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Events Wrap 16.09.16
Oooooom-pah! It's Oktoberfest, in case you didn't know, and there are plenty of places around the country at which you can celebrate it. And if that's not your scene, theres even more in store for you...
Be Part of Pint of Origin
Pint of Origin is a longstanding highlight of Good Beer Week and is starting to appear at other beer weeks too. Ahead of GBW 2017 registrations opening, we're inviting Melbourne venues to apply to become a PoO venue next year.
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.
Aussies Win Big In London
Australian microbreweries collected both Supreme Champion trophies at last night's International Beer Challenge in London. Melbourne's Hawkers took out the brewery title with SA's Prancing Pony winning best beer.
Events Wrap 02.09.16
Hello Spring, hello festival season! In today's roundup of the new events added to the calendar in the past fortnight, it's clear that beer festival season is upon us.
Gage Roads' Return To Independence
With many observers of the local beer world awaiting news of the next significant brewery buy out since Asahi took control of Mountain Goat, WA's Gage Roads is going the other way and buying back shares from Woolworths.
Events Wrap 19.08.16
Do you like your beer on the move, aged in barrels, stuck in a can, sunk by the stein, dressed in drag or shuffled along a bingo board? Well then, you're in luck as there's an event for you in the coming days and weeks.
Cabal Update – 12/08/16
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.
Beer Travel: NZ Tiki Tour IV Wine Country
In the final part of his Tiki Tour around the breweries of New Zealand's central North Island, Nick Oscilowski takes in the wine regions of the east coast before ending up in the middle...
Events Wrap – 05.08.16
From IPA Day to birthdays, moving festivals to Oktoberfest celebrations, degustations paired with beer through to dark beer and sea shanties, August really does have it all – including the launch of the very first Crafty Cabale.
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A Day In The Life Of A: Senior Brewer
What's life like as a commercial brewer? We spent a day with Adrian McNulty, the well-travelled brewer now in the Señor role at Moon Dog, to find out what goes into heading up brewing operations at one of Australia's quirkiest breweries.
Cold As Ice – Brewing In Antarctica
In Antarctica, beer selection is understandably limited. But a group of Australian Antarctic researchers is helping to broaden the options via a growing homebrewing program at Australian research base Casey Station.
The Big Issue: Gotta Catch 'Em All II
In part I of Gotta Catch 'Em All, we looked at the rise of beer hunting, collecting and rating in the craft beer community. Today, we delve deeper in the company of a diverse panel from the beer world, including Untappd's co-founder.
The Big Issue: Gotta Catch 'Em All
For some, tasting every new, rare and highly rated beer has become an addiction, one that's aided by sites and apps like RateBeer and Untappd. Over two days, Kerry McBride explores whether this is a good thing for beer.
Who Brews Australia's Highest Beers?
If there's one brewery above all others that won't be struggling to keep its beers chilled this winter it's Blizzard. "Australia's highest brewery" opened in the Victorian alps in March, brewing next to a Dinner Plain ski lift.
Canning & Expanding
It's all change at Barossa Valley Brewing as one of the longest-established of SA's microbreweries expands and repackages its beers in cans. It's also in the process of establishing its Tanunda base as a mid-size contract facility, as Matt King discovered.
By The Power Of Dainton
It's been a long time coming for Dainton Family Brewery but they're close to brewing in their own brewery. As they celebrated, Kerry McBride sat down with Dan Dainton and father Kevin to chat about the winding road that led them to Carrum Downs.
Making Capital
Until recently, Canberra had little in the way of beer to call its own. Today, with Capital Brewing having followed both BentSpoke and Pact Beer, it has five brewing companies operating there. Will Ziebell caught up with the newest.
Beer Travel: Darwin
While there's much talk of craft beer booming across Australia, what of the Top End? As Bert Spinks discovers, the microbrewing industry there has just doubled in size. OK, so that still means there's just two, but they're beery and boisterous.
Pint of Origin Hits SA
A plethora of Aussie beer never before seen in SA is making its way to Adelaide as Pint of Origin takes its first steps outside Good Beer Week. The ever popular multi-venue showcase of Aussie beer appears across the city from July 2 to 10.
Wild Things
With a reputation for walking on the wild side well established, Kiwi trailblazers Garage Project are set to get wilder still. Kerry McBride joined them for a tour of their new Wild Workshop where they'll be working with barrels, foeders and a coolship.
Events Wrap 27.05.16
With the Good Beer Week recovery well underway (albeit with GABS hitting Sydney for the second time this weekend), it's time to start planning the next few months of cool weather, beer tinged deliciousness...
The Big Issue: Water Sustainability
Water makes up more than 90 percent of the beer you drink. It is also in increasingly scarce supply in Australia. For our latest Big Issue article, Graham Frizzell speaks to three people looking to reduce their breweries' water consumption here and in California.
Aussie Exports: Oh Danada!
Aussie Exports is supposed to be a series of features on Australians doing fun things in craft beer overseas. Yet, this once, we're doing something a little different as we feature honorary Aussie Dan Johnston, now back in his native Canada at Collective Arts.
