News & Feature Stories
Crafty Crawls: Redfern
As the 2017 Sydney Beer Week kicks off, we return to the streets of the New South Wales capital for another Crafty Crawl. Here, Judd Owen takes us through Redfern in the manner only he can.
The Collaborators: Ryefield Hops
The owners of a former dairy farm in the south of New South Wales have embarked on a new direction: hop farming. Ryefield Hops harvested its first crop earlier this year, with some of those hops going into Waratah, an all NSW beer released by Wildflower during Sydney Beer Week.
Craft Beer Heroes: Clodagh Harris
As The Fox Hotel in Collingwood prepares to host its tenth birthday bash, we caught up with one of its three founders. Clodagh Harris has been working in and around beer in Melbourne for two decades, educating and inspiring many others along the way.
Crafty Crawls: Far North Queensland
In late 2013, The Crafty Pint travelled with Mountain Goat to Cairns for the launch of their Summer Ale cans. It's fair to say, those cases were almost the only craft beer to be found in the region. Since then, however, much has changed.
Archer Takes Off
A new brewery is taking flight in Brisbane this month. Archer Brewing has been launched by former pilot Stuart Martin, wife Lucy and the man behind Croft Brewing and has found an underground home in the base of the city's International Hotel.
Getting Blind With Crafty: American Pale Ales
With so many pale ales on the market today, we split our latest tasting into two rounds. First to be put to the blind taste test was American style pales, with New World to follow before the year is out. Who did our panel put on top?
The Story Of: Little Creatures Rogers'
Little Creatures' new Single Batch Reinhold is "Rogers' German cousin", according to head brewer Russ Gosling. It led Ross Lewis to catch up with one of the Rogers' whose name adorns the mid-strength ale for a journey down Memory Lane.
Coca-Cola Amatil Buys Feral Brewing
WA trailblazer Feral Brewing has become the latest leading Australian craft brewery to sell its business to a multinational operation. Today, it was announced the business has been acquired 100 percent by Coca-Cola Amatil.
Bickford's Buys Vale Brewing
Two of the country's biggest craft brewers have been sold on the same day, with news that The Bickford's Group has bought Vale Brewing following Coca-Cola Amatil's purchase of Feral Brewing Co.
Who Brews On The Western Ridge?
From a single keg first release to expletive-bearing tinnies and nine other beers along the way, it's been a busy first 11 months for the fiercely local and independent Western Ridge Brewing Collective from the Barossa Valley.
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Strait Forward
In the grand scheme of things, Tasmania isn't that far from the mainland. Yet the Bass Strait has proven a challenging hurdle for most of the state's small brewers. Change could be at hand, however, as Will Ziebell discovers.
The Story Of: La Sirène Saison
Traditionally, saisons were brewed to be consumed in the warmer months. As we (allegedly) head in that direction in Australia, we caught up with the man who has put farmhouse style ales at the heart of everything he does.
Garage Project On Top At NZ Beer Awards
Garage Project was named New Zealand's Champion Brewery at the weekend's NZ Brewers Guild Beer Awards. Other winners included names both familiar and unfamiliar to Aussie beer drinkers, while the Beer Writer of the Year went to a woman for the first time.
Rocks Taken Off The Market
The owners of Rocks Brewing have taken the brewery off the market. Earlier this year, they announced the brewery and venue in Alexandria were for sale, although they planned to continue making beers under the Rocks banner.
Goat At 20 – Part II
Time to bring the story up to date. In part II of our look back at two decades of Mountain Goat, we tell the last 11 of the 20 stories of people, moments and beers that helped build the Melbourne legend.
Enter The Netherworld
Brisbane has its offbeat bars. And Australia has other venues that combine gaming and arcades with craft beer. But there's quite possibly never been anything quite like Netherworld. Ahead of its huge Monster Menagerie, we crawl tentatively inside...
Mountain Goat At 20 – Part I
Mountain Goat wasn't the first craft brewery to launch in Australia but for many beer drinkers, especially those from Melbourne, it has a special place in their heart. As it turns 20, we head back across the two decades in the company of owners and staff, past and present.
New Business Directory Goes Live
The Crafty Pint has added a new business directory to the site. It is designed to complement those we have for breweries, venues and bottleshops and help beer businesses reach our audience to find new customers.
Beer Travel: Nelson-Tasman
While Wellington claims to be New Zealand’s "craft beer capital" and cities like Christchurch and Auckland occasionally stake a claim for the title, the Nelson/Tasman area feels like its home. Our Man In NZ Jono Galuszka recounts his weeklong road trip through the area,
Ballpark Figures
The announcement of Gage Road’s exclusive supply rights to the new Perth Stadium is another accolade for a brewery that continues to build momentum. Guy Southern spoke with National Sales & Marketing Manager, Scott Player, about the road to the deal and what’s next.
Beer Travel: 48 Hours In Portland
To suggest you could conquer Portland in anything less than literal years is an utter falsehood. If time is limited, the best one can hope for is to tick off beer meccas such as Deschutes or Cascade while hoping to get under the skin of one of the world's best beer cities. Kerry McBride gave it a go.
