Heartbreaker Venue
“Go to Heartbreaker.” Such is the pull of the Melbourne CBD bar that this is a phrase suited to almost any occasion. Visiting Melbourne? Go to Heartbreaker. Wondering where to meet everyone before a gig? Go to Heartbreaker. Still out at 2am and keen to kick on? Go to Heartbreaker. In…
Local Taphouse St Kilda Venue
Few people know Aussie beer like renowned writer and brewer Willie Simpson, so when he calls a venue “the best beer bar in the land” it’s time to pay attention. Since opening early in 2008, The Local Taphouse in St Kilda has been tearing through up to 400 different beers a year on its 20 taps and…
The Windsor Alehouse Venue
A major change of tack has seen one of Melbourne's Irish pubs – formerly better known for craic than craft – switch the focus of its 19 taps to craft beer and redesign its food menu with beer pairing in mind. The Pint on Punt, in Windsor, reopened its doors as The Windsor Alehouse in April 2016…
Mr West VenueBottleshop
Every now and then, a new venue comes along that feels like an instant classic. Welcome to Mr West, Footscray’s latest ode to craft beer, wine, spirits and good times. While housed in an unassuming stretch of the pedestrianised Nicholson Street Mall, as soon as you climb the stairs to the first floor…
Near & Far VenueBottleshop
It’s no easy thing to create a bar capable of standing out in an area that is quite literally one of Melbourne’s best known drinking destinations. Yet, when Near & Far opened on Brunswick Street towards the close of 2019, it immediately filled a gap in a suburb famed…
The Woodlands Hotel Venue
Melbourne is home to many a pub – indeed, the city is famous for them – but none feel or look anything like The Woodlands Hotel. For one, there’s not actually many pubs across the city that don’t sit on a corner block, and there are few that cut quite as impressive a figure as The Woodlands does…
Carwyn Cellars VenueBottleshop
Once upon a time, this Thornbury bottleshop was just another run-of-the-mill outlet ticking along steadily without pulling up any trees. Then it was taken over by a former viticulturist raised in the heart of West Australia’s craft brewing culture and things began to change. Ben Carwyn began stocking…
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,…
Bonny Venue
Brunswick Street is home to many spots for dining while drinking wine, beer or cocktails but nowhere brings them together quite like Bonny Bar. The sleek Fitzroy space opened in early 2020 and with 27 taps it didn’t just boost the neighbourhood’s offering of delicious drinks but ensured each could…
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…
Whisky and Alement Venue
Melbourne likes to claim plenty in the way of “bests” for itself. Best coffee they say. Best city for live music. Best for sports too. Best statue of an earthworm. Best tram network… The list goes on. And, whether you heartily agree or wish to quibble with such claims, the Victorian…
Hotel Sweeney's Venue
Some venues surprise you with what they've got hidden away. Hotel Sweeney's is one of those. On first appearance, everything points towards this being a good ol' fashioned, rough and ready Aussie boozer. In fact, on second appearance things still point that way. But this old Sydney CBD pub has…
Australian Brewery Australian Pale Ale - RETIRED Beer
If any one modern beer style has the right qualities to take Australia by storm, it's probably what's being termed the Pacific Pale Ale. Typically light and easy drinking but full on flavour, beers within this style are the epitome of crowd pleasers, welcome at any beach, barbecue or Backyard Cricket…
Mr West x Bonehead Brewing x D&K Grocery Go Kinako Beer
Each year for their birthday, Mr West take a moment to celebrate the other small businesses in Melbourne’s west. For their fifth, the Footscray outfit have teamed up with the nearby Japanese grocer D&K Asian Grocery and again, they’ve recruited Bonehead Brewing to join in on the birthday fun. Go…
Moo Brew Seasonal Stout 2013 Beer
On a tour of Moo's brewery just before it became operational, head brewer OJ was at his most animated when showing off the waste water treatment system. This isn't to say he has any unpleasant foibles, more that he's a real technician when it comes to brewing, someone fascinated by the finest of details…
Blackman's Brewery & Pink Boots Society Australia Hazy IPA Beer
It feels like Pink Boots Society Australia have been in a constant state of collaboration in 2022, with the not-for-profit spending much of the year making beers to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Hazy IPA was brewed with Blackman’s Brewery, with the brew day on the Surf Coast recognising the superheroes…
Newstead Brewing Simon Says Red IPA Beer
If you've read many of my beer write-ups, you'll know I have a soft spot in my heart for red IPAs. If someone cared enough†, they may even accuse me of giving red IPAs special attention. But this one doesn't need a biased description by a red IPA lover – Newstead have given it all the special attention…
Brew & A: Morrison Brewery News
There's around 20 breweries and brewing companies that call Tasmania home today. Yet most of them have less than a year or two under their belts, making Launceston based Morrison Brewery something of an elder statesman on the scene. This week sees the family run business turn five, with celebrations…
Brew & A: Green Beacon News
It's a big year for Green Beacon. The Brisbane brewery came close to winning an AIBA Champion Brewery trophy, won Champion Medium Brewery at last month's Craft Beer Awards and has just started work on a second production brewery that will see its output increase significantly. Founders Marc…
Brew & A: Black Dog Brewery News
