Freshwater Brewing Co Brewer
In the space of just a few years, the Northern Beaches suburb of Brookvale has evolved from an industrial area known primarily for a footy stadium and shopping centre into what is arguably Australia’s fastest-growing beer suburb. At the time of writing, there are no less than six Brookvale breweries…
Nomad Brewing Brewer
When you hear the word “nomad”, what do you think of? A nomadic tribe wandering across a desert with a caravan of camels in tow? Grey nomads crossing the Nullarbor in a caravan, collecting souvenir teaspoons along the way? Or an independent brewery that was conceived in Italy, has a head brewer from…
SURE Brewing Brewer
“Fancy a beer?” “Sure!” “OK if my mate joins us?” “Sure!” Language is a wonderful thing, capable of expressing so many sentiments, alive with nuance, and so essential to pretty much every element of human life we’d be lost without it. And, as four letter words go, “sure”…
Hemingway's Brewery Port Douglas Brewer
What happens when two fishing mates return to the marina after chasing marlin all day and find there's nowhere to sit and enjoy a good craft beer while telling tales of the one that got away? They simply decide to fix the problem by building their own brewpub at the marina. It took co-owners Tony…
Aether Brewing Brewer
“In Greek mythology, Aether is the fifth element, which holds the universe together. Obviously… that’s beer.” This is the idea that gave birth to Aether Brewing years ago, well before the brewery opened in 2016. Plenty has changed at Aether in the intervening years, including the core range…
Batch Brewing Co Brewer
When you can include wild fermentation, trophy winning beers, a bottleshop that brews and a brewery that distills, there’s merit to the argument that Sydney’s Inner West is home to the most interesting concentration of beer businesses in Australia. Yet, as recently as 2012 there was just one independent…
Bells Beach Brewing Brewer
Bells Beach’s surfing credentials are known far and wide. The Rip Curl Pro has been held there continuously since the 1960s and tourists regularly flock to the beach – and the surrounding Surf Coast region – for a dip, surf and wipe out. However, as anyone who’s spent time there over the years…
Catchment Brewing Co Brewer
Since opening their doors in November 2015, the Catchment Brewing crew have been growing into the eclectic, artistic and historic landscape that makes up West End. West End is a patchwork of character and colour: a blend of cultures and a haven for non-mainstream lifestyles, long known as an area…
Molly Rose Brewing Brewer
There are so many opportunities to immerse yourself in the beer industry these days that it's far easier to amass knowledge and experience before launching your own venture. But we'll wager there are very few out there who have gone to quite the lengths of Nic Sandery. Sure, the fact he spent time…
Philter Brewing Brewer
Few breweries have burst onto the craft beer scene quite as triumphantly as Philter. A mere four months into existence, with only two beers to their name, the brewing company took home one of the most coveted titles in Australian beer – Champion Pale Ale at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards. It turned out…
Range Brewing Brewer
Some people said it would never work. You can’t have a successful brewery in Australia without a core range†, they said. A core range is how you build a following of loyal customers, they said. But the team at Range Brewing have never had a problem finding people to drink their beer. Since…
Slow Lane Brewing Brewer
Sydney is a city that’s always in a rush. Pedestrians charge down the footpath like they’re late for an urgent meeting. Cyclists cut and weave through traffic like their lives depend on it. Cars rev their engines and honk their horns and show their impatience with every erratic lane change. Everything…
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…
Your Mates Brewing Brewer
It’s the age old story. Mate meets mate. Mate dreams about making beer for the Sunshine Coast with mate. Mate opens brewery that serves up rippin’ brews with mate. At least, that’s the story of Hep and McGarry, the duo behind Your Mates Brewing. Perhaps you heard of them when they started gypsy…
Felons Brewing Co Brewer
