbane's 'burbs, Julia Charalambous heads to the south. There, new breweries sit alongside crafty venues and bottleshops to offer locals plenty of the good stuff, often as fresh as you could wish for.
Crafty Crawls: Brisbane's Suburban Bars I
Breweries and venues serving up the good stuff are popping up further and further away from Brisbane's CBD. Here, in part one of a two-part Crafty Crawl, Jules Charalambous checks out some gems in Brisbane's northside.
Brew & A: Charlie Hodgson
The rapid growth of the beer industry in and around Brisbane continues apace. Among the newcomers is Helios Brewing, a Yeerongpilly based operation that made a great signing before launch, snapping up Mash's trophy-winning brewer Charlie Hodgson.
The Perks Of Being Crafty
If things like free beer, exclusive events, competitions and free festival tickets get you excited, you should become a Crafty Pint supporter by joining The Crafty Cabal. Here's a short video explaining how it works.
Price Wars Revisited
Back in May, we ran a two-part Secret Brewer feature looking at the price war going on in parts of Australia. Six months on, it's intensifying and spreading, according to a number of brewers we've spoken to.
Brew & A: Keith Grice
The Hunter Valley today boasts quite the collection of diverse microbreweries. But, for many years, there was just one: the Hunter Beer Co based at Potters Hotel. Keith Grice has been at the brewing helm for the past decade; we find out more.
Help Us Get Blind: Pale Ale Voting Round II
With American style pale ales done and dusted, it's time for part two of our two-part pale ale blind tasting. Here, we're looking at more New World style pales and want you to help us select the field for the panel.
Cans, Bands and Beer Lands
The combination of good music and craft beer has become a common sight at music festivals across the United States. In Australia, progress is slower, but the ironclad grip of the big boys is slowly loosening and local Australian breweries are sneaking their way in.
Who Brews Blasta Beers?
In just two years, Steven Russell has gone from his first homebrew to launching Blasta Brewing and next year will open a brewpub designed to be a community hub as well as a home for his beers. We found out more.
Aussie Exports: The Beer Podcast
For the most part, our Aussie Exports series has focused on Australians who have found work in breweries in other parts of the world. Today, we feature a pair doing something rather different: running a beer podcast from their adopted home of London.
A Day In The Life Of A Barrel Room: Goose Island
From one of the largest barrel programs in the Southern Hemisphere to one 50 times its size... Here we step inside Goose Island's Barrel House in Chicago, home to 15,000 barrels and the legendary Bourbon County Stout.
A Day In The Life Of A Barrel Room: Boatrocker
In May, Boatrocker and Goose Island came together to create a barrel aged beer together. Given they're at the forefront of barrel ageing in their respective countries, the release of October Beer seemed a perfect opportunity for us to run side-by-side features on life in their barrel rooms.
Who Brews Farmhouse Ginger Beer?
Both farmhouse ales and soured beers have been rising in popularity for some time. Yet has Australia seen a farmhouse ginger beer yet? It's the beer chosen by the team behind the Welder's Dog bars to launch their brewery. We find out more.