Craft Beer To Pour At New Perth Stadium
Gage Roads has continued its run of success on multiple fronts by winning the right to pour its beers at the new Perth Stadium. It is reported that the Palmyra based brewery beat off competition from brewing giants to seal the deal.
Heathcote's Hops
A nanobrewery and tiny hop farm join forces this weekend to launch their collaborative Wet Hop IPA as part of a mission to show Heathcote can be known for more than Shiraz. We spoke to Skull Gully Hops and Cornella Real ahead of the launch.
Roads To Royalty
At last night's awards dinner the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show handed out a record number of gold medals with Gage Roads, Bridge Road Brewers and The Australian Brewery among the big winners.
AB InBev Buys 4 Pines
In news that will send shockwaves through the Australian beer industry, it has been announced today that AB InBev has taken 100 percent ownership of 4 Pines. It is the global brewing giant's first Australian purchase since merging with SABMiller.
4 Pines: Behind The Sale
Following a courtship of more than 12 months, 4 Pines today became a 100 percent owned subsidiary of AB InBev. We spoke to brewery co-founder Jaron Mitchell and Peter Filipovic at AB InBev to find out more on the background to the sale.
Whitfords Brings Craft Beer To Westfield
The team behind Perth's Northbridge Brewing Co has opened its second venue. Whitfords Brewing Co is find in the unlikely location of a suburban Westfield shopping mall and looks set to pull the crowds.
Russian Moo-lette
In one of the more innovative promotional gambits we've seen, Moo Brew founder David Walsh has commissioned a roulette style vending machine filled with the brewery's cans – and one option drinkers may wish to give the bullet.
Brewsvegas Celebrates Its First Beeries
Queensland's craft beer community came together en masse last night to celebrate The Beeries, an awards with a difference. Instead of judging beers and breweries, it handed out awards to the people that make up the state's industry.
Craft Beer Takes Flight
In another positive step for small, independent brewers in Australia, Cheeky Monkey has secured a spot on all Singapore Airlines flights to and from Perth. Since then, Green Beacon and BentSpoke have been confirmed as partners too.
Help Us Get Blind: Pale Ale Double Header
For our next blind tasting, we're going to return to pale ales for the first time since 2013. With so many available, we're splitting the tasting into two sessions – New World and American pales – and want your help compiling the lineup.
Big In Japan
Three Victorian breweries are celebrating collecting multiple medal hauls in one of Asia's biggest beer competitions at the weekend. Holgate led the way with four medals at the International Beer Cup in Japan as Mountain Goat and Edge won two each.
A Brewer Walks Into A Winery...
Ahead of the launch of Molly Rose Brewing, young brewer Nic Sandery has been immersing himself in beer cultures across the world and writing about them for us. More recently, he immersed himself in wine too.
The Pinny Restored
Almost two years after a fire destroyed much of the building, one of Melbourne's iconic pubs is back to full strength. Will Ziebell caught up with Fitzroy Pinnacle owner Leigh Wilkes as his staff prepare to serve the first meals since November 2015.
Beer Travel: Much Ado About Pliny
Russian River Brewing Company - the home of Pliny the Elder - is one of the world's most admired breweries. Kerry McBride caught up with its owners to hear the lengths they go to so in keeping their fans sated and asks: "Will their beers ever make it to Australia?"
Crafty Crawls: The Great Ocean Road
Any trip along the Great Ocean Road always came with the promise of natural beauty and jaw-dropping experiences – unless you were after good beer. Today, with a number of small breweries calling the region home, the situation is much improved.
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.
Retro Philter
The Craft Beer Awards have had a tendency to turn the spotlight on new brewing companies. And that was no different in 2017 as four-month-old Philter took out Champion Pale Ale. We chat to the well travelled brewer at the helm.
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.
Who Brews at the Ministry Of Beer?
While the state's bigger names tend to grab the headlines, South Australia has seen a large number of smaller operations come to life in the past couple of years. One of them is the experimental, farm based Ministry of Beer.
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.
Beer Nuts: Rosemarie Ensink
There are few characters more colourful in the Australian beer community than Rosie Ensink – and not just because of her neon chameleon like hair. Here, Graham Frizzell delves deep into her beery obsession as she becomes our latest Beer Nut.
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.
The Collaborators: More Craft Malt
Hops tend to grab most of the craft beer world's attention when it comes to beer's core ingredients, but as more maltings – big and small – open across Australia, giving brewers new malt varieties to play with, the much-loved flowers may soon be sharing a little of the limelight.
Beer Nuts: Paul Cooke
Talk about dedication to the cause. Paul and Laura Cooke have taken a year away from teaching to tour Australia, calling in to as many breweries as they can, with Paul writing notes for every beer along the way. A true Beer Nut!
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.
Craft Beer Heroes: Liam Pereira
Within the Australian craft beer community, there is a handful of characters almost everyone seems to know – or at least knows of. Liam Pereira is one of those characters. We caught up with him as he prepares to oversee his first Sydney Beer Week.
Bombers Beer
At the start of a big week for the club, Essendon has just lined up an end of season treat for its fans. Players were on hand at Colonial's brewery today to help package Bombers Beer, now available in cans decorated in the club's iconic colours.
