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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.
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.
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?"
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 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.
The Collaborators: Binary Beer
A homebrewer is working with a team at the University of Wollongong to create a keg tracking device that could offer brewers real-time information their kegs. Binary Beer is currently being trialled with Five Barrel Brewing and the Headland Hotel.
How The West Was Won
The west of Melbourne is undergoing a period of massive growth, and craft beer is expanding right alongside it. The Crafty Pint visited new venues Mr West and Bar Josephine, as well as Two Birds, to find out what the west will do next.
Roll Out The Barrels
This week sees Hawkers Beer release not one, not two, but four different barrel aged imperial stouts at the same time. With even grander plans for its barrel program in the future, we find out more from CEO Mazen Hajjar.
The Story Of: Moon Dog Black Lung
With the seventh iteration set to leave the brewery this week, we chat to Moon Dog co-founder Josh Uljans about the only special release to be released annually. This is The Story Of: Black Lung.
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Beer Nuts: Michael Doulton
When it comes to dedication to the cause, you'll find few who can top Michael Doulton. For our latest Beer Nuts feature, Matt King steps inside one of the more remarkable beer caves you're ever likely to see.
Behind Bars: Jac Morgan
Behind Bars sees The Crafty Pint hop around the country asking people behind reputable beer bars what they're seeing in front of them: what are people drinking, what are the coming styles and so on. This time, it's Jac from Melbourne's Dr Morse.
Brew & A: Mornington's Barrel Man
Earlier this month, Mornington Peninsula Brewery released the first beer from its barrel program, the luscious Old Pumping Station. Overseeing the program is young brewer Kristian Martin. Here, we find out more about him.
Boatrocker's Kindred Spirits
Boatrocker is to merge with award-winning gin and vodka producer Hippocampus Metropolitan Distillery. The West Perth distillery will move in its entirety to the Boatrocker Barrel Room in the coming months.
Behind Bars: Zach Hill
There's been a fair bit focus on Ballarat recently, with the launch a Beer Trail and announcements of a $100m brewery project and a Brewing Centre of Excellence. Here, one of the city's barmen tells us what's happening on the ground.
Wildflower Blooming
Dozens of breweries will open their doors across Australia in 2017. They will come in all shapes and sizes, but we doubt any will be quite like Wildflower. Nick O spent time with the blendery's driving force, Topher Boehm.
Our Man In NZ: Spontaneity
In his latest article on the New Zealand beer scene, Jono Galuszka talks to two of the men exploring beer's "final frontier". They are two of a growing number of brewers turning their attention to spontaneous fermentation.
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.
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.
Raising The Stakes
The Hobart craft beer scene continues to expand. After a period spent brewing at Belgrove Distillery, T-Bone Brewing has opened the doors of its NoHo brewery to the public. Ruth Dawkins caught up with its owners.
Best New Tasmanian Beers of 2016
It's time for the fifth of our seven roundups of the Best New Beers of 2016. This time, we head south to the state that's enjoyed huge recent expansion in the number of brewing companies, even though half a dozen hog this year's list.
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.
Behind Bars: Mane Liquor at 10
On November 14, Mane Liquor celebrated ten years in business. In this extended Behind Bars article, owners Elliot Moore and Josh Daley talked to Guy Southern about witnessing a decade of craft beer evolution from behind the counter.
Behind Bars: Nick Pogonoski
There was a time when Tooheys was pretty much all you could hope for in Newcastle, but today venues such as the Grain Store are bring craft beer to the people. For our Behind Bars series, the venue's manager Nick Pogonoski tells us where tastes are at in Newy.
The Finer Things: Beer and Fine Dining
While craft beer has snuck its way onto growing numbers of beer lists in pubs and bars, the realm of fine dining is still primarily dominated by grape rather than grain. But, in certain pockets of Australia, beer is beginning to be treated with equal reverence.
Cool Times In Tassie
Last year, we wrote about Van Dieman's plans for a 100 percent estate grown ale. Now the Tasmanian brewery has taken another step into the unknown and brewed its first beers in a custom designed coolship.
Behind Bars: Dane Adkins
We've written plenty about the burgeoning SA beer scene. Now, in our second Behind Bars feature, the owner of Sweet Amber Brew Café tells us what's hot at his bar and where he sees Adelaide's beer scene heading.
Brew & A: La Sirène Ben
Costa Nikias is the face of La Sirène, Melbourne's "urban farmhouse" brewery. But, through 2016, a brewer previously at Beavertown has become central to all things La Sirene. He's Ben Turley and is the focus of this Brew & A.
High Hopes
A few lesser known names appeared among the trophy winners at this year's Craft Beer Awards. No one was more surprised at Hope Estate's Champion Brewery win than its brewer, Matt, who spoke to Will Ziebell about his beers and plans for cans.
