beer fest

Be A Pint of Origin Host Venue In 2025

Yes, May 2025 is still seven months away, but Pint of Origin waits for nobody. So, if you'd like your venue to be part of the one-of-a-kind festival when it returns to Melbourne for a thirteenth time, now's the time to let us know!

Ten Lessons From Ten Years: Bendigo On The Hop

Ahead of the tenth Bendigo On The Hop, we got in touch with event founder Trev Birks for the first festival-themed entry into our Ten Lessons From Ten Years series.

Beer Nuts: Tom Madden

Tom Madden has been a regular sight at beer festivals for years – and now has his own. Ahead of the first Obsidian Dark Beer Festival, Tom tells us how his passion for beer led him to become more than just a drinker.

Pint of Origin 2024 Consumer Survey

Pint of Origin 2024 is in the bag. Before we start looking ahead to the next one, we'd love to hear from those of you who took part: What did you enjoy the most? Did you grab a Passport? What could we do better in the future?

Time For Some PoOsitivity

Pint of Origin 2024 is set to enter its final weekend after enjoying a sparkling opening so, to get attendees into the mood for more, we've rounded some of the best clips from when the festival hit the major networks.

For The Love Of Beer: Bringing The World's Kegs To Pint of Origin

As Pint of Origin returns for a 12th time from May 10 to 19, we take a look behind the scenes at the huge amount of time and effort that goes into bringing the world of beer to Melbourne for ten days every year.

Pint of Origin 2024 Is Ready To Roll

Australia's biggest, longest, most delicious and diverse pub crawl returns to Melbourne next month. The full website is now live, meaning you can apply for your 2024 Pint of Origin Passport, ready for another beer-filled adventure.

Sydney Beer Week To Return In 2024

​Sydney Beer Week is to return in 2024, bringing to an end a six-year beer week drought for the city's beer lovers. We spoke to the duo behind its comeback about their plans to breathe fresh life into the city's beer scene next October.

Festive Cheer?

Summer brings with it a raft of beer festivals of all shapes and sizes. But there are concerns about how they will fare this time around as consumers continue to tighten their belts and the costs of staging major events rise.

Pint of Origin 2023: Meet The Aussies

Pint of Origin kicks off for an 11th time this Friday, bringing almost 1,000 different beers to 20 of the city's best pubs and bars from May 12 to 21. In our second preview, we take a look at what to expect from the Aussie venues.

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Pint of Origin Merch – Available Now!

Pint of Origin returns to Melbourne from May 12 to 21, with almost 1,000 different beers from across the planet set to hit taps at 20 Melbourne pubs and bars. And now festival fans can get their hands on the first ever official merch.

Get Your Hands On The Pint Of Origin Golden Passport!

Pint of Origin returns to Melbourne from May 12 to 21. It's bigger than ever, with around 1,000 beers hitting taps at 20 of the city's best pubs and bars. And you don't have to wait that long to get involved – there's a Golden Passport up for grabs!

Meet The 2023 Pint of Origin Beer

After a few rounds of voting and much discussion within The Crafty Pint team, we have a name for the 2023 Pint of Origin beer. Congratulations to Tim Brady for his winning suggestion – which turned out to be the very first entry too.

Name The Pint Of Origin Beer And Win!

Pint of Origin returns from May 12 to 21, 2023, taking over 20 of Melbourne's best bars and pubs. We'll be unveiling the lineup before the end of March, and before then we're offering you the chance to own a piece of this year's festival!

Be Part Of Pint Of Origin In 2023!

Applications are now open for any venue wishing to be part of Pint of Origin when it returns in May 2023. Make sure you get your application in before November 25 – we'll notify successful applicants in early December.

The Spirit Of Oztoberfest

Oktoberfest celebrations have long been a fixture in the beer calendar but 2022 has seen such events go into overdrive. We chatted to some of those behind the feast of fests to find out what they love about this time of year.

Carving Out A Niche: Small Festivals. Big Ideas

It's been a tough couple of years for beer festivals but events both large and small are roaring back. We chatted to the folks behind Juicy Fest, Rauchbier Festival and Lagerland to hear how breweries are carving out a niche in the festival space.

Pint of Origin – One Week To Go!

Pint of Origin returns to Melbourne for a tenth time on May 20. With no Good Beer Week this year, we decided to go solo and have added some sweet new features to the festival. Check them out and get ready for #PoO22!

GABS: Making A Stand

Brewery stalls at festivals have gone from spill-spattered trestle tables to interactive experiences as brewers look to cut through the noise. Ahead of the first GABS of 2022, we asked 2021's Best in Show winners how they made a stand.

The Great Australian BeerFest Merger

Two Australian beer festivals are combining their might, with Kieran Blood from the Great Australian Beer Festival taking on new business partners, James Harding and Stacy File from BeerFest Australia.


