Wolf of the Willows Brewer
When launching a brewery, sometimes staring down the barrel of brewing history at the great names that have come before you can be an intimidating task. How to reach those heights when you’re only just stepping away from brewing in your own back yard? But Wolf of the Willows founders Scott and Renae…
Black Arts Brewers & Blenders Brewer
It started as a chance meeting at a homebrew store. Joshua Murnane visited Grain and Grape in Yarraville and asked for advice on brewing sour beer. He was introduced to staff member Michael Leslie and three hours later (according to Josh but much less according to Michael), he was still getting a lesson.…
Bright Brewery Brewer
No one should need an extra reason to visit Bright, a true four season destination in the Victorian High Country: winters perfect for snowsports; springs and autumns that explode with colour; year round adventure sports and gourmet food and wine trails. But if you did need another reason, the Bright…
Ocho Brewer
As the craft beer landscape becomes more crowded, it gets ever harder for new brewers to stand out. It's the case even in Tasmania where, up until 2014, the number of breweries was pretty static, remaining stubbornly in single figures, before an explosion that quickly took the total to 20 and beyond. There…
Stone & Wood (Lion/Kirin) Brewer
The Stone & Wood story is the closest you'll come to a fairy tale in the world of Australian brewing. It's the story of three friends who'd done rather well for themselves in the world of big league brewing and decided to head off and do it for themselves in one of the country's most beautiful spots.…
Artisan Brewing Brewer
Artisan Brewing is a Belgian-style brewer born of a love for an often-neglected element in brewing: yeast. Their journey began in WA’s Great Southern in 2001 when globe-trotting husband and wife, Brian and Julia Fitzgerald, purchased a farm just west of Denmark after falling in love with the stunning…
Atomic Brewer
Atomic is a name that will be familiar to many in the local beer world – and with good reason. An American style pale ale bearing that name was debuted by Gage Roads so long ago in craft beer years it predates almost the entire modern day industry in Australia. And, like the Australian beer world that…
Beerland Brewing Brewer
In 2014, the Northbridge Brewing Co opened its doors to a thirsty Perth public. Building on this success, three years later a sister venue, the Whitfords Brewing Co, opened as part of a $70m redevelopment in one of Perth's largest shopping centres. With beers flowing at two established venues and…
BentSpoke Brewing Co Brewer
To many beer aficionados, for the majority of its life at Canberra House, the Wig & Pen Tavern was synonymous with one thing above all others: the beers of Richard Watkins. The brewer spent 17 years there, twice winning Champion Australian Brewery titles and creating an unrivalled collection of cask…
Big Shed Brewing Concern Brewer
For most aspiring brewers, simply turning your beery dreams into commercial reality is effort enough. But Jason Harris and Craig Basford decided they were going to do more than just brew the beers they’d been concocting in their man shed for years: they wanted to bring others along with them. So,…
Boston Brewing Co Brewer
It was sometime around New Year's Eve 2014 that The Crafty Pint first called in to Boston Brewing Co at the home it shares with a winery in the Great Southern region of WA. There, we discovered much that was consistent with other breweries found in the tourist regions south of Perth. There was a kids…
Bruny Island Beer Co Brewer
Bruny Island, in Tasmania's south, is a place famed for fine produce celebrating the region's natural bounty. Among those who have helped build its reputation is Nick Haddow, the founder of Bruny Island Cheese. Evan Hunter is a Tasmanian who has worked with a number of the state's leading booze producers,…
Cornella Brewery Brewer
When it comes to alcohol, there can be a tendency to divide. Beer drinkers are beer drinkers and wine drinkers are wine drinkers. But reality has a habit of casting such ideas aside and nowhere does that happen more clearly than at Cornella Brewery and The Shiraz Republic in Central Victoria. Located…
Fixation Brewing Co (Lion/Kirin) Brewer
Around 2014, we'd often hear refrains along the lines of: "Everyone's got an IPA these days." Yet it didn't take much investigation to discover that, a few exceptions apart, this was far from the case. Sure, there were plenty of one-off or occasional draught only releases hitting taps, but in terms of…
