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Getting Blind With Crafty: Mexican Lagers
For our Mexican lager blind tasting, we veered a little from our usual approach and included some of the biggest names in the world alongside the Aussies. The big question: could a local hero claim the crown...?
Getting Blind With Crafty: Budget Busters
Looking for a crafty drop to fill your fridge that isn't going to break the bank in these straitened times? We lined up a bunch of budget-busting beers for a blind tasting with a difference.
Spotty Dog's Hobart Home Is Here At Last
It's been a long road for Spotty Dog but the Tassie brewers who launched their first beer in 2016 finally have a home in Hobart. Co-founder Klimt Donohoe told us all about their new venue and what beer lovers can expect.
Phantasm: The Ghost Coming To Your Beer
Hops and their vibrant aromatics create much excitement among beer fans but a ghostly new flavour is attracting attention among brewers. That ghost is Phantasm, so we chatted to the man behind it and one of the first local brewers to try it.
Du Cane's Brewery & Dining Hall Launches In Launceston
Launceston will have a brewpub of its own from this week as Du Cane Brewery & Dining Hall opens its doors. We chatted to founder Will Horan about what beer fans can expect from the space and his new partnership.
Who Brews On King Island?
King Island is rugged and isolated but, just like a growing number of small communities, it's also home to a brewery. We caught up with the family behind King Island Brewhouse to find out about living and making beer in the Bass Strait.
Who Brews Communion Beers?
They started out brewing tiny batches of beer for their café called The Chapel and now the Turners welcome guests to enjoy communion at their brewery-meets-restaurant in North West Tasmania too.
Moo Brew To Open A New Hobart Brewpub
Moo Brew have announced plans to open a new home in Hobart. Tasmania's longest-established independent brewery has signed a lease on a site in Salamanca where they hope to open a brewpub before the end of 2022.
The Collaborators: Flavour Logic
Taste is highly subjective but if you work in the beer industry or are passionate about beer, recognising off-flavours can be essential. Which is where sensory analyst Briony Leibich – AKA Flavour Logic – comes in.
Who Brews Welcome Swallow Beers?
Welcome Swallow brew in the heart of Tasmania's hop country – the realisation of a long-held dream of a local farmer and his mate. With the hop harvest underway, we invited them to take part in our long-running Who Brews? series.
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Tassie's T-Bone Take A Big Bite
T-Bone built their brewpub largely to focus on keg beer but the success of their cans has seen them struggle to meet demand. That's set to change in the near future, however, with work underway on a new production facility.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Cold IPAs
Something a little different for our last blind tasting of 2021 as we tuck into an emerging style that's only been attempted by a small number of Aussie brewers. So, what did our panel make of the world of cold IPA?
Penguin Takes Flight On The Island State
Scott Seymour was one of the key players in the rise of craft beer in Bendigo. When he moved to Tasmania with wife Tara, he was planning a new career in health and aged care, but it turns out beer and brewing weren't done with him...
Getting Blind With Crafty: Pale Lagers 2021
Much has changed in the half decade and more since we last put lagers to the blind taste test. For one, there's bloody loads of them, but who's brewing them really well? We compiled an expert panel to find out.
Help Us Get Blind: Lagers Round II
Blimey, there's a lot of lagers out there these days. We've locked in most of the spots for our pale lager blind tasting but we reckon we can squeeze in a few more. So, it's over to you to decide which ones...
Help Us Get Blind: GBW IPA Special
With the return of Good Beer Week comes the return of our Pint of Origin IPA Blind Tasting Championship. And, once again, we're inviting our lovely readers to help us choose the beers that will be on the lineup.
Help Us Get Blind: Lagers
Lagers have been making a comeback in recent years and it turns out it's more than half a decade since we last put them to the test in a blind tasting. Want to help us compile a list as we do it all over again?
Boekamp Bier Relaunches As The Albert Brewery
Boekamp Bier's sudden closure in December last year was sad news for Tassie craft drinkers and lager lovers. Now co-founder Mark French has relaunched with a new look and name but with the same dedication to lager.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Hazy Pales
They're hazy. They're pale. They're all the rage. But who's doing them well? For our first blind tasting of 2021, we got our hands on a stack of Aussie examples, amassed some expert palates, and put them to the test.
Getting Blind With Crafty: How We Judge – 2021 Update
We've been conducting blind tastings at The Crafty Pint since late 2012, both in-house and as pubic events across the country. As we get underway in 2021, we've tweaked the way we source and judge the beers.
Want to know more?
Help Us Get Blind: Hazy Pales
Having managed to squeeze in a post-lockdown(s) blind tasting just before 2020 drew to a close, we're kicking off the new year with a look at hazy pales. And we'd love your help compiling a long list of those available in Australia.
2020: The Year In Beer – Tasmania
Following our look at the standout trends in the Australian beer scene, we head to Tasmania to kick off our state by state by territory roundup of the year in beer that was 2020.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Non-Alcoholic Beer
For our first and only blind tasting of 2020, we went with a suitably 2020 lineup: non-alcoholic beers. They may well ruin the pun in the series title, but how do they stack up in front of our panel of industry experts?
Who Brews At 22 Paces?
The beer lovers of Tassie will be able to sample the first release from new brewing company 22 Paces this weekend. Dorian Broomhall caught up with co-owner Steve Tully to find out more.
Postcards from the Edge No.5: Isolation Island
Two figures from Tasmania's beer industry have launched the Isolation Beer Festival, a celebration of the state's independent breweries and beers designed to connect people at a time when we need to remain apart.