It’s the 1820s: Four convicts from Sydney are the first westerners to stumble upon the Brisbane River after bad weather seriously messes with their navigation. Fast forward more than a century to the 1930s: The Howard Smith Wharves and the Story Bridge are constructed to provide relief work during…
Shark Island Brewing Brewer
Shark Island Brewing Co is proud to be part of the Sutherland Shire. From the fact the brewery itself is named after a reef break just off Cronulla, to the naming of some of its beers – you can hunt down the surf spots that inspired Voodoo IPA, The Point Dark Ale, and Shiprock Hazy Pale Ale –…
Heads of Noosa Brewing Co Brewer
When it comes to attracting attention from afar, Noosa seems to be the star of the Sunshine Coast. People visit from all over to ride the barrels and breaks of the enviable swell, or to cruise down the river at a lazy pace; some soak in all of the boutique shopping and gourmet cuisine and pumping nightlife…
Mismatch Brewing Co Brewer
Bringing together a bunch of seemingly mismatched people to start a business might not seem the smartest of ideas. But take a look at where Mismatch Brewing Company – and its associated operations – sits today and you’d have to conclude the founders were onto a good thing. Mismatched they might…
Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendery Brewer
It is, without a doubt, the kind of thing that can elevate the small moments in life into something special. I’m talking about that period towards the end of a meal with mates: the food has been served and enjoyed and you’re relaxing around the table – talking, catching up, taking pure pleasure…
Venom Brewing Brewer
The first time we encountered Joel Drysdale, he was walking up the path to Crafty Towers bearing a four-pack of Moo Brew Imperial Stout bottles. As introductions go, it's up there. Later, we crossed paths regularly in his guise as "The Beer Dude" for Tooborac Hotel & Brewery, charged with getting the…
Balter Brewing (CUB/Asahi) Brewer
To balter is to dance artlessly without particular skill or grace, but usually with enjoyment. It’s also the name of the Gold Coast brewery opened by a quartet of Australian surfing legends and some mates, with a trophy-winning brewer at the helm to ensure that when it comes to the beers there’s…
Froth Craft Bunbrewery, Bunbury Brewer
In early 2022, the bustling regional city of Bunbury welcomed a new player into its already vibrant hospitality arena. This came in the form of Froth Craft Bunbrewery (the boys never waste a punny opportunity), a southwest expansion for the trio that first started slinging beers up the coast in Exmouth. With…
Beaches Brewery Brewer
There is a civil war taking place in Sydney as the Inner West and Northern Beaches battle to be recognised as the harbour city’s crafty capital. For years, the former looked untouchable as new brewery opening followed new brewery opening. And, while fresh-faced reinforcements continue to bolster the…
Eumundi Brewery (Lion/Kirin) Brewer
For a small town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Eumundi’s name is surprisingly well known. People come from far and wide for its massive twice-weekly markets, where vivid artworks, handcrafted textiles, sustainable goods and alternative remedies are available as far as the eye can see. The artistic…
KAIJU! Beer Brewer
It's well documented that the rise of craft beer and the popularity of hop forward beer styles have led to frequent hop shortages. Globally, the growers of certain New World varieties are unable to keep up with demand. And it's fair to say the situation could be far worse too. How? Well, if every…
Parched Brewery Brewer
When Parched opened their doors in West End in December 2021, they were opened to trials and tribulations. Not only was it a time when the pandemic was being especially prickly to hospo, but within months of the brewery’s opening the lower level of the venue disappeared underwater in the floods. It…
Red Bluff Brewers Brewer
Spend enough time around the beer industry and you’ll likely hear someone utter the joke: “How do you make a small fortune? Start with a big one and open a brewery.” Equally, while the appetite for beer that’s something other than industrial lager continues to grow, the marketplace is a tough…
Land & Sea Brewer
Ask people why they moved to the Sunshine Coast, and more tham a few of them will say: “For the lifestyle.” Perhaps they were sick of working too much, or always feeling busy and in a rush, or not taking enough time to slow down and enjoy their life. Land & Sea is a brewery all about the balanced…