Hargreaves Hill Brewer
A true phoenix from the ashes tale: Hargreaves Hill is the Victorian craft brewing scene's great survivor. When bush fires tore across the state on Black Saturday in 2009 this brewery in Steels Creek was destroyed along with most houses in the region. The following weeks saw an outpouring of support…
Heroes and Villains Brewer
These days, you’ll find Heroes & Villains growing into their Osborne Park brewery, yet the story stretches back more twenty years, of which the past few have seen head brewer Shannon Mizen’s dream realised in liquid beer gold. Like many, Shannon began homebrewing as a means to save money, and…
Hobart Brewing Company Brewer
Some breweries feel like they could be anywhere. A nice taproom with wooden tables in a warehouse that could just as easily be in St Kilda as South Sydney or the Sunshine Coast. Hobart Brewing Co is not like that, however. Strolling into their vast waterfront beer garden and famous Red Shed in Hobart’s…
Homestead Brewery Brewer
Western Australia is not only regarded as the birthplace of the modern craft beer scene in Australia, it is home to some of the most spectacular microbreweries in the country. From Little Creatures on the waterfront in Fremantle to many of the breweries that call the Margaret River region home, there…
Hop Nation Brewer
It has been said before that winemakers love beer more than wine, whether it be for reasons of speed of production, or simply for a change of pace. Two such winemakers, Sam Hambour and Duncan Gibson, established Hop Nation in 2015 and since those early days, it’s safe to say the pace has been quite…
King River Brewing Brewer
Just like the wider High Country region it calls home, King Valley is a beautiful place to visit. And, just like its neighbouring valleys, it has much to offer visitors, whether their intention is to explore nature, enjoy outdoor pursuits or indulge their senses with fine local produce. Unlike some…
La Sirène Brewing Brewer
Late in 2011, a buzz started spreading around the Melbourne beer cognoscenti that there was a hot new beer in town, a saison that had appeared all of a sudden. Bearing the name La Sirène and packaged in champagne bottles decorated with artwork of an elegance not usually found in the beer world, it was…
Little Bang Brewing Brewer
Before Little Bang Brewing came into existence, Fil Kemp and Ryan Davidson tapped keys rather than kegs, developed video game characters rather than beer recipes, worked with code rather than Columbus. Then, in 2014, the avid homebrewers made the step from one industry where people – not least them…
Mash Brewing Brewer
The Swan Valley is home to a colourful collection of craft breweries. Within an hour of touching down at Perth's airport, visitors can take in stops that celebrate the Aussie spirit, German beer halls and wild experimentation in the space of a short drive. At the heart of the region is Mash Brewing,…
Modus Beer Brewer
The more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s as true at Modus as it is anywhere. If you’ve been following their journey since the beginning, you’ll have seen the evolution of the brewery. You see it in the transition from the name Modus Operandi to simply "Modus". You see…
Moon Dog Brewer
Back when Moon Dog first appeared on the Australian beer scene, we were moved to open this description with the iconic words of Monty Python: "And now for something completely different." It's testament to the evolution of the beer world – and the impact Moon Dog have had upon it locally – that…
Pirate Life (CUB/Asahi) Brewer
Pirate Life Brewing’s story is one of the most remarkable in the contemporary Australian beer scene. It's a tale that began in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where two young brewers, Jack Cameron and Jared "Red" Proudfoot, met and honed their brewing skills through apprenticeships for BrewDog. Here, in…
Riverside Brewing Company Brewer
**NB New owners are in place at Riverside. Look out for an updated listing with their story, plans and the new beer lineup soon!** For many years western Sydney was regarded by craft beer drinkers as a barren land, not to be ventured into for fear of being left at the mercy of the mainstream. But…
Shedshaker Brewing Brewer
Long ago, Castlemaine’s claim to fame was the local abundance of two valuable resources: gold and beer. Despite the town retaining so many of its historical buildings, those particular reasons for being had long since gone; the gold had all been mined and the last brewery closed its doors in 1925. Prior…
