“I'm still passionate about what I do, I still love what I do, and I still think I'm one of the luckiest people in the world.”

In the last Another Round episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast, in which we’re rerunning some of our favourite shows from the past two years while various team members are overseas, we figured why not head overseas here too.

What’s more, given it’s winter in Australia and plenty of people are seeking out sunnier climes, why not make our destination Bali? To be precise, we're off to the home of Sam Füss – the award-winning brewer who swapped Australia for the Indonesia island province in 2022.

Her main reason for making the change was to set up Beaches Brewing Bali; we joined her in late 2024 with the brewery up and running. Sam takes us inside the experience of getting Beaches off the ground, training locals with no prior experience, and educating people who've never encountered craft beer before, while reflecting on one of the most colourful careers of any brewer in the modern era.

With our podcast producer departing Melbourne to visit family in the States on Tuesday, we recorded our review of the week in beer earlier than usual, which means there’s no discussion of the sad news that Sobremesa have decided to call it a day [https://craftypint.com/news/4130/sobremesa-call-it-a-day], nor of Black Hops entering voluntary administration for a second time [https://craftypint.com/news/4140/black-hops-brewing-enter-administration-for-the-second-time], 28 months after first going through the process.

What James and Will do cover is the success of the inaugural Australian NZIPA Challenge last weekend, judging at the first Beer Championships [https://craftypint.com/news/4139/the-view-from-the-floor-the-beer-championships-are-underway], Reckless Brewing’s ambitious plans for IPA Day, a new offering for brewers [https://craftypint.com/news/4138/mogwai-labs-launch-new-testing-service-for-australian-brewers] from Mogwai Labs, ticket sales opening for Blobfish 2026 [https://craftypint.com/event/14137/blobfish-festival-2026], our updated listing for Bendigo’s Cambrian Hotel [https://craftypint.com/bar/394/cambrian-hotel], and this week’s celebration of dark beers [https://craftypint.com/event/14131/dark-side-of-the-beer-festival-2026] on the Inner West Ale Trail.

We're back running fresh interviews from next week, and hope you've enjoyed these trips down Memory Lane.

Start of segments:
 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 13:26 – Brewery Boosters ft Bintani
 * 17:17 – Sam Füss Part 1
 * 40:49 – Maximising Taproom Revenue ft GoTab
 * 46:55 – Sam Füss Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Another Round: Life's A Beach – Building A Brewery In Bali

“I can kind of do whatever I want and two or three weeks later send the beer out and see what happens.”

In the third of our Another Round episodes, in which we dip into the 100-plus past shows of The Crafty Pint Podcast throughout July while various team members are overseas, we return to our chat with Rhys Lopