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…
Killer Sprocket Brewer
It might sound like the set up to a punchline but it’s no joke: a comedian and a doctor walk into a brewery and … actually, who are we kidding? There has indeed been plenty of good humour and laughs along the way as the Killer Sprocket story has taken shape. The brewing company was launched by…
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…
Freddie Wimpoles Venue
In contemplating what you might look for in a craft beer venue, few people would think to put taxidermied deer heads and political references at the top of their must have list, but St Kilda’s Freddie Wimpoles manages to deliver on both so well that you couldn’t imagine it any other…
Bayside Beer Belt Venue
The Bayside Beer Belt is a new "beercation" region in the beachside suburbs of Melbourne’s Southeast, made up of 14 LOCAL craft breweries and distilleries located along a 27.5km stretch from Moorabbin to Frankston. It is set to become the go-to "beercation" destination for enthusiasts…
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 & The Gospel Persistence Beer
Resilience is a word that's been bandied about a lot in 2020, along with pivot, unprecedented and oh, for fuck's sake (OK, that last one is a phrase rather than a word, but you catch my drift). You have to feel that, as we in Australia look to be coming out of the darkness and into the light, persistence…
Wolf Of The Willows Acidulus III Beer
Wolf Of The Willows' love of language continues into the third beer in their Acidulus series. The beer's star ingredients are newly developed hop varieties out of Germany – Herkules, Hüll Melon and Hallertau Blanc – so, with the beer soured with lactobacillus, it's been tagged a "Neu Hallertauer…
Wolf of the Willows King Louis XIII Beer
Wolf of the Willows have taken their second dip into the wide world of terpenes with King Loius XIII. You can read more about their approach [here](https://craftypint.com/beer/10189/wolf-of-the-willows-pineapple-express-california-ipa) but rather than cashing in on Napolean hype\* the beer is instead…
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 & Tequila Tromba Jalisco Sour Beer
Wolf of the Willows enjoyed success with their 2018 GABS beer, a delicate and subtly complex spin on the Tom Collins cocktail. So they decided to follow a similar route in 2019; well, similar in that they hooked up with a spirit company when concocting their festival beer. In most other respects, it's…
Wolf of the Willows PILS Beer
Wolf of the Willows' green tinnie is tagged as an Australian pilsner. With good reason too. It's brewed with all Aussie malts and locally grown Enigma hops too. Yet were you presented with the liquid in a glass and given no prior briefing you could just as easily believe you'd been given a pilsner from…
Wolf Of The Willows & Ale Of A Time Southern Brut IPA Beer
They've been busy, um, wolves down at their Bayside brewery in recent weeks. This is the third new can we've had from Wolf Of The Willows in a month, all featuring artwork by their illustrator buddies BySequence and Studio Worldwide, and the second of them to involve collaborators. This time around,…
Wolf Of The Willows & Patient Wolf Tom Collins Sour Beer
The worlds of beer and gin have found much common ground in recent years, and not just because the latter industry is enjoying the sort of time in the spotlight increasingly enjoyed by craft brewers. Whether it's been Young Henrys using hops in its Noble Cut Gin or Hargreaves Hill teaming up with Four…
Wolf of the Willows The Haze Has Spoken & West Coast Is The Way Beer
Despite embarking on several evenings of back-to-back Star Wars viewing with my youngest during our most recent bout of COVID, we're yet to make it to The Mandalorian. But if this pair of IPAs name-checking the series are any guide, perhaps it should be added to the watch list. It's not the first…
The Story Of: Lark Imperial JSP News
Barrel-aged beers are a common sight during winter. Increasingly, you'll find them celebrated in boilermaker pairings too. And yet, despite their relative ubiquity, the Wolf of the Willows Barrel Exchange Project – one centred around barrel-ageing and pairing beer with whisky – manages to stand out…
Wolf of the Willows To Open A Brewery In 2020 News
Melbourne-based brewing company Wolf of the Willows are to open their own brewery and taproom in Mordialloc. They hope to open their new operation early in 2020, adding to a vibrant local beer scene in the Bayside area, one that already includes the likes of Bad Shepherd, Boatrocker, 2 Brothers, Mr Banks,…
X Marks The... Something News
As 2017 rolls on, we're witnessing a rise in the popularity of beers bearing the XPA tag. If you're reading The Crafty Pint, there's a good chance you'll have tried one or two, maybe even have a favourite. What's less clear is just what XPA means. It’s IPA’s younger sibling. It’s pale ale’s…
Who Brews Wolf of the Willows XPA? News
Hot on the heels of the relaunch of our once-regular Brew & A feature with Doug from Brookes Beer (who has set the bar pretty damn high for future respondents), it's time to kickstart another regular spot. The beer world is expanding at such a rate that there seem to be new breweries and brewing companies…
The Best Of Beer 2022: Victoria News
