More than a decade after moving into a warehouse in Melbourne's inner northeast, the farmhouse and wild ale specialists at La Sirène have opened their doors to the public. We called in for a chat, beer, food and champagne.
While living in the US, Alex Jarman quit the corporate life to start working at San Francisco breweries. Now he and wife Yvonne are making yeast-driven European ales at a small brewery around the corner from One Drop in Botany.
Many brewers love them, their characteristics are ideal for Australia's climate, they offer diversity and are wonderful with food. So why are saisons proving a harder sell than most in today's beer world?
The man who created the most successful Aussie craft beer of the past decade has been back on the tools. Stone & Wood co-founder Brad Rogers has returned to hands-on brewing with the launch of the new farmhouse range Forest For The Trees.
Van Dieman has released the first two of its "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.
Traditionally, saisons were brewed to be consumed in the warmer months. As we (allegedly) head in that direction in Australia, we caught up with the man who has put farmhouse style ales at the heart of everything he does.
River Cottage's Paul West recently collaborated with the team at Melbourne's Stomping Ground to create a beer to launch at a degustation at the Beer Hall. We chatted to him and Brewer Asher Hall about the partnership and also grabbed the recipes for the dishes presented on the night.
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.
Each year, we assemble panels of experts around the country to come up with lists of the best new releases to come out of Australian breweries in the previous 12 months. This year, we kick off in Victoria, home to the most brewing companies in the land.
A whole year has passed since the Crafty Cabal was launched into the beerosphere. In that time, we've given away more than $10K in tickets and beers, poured 25 kegs for members, hosted 14 events – and it's just getting started.