NORT Brewer
Your friend catches your eye across the table. “Another beer?” “No reason why not!” She hands you a tinnie of Tropical XPA and grabs her third bottle of Refreshing Ale. You pass her the bottle opener and hear the familiar hiss of the lid, then stick your can in a stubbie cooler and crack…
Sydney Brewery Brewer
There are plenty of breweries in Sydney. But there’s only one Sydney Brewery. In some ways, the folks at Sydney Brewery have flown under the radar for a while: perhaps because they were comfortably servicing their own venues and a number of Rydges hotels; perhaps because their beers were previously…
White Bay Beer Co Brewer
White Bay is an area that holds both industrial behemoths and a Hollywood film location, so it stands to reason White Bay Beer Co would capture that blend of character - down to earth, but not without sophistication. The brewery’s logo shows the twin smokestacks of the abandoned White Bay Power…
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…
Benchwarmer Venue
When you’re located in a part of Melbourne that’s rich when it comes to excellent cafés but relatively sparse on the craft beer front, it suggests two things. Firstly: it’s an area where people like to enjoy a quality drink as they catch up with friends. Secondly: if they like catching up over…
Miss Moses Venue
The Weight may be one of The Band’s best known songs but, as far as song names go, it’s one of the least recognisable. The classic late 60s song you’ve almost certainly sung along to is likely one you know best by either the ambiguous chorus of “Take a load off Fanny” or,…
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…
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…
Felons Barrel Hall Venue
Felons Barrel Hall shares some characteristics with the Felons Brewing venue next door, some characteristics with the beer halls of Germany, and some characteristics with other local breweries’ barrel venues. And yet it’s distinctly unlike all of them. Where else can you get a Munich-style Helles…
Hopheads Yarraville VenueBottleshop
Yarraville is the kind of Melbourne suburb that’s long had a village feel about it. The historic buildings along Anderson and Ballarat Streets turn the area’s beating heart into a place where shopping or sipping a coffee feels akin to visiting a candlestick maker at some point early in the last century. While…
The Woolhouse Venue
This small bar pouring 14 taps of independent beer and cider isn’t in Melbourne. Nor is it even in Victoria; it’s a kilometre over the NSW border as the crow flies (or two kilometres for those of us who aren’t crows). But The Woolhouse is an oasis of good beer in Albury, a kind of outpost…
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…
Republic Tavern Venue
In a city that feels close to bursting with craft beer, it takes a bit of effort and invention to stand out. Setting up shop in a part of town that’s gone without good beer is one way to do it, as too is creating a unique drinking experience. When they opened the doors to Republic Tavern in September…
The Ambrose Bar Venue
The humble golf club, not a place usually synonymous with craft beer. That said, do golfers like a beer? It’s a resounding yes on that. But what do they like drinking? Fiona Williams, manager at the Ambrose Bar set out to find out. First established in 1926 in a small shed on the outskirts of Toowoomba,…
Pumpyard Bar & Brewery / Dovetails Restaurant Venue
On the corner of Limestone and Ellenborough Streets is a complex of stately red brick buildings. These heritage listed behemoths were built a century ago to house the Technical College, but they’re now a precinct offering some of the best food and drink in Ipswich. Walking between these tall buildings…
Burnley Brewing Freundschaftsbezeugung Beer
Following the success of Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl, Burnley Brewing have welcomed Freundschaftsbezeugung for 2022. OK, you may have questions about those statements and that’s fine. After COVID scuppered their Oktoberfest last year, the Melbourne brewery decided to release multiple packs of traditional…
Green Beacon Alien Weaponry, Frivolous Juice, Trade Winds & Kinetic Beer
Three IPAs and a Cali pils. The hops are coming hard and fast at Green Beacon. The name of our first one here – **Alien Weaponry West Coast DDH IPA** – has me thinking of the Marvel movies, since people in those are always shooting blue zappy stuff from guns they stole from the aliens. You know,…
Eagle Bay India Red Lager Beer
Long before a significant number of the country's smaller brewers decided to start exploring some of the classic beer styles of the world, rather than banging out hazies and XPAs at great speed, Eagle Bay were focused on doing such things – and doing them well. But when it comes to hybridising a couple…
Hawke's Brewing Legend IPA 2022 Beer
In the lead up to the last Federal Election, the passing of Bob Hawke caused the party he once led to rein in the intensity of their campaigning as they paid respects to a Labor – and Australian – great. As the big day approaches in 2022, they'll be hoping the emergence of the third Legend IPA bearing…
Mr Banks Super Secret Beer Drinking Beer Competition Beer
They'll throw any amount of hops at hazies, fruit at sours and adjuncts at stouts but, when it comes to lagers, Mr Banks tend to keep things simple and let the classic styles stay, well, classic. Oktoberfest is a fitting time to be brewing traditional lagers too, and Mr Banks have set their classically-minded…
Batch Brewing Co Juicy Boys & Island Style Beer
Bring on the fruit; bring on the juice. Batch NEIPA **Juicy Boys** has been described by one Untappd user as “fruity as all hell,” and they’re not wrong. In the aroma, a wallop of tropical fruit salad joins with the richness of dark brown sugar, but the molasses character recedes once you start…
Indian Ocean Brewing Hop Mess Beer
Anyone drinking in Perth at the moment might fear they're about to be consumed by a wave of double IPAs, in this case labelled IIPA. Here, Indian Ocean joins the high ABV swell of contenders with a decidedly old school take and, as they say, “make a solid beer with enough hearty constitution to stand…
Little Bang Brewing Ira Beer
There might be debate as to whether the Little Bang duo, a pair that moved from designing video game characters to beers, are nerds or geeks, but a desire to put Ira on a can suggests they know where they sit. According to the label, the bespectacled redhead "doesn't go for sports, he's not interested…
Wheaty Brewing Corps Indy Beer
When thousands of homebrewers descend on your home town for their large annual conference, you're almost duty bound as a busy brewpub operator to create an interesting beer for them. ANHC 5 took place in Adelaide in 2016 and, as a major sponsor, the Wheaty Brewing Corps was put in charge of brewing the…
Vale Brewing EXP #009: Pineapple Saison Beer
As sponsors of Adelaide's inaugural Cheesefest, Vale Brewing figured they should flex their muscles and create a new beer for the event. The result was a Pineapple Saison, the latest entry in their ever colourful EXP series of one-off, experimental brews. They'd been playing around with fruit additions…
Drinking In Style: Imperial Stouts News
Here at The Crafty Pint, we’re not afraid of doing things arse about face. Avid followers will be aware that we usually preface each of our Blind Tasting Panels with an article by resident Beer Scholar Chris Brady. However, prior to the last one, he was busy moving house with young family in tow,…
Drinking In Style: Amber and Red Ales News
In order to keep pace with the Crafty Pint Tasting Panel, this month's instalment of Drinking In Style takes a look at two styles named for their respective hues: amber and red. If only there were a green ale to complete a brewer's traffic light… Amber Ale Amber ales are yet another gift…
Drinking In Style: Golden Ales News
With summer approaching, we decided to look at the lighter end of the beer spectrum for our next Blind Tasting. As such, we opted for a rather loose collection of beers that fall under the Golden / Summer Ale bracket. And, as usually happens in these circumstances, we sent resident Beer Scholar Chris…
Drinking In Style: IPA News
Before we publish the results of part two of our IPA blind tasting, our Resident Beer Scholar, Chris Brady, returns with another of his journeys back in time. Here, he goes back to the earliest days of the India pale ale styles, busts a few myths and finishes up back in the present day, where hop…
Drinking In Style: Saisons News