After taking a tour of New South Wales yesterday, our review of the year in beer heads to Victoria. You can find all entries in the series – including our look at some of the major trends and themes that have played out nationwide – here, while below you'll find our take on the highs and lows of…
The Best Of Beer 2023: Victoria News
As 2023 draws to a close, it's time for our annual jaunt around the land to see who and what has stood out from the crowd over the past 12 months. We'll be stopping in every state, as well as the Territories, and inviting some of those who've enjoyed a great year to tell us all about it.We've already…
The Theatre Of Indulgence News
To call newly opened Collingwood venture The Craft & Co ambitious is to underestimate it. Not content with offering three food menus and matching courses with wine, beer or spirits, the team is filling the taps with its own beers too.Joining the long list of venues located along Melbourne's 86 tram line,…
Eastbound And Down News
The north-south divide in Melbourne may be something of an imaginary line following the flow of the Yarra, but until recently it has been all too apparent in the city’s craft beer world. Quality beer venues have been far more heavily concentrated in the northern or eastern suburbs, with the west and…
Aussie Beer Blogs: The Year of Beer News
Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. And that's a reasonable way to describe the idea that got Tim Smith into writing about beer. A fairly recent convert to the world of craft beer, the Port Macquarie resident decided to make his exploration of the wider beer world something of a challenge: a…
The Big Issue: Ownership News
When was the last time a week passed without news breaking of a major brewery taking a significant stake or complete ownership of a craft brewer, either here or overseas? As the tectonic plates of the global beer industry continue to shift as never before, such moves happen with growing frequency. So…
Cabal Update - 4.11.16 News
It's been almost a year since the The Crafty Cabal quietly launched itself onto the Australian beer scene as a means of allowing our readers to support us financially in return for lots of lovely, beery goodies in return. In that time, we have offered thousands of dollars in value to members in…
Hottest 100 of 2014: The Breakdown News
The results are in. Feral's invincible Hop Hog continues its march at the top, while Little Creatures is nudged out of the top three for the first time to be usurped by another US-inspired pale ale from 4 Pines. La Sirene comes from nowhere to claim four spots, including a top five for its GABS beer…
James Halliday Feature: Rise of the Brewpub News
Amid all the new brewing companies launching across Australia the brewpub format is proving increasingly popular. Earlier in 2015, The Crafty Pint's founder spoke to the men behind a couple opening their doors for the first time this year for his regular feature in James Halliday's Wine Companion Magazine. He…
A Year Of The Crafty Cabal News
Just before the end of 2015, we launched The Crafty Cabal, a beer lovers bonus scheme that offers readers the chance to help The Crafty Pint grow in return for heaps of beery benefits. The concept is similar to the subscriber services operated by community radio stations like RRR and was designed…
Spirituous Away News
Barrel-aged releases have become increasingly ubiquitous in the contemporary beer world but, as local breweries and craft distilleries continue to pop up in all corners of the country, malty marvels are finding ever more ingenious ways to meld. The latest example is The Barrel Exchange Project,…
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015: The Results News
Well, there you have it: a change at the top for the first time since 2011 as Stone & Wood Pacific Ale usurps Feral's Hop Hog. Yet the biggest story in this year's GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers may well be what's happened in their wake with Pirate Life Brewing, who only released their first beer…
2020: The Year In Beer – Victoria News
How good are pubs? And bars. And taprooms. And beer gardens. And... well, you get the point. Among the many emotions Victorians experienced in 2020, there will be plenty who realised just how much they enjoyed the simple pleasure of a beer with mates at their local – or not so local – venue when…
Mountain Culture Status Quo Wins GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2023 News
The polling is long closed, the votes counted, and of the 1,877 beers to receive votes from the 400-plus breweries that entered the GABS Hottest 100 of 2023, Mountain Culture Status Quo Pale Ale has landed in top spot for a second year running. The Blue Mountains-based brewing company debuted in top…
Postcards from the Edge No.14: The Chain Gang News
Watching businesses throughout the beer world and beyond change the way they operate over the past few weeks has been a welcome distraction from the gathering gloom as reality sets in. Yet, for all the examples of businesses banding together, repurposing staff, or moving into direct-to-customer sales,…
Postcards from the Edge No.22: Have A Beer Together News
It features a Sunday night quiz hosted by a two-time TV quiz winner and cocktail nights, while past shows have featured foreign films and Instagram challenges, yet somehow it’s about beer too... Beer Together is a live-streamed YouTube series launched the day after the shutdown…
