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The Best Of Beer 2023: New South Wales

​​All aboard! It's time to leave Victoria behind and head north to New South Wales to find out who and what stood out from the crowd in the second instalment of our Best Of Beer 2023 series.

Supporting Flood Victims With Beer And Cheer

Craft Beer Coopery has spent years encouraging men to talk about their mental wellbeing. Their latest initiative sees them send their conversation-starting craft beer crates to Lismore in support of those impacted by recent floods.

Two Mates Launch Fundraiser Following Devastating Floods

Lismore's Two Mates have been heavily impacted by NSW's devastating floods. To help them rebuild, they've set up a GoFundMe. We spoke to co-founder Andrew Newtown to find out about the last week and their determination to move forward.

South Coast NSW: Frothier Than Ever

The NSW South Coast is now home to a dozen breweries, leading one local to launch the South Coast Ale Trail. We chatted to him, and the founder of Dangerous Ales as they unveil their brewery expansion, about a region on the rise.

Bridge Road To Open Melbourne Brewpub

Beechworth's Bridge Road Brewers have today unveiled their plans to build a brewery in Melbourne. The new, 30 tap, 350-seat venue will be part of the East Brunswick Village development.

Summer On The South Coast

A year ago, instead of preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve, many in Australia were fighting for their lives, including those on the NSW South Coast. We caught up with some of the region's beer people as they look forward to a brighter summer.

2020: The Year In Beer – NSW

Great beers, standout moments and horrific, unnecessary analogies... Judd Owen casts an eye over the year in beer in New South Wales.

Who Brews Wandana Beers?

It's home to yoga retreats, hippies and an annual music festival. And now Mullumbimby is also home to its own brewery. We caught up with the team at Wandana Brewing Co to find out more about fermenting beer to music.

Conspiring On A Home

After a long search, the team at CoConspirators have found a home in Brunswick. We caught up with all four of them to hear about the plans.

Open For Business

Many businesses in tourist regions have been impacted badly by the current fire season. Mat from CanBEERra has compiled a list of breweries and supporting retailers in the wider Canberra region open and eager for visitors.

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Who Brews Alchemy Beers?

Alchemy Brewing opened at the end of 2019, adding another option to Brunswick East's already impressive list of craft beer destinations. We caught up with the pair behind the brewery for our Who Brews...? series.

Best New NSW Beers Of 2019

Fruit sours, hazybois, coffee beer, barrel-aged blends and breakfast in a glass... You'd never accuse this roundup of the best new beers from NSW brewers in 2019 of being boring.

Beer Travel: Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie might be best known for its pristine beaches, surrounding natural beauty and koalas. But there's three breweries that call the town home too. Will Ziebell called in at them all – plus Port Mac's other beery outlets.

Who Brews Humpback Beers?

Towards the end of 2016, Cliff Wallis started taking the pokies out of the Tathra Hotel and laid the foundations for a brewery. Now Humpback Brewery is up and running, we thought we'd find out more.

Crafty Crawls: Wollongong

It's home to one of the longest-established brewing companies in Australia and, these days, a growing number of other good beer hangouts. Local beer writer Glen Humphries takes us on a tour of his hometown.

Aussie Beerstagrammers: Brunswick Beer Collective

Paul from the Brunswick Beer Collective stars in this Aussie Beerstagrammer feature and offers up some fantastic advice and insight into the art of being a great Instagrammer.

Who Brews One Drop Beers?

Botany's postcode is 2019 and it looks like 2019 could be the year of Botany beer after One Drop Brewing Co opened its doors. We caught up with the reggae-loving foursome behind Sydney's newest brewery for our Who Brews...? series.

Who Brews Seven Mile Beers?

After stints at Riverside and 4 Pines, Matt Wilson headed to Ballina to join his dad Lou and launch their own brewery. Within months, they'd snagged an Indies gold and discovered there was huge appetite for their beers.

Who Brews Styx Beers?

Styx is one of the smallest and newest breweries in New South Wales, brewing out of an old coal testing shed in Newcastle. We got in touch with the team there to find out more about them for our Who Brews...? series.

Best New NSW Beers Of 2018

In his last Best New Beers roundup before he heads back to New Zealand, Nick Oscilowski commandeers the votes of many to land upon a list that flits from barrels to peat to the rainforest and back – and even includes a humble pilsner.


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Solid Philosophy

As the number of breweries dotted along the South Coast of New South Wales starts to swell, the splendid little seaside town of Gerringong is the latest to get one of its own following the opening of Stoic Brewing.

Who Brews Bucket Beers?

