WA
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Canvas. Comic Strip. Can.
Following on from our look at branding in the beer industry, Ross Lewis chats to a couple of designers working on Australian breweries' cans as well as a brewery owner whose tinnies are among the most spectacular you'll see.
The Big Issue: Branding Revisited
With the marketplace becoming ever busier, cans on the rise and breweries rebranding seemingly every week, it's time to revisit the issue of branding. Over two days, our trio of WA writers examine one of the great challenges facing brewers.
Meet The Beeries
If two awards nights in 24 hours wasn't enough to sate you, don't worry: The Beeries is coming. It's a beer awards with a difference, one that focuses on the broader beer community and the people within and comes to Brisbane in September.
Bodriggy Takes Top Award In SA
It was a mixture of faces old and new as the trophies were handed out at the 2017 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. Among the winners were Pirate Life, Bodriggy, Nail, Vale, Coopers and Little Bang Brewing.
Craft Beer Awards Winners 2017
Dainton Family Brewery, 4 Pines, Fixation and the Wheaty Brewing Corps were the big winners at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards, collecting the major trophies at the Independent Brewers Association's big night in Adelaide.
River Of Gold
In just 18 months, the trophy cabinet at Brewhouse Margaret River has become a well-stocked affair. On the back of trophies at the Perth Royal Beer Show awards, Ross Lewis finds out more about the young brewery and its fine dark beers.
The Golden Handshake
Outgoing Feral sales boss Steve Finney was sent off in fine style last night as the beer brewed as his farewell gift picked up a trophy at the Perth Royal Beer Awards. There was major success for Margaret River Brewhouse too.
Is The Tide Turning On Tax?
In today's increasingly polarised society, it takes something special to bring opposing factions together. Maybe craft beer can be the answer. This week saw Labor and Liberal politicians unite to call for fairer treatment of and greater support for craft brewers.
Making Inner West The Best
Five brewers today launched a new brewing association for Sydney's Inner West in the company of a trio of local politicians. They've grand plans for their home, which has the greatest density of microbreweries in Australia.
Aussie Beer Blogs: Sydney Beer
Sydney Beer is, we'd suggest, rather more than a blog. Tim Hodge has created a place where he gathers news, events, opinion and more, all united by one thing: they take place in or are about the burgeoning Sydney craft beer scene.
The Golden Goose: On Beer's Frontier
Goose Island's arrival in Australia represents the meeting point between the biggest of Big Beer and Australia's craft beer industry. We find out why it's a big deal and ask what it means within the rapidly evolving landscape here and globally.
Beer Travel: The Other High Country Beer Trail
The High Country Brewery Trail in North East Victoria is one of the most popular and rewarding trips an Aussie beer tourist can take. The region is also home to some fine craft beer supporting pubs. And here are the best of them.
Our Man In NZ: Kiwi Hops
The New Zealand hop industry produces some of the most sought after varieties in the world. Jono Galuszka spent time with NZ Hops and one of the lead scientists behind the development of new hops to find out more.
Australian International Beer Awards Winners 2017
Last night's beer awards in Melbourne put the seal on an incredible first year for Balter as the Gold Coast brewery took out three major trophies. They were among several multiple winners, which included several locals and Dagon from Myanmar.
The Secret Brewer: Price Wars Pt II
Yesterday, we presented an article from The Secret Brewer claiming a price war poses serious challenges and issues for the Australian craft beer industry. Here, a brewery owner, a sales rep and a venue owner respond to those claims.
The Secret Brewer: Price Wars
For the past couple of years, there has been much discussion around the prevalence of low priced kegs – and more recently cases – hitting the markets, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. This Secret Brewer two-parter asks if it's good for beer.
A Day In The Life Of: A Beer Judge
Next month sees brewers and beer experts from across the globe gather in Melbourne for the Australian International Beer Awards. But what goes into being a beer judge? Is it the best job in the world. Nick O find out.
Brew & A: Thirsty Crow
Craig Wealands wasted little time putting Wagga's Thirsty Crow on the map, winning an AIBA trophy for his Vanilla Milk Stout within months of opening. With his new, bigger brewpub firing on all cylinders, he fielded questions in our latest Brew & A.
The Artisan
There are few people in Australia who have explored so many facets of the beer world as Brian Fitzgerald. Now winning plaudits for his Belgian style beers as Artisan Brewing, he's a beer judge, Cicerone, yeast importer and more.
Brew & A: Brendan O'Sullivan of 3 Ravens
As sour beers continue to grow in popularity, one man well set to reap the rewards is Brendan O'Sullivan. The 3 Ravens head brewer has been exploring that realm with success since long before he became a commercial brewer.
The Beers Really From Up Here
There's been plenty of talk about the rise of craft beer in Queensland in recent years. For the most part, it's been centred around the state's South East but, as Will Ziebell finds, it's gaining a toehold in the Far North too.
Betting On The Farm
Next month will see the first beers released by Rocky Ridge Brewing Co. The WA operation aims to be totally self sufficient, growing and harvesting all of its ingredients on the family dairy farm near Busselton.
Sailing On White Lakes
Former Swan Brewery man Sean Symons has returned to brewing, taking up the reins at the impressive new Whitelakes operation in Perth. Ross Lewis joined him to talk beer, brewing and grand plans for expansion.
Grab The Slab
Journalist Glen Humphries was already writing a beer book when he scooped the 2016 AIBA Media Award. That win changed his view on his writing and inspired him to turn it into a very different beer book, The Slab.
Beer Travel: High Country Part I
The High Country Brewery Trail has expanded to stretch hundreds of kilometres and include seven breweries. Over the course of a three day weekend, Kerry McBride stopped in at each and every one.
Mall Brewing
The team behind Perth's Northbridge Brewing Company is set to open a brewpub in a northern suburbs shopping mall. And the move could be a sign of things to come as the nature of shopping centres evolves.
Behind Bars: Joel Beresford
For our first Behind Bars interview with one of Australia's leading venue operators, we return to WA to chat with Joel Beresford. He's Perth's Mr Beer, is involved in many facets of the industry and just loves his sours.
Through The Looking Glass
While 2016 was a monumental year in many pretty terrible ways globally, for craft beer in Australia it was another in which we witnessed huge growth and ever greater diversity. So surely we're set for even greater things to come.
The Crafty Dozen – December 2016
Our latest roundup of the latest breweries, venues and bottleshops added to our directories is actually more of a baker's dozen as we got a little ahead ourselves. So here's the last 13 of the 73 new additions to the site in 2016.
Best New NSW Beers Of 2016
We reach the midway point in our Best New Beers review with a look back at the year in NSW. It features almost entirely younger operations from the state, plus a few beers that may have snuck out in 2015 but hit the big time in 2016.
Best New WA Beers of 2016
Part two of our look back at 2016's best new beers heads to the birthplace of modern Aussie craft beer. There our panel finds fascination in collaboration and is impressed by some of the lesser known lights of the local industry.
Brew & A: Cowaramup at 10
Margaret River has long been home to a good number of brewing companies; these days it must be the most populous of any region of Australia. One of the longest established is Cowaramup, which marks a decade since opening today.
Beers From The Otherside
Ideas for brewing companies can come from anywhere. In the case of Otherside, the aim was to create beers and cider for major events in WA. Guy Southern chats to the two guys charged with bringing Sunset Events plan to life.
The Crafty Dozen – November 2016 Mk II
As suspected, we've had such a flurry of new brewery, venue and bottleshop listings to add to the site in the past few weeks that we've got a second dozen to round up before November is out. Here they are...