Were there a contest for hardest working man or women in beer, there would be a host of candidates. An industry based around mostly small, independent businesses playing in a market that's only just starting to get it, and faced with plenty of impediments to success, is only going to grow as fast as…
Brew & A: Currumbin Valley Brewing News
The remarkable growth of the craft beer industry over the past decade or so has been a pleasure to watch, not least the way in which it's taken root then flourished in Queensland. But, with so many brewing companies around and only so many mouths chasing what they're releasing, it doesn't mean it's easy…
Brewers Guild of NZ Awards 2018 News
New Zealand’s large foreign-owned breweries flexed their muscle at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards in Nelson on Saturday night, together taking home five of the 11 beer style trophies on offer – although the Guild appears to have breached its own award rules with the selection of one trophy…
Brew & A: La Sirène Ben News
As one of the brewery's founders and its driving force, Costa Nikias is the person most readily associated with La Sirène, the Melbourne based "urban farmhouse" brewery that specialises in French and Belgian influenced beers, including a broad range of saisons and sours. In 2016, he was joined…
Brew & A: Matt Cuthbert News
For some, becoming a brewer develops from a passion that snowballs and eventually turns into a profession. For others, like Revel Brewing's Matt Cuthbert, brewing is a career that's followed a path from high school familiar to people in almost any other industry. Exiting high school with…
Crafty Crawls: Canberra's Breweries & Brewpubs News
The nation’s capital has long had a love for craft beer – even before we started calling it by that name. And so more than a few tears were shed when Wig & Pen and Pact both ceased operations within the same year, especially since the former had been keeping Canberrans hydrated for just shy of quarter…
BrewBox: Making Homebrewing Simpler News
For many people, the prospect of brewing at home, while exciting, can also be daunting. The need to ensure you have the right equipment, follow the right instructions and use the right ingredients may scare some people. And that's where new Aussie operation BrewBox hopes to step in The…
Making Inner West The Best News
Five Sydney brewers, two local MPs and a mayoral candidate this morning launched a new brewers association. In itself, that might not sound like the most exciting of news. But the intentions of the founders of the Inner West Brewery Association (IWBA) contain much to excite beer lovers – and not just…
Who Brews In Karratha? News
When North West Brewing Co opened their doors in the latter half of 2019, owner and head brewer Daniel Scott's plan was simply to brew beers for his community in Karratha, Western Australia. The port town, which is home to a touch more than 20,000 residents, is more than 1,500km by road from Perth,…
Who Brews The Hard Road Way? News
Collaboration is a wonderful thing. Meat, cheese, bread and sauce are all great on their own, however I’d rather them together on a pizza. And the same is true in brewing. Sometimes, the stars align and two existing brands with experience within the industry come together. This was the case with…
Getting Blind With Crafty: Imperial Stouts Revisited News
Of all the blind tastings we've done at The Crafty Pint over the years, there was arguably none more eagerly anticipated – by both tasters and readers – than our look at imperial stouts in 2013. Four years later, we returned to the biggest, blackest and boldest of beer styles for another round…
Ramblers Bring Brewing Back To Hawthorn News
As much as Melbourne can feel like it's filled to the brim with breweries, there are still some suburbs where it's something of a surprise to realise there isn't one, if not several, breweries for locals to call their own. Mountain Goat have been brewing in Richmond for more than…
Beer Basics: Yeast Part I News
A few years back, we invited Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery to guide us through the essential elements that make up beer. Having covered malt, hops and water, now he turns his brewer's gaze to yeast. In part one, Nic looks at the wide world of common brewer’s yeasts, the role they play…
Who Brews Smart Brothers Beers? News
When it comes to brewing beers, it helps to be smart. Sure, for the most part, there's just four key ingredients to play with, but once you start digging into the science, the techniques, the possibilities, it's a rabbit hole seemingly without end. Luckily, brothers Ben and Matt were born smart; or,…
Who Brews South Yeast Beers? News
South Yeast Brewing might have only opened this year but the brewery's been a long time coming. Behind it are the Panucci twins, Simon and Joey, who grew up around the corner from their taproom in North Nowra, and their first foray into craft beer came courtesy of a close friend…
Plenty To Crow About News
Given his brewery had only been operating a month, Craig Wealands thought long and hard about sending a keg of his Vanilla Milk Stout off for judging. Sure, he reckoned it was a pretty good beer, but the Thirsty Crow – a family affair he’d opened with his mum and dad in his hometown of Wagga –…
Who Brews Lake Mac Beers? News
Have you ever picked up a hobby to try and save some money, only for it to end up costing far more than you ever could have imagined? It's a predicament plenty of homebrewers have found them in, including the man at the helm of Lake Mac Brewing Co: Luke Willis. He started homebrewing – as many…
Hepburn Springs A Surprise News
It was one of the highlights of the night. Half an hour into the live-streamed Indies 2020, the winner of the Champion Lager trophy was announced, and it went to Hepburn Springs Brewing Co for their Pilsner. As the screen switched to their venue, it captured a gobsmacked family in the moment of realisation:…