Want to know a little more about the beers you love? Then read on, as Crafty’s resident “beer dork” Chris Brady (his words, not ours) kicks off what will be regular features looking at the beers of the world. Kicking it off is a look at Saisons. Picture the scene. The sun is hot in a cloudless…
Drinking In Style: Pale Lagers News
Tomorrow, we'll publish the results of the final blind tasting of the year. We lined up a collection of mostly Australian pale lagers, a style that's growing in popularity among smaller brewers. Before we reveal who came out on top, Resident Beer Scholar Chris Brady delves into beer's multifarious past…
Drinking In Style: Christmas Beers News
On the eve of our final Blind Tasting of 2013, resident Beer Scholar Chris Brady has taken another delve into the past so he can deliver another sermon of style. This time we’re looking at Christmas beers because, well, because it’s Christmas. The following piece is actually an updated version of…
Drinking In Style: English Ales News
As ever when we convene a Blind Tasting Panel, we ask our resident beer scholar, Chris Brady, a home brewing pasta maker turned brewer at Holgate Brewhouse, to give us some insight into the style being tackled. Our most recent panel looked at English ales, which initially sounds like a ridiculous thing…
Drinking In Style News
As long term readers of The Crafty Pint will know, we try and keep things as light and breezy as we can. Where possible, we avoid getting too technical or nerdy (although there are those that argue the very fact it is a site about craft beer means it instantly qualifies as beer nerdy…) and look…
Drinking In Style: Porter News
After a rather lengthy break, we reconvened the Crafty Pint Blind Tasting Panel at the weekend for a look at porters. As ever, before publishing the results, here we have our Resident Beer Scholar, Chris Brady, delving back into the beer’s colourful and myth-riddled past to ascertain just what it is…
Drinking in Style: Brown Ales News
After a brief post-Good Beer Week hiatus, the Crafty Pint Blind Tasting Panel returned this week and with it our regular series looking at beer styles is back. Crafty Towers' resident beer scholar (he’s asked we refrain from using “Beer Dork”) Chris Brady has donned cloth cap, put a whippet on…
Australia's Generation XPA News
They're probably not t-shirt worthy nor tattoo-able, they're more consumed than rated online, and the one in your hand is very likely core range rather than limited release too. Yet XPAs are one of the most widely available, and commonly brewed, beer styles in Australia, with…
Drinking in Style: American Pale Ales News
With Good Beer Week imminent, we figured we should do a Pint of Origin style face-off for the next Crafty Pint Blind Tasting Panel. So later today, the motley crew of brewers (amateur and professional), beer reps, writers and beer lovers will gather at Crafty Towers to pit a selection of Australian pales…
A Hazy Shade Of Pale News
There was a time not that long ago when people in the know questioned whether the rapid rise of hazy beers – then predominantly IPAs – would prove to be a mere fad or something more permanent. I guess we know the answer now: this juice train has plenty of steam. It might have been…
Ten Years Of Crafty: Changing Tastes News
If you were an Aussie who was into beer in 1970 – and we don't mean the mere act of drinking it – your options were, let's face it, pretty limited. Unless you looked beyond these shores, you were faced with a choice of 23 breweries producing mostly similar beers. And if you were that same Aussie…
Shut Up And Drink Your Dessert: Pastry Beers Part 2 News
In part one of this deep dive into the world of pastry beers, we looked at what they are, where they came from, and how they’re made. In part two, we’ll explore why they’re so appealing and who’s drinking them; what brewers are trying to achieve with pastry beers, and how they’d respond…
Shut Up And Drink Your Dessert: Pastry Beers Part 1 News
Sweet, thick beers that taste like dessert used to be few and far between, but now it feels like they're everywhere. In part one of this two-parter, we’re looking at: what are pastry beers, where did they come from, and how are they made? In part two, we’ll explore who’s drinking them and…
What We'll Be Drinking Next News