Pint of Origin 2016 Preview Pt II
Time for part two of our preview of the biggest Pint of Origin yet. Good Beer Week 2016 will see 12 Melbourne and two Victorian pubs join the fun, while we've got the first hosted PoO buses and the return of the comp with Now Tapped.
Pint of Origin 2016 Preview Pt I
The ever popular Pint of Origin returns to Good Beer Week for a fifth time in 2016 bigger than ever. As well as a dozen Melbourne venues, there are two regional showcases in Geelong and Bendigo and a PoO Bus, hosted by The Crafty Pint.
New Events Wrap – 15.04.16
The Crafty Events inbox has taken a hammering in the past week or so, meaning the calendar for April and beyond is now fully loaded with a veritable feast of events across the country.
Aussie Exports: From Wollongong to Toronto
From home brewing in Wollongong to barrel aged sours in Toronto, David Everitt is living out quite the dream. In the second of our Aussie Export articles, he tells us how it came to pass and offers insights into the Canadian beer scene.
Starting a Brewery Part II
Thinking of starting your own brewery? Then part two of our series featuring advice from people already in the beer industry is for you. Following last week's top tips from brewers, here are the thoughts of six experts in other fields.
Bruny Island Brews
A young Tasmanian brewer who spent time at Moo Brew, Seven Sheds and Lark Distillery is back brewing. This time around, Evan Hunter has partnered with Nick Haddow of Bruny Island Cheese Co to launch a brewery focused on creating authentic Tasmanian beers.
Beer Travel: Orange
If you're looking for evidence of the growth of craft beer in Australia, you need only look at Orange in Central West NSW. There, as Tim Hanlon discovered, within a 25km radius of Orange's city centre you'll find three microbreweries, with more on the way.
New Events Wrap – 26.02.16
This week's cross-country collection of new events balances brand new beer with historical themes, a host of opportunities to meet brewers – including one of the most well known gypsies – and plants the seeds of your Easter plans.
New Events Wrap – 19.02.16
From casks to Champagne ale to birthdays and farewells, this week's roundup of new events provides a colourful snapshot of how diverse the local beer scene has become. And how you can enjoy being part of it.
The Big Issue: Hops
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.
New Events Wrap – 12.02.16
Want to know what's coming up in the beer world? Every week, we'll be rounding up all the latest beer events added to the Crafty Pint Events Diary. If you'd like to see yours appear there and here, drop us a line at events@craftypint.com.
Drinking History
After researching the Australian Sparkling Pale Ale style for America's Brewing Network, Peter Symons began to delve further into historical Australian beer. The result is Bronzed Brews, a book blending history with 42 home brew recipes for historical beers.
Arrogant Bootlegging Bastards
Margaret River brewery Bootleg has scored quite the coup and been invited to become one of a handful of breweries invited to brew Stone's legendary Arrogant Bastard. And all because of a bit of cheek and a spot of mountain biking through WA.
Best New Beers of 2015: ACT
ACT welcomed a new brewing company into the fold in 2015 as champion home brewer Kevin Hingston took his beers to market as Pact. It gave our ACT panel four local breweries to pick from for their best new releases in the territory this year.
Best New Beers of 2015: Victoria
For the fourth of our Best New Beers of 2015 roundups, we look at the state with the largest number of breweries and brewing companies. Which ten beers did our panel reckon were the best of the year? And do you agree?
Eastbound And Down
The southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are now home to a remarkable number of breweries. Kerry McBride spoke to some of the brewers now – or very soon to be – calling the area home about what makes it so appealing.
Best New Beers of 2015: Tasmania
We kick off our end of year best of roundups in Tasmania. A panel of beer gurus gathered at Saint John Craft Beer to chew the fat and come up with their top 10 from all the new releases in the state in 2015.
Down The Rabbit Hole
Last year, Lion announced it was closing the White Rabbit brewery in Healesville and moving Little Creatures' little sibling to Geelong. The move – and considerable expansion and diversification – is now complete, as Kerry McBride discovered.
Fixated On IPA
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.
40 Acres Brewing
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.
Who Brews Hair Of The Dog XPA?
They met as part of the Merri Mashers, one of the youngest yet most proactive home brew clubs in Victoria, then decided that if they were making good beer, while not test it out on the public. And thus was born Old Wives Ales.
A Dozen More
We've added a dozen more new listings to our brewery, venue and bottleshop directories since our last roundup. So, as has become our habit, here they are collected in one place in case you missed them first time around.
BentSpoke Beer For All
Just 18 months after opening the doors of its Canberra brewpub, BentSpoke Brewing today took possession of a second site that will allow them to increase production and package their beers.
On A Mission
What with all the column inches and conversations we've dedicated to issues such as transparency, integrity, ownership and so on in recent weeks, we thought it was time The Crafty Pint came clean.
Capital Gains
Canberra has long been home to some of the finest beers in Australia, albeit on a small scale. As the capital's annual beer week and Beer Day Out approach, local home brewer Drew Sculthorpe finds the scene growing apace.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Ownership Special
Part two of our examination of the issue of ownership in the craft beer world is a blind tasting special. In it, we pit beers from the big brewers, major retailers and multinationals against those from small independent Australian brewing companies.
