Best New Beers of 2015: Western Australia
We're (almost) at the halfway mark in our look back at the new beers released across Australia in 2015. This time we move to WA, where two of our regular contributors joined a pair of local beer experts to select their pick of the year.
Who Brews As Bad Shepherd?
It's not that long ago that Dereck Hales took up home brewing. Soon afterwards, he was winning competitions for his beers. And now he's quit the corporate world to open the Bad Shepherd brewpub with wife Diti Haniotis in Cheltenham.
Best New Beers of 2015: South Australia
The beer scene is booming in South Australia. Recent years have seen an explosion of new brewing companies and there's now a growing number of venues supporting them. Matt King gathered a panel to pick the best new beers to come out of the state this year.
Who Brews Watts River Beers?
When Lion announced its decision to move White Rabbit to Geelong, many bemoaned its loss from Healesville. But now two former White Rabbit brewers and their partners have set about bringing a new brewery to the town.
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Eastbound And Down
The southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are now home to a remarkable number of breweries. Kerry McBride spoke to some of the brewers now – or very soon to be – calling the area home about what makes it so appealing.
Best New Beers of 2015: Tasmania
We kick off our end of year best of roundups in Tasmania. A panel of beer gurus gathered at Saint John Craft Beer to chew the fat and come up with their top 10 from all the new releases in the state in 2015.
The Theatre Of Indulgence
New Collingwood venue The Craft & Co is looking to bring craft beer, spirits, meat and more together under one roof. The plan is also to give new brewing companies a foothold in the industry. Kerry McBride checked it out.
Vote For The Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers
It's time to vote for your favourite beers of 2015 as the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll returns. The poll launched by The Local Taphouse eight years ago has become a national event, with results announced once again on Australia Day.
Down The Rabbit Hole
Last year, Lion announced it was closing the White Rabbit brewery in Healesville and moving Little Creatures' little sibling to Geelong. The move – and considerable expansion and diversification – is now complete, as Kerry McBride discovered.
Canny Moovers
Tasmania's highest profile microbrewery has been celebrating its tenth birthday with a "Month of Moo" celebrations across the state. It enters its 11th year with plans to launch its beers in cans and sights set overseas, as Ruth Dawkins discovered.
Fixated On IPA
Australia is set to get its first IPA brewing company. Fixation is a new venture between the Stone & Wood Group and IPA-loving former Mountain Goat rep, Melbourne beer legend Tom Delmont, that will release nothing but India Pale Ales.
Enter The Cabal
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The Big Issue: Branding
As the beer landscape in Australia becomes ever more crowded and competition intensifies, it's not enough simply to brew good beer. How a brewery presents itself and its beers is perhaps more crucial then ever before, so we're addressing branding as our second "Big Issue" topic.
40 Acres Brewing
His working life as a Navy electrician has taken him to China, Vietnam, Malaysia and China again. But, following a holiday on the Murray, Trevor Mitchell has planted his family on land in Central Victoria and turned 25 years of home brewing nous into 40 Acres Brewing.
Five Star Deluxe Treatment
The long-mooted expansion of the Beer DeLuxe brand across Australia is gathering pace. In the coming weeks, new venues will open in Wagga Wagga and Darling Harbour with more planned, as Nick O discovers.
Beer Travel: Bushwalking with Beer
Having returned from the outer reaches of Northern Europe to his home state of Tasmania, wandering storyteller Bert Spinks has been out bushwalking. Here, he ponders the whys and wherefores of doing it with beer.
Who Brews Hair Of The Dog XPA?
They met as part of the Merri Mashers, one of the youngest yet most proactive home brew clubs in Victoria, then decided that if they were making good beer, while not test it out on the public. And thus was born Old Wives Ales.
Bowling for Brews
Many bowling clubs have embraced easy-going evenings of Barefoot Bowling to help them survive. Others are turning to craft beer. Kerry McBride joined brewers, beer lovers and bowlers at Melbourne's Flem-Ken Bowlo to find out why.