Shelter Brewing Brewer
The buzzing beer scene in South West WA gained another brewery in 2020, as a bare space on Busselton’s busy foreshore turned into the impressive multi-storey home of Shelter Brewing. Its arrival in the popular tourist town represents the completion of one of the region’s most ambitious projects…
Stomping Ground Brewing Co Brewer
It is a little known piece of Australian brewing history that, in the late 1800s, the Collingwood neighbourhood had as many as 40 breweries, the highest density ever in Australia, before amalgamations and buyouts saw them all closed by the early 1900s. While this little slice of history is not often…
The Welder's Dog Brewer
Growing up in Armidale, there was much about the rural city and the surrounding New England region for Dan Emery and Tom Croft to love: the area’s natural beauty, the way country and city life came together, and the kinship so frequently attached to communities built on farming. One thing they didn’t…
Tumut River Brewing Co Brewer
Located on the banks of the Tumut River, with picturesque views over clear waterways, mountains and bushland, there are plenty of reasons why the town of Tumut could easily be a prime spot for anyone keen on a getaway in the Snowy Mountains region. Yet, due to its long history as a timber mill town,…
Watts River Brewing Brewer
In 2014, when Lion decided to move White Rabbit from its original home in Healesville to Geelong, the news was met with some concern from both locals and those who would regularly make the trip to visit the brewery. But, for two local families, White Rabbit’s departure was viewed as an opportunity:…
Wheaty Brewing Corps Brewer
In 2003, Jade Flavell, Emily Trott and Liz O’Dea embarked on a mission: to create a pub that served “No crap on tap”. They did it so well that the now iconic Wheatsheaf Hotel – or The Wheaty to friends – is known nationwide for its high calibre brews and top quality service. A visit (or three)…
White Rabbit (Lion/Kirin) Brewer
In 2014, White Rabbit's owner Lion announced that the brewery's original home in Healesville was to close. The operation was to move to the site already occupied by big sibling brewery Little Creatures in Geelong. Despite the fact the brewery was to continue operating, there were still noises around…
Willie The Boatman Brewer
Sydney’s inner west has played host to a variety of interesting characters in its long history. William Kerr, Anthony Albanese, Patrick McInerney and are among them – and, although they may sound like a random assortment of names, they’re all characters in a story that supersedes the area itself. That…
The Catfish Venue
Beer, whisky and blues... what more could anyone want in life? How about authentic Philly Cheese Steaks? No worries. OK, there's more to The Catfish than that, but as a basis for success as a beer bar in inner north Melbourne it works just fine for us. Named after the classic 40s song Catfish Blues,…
Beermash VenueBottleshop
Melbourne has a habit of ensuring restaurants, bars and pubs never rest on their laurels, with a cooler, fancier or more exciting venue seemingly always on the verge of opening just down the road. In such a city, adaptation and evolution are the best ways to keep yourself on the radar. This is a method…
Cherry Tree Hotel Venue
The GB Hotel in Richmond was a Melbourne institution, a venue that felt like a living organism that had evolved over the years into something much more than a pub. Then, in early 2014, with the building's owners hiking the lease, a great thing came to an end as Chris and Penny Hodges moved out, taking…
The Lincoln Venue
When you cast an eye over the range of customers that has pulled up a chair at the Hotel Lincoln in Carlton, the history of the place becomes abundantly clear. Despite a reinvigoration of the venue in late 2014 when former MoVida Aqui manager Iain Ling took over the 160-year-old pub, it still remains…
The Wheaty Venue
Ask well travelled Aussie beer lovers for their favourite craft beer bars and the chances are The Wheaty's going to feature high – if not first – on their list. Leading the way for better beer in Adelaide since 2003, when it was launched by avowed hopheads Jade Flavell, Emily Trott and Liz O'Dea,…
Beer Barrel Bottleshop
A few years ago, if you'd walked up to your average Sydneysider and politely enquired as to where you might get your growler filled, the typical reaction would likely have been somewhere between shock and bemusement. You suspect it’d be different these days, with growlers having grown in popularity…