South Australia's Next Wave Pt II
Last Wednesday, we showcased three of the new brewing companies set to launch in SA in the coming months. Here, Matt King gets the lowdown on four more that hope to have their first beers out soon.
Mead Made Modern
A tiny number of Australian brewers have played with mead and braggots, but there's now a small yet growing number of people specialising in these ancient beverages. Marie Claire Jarratt spoke to some of them in her debut article for the site.
South Australia's Next Wave Pt I
Recent years have seen the South Australian brewing scene expand rapidly. And there's little sign of things slowing down soon, as Matt King discovered when he made contact with the next wave of brewers coming through.
Behind Bars: Josh Edmeades
Is anyone better placed to tell you what's hot in the beer world than the beer gurus at the country's best venues? Today, we kick off Behind Bars, a series that asks bar staff around Australia what their customers are digging.
Beer Travel: Malaysia
Five years ago, two Melbourne brothers enticed their cousins to join them and open a craft beer bar in Kuala Lumpur. Taps has ended up spawning Malaysia's nascent craft beer scene, as Kerry McBride discovers.
Now Is The Sour
While some might have forecast the renaissance that beer has been enjoying globally, would many have predicted the rise of sours? Award-winning writer Michael Donaldson laps up the tsunami of sours breaking on Kiwi shores.
Storming the Beaches
4 Pines is to further stamp its claim to be a Northern Beaches brewery with the opening of three new venues over the coming months. They include a restaurant, speciality barrel-aged beer venue and a bakery.
The Crafty Dozen – July 2016
It's only a few weeks since our last roundup of new listings on the site but, as the Crafty team expands with the industry, we're adding them faster than ever. So here's 12 more breweries, bars and bottleshops for you.
Canning & Expanding
It's all change at Barossa Valley Brewing as one of the longest-established of SA's microbreweries expands and repackages its beers in cans. It's also in the process of establishing its Tanunda base as a mid-size contract facility, as Matt King discovered.
Wild Things
With a reputation for walking on the wild side well established, Kiwi trailblazers Garage Project are set to get wilder still. Kerry McBride joined them for a tour of their new Wild Workshop where they'll be working with barrels, foeders and a coolship.
Brew & A: Hobart Brewing Company
The return of our not-often-enough-for-our-liking brewer Q&A series heads south to Hobart. There, amid a flurry of new brewery openings, you find Hobart Brewing Company, whose head brewer Scott Overdorf has seen more beer than most.
From Wellington to Wellington
Having swapped New Zealand for Australia during the GFC, a Wellington couple has found themselves striking out in a new direction at the foot of Mount Wellington. We meet the Clarksons as they launch Hobart's newest brewery, Fox Friday.
Starward Bound
Australian whisky makers are garnering serious attention across the world – and from local brewers keen to lay their hands on used barrels. We visited Melbourne's Starward, best known to beer lovers for its involvement in Boatrocker's Ramjet.
Ocho's Online Brewery
The flurry of new brewing companies opening in Tasmania continues apace. Yet it's fair to say that Ocho stands out. Not just because it opened with a barrel-aged saison, but because its means of getting beer to punters is rather unusual.
Aussie Exports: From Wollongong to Toronto
From home brewing in Wollongong to barrel aged sours in Toronto, David Everitt is living out quite the dream. In the second of our Aussie Export articles, he tells us how it came to pass and offers insights into the Canadian beer scene.
Two Heads Are Better Than One
It took years for Ty Capaci to convert wife Amanda to the benefits of his home brew. But he did such a good job, they've now opened Double Head Brewing together, adding yet another microbrewery to the Tasmanian beer scene.
A Complete Shambles
The craft beer scene in Hobart continues its dizzying rise. The latest brewpub to open in the Tasmanian capital is also one of the most polished you'll find in Australia. As Ruth Dawkins discovers, it's a case of Shambles by name not nature.
The Story Of: Boatrocker Ramjet
For the second in our series looking at the story behind some of the coolest, most iconic or most sought after beers in Australia we showcase Boatrocker's Ramjet. The imperial stout even has its own day, with the first Ramjet Day on April 9, 2016.
Aussie Beer Blogs: The Beer Healer
When he left his job with Lion, Chris Lukianenko was still keen to have an outlet for his passion for beer. So he launched The Beer Healer blog in the middle of 2015, a blog that has been developing very nicely ever since.
Trials and Fermentations
Former Moo Brew head brewer turned Australian hop guru Owen Johnston has returned to brewing. Hop Trial is his way of trying to educate people about the much-loved ingredient via beer. Ruth Dawkins met him to find out more.
The Story Of: Watermelon Warhead
We're kicking off a new series looking at the story behind some of the coolest, most iconic and downright funky beers to come out of Australia. With 100 kegs ready for a major release, first up is Feral's Watermelon Warhead.