There's A New Fox In Town
The sale of Hobart brewery Fox Friday went under the radar for most, but the hazy IPAs the new owners are producing are starting to create a stir. Dorian Broomhall caught up with the American brewer keeping hopheads happy.
Who Brews Boekamp Biers?
It can be tough to stand out in today's busy beer landscape but the duo behind Boekamp Bier in Hobart are offering something different. They're eschewing contemporary trends to focus on Bavarian lagers and wheat beers.
Unfinished Mead Business
Having moved from beer writing to brewing, Willie Simpson is planning another change of tack as he turns 70: a return to mead. And kayaking. And sourdough baking. And astronomy. And...
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2019
The past decade has seen the number of brewing companies in Tasmania rise from just seven to nearly forty. Here, we take a look back at the past twelve months via the prism of the best new releases from the state's brewers.
Crafty's Advent Calendar: Willie Simpson
Back when there was about one-hundredth as much to write about in the local beer world, Willie Simpson was documenting the country's beers and brewers. Today, he's a brewer and hop grower in North West Tasmania.
Take A Hike
Bushwalking guide Will Horan would spend his days in the Tasmanian wilderness dreaming up beer recipes. Since launching Du Cane, he now supplies bushwalkers – and others – with his beers.
Help Us Get Blind: Pint Of Origin Championship II
Time for the second and final vote to help us decide which 16 IPAs will go head-to-head in the first Pint of Origin Blind Tasting Championship at Good Beer Week 2019.
The Collaborators: FermenTasmania
FermenTasmania is a not-for-profit organisation looking to boost all Tasmanian industries working with fermentation in one way or another. We got in touch with one of the founders to find out more.
Brew & A: Stu Grant
As he embarks on a new head brewer role with plans for more of his beers to be sent into the world, we invited Ocho founder Stu Grant to feature in our Brew & A series.
Help Us Get Blind: Pint of Origin Championship
At Good Beer Week 2019, we're combining two of our favourite things: Pint of Origin and blind tastings. We'll pit an IPA from each of the 16 regions against each other and you get to choose them.
Who Brews Buttons Beers?
Inspired to turn their dream into reality by the birth of their first son, Josh and Cora Roberts launched Buttons Brewing last year. Now their cellar door is open in Ulverstone, we got in touch to find out more.
Getting Blind With Crafty: XPAs
Is it just a marketing term? Are XPAs just pale ales or session IPAs by another name? Either way, there's plenty around so we took on more than 20 of them in another Crafty blind tasting.
Help Us Get Blind: XPAs
For our first blind tasting of 2019 we're going to look at XPAs. Sure, it's a category that remains open to some interpretation but plenty of people are brewing and drinking them so it seems only right.
Best New Tasmanian Beers Of 2018
The beer scene in Tasmania continues to evolve, with the state's brewers as happy taking inspiration from overseas as they are showcasing local produce. But which beers impressed most in 2018? Bert Spinks endeavoured to find out...
Getting Blind With Crafty: NEIPAs
For the first time in many years of running blind tastings, we've had a brewery go back to back in top spot. In our final panel tasting of 2018, we looked at NEIPAs from breweries across Australia and here's how they fared.
Beer Food: The Brewer & The Chocolatier
Seven Sheds and House of Anvers are stalwarts of the burgeoning food-and-booze scene in Tasmania's north-west. Bert Spinks invited them to blend their two worlds – beer and chocolate – as they told him about their traditionalists' approach to production.
Help Us Get Blind: NEIPAs
Having brought our blind tastings back from a hiatus earlier this month, we're closing out 2018 with another one looking at NEIPAs. To whittle the list down to a manageable number, we're asking you to help.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Mid-Strengths
Following our article on the golden age of mid-strengths, we gathered a panel to assess more than 20 available around Australia for our latest blind tasting. So who came out on top...?
Help Us Get Blind: Mid-Strengths
Following our Golden Age Of Mids? feature, we're bringing our blind tastings out of hibernation to see who's doing such beers the best. We're getting a panel together in early November and want your help picking the lineup.
Crafty Crawls: Hobart – The Venues
Whether it's classic pubs with great beer on tap, sparkling new brewpubs, journeys into beer's past or brewing by the waterfront, there's plenty to enjoy in Hobart these days. In our updated Crafty Crawl, part one takes in the city's beer venues.
From Canvas to Can
If you head to the Good Beer Week Festival Hub as it launches this weekend, you might stumble across a State Of Origin battle between two artists. You can vote for your favourite piece, which Moo Brew will then put on cans before the festival is over.
Ten Years Of Seven Sheds, A Lifetime Of Beer
Tasmanian brewery Seven Sheds marks ten years this month. Its co-founder Willie Simpson has been a central figure in Australian beer for far longer, so Bert "Storyteller" Spinks caught up with him and a former pupil to reflect on a life in beer.
Who Brews In The Huon Valley?
The Tasmanian brewing industry more than doubled in numbers over a two year period. One of the new arrivals on the state's beer scene was Church Hill, founded by Bradley Churchill on his property in the Huon Valley.
Getting Blind With Crafty: Session Sours
For our first blind tasting of 2018, we lined up a pretty eclectic selection of beers that form part of the beer world's current fondness for sour styles. And the year got off to a fine start with a winning beer from a brewpub few readers will yet have visited.
Help Us Get Blind: Session Sours
For our first Getting Blind With Crafty tasting of 2018, we're going to embrace the broad church of beers that might be tagged "session sours" – Berliner weisse, gose, kettle sours and so on. And now is your chance to help us decide which to feature.