Bitter Phew Venue
To say Bitter Phew has the best range of beer of any bar in Sydney would be too subjective. To say it pours Sydney’s most interesting range of beers probably isn’t. This little bar, tucked away above the Darlinghurst stretch of bustling Oxford Street, is home to a wild orgy of a beer list over a…
Black Hops Brisbane Venue
There’s no denying Black Hops is a Gold Coast brewery: the sunshine and surf and laid back culture of the Coast are in every sip of Black Hops beer. But, when founders Dan, Eddie and Govs launched Black Hops in 2014, it wasn’t at the Gold Coast – it was in a bar in Brisbane, and they’ve…
Brewski VenueBottleshop
Not too long ago, Caxton Street in Brisbane was known colloquially to some as CaXXXXton Street. Every single one of the strip of bars, clubs and restaurants a short walk from the city’s Suncorp Stadium had a Lion contract. Had someone suggested it would become home to one of the easiest craft beer…
Northbridge Brewing Co Venue
Seven years is a long time to wait for a beer. Yet the eternity spent transforming the site of a defunct food court in the heart of Perth’s entertainment district proved to be worth the wait as the Northbridge Brewing Co now sits proudly overlooking the grassed lawn of the Northbridge Piazza. When…
Page Bottler Bottleshop
We all know the phrase: “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” If you were to apply it to Page Bottler, you could argue it should come with a supplementary warning too: “Or after opening the cover.” Not that there’s anything wrong with the bottleshop’s cover, which comes with some…
Saint John Craft Beer Venue
For years before Adelaide’s bar scene began waking up to the good stuff, beer loving travellers would return from visits to the city like explorers who had chanced upon the Holy Grail. The cause of their epiphany was The Wheaty, the Thebarton pub that would regularly attract declarations along the…
Small Batch Venue
For most breweries, the opening of a second venue is typically an opportunity to drastically increase production capacity and widen distribution. But Batch Brewing Company isn’t like most breweries. The motivation for their second site, which opened in Petersham in mid-2019, is completely the opposite. Rather…
Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall Venue
It is a little known piece of Australian brewing history that, in the late 1800s, the Collingwood neighbourhood had as many as 40 breweries, the highest density ever in Australia, before amalgamations and buyouts saw them all closed by the early 1900s. While this little slice of history isn't…
The Fifth Province Venue
There are few places in Melbourne where the Irish population is more concentrated than near the beaches of St Kilda, so it’s only logical that the suburb plays host to its fair share of Irish pubs. But when Irish expat Liam Ganley designed The Fifth Province on Fitzroy Street in 2014, he had more…
The Hop Supply Co Bottleshop
In recent years, Bendigo has punched well above its population size when it comes to spots to enjoy a good beer. The Dispensary began focusing on quality beer (and wine, spirits and food) in 2009 and has since been joined by the likes of The Cambrian, Flight Bar & Bottleshop and Handle…
Stone & Wood Beers of the Earth Beer
What is it they say about great minds thinking alike? In the same month, two of the country's biggest, most successful and fastest-growing breweries have released mixed six-packs and, not only that, the concepts behind them are eerily similar. As we've posted elsewhere on the site, Sydney's 4 Pines has…
Modus Operandi 3.30 Coffee Lager Beer
Before Modus Operandi properly burst onto the beer scene towards the end of 2014, they’d been tinkering away for a few months in their Mona Vale brewery and honing their core range of beers. But filling the final, vacant tap space was a one-off release called 3:30, so named for the time (in the post…
Moo Brew Harvest Ale 2014: Rye IPA Beer
Traditionally, for the most part at least, when breweries have turned their attention to creating fresh hop harvest ales they have tended to favour pretty straightforward base beers that allow the hops to shine. Last year, Moo Brew took a rather different approach and released a fresh hop Robust Porter.…
Wolf of the Willows First Chair Beer
