brewer

Sydney Brewery Returns To Sydney

Five years after it brewed its last beer in the city, the Sydney Brewery has returned to its roots with the opening of a new brewery in Surry Hills.

The Big Issue: Ownership Revisited III

Close to 100 brewing companies have licensed the IBA's independence seal since its launch in May. We contacted the US Brewers Association, whose campaign inspired it, to find out how they are driving the message in the States.

Bang. Banger. Bangest.

From little things, bigger things keep growing. The Little Bang crew has started on its second move to bigger premises in just three years. Matt King called in to find out more.

The Gypsy Lifestyle

As Barrow Boys winds down and West City Brewing makes a comeback under new ownership, we speak to three other brewers about the challenges facing gypsy/cuckoo/contract brewers in today's evolving beer world.

Barrow Boys Falls. West City Rises.

One Melbourne based gypsy brewer is winding down operations as another makes a comeback. We find out more from Barrow Boys and the new owner of West City Brewing.

Hopsters Club Together

Plans to open Australia's first cooperative brewery have taken a step forward as the founders joined members at the site of their proposed brewery and taproom in the Sydney's Inner West. Hannah Louise Grugel joined them to find out more.

The Business Of Beer: Where To From Here?

The acquisitions of Matso's and Mornington Peninsula Brewery by Gage Roads and Tribe Breweries respectively suggest an industry entering an era of consolidation. We asked a specialist in the business of beer what recent moves could mean.

Mornington Peninsula Brewery Joins The Tribe

Mornington Peninsula Brewery is the latest brewery to sell, becoming the newest addition to the Tribe family of businesses launched by the people behind Stockade Brew Co and the contract facility previously known as BrewPack.

The Beer In North Korea

If you're a regular reader of The Crafty Pint, chances are high you've been on your fair share of brewery tours. But one in North Korea? We got in touch with the man leading the first of its kind for tourists to find out more about the DPRK beer scene.

Toast Of The Townsville

The beer scene in Queensland has exploded into life in the past few years but, long before the current flood of new breweries, Townsville got its own brewery. As it approaches legal drinking age, we chat to its founder and head brewer.

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Australian Brewery Sells To The Redcape Group

The Australian Brewery, which has been run by the Colosimo family since 2010, today announced it had sold to the hotel and pub group Redcape

Down The Road

Following Gage Roads' announcement it had bought Matso's, we spoke to head brewer and COO Aaron Heary about the sale, whether he thinks we'll see more acquisitions of this kind and what he thinks the future holds for the local beer industry.

Gage Roads Buys Matso's

Gage Roads today announced it has bought fellow WA brewing company Matso's. It is the latest major announcement from the WA brewery, which has been enjoying remarkable growth and success since buying back shares from Woolworths in 2016.

Starting A Brewery: Brisbane's New Kids

The beer industry in South East Queensland has witnessed a remarkable number of new openings in the past couple of years. We spoke to the founders of five that are less than a year old to see how they plan to succeed in today's ever busier marketplace.

Sydney's Thai Tribe

The Sydney based operation behind Stockade Brew Co has launched a new craft beer brand for the Thai market. Will Ziebell chatted to the man heading up the launch of Chao Siam about their intentions – and his days in a Thai monastery.

Australian International Beer Awards Winners 2018

It was an eclectic collection of winners at the 2018 Australian International Beer Awards, with WA's Beerland taking out Champion Australian Beer and other major trophies for Mountain Goat, Green Beacon, Black Hops, Fixation, Brownstone, Philter and even one of our own.

Starting A Brewery: If I Could Turn Back Time

There's a wealth of knowledge in the Australian beer world today and plenty of people starting their own brewing companies too. We approached the owners of ten brewing companies to find out what they would tell themselves if they were starting again.

Going Green: 24 Hour Power

In the second article in an occasional series looking at sustainable practices in brewing, Will Ziebell looks at the growing use of batteries to allow breweries to become less reliant on the grid.

The Educators: Being Better At Beer

As the beer world becomes ever more diverse – not to mention competitive – there's an ever greater need for education throughout the industry. Nick Oscilowski speaks to those involved in providing education plus a brewery that's reaped the rewards of education.

Who Brews Mitta Mitta Beers?

​The town of Mitta Mitta, in Victoria’s northeast, is a place better know for dairy farms and outdoor pursuits. But now it's got a brewery too so we asked founder and brewer Tim Cabelka to join us for the latest in our Who Brews? series. ​

Best New NSW Beers Of 2017

With more new releases to try than ever before, we invited contributors from across the state to sift through the buyouts and the startups, the hops and the haze to come up with a list of the ten (or so) best new beers to come out of New South Wales in 2017.