There's always been a natural ebb and flow to the beer world. Its equivalent of a circadian rhythm is one that sees consumption fall away and trend towards the dark in winter, before bursting back to life through spring and into summer. With 2021 the second year in which Australian brewers and…
A Vision For Indie Beer News
Are the years somehow getting longer or are they just busier? Take a look at some of the indie beer world's major events in 2021. The Indies were streamed as recently as November yet it feels like far longer, while the pandemic's impact on our collective psyche makes Good Beer…
Getting Blind With Crafty: How We Judge – 2021 Update News
We've been conducting blind tastings at The Crafty Pint since late 2012, both in-house and as public events across the country. They're always a lot of fun, frequently enlightening, and provide a great workout for the senses. As we get them underway for 2021, we've tweaked the way we source and judge…
Drinking For a Cause At Jimmy's Tap & Barrel (VIC) Event
If you want to support a great cause while enjoying good beer, join Jimmy's Tap & Barrel as they host a charity event to raise money for the Cerebral Palsy Support Network. The organisation provides assistance to young people with cerebral palsy and their families, giving them the…
International IPA Day at Beer DeLuxe Event
Given it's the style of beer that's probably done more than any other to drive the current explosion of craft beer worldwide, it's only right that the IPA now has its own day, courtesy of a group of beer lovers in the States. It's come a long way from its early days as a highly hopped beer designed…
Ale Stars at Local Taphouse Darlinghurst feat. Historical Styles Event
Fancy taking a trip around the beer world, sipping on some of the finest brews to be found in this fair land, with experts on hand to guide your every step and plenty of good company to keep you entertained?Why, of course you do!And that's pretty well what you get with the Ale Stars session at The…
Beer Judging & Evaluation at Aunty Jacks Event
There are few occasions where drinking beer at 10am on a Saturday leads to long-term positive outcomes, but here's one for the books. On April 2, the education-focused arm of Ballarat's Aunty Jacks will be hosting a Beginners Guide to Beer Evaluation session where their top-notch…
Philippines Disaster Donation Night at 2 Brothers Beerhall Event
With the aid efforts to rebuild vast swathes of the Philippines set to run and run, a Victorian brewery is asking people to help raise funds by doing what they do best: drinking. [2 Brothers](/beer/brewery/2-brothers/) is inviting people to head to its Beerhall in Moorabbin on November 28 and drink…
Red Duck Tasting at Purvis Beer Event
Don't just start your weekend in style - start it in multiple styles. This week's free Friday tasting at [Purvis Beer Richmond](/beer/bottleshop/purvis-beer-richmond/) features a number of beers from the ever-expanding and rather kaleidoscopic range from Ballarat's [Red Duck](/beer/brewery/red-duck-brewery-provedore/). Rock…
The Catfish's 1st Birthday Weekend incl the Poker Bar Game Event
Since taking over the site formerly known as Gertrude's Brown Couch in Fitzroy, the team at The Catfish has enjoyed a pretty damn good time. In fact, such has been the way they've hit the ground running with their combo of great beer, spirits, rockin' tunes and Philly cheesesteaks.In fact, such has been…
Ale Stars at Local Taphouse Darlinghurst feat. Doctor's Orders Event
Fancy taking a trip around the beer world, sipping on some of the finest brews to be found in this fair land, with experts on hand to guide your every step and plenty of good company to keep you entertained? Why, of course you do! And that's pretty well what you get with the Ale Stars session at…
Ale Stars at Local Taphouse Darlinghurst Event
Fancy taking a trip around the beer world, sipping on some of the finest brews to be found in this fair land, with experts on hand to guide your every step and plenty of good company to keep you entertained? Why, of course you do! And that's pretty well what you get with the Ale Stars session…
Pint of Origin 2022 Event
Pint of Origin returns this May, bringing the world of beer to Melbourne for a tenth time. The hugely popular event – first introduced by The Crafty Pint at Good Beer Week 2012 – runs from May 20 to 28, 2022. Seventeen craft-focused bars and pubs across the Victorian capital will be hosting…
