As the 2017 Sydney Beer Week kicks off, we return to the streets of the New South Wales capital for another Crafty Crawl. Here, Judd Owen takes us through Redfern in the manner only he can.
The owners of a former dairy farm in the south of New South Wales have embarked on a new direction: hop farming. Ryefield Hops harvested its first crop earlier this year, with some of those hops going into Waratah, an all NSW beer released by Wildflower during Sydney Beer Week.
While Wellington claims to be New Zealand’s "craft beer capital" and cities like Christchurch and Auckland occasionally stake a claim for the title, the Nelson/Tasman area feels like its home. Our Man In NZ Jono Galuszka recounts his weeklong road trip through the area,
A nanobrewery and tiny hop farm join forces this weekend to launch their collaborative Wet Hop IPA as part of a mission to show Heathcote can be known for more than Shiraz. We spoke to Skull Gully Hops and Cornella Real ahead of the launch.
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.
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.
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.
Washington State based Select Botanicals Group has developed some of the hops most beloved of craft brewers. We met head breeder Jason Perrault when he was in Melbourne to talk torture, promiscuity and limitless possibilities.
It might be Autumn, but the beer calendar is still hot, with events and festivals going strong, especially as fresh hop season gets closer. Cabalistas can make the most of it, thanks to a bumper crop of special events and new offers.
We know plenty about the Aussie brewers, hop growers, venues and festivals helping the local industry grow. But did you know there's a local business designing and installing innovative breweries? Meet Spark.
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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.
With a handful of other directory listings waiting in the wings, time to round up the most recent dozen to be added to the site. It's the usual mixture of breweries, venues and bottleshops, this time from WA, NSW, TAS and VIC.
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.
With the results out and the resultant debate underway online, it's time for us to have a look at what the Hottest 100 of 2016 says about the local beer landscape.
In what's becoming a time-honoured tradition, we present a breakdown of the results of the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll in colourful infographic form. Complete, appropriately, with lots of hops.
Time for one final look back at the year in craft beer that was 2016. This time, instead of reflecting via the prism of its best new beers, we gather together some of the most read stories on the site over the past 12 months.
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.
As we near the end of the year, we head to Queensland for another look back at the best new beers released in 2016. The result is a list containing debut beers, fruit, barrels and much more besides.
Crowdfunding has become increasingly popular among both new and existing beer businesses. In the first of a two-part series, Will Ziebell speaks to crowdfunding platform Pozible and a brewery that has run a successful campaign.
As in the past, whenever we've added another dozen new listings for breweries, venues and bottleshops, we round them all up in one place in case you missed them first time around. We should have another 12 before the month is out too.
Sydney's Inner West has been increasingly well served by breweries and bars in recent years, less so bottleshops. Not so now with two new ventures each bringing something new to the scene, as Marie Claire Jarratt discovers.
When it comes to good beer in Sydney, nowhere does it better than the Inner West. So, for his second Crafty Crawl, Judd Owen takes a stroll through the craftier pubs and bars of Newtown.
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.
There's plenty of new stuff – both front and back of house – for us to tell you about in the latest fortnightly update from The Crafty Cabal, the beer lovers bonus scheme for our supporters.
As the Wine Republic team opens a third store and Slowbeer prepares to open a second in Fitzroy, Kerry McBride looks at the little bottleshops thinking big.
We've got a whopper of an update for you from inside The Crafty Cabal, featuring winners, VIP passes, a special sign up incentive, more events and a pile of new deals and offers at venues and breweries.
It's not just standard tinnies that are on the rise in the local craft beer world. Slowly but surely, more venues and breweries are investing in CANimals, the repurposed food packing technology pioneered by Oskar Blues in the US.
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.
It's been a while, but our blind tastings are back. And, having punished panelists with some less than thrilling lineups previously, here we tackle flavour of the month IPA. With so many now available, we're splitting the tasting over two panels.
When it comes to delivering the message of "Fresh is best", has anyone gone to greater lengths than the duo from Adelaide's Big Shed Brewing Concern? Matt King reports on their unique Cannonball Run of beer.
Three years ago, Britt and Colin Butler knew next to nothing about hops. Now, as new owners of Hopswest in Albany, they're expanding their hop farm and providing new ingredients to local brewers, including the hybrid Kracanup.
We've written plenty about the latest goings on in the Australian hop industry. But what of the past? In his first article for The Crafty Pint, beer loving historian Will Ziebell delves into the earliest days of hop growing in Tasmania's Derwent Valley.
An American couple who have been growing hops for their home brew for years have launched a hop farm in Margaret River. Karridale Hop Farm has enjoyed a successful first harvest and is looking to bring an old variety back to life.
The owner of Oscar's Ale House in Belgrave is embarking on a long held dream to run a brewing company. Yellingbo comes with a difference though: Brad Merritt and wife Gypsy are using hops from the farm planted on their land first.
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.
There have been shortages in the supply of certain hops in past years but 2016 promises to be the first in which there is a significant impact on Aussie brewers. We speak to four key growers and suppliers to find out why – and how to prepare.
With hops in ever greater demand and supply shortages increasingly common, a South Australian is hoping to bring hop farming back to the Adelaide Hills. Matt King caught up with Stuart Binnion as he prepares for his first harvest.
We reach the end of our state-by-state (and territory) look back at 2015's best new beers in Queensland. Darren "250 Beers" Magin sat down with fellow beer gurus to pluck ten of the finest new drops to grace the Sunshine State last year.
Australia is set to get its first IPA brewing company. Fixation is a new venture between the Stone & Wood Group and IPA-loving former Mountain Goat rep, Melbourne beer legend Tom Delmont, that will release nothing but India Pale Ales.
His working life as a Navy electrician has taken him to China, Vietnam, Malaysia and China again. But, following a holiday on the Murray, Trevor Mitchell has planted his family on land in Central Victoria and turned 25 years of home brewing nous into 40 Acres Brewing.
It was such a big deal, at first they thought it was a wind up. But it was true. The makers of Call of Duty: Black Ops III – one of the biggest gaming releases in history – really did want Gold Coast's Black Hops to create a beer for them.
Since leaving the brewing company he put on the map, former Riverside man Dave Padden has relaunched as Akasha. After months brewing with friends at Rocks, he's about to release the first beers from his new Five Dock home.
The Gold Coast is set to welcome its first ever craft beer focused festival when Free The Hops lands at bars over ten days next month. James Graham spoke to some of those involved to find out more.
WA's Feral Brewing has been a genuine trailblazer for the Australian beer industry. Key to their success in recent years has been brewer Will Irving, owner Brendan Varis' trusted lieutenant in the breweries.
Two Metre Tall isn't the only Tasmanian brewery on a mission to create estate ales creating solely in homegrown ingredients. Van Dieman hopes to capture its farm in a beer soon too.
Black Hops by name, anything but Black Ops by nature. A trio of Gold Coast brewing mates is sharing their journey from home brewing to gypsy brewing to owner towers of shiny stainless – warts 'n' all.
In their increasingly challenging battle to meet the world’s insatiable desire, hop producers the world over are constantly looking to produce more hops. Not just more in terms of volume, but more in…
This week sees the launch of the eighth edition of James Halliday’s Wine Companion Magazine, in which we have an article looking at the Australian craft beer industry’s position in the wider world.…
The year was 1824. Beethoven was still alive and composing his symphonies, though you'd need to hear them live because radio wouldn't be invented for about another eight decades. In that year, the MCG…
The people that have done as much as anyone in Oz to introduce drinkers to hops in beer have been playing around a little. Coinciding with this year’s hop harvest, the brewers at Little Creatures attempted…