Pioneer Brewing

Pioneer Brewing is a new farm-based brewery in rural New South Wales. It uses its own grain in its beers and has started growing hops with the intention of using as much of its homegrown crops in the brewing process.

Bottling The Farm

Van Dieman have released the first of their "estate ales" – beers brewed with ingredients grown and sourced entirely on Will Tatchell's family farm south of Launceston. Bert Spinks joined him for a tasting and tour of the farm he's finally bottled.

Pirate Life Sold To CUB

Pirate Life Brewing has been sold to CUB / AB InBev. You can read the media release here and find our interview with co-founder Mick Cameron linked below too.

More On The Pirate Life Sale to AB InBev

Following the announcement that Pirate Life has been sold to CUB/AB InBev, we chatted to the Adelaide brewery's co-founder Mick Cameron and Peter Filipovic of AB InBev to find out more.

Crafty Crawls: The Hunter Valley

It's not all wine, you know. The Hunter Valley now has four breweries amid the vines. Neil Richardson took a tour of them all for this Crafty Crawl.

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.

The Big Issue: Brewer Shortage

As the craft beer industry continues to expand at a rate of knots, it's experiencing growing pains. Among them is a shortage of experienced brewers, an issue that can prove costly, time-consuming and, potentially, dangerous.

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.

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.

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Who Brews On The Western Ridge?

From a single keg first release to expletive-bearing tinnies and nine other beers along the way, it's been a busy first 11 months for the fiercely local and independent Western Ridge Brewing Collective from the Barossa Valley.

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.

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?"

Getting Blind With Crafty: Imperial Stouts Revisited

After a four year break, we returned to the most epic of beer styles, imperial stout, for our latest blind tasting. Old favourites and beers not around four years ago went into battle. Who would win?

Big Beer Monopoly

One of the visitors to this year's Craft Beer Awards was a German journalist and storyteller who has penned a book on the globalisation of beer. Matt King caught up with Dr Ina Verstl to find out more.

Podcast People: Bounty Hunter Banter

Having first launched a gypsy brewing company to channel their love of pop culture, the team behind Bounty Hunter Brewing has added banter to beer, as we discover in the latest entry in our occasional series of Podcast People.

Something's Brewing On Southbank

There aren't many things that haven't been attempted along Melbourne's busy Southbank Promenade. But this week brought something new as Brewmanity headed to Hopscotch to christen Frank the Tank with an oyster stout brew.

Rocks Puts Its Brewery Up For Sale

One of Sydney's largest breweries is going on the market. One of the partners in Rocks Brewing has decided to exit the business meaning the brewery and venue in Alexandria – but not the brewing company – is set to be sold.

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.

Independence Day

Today, Australia's small and independent brewers voted to remove large breweries from national trade body. What was the Craft Beer Industry Association (CBIA) is now to be known as the Independent Brewers Association.

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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.

Cheers To Change

From the deep bush of Papua New Guinea via one of Mexico's most dangerous cities to creating Eden in the Southern Highlands, Marie Claire Jarratt discovers one couple's journey to brewery owners has taken the road less travelled.

Brew & A: Wilson Hede of Two Birds

He may not be a "bird", but Two Birds head brewer Wilson Hede has certainly played an important part in helping the Spotswood brewery stretch its wings. Here, he shares his brewing tips and insights as part of our Brew & A series.

Breaking China

A growing number of Australian brewers is looking to break into the Chinese market. The craft beer market may be tiny percentage wise, but is still large in numbers. So how can brewers hope to make it there? And what beers are in demand?

Holgate's Bloody Big Endeavour

Before Paul Holgate sat down to chat about the sizeable expansion his brewery is undertaking, he said something to Kerry McBride that was immediately apparent on entering the new space. “It’s bloody big, isn’t it?” He wasn’t lying.

Our Man In NZ: Brewpubs

The brewpub model is growing in popularity on both sides of the Tasman. In his latest article for The Crafty Pint, Our Man In NZ, Jono Galuszka, chats to three people heading down that path in Wellington and Palmerston North.

The Secret Brewer: Gypsy Brewing Pt II

Yesterday, we launched a new series, The Secret Brewer, in which an unnamed brewer laid out their concerns about gypsy and contract brewing. Today, brewers from here and overseas respond to the points raised in the article.

The Secret Brewer: Gypsy Brewing

The Secret Brewer is a new series in which a local brewer lets off steam about an issue that's troubling them. First up: gypsy brewers. Tomorrow, we'll present responses to the points raised by our mystery brewer in part two.

Starting A Brewery: The Early Days

Thinking of starting out in brewing? Keen to learn more about the realities of chasing that dream? Here, we find out what four Australian brewing company owners have learned in their first year of operation.