If the chilly temperatures greeting many Australians in the early days of winter 2022 get any chillier, anyone wanting to don skis or snowboard this season might not have to bother heading to the mountains – your local park may well work. At least the plummeting mercury is being accompanied by suitably…
Bridge Road Christmas Beers 2021 Beer
When we wrote up [last year’s iterations](https://craftypint.com/beer/7414/bridge-road-fat-man-red-suit-big-sack--magical-christmas-unicorn) of these beers, we gave false health information within the first eight words of the write-up. We apologise for any damage caused. We are in the process of firing…
Big Shed Brewing BruChocs Beers 2021 Beer
When it comes to cult icons in South Australia, we have quite a few: the Malls Balls, frog cakes and Stobie poles to name just three. So, when two top SA companies team up, the people of SA tend to go crazy. Big Shed and Robert Menz have been working together for a while; now, ahead of the ten years…
Wolf of the Willows Lark Barrel Aged Whisky Sour Beer
Now, I've had a fair few beers featuring whisky and sourness in some form. But I've not had one quite like this entry into Wolf of the Willows' ever-evolving collab series with Lark Distillery. It's fair to say, however, I'd happily have more of 'em. After all, when you check the label and background…
Wolf of the Willows & Lark Distillery Barrel-Aged JSP III Beer
They've got quite the thing going on with Aussie spirits producers, have Wolf of the Willows. They've brewed beers with Tequila Tromba and Patient Wolf Gin and here comes their third collab with the godfather of Tasmania's whisky community, Lark Distillery. This instalment follows the same traditions…
Wolf of the Willows ISO GABS Collection Beer
Just because there was no GABS this May / June doesn't mean breweries haven't been putting out GABS beers. In the case of Wolf of the Willows, three of them, all of which are collabs with local producers too. The newcomer is **The S'Mores Man**, a nitro amber ale with a marshmallow twist (and man…
Tumut River Brewing Co Deliverance Red IPA & Coffee Milk Stout Beer
For winter 2019, Tumut River showcased both local malts and locally-roasted coffee in Mocha Stout. Like many Tumut beers, makes use of Voyager malt, with house-roasted coffee beans and lactose completing the picture. There’s a rich, cherry-like coffee flavour that comes through first before it’s…
Beers of 2014: Western Australia News
Time for the second of our state-by-state selections of the best new beers to be released around Australia in 2014. We've asked gurus (who tend to get their hands on pretty much every beer possible throughout the year) from around the country to cast their minds back over the past 12 months and filter…
Beers of 2014: Tasmania News
For the past few years, The Crafty Pint's founder has selected 50 top Aussie beers to run in his end of year article in James Halliday's Wine Companion Magazine. This year, with the book 150 Great Australian Beers – Your Guide To Craft Beer & Beyond on shelves and published by Hardie Grant, the magazine's…
Beers of 2014: ACT News
Buy six, get one free. Yes, just because we've exhausted the six Aussie states in our end of year roundup of the best new brews of 2014 doesn't mean we're done. Adrian Moran – publican, beer writer and podcaster from the nation's capital – has cast his mind back over the past 12 months to send us…
Beers of 2014: Victoria News
The state of the Australian beer industry is such that, were we to try to sample every single beer released by local craft brewers in a year, we'd need a designated pilot with helicopter on hand 24/7. Even in Victoria alone, we'd risk divorce trying to keep up with absolutely everything; we do our best…
Beers of 2014: Queensland News
We're past the halfway mark in our state by state roundup of top new brews released by Aussie brewers in 2014. Thus far, we've run down ten from Tassie, Western Australia and Victoria and now it's time for Queensland. For our selection from the Sunshine State, we turned to Darren Magin, the man behind…
Beers of 2014: South Australia News
And now, the end is near. And so I face the final rundown. (Unless we do get a mini list from ACT by tomorrow). Which means, following Tassie, Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, comes South Australia as we cast an eye back over the past year to pick the best new brews to come…
Vote For The Hottest 100 Australian Craft Beers of 2014 News
Can anyone break into the top three that's usually sown up by Feral Brewing's Hop Hog, Stone & Wood Pacific Ale and Little Creatures Pale Ale? Will your favourite beers make the list? Which brewery will prove to be this year's surprise package? And will your entry be pulled out of the hat to earn…