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The Dark & Disgusting Minds of The Scratch

No one's ever accused the folk at The Scratch of being normal. Their festivals have cult followings, and the videos they make to promote them can be downright disgusting. We sat down with manager Becca King to find out more.

Good Beer Week: Ten Years Of Beers

When Good Beer Week kicks off on Friday, the festival will finally turn ten – a year later than planned. To mark the occasion, we took a trip down Memory Lane with some of those involved in building and enjoying it over the past decade.

The Big Issue: The Future Of Beer Fests II

Six months ago, we asked what beer festivals might look like in the new COVID-altered landscape. As events start to make their comeback, we revisited the topic to see what else has been learned and what might lie ahead.

A Summer Of GABS

The pandemic has ensured 2020 became a year of cancellations but the team at GABS is hoping 2021 will look a fair bit different with the festival organisers announcing two new Queensland events for January.

The Big Issue: The Future Of Beer Fests

How will beer festivals look in a post-COVID world? We chat to the organisers of those still going ahead in 2020 and others who've had to adapt about the future of major events in the local beer world.

Stepping Out From InCider

The Beer InCider Experience combined killer band lineups with scores of breweries (and ping pong) to become one of the country's biggest festivals. George Levi sat down with founder Marty Keetels to find out why he's moving on.

Back To The Future - The Rise Of Small Festivals

There's a new breed of beer festival on the rise, one that combines elements of those from craft beer's earlier days with a more tightly-curated program of beers and brewers.

The Beer Festival Six-Pack

As beer festival season hots up, we chat to the BeerFest team running no less than six major events across the country to find out more about the people behind the festivals and how they're navigating an increasingly busy market.

Australian Beer Festivals 2018/19

For beer lovers, there's never been more opportunity to enjoy beer in the company of thousands with all manner of beer festivals taking place across the country. Here's our guide to where and when to find them.

The Smith Street Beer

A tradition at Brisbane's Beer InCider Experience is for the headline band to brew a beer. For the 2018 festival, this has seen The Smith Street Band create an IPA with the crew set to open a brewpub in Smith Street: Fixation.

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The 2018 Brewsvegas Program Is Live

Brisbane is home to one of the most vibrant and fun beer communities you'll come across. Brewsvegas is the week of the year in which that community celebrates everything that's best about beer. And, as of today, the program for the 2018 festival is live.

The Biggest Week In Beer Is Coming

Good Beer Week has grown into a happening of global stature, encapsulating 270 events, the Australian International Beer Awards and the ever-growing beast that is GABS. The 2017 version promises to be the biggest yet.

Crafty Crawls: Ballarat City Guide

Each summer, Ballarat attracts thousands of beer fanciers to its City Oval for its annual festival. But, with four breweries and a growing number a craft venues, there's plenty of reason for beer lovers to visit at other times.

Get Fresh

It's hop harvest time across Australia. And this year's offers more chances than ever to get up close and personal with the little green flowers, not least thanks to a pair of festivals celebrating the harvest and fresh hops beers.

A Year Of The Crafty Cabal

Just before the end of 2015, we launched The Crafty Cabal, a beer lovers bonus scheme that offers readers the chance to help The Crafty Pint grow in return for heaps of beery benefits. Here, we take a look back at its first 12 months.

What Is Oktoberfest?

As Munich's Oktoberfest comes to a close, and with scores of imitators taking place across Austalia, we look at where the global phenomenon started and how the Bavarian organisers are trying to keep tradition alive.

Australian Beer Festivals 2016/17

There are few times of the year when a beer lover can't find a festival or beer week in some part of the country. To make it easy, we've gathered together the major events and beer weeks in one handy guide.

Crafty Cabal Update – 01/07/16

With our second launch party done and dusted in Brisbane, it's all eyes on Adelaide for the next week or two. We've got lots of winners to announce and some new swag to give away too – read all about it in our second update from The Crafty Cabal.

The Evolution of Beervana

Wellingtonian expat Kerry McBride returned home and caught up with the woman tasked with driving New Zealand's leading beer festival, Beervana, as well as a local brewery making its debut, to find out what attendees can look forward to in August.

New Events Wrap – 11.03.16

As the first whiff of fresh hops from this year's harvest wafts across the land, we turn attention to some of the celebratory events held in the name of hops. Then it's onwards to beer dinners, tap takeovers, festival action and craft of a slightly less beery persuasion.

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Toowoomba Becomes Brewoomba

The Spotted Cow in Toowoomba was one of the first Queensland venues to embrace better beer more than a decade ago. Now it's one of three venues joining forces to create the city's first craft beer festival, Brewoomba.

Rise Of The Beer Fest

The beer festival scene is booming in Australia. In a few short years, we’ve gone from next to no dedicated beer festivals to an absolute smorgasbord, with more being added every year. From November…

Never Mind The Molluscs

The Crafty Pint was invited to brew a beer for the Beervana Media Brew competition. Somehow we ended up creating a smoked imperial Belgian mussel and oyster stout. And somehow it came first with a perfect score...