What makes a great boozer great? In a unique new series, award-winning beer writer and podcaster Luke Robertson sets out to find the answer, breaking down the experience of going out in Australia in the company of experts.
Inside a 130-year-old building in The Rocks, Harts Pub is a ten-year-old bar that's won the gratitude of Sydney beer drinkers and Australian independent breweries alike as one of the city's earliest adopters of craft beer.
What started as two guys hand-packing boxes of beer to put in the mail has grown into one of Australia's largest online beer retailers. It's fair to say Beer Cartel have come a long way in ten years.
They may not offer bars lined with taps – or lengthy bottle and can lists – but, since a 2013 law change opened the door for them, many of Adelaide's small bars have been leading the way with craft beer, with enthusiastic staff serving well curated offerings.
Gen and Michael Cotter started bringing good booze to Melbourne's eastern suburbs a decade and a half ago. As they prepare to open Rosalita's – a third venue in the same building – we caught up with the team.
The brothers behind Copper & Oak have been selling booze to the people of Perth for more than 15 years. Guy Southern called in for a chat to see what they make of the fast-changing beer scene that surrounds them.
Big Ears is one of the bars working hard to bring better beer - along with tasty meatballs - to the people of Geelong. Ainsley Killingback is chief beer proselytist and here tells us about Geelong's crafty credentials.
Melbourne Airport is to get its own brewery, with Stomping Ground set to open their third venue there this coming summer. It's part of a revamp of the airport's offering designed to showcase Melbourne's food and drink scene.
He's one of the beer world's most colourful of characters – most passionate advocates too. For this Behind Bars feature, we get some insight on the Perth and WA beer scene from the inimitable Amos at Old Faithful.
There could be good news on the horizon for Newcastle's small brewers following an announcement that a trial from Sydney's Inner West is set for the city and would allow them to sell full-sized beers instead of just tasters to customers.