Hottest 100 Aussie Beers of 2014 Results News
The countdown is complete! Congratulations to Feral Brewing for yet another top spot with its awesome Hop Hog India (or not India) Pale Ale and to 4 Pines for sneaking ahead of Little Creatures to break up the top three. We've got a detailed breakdown of the results in words and digits here…
Hottest 100 of 2014 Infographic News
Want your Hottest 100 Australian Craft Beers of 2014 results broken down in picture form? Then you can! Thanks to Mrs Crafty Pint NSW for the first time we've produced a handy little infographic showing some of the outcomes, trends and fun facts from the seventh poll. You can view more analysis here…
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2019: The Countdown News
The countdown for the twelfth GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers is done and dusted and Stone & Wood Pacific Ale is back on top. A record 35,500 people cast votes for their favourite five beers in what's grown into the biggest people's choice vote in the country. Congratulations to Stone & Wood,…
Best New SA Beers of 2016 News
A new beer release can be an exciting prospect for anyone in the craft beer community in more ways than one. At the moment of inception, it can send the brewer excitedly reaching for their pilot kit; once fully formed, it can have eager venue managers pursuing the…
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2016: The Results News
So, once again, congratulations to the Stone & Wood team for taking top spot with the all-conquering Pacific Ale. The top three remains the same as in 2015 but, if anyone was questioning whether Pirate Life’s success last year would prove to be a flash in the pan, the nudging of their uncompromising…
Best New WA Beers of 2017 News
Last year’s Best New WA Beers list commented on the growth of WA venues supporting new WA draught only releases. In 2017, this trend has accelerated with more than half of this list’s beers released at festivals, venues and growler filling outlets. Put simply, the best of the West continues…
Hottest 100 of 2014: Reaction News
There were plenty of brewers with reason to be happy with the results of the 2014 Hottest 100 Australian Craft Beers. Among those celebrating were three brewers who achieved multiple placements in the list despite their relatively recent arrival on the Aussie beer scene and relatively small size. La…
Behind The Hottest 100 Kiwi Beers Of 2017 News
There were plenty of stories to be found within the second GABS Hottest 100 Kiwi Beers countdown, from Panhead holding on to top spot to Garage Project supplying almost one in five of the beers and Liberty claiming the highest new entry. But, given we spoke to the first of those when they topped…
Behind The Hottest 100 Kiwi Beers Of 2018 News
The results of the third GABS Hottest 100 Kiwi Beers were announced at the weekend. Our Man In NZ, Jono Galuszka, spoke to some of the people making the stories in this year's poll. McLeod's The scent of hazy hoppy things has truly entranced New Zealand beer drinkers, with the broad style making…
Best New NSW Beers Of 2019 News
Well, that’s that. Another decade down the bloody gurgler. Except in New South Wales’ case: if we were to make this metaphor more accurate, there isn’t enough water left to carry this ten year stretch down any kind of plughole, let alone to emit any gurgle-like sound. Oh, and the sink is also on…
The Beers Of The 2010s News
Look, we know what you all started thinking as our Advent Calendar and Best New Beers Of 2019 series drew to a close: if only we could get one more list-based article from The Crafty Pint then our lives would be complete. And who are we to deny our readers such pleasure? So, just as we felt the end…
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2019: Analysis News
For the first time this year, we provided a fair bit of analysis as the results were coming in, digging deep into the poll's twelve year history as we did so. You can find that here if your beer nerd desires can't be sated by our analysis of this year's results below. The twelfth Hottest 100 Aussie…
H100 Aussie Craft Beers Of 2020: Analysis News
Well, once again, it's been real. At least for those of us at Crafty Towers working on the poll this year. Given the unique circumstances of the time, we tweaked our approach a little to supposedly make it easier on ourselves and yet still found ourselves working late into the night through the week,…