They're bringing local beer to the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, brew in an old powerstation overlooking a river and their name has one heck of a convoluted backstory involving kids and dogs. Meet Bucket Brewery.

Who Brews DooLittle Beers?

He fell for good beer after getting a taste of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale decades ago but, arguably, Australia's domestic lagers did more to inspire Paul Nickodem to launch a brewing company. As his second beer launches, we find out more.

Who Brews With Nine Fingers?

The loss of a finger may have damaged his prospects as a bass player but, years later, it's given David Anderson the name for his brewing company. We find out more about Nine Fingers, launched on the back of a win at the Fresh Harvest Beer Festival.

Who Brews Coastal Beers?

After more than two decades spent in globe-trotting corporate careers, you'd think most people would head to the coast for a quiet life. Not so Helen and David Black. As their Forster based brewery approaches it's first birthday, we find out why.

Behind Bars: Monkey Bar Dubbo

He went from a first experience of craft beer at the Grain Store in Newcastle to documenting a year of beer online and now, along with wife Cass, Tim Smith is helping build the beer scene in Dubbo.

Hops From On High

Increasing numbers of brewers and beer lovers with a bit of land are trying their hand at growing hops, among them the duo behind Southern Highland Brewing Co. After a successful second harvest, they've just put out the first harvest ale brewed with locally grown hops.

The Gang Of Sour

A Brunswick warehouse that initially housed Himmel Hünd's brewery has been turned into an incubator of sorts for small brewing companies playing with barrels. Will Ziebell finds out more.

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.

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Confusion Deposit Scheme

New legislation designed to tackle litter in New South Wales is set to go live this Friday. Yet there are serious and growing concerns throughout the craft beer industry that the scheme is flawed and is set to affect small brewers disproportionately.

The Collaborators: Ryefield Hops

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.

Who Brews With Two Heads?

Two Heads are better than one – at least according to the Hedley brothers. Campbell and Greg decided to abandon life in Sydney and start a brewery. Today, you'll find them and their beers in a converted mill in Bathurst. We find out more...

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: Thirsty Crow

Craig Wealands wasted little time putting Wagga's Thirsty Crow on the map, winning an AIBA trophy for his Vanilla Milk Stout within months of opening. With his new, bigger brewpub firing on all cylinders, he fielded questions in our latest Brew & A.

Foreign Import

It's not unusual for you startup breweries to seek advice from experts. They don't often fly them in from the other side of the world, however. Will Ziebell meets the former Pilsner Urquell brewer assisting the team at Brunswick's Foreigner.

Who Brews as Little Alchemist?

Ahead of their belated official launch – and a few months after we first bumped into brewer Riaz on a sofa during Sydney Craft Beer Week – we chat to new Sydney-based gypsy brewing company Little Alchemist.

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.

Dead Ahead: 30 Years Of The Lord Nelson

It's been a big year for craft beer in Australia. And in particular for a Sydney icon. The Lord Nelson celebrated 175 years as a hotel and 30 as a brewery. Nick Oscilowski travelled back in time with its founder, Blair Hayden.

Who Brews Hairyman Beers?

Craft beer's forays into every corner of New South Wales continue apace. Hairyman Brewery is the latest to join the party in Sydney's south, brewing out of Caringbah. Here's founder Andy Orrell on what inspired him to launch his brewery.

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Who Brews Sauce?

The concentration of breweries in Sydney's Inner West is set to increase again as Mike Clarke prepares to join the fray. In our latest Who Brews he shares the secrets of Sauce Brewing, launching as a gypsy brewer before opening its own warehouse venue.

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.

Who Brews Bounty Hunter Beers?

With inspiration drawn heavily from pop culture, striking artwork and plenty of prowess in the brewhouse, we find out more about Western Sydney's new gypsies, Bounty Hunter Brewing...

Who Brews Wandering Beers?

Fancy a bit on the side? Sam Clayman, Matt O’Neill and Scott Reid did, so they started the Wanderer Brew Co on top of their day jobs to see where the road would take them.

Glee In Glebe

Almost three and a half years after first announcing plans to open a brewery in Glebe, Steve Drissell has come good on his word as Staves pours its first beers.

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.

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.

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.

Aussie Beer Blogs: New South Ales

It's time to showcase another Aussie beer blog. New South Ales is one of the best-looking we've seen, run by a writer / photographer couple who focus on the people and stories making the NSW beer scene what it is.

Flying High In The Southern Highlands

The Southern Highlands of New South Wales has a new brewery to call its own and local interest has been so great that it's had to increase capacity before the doors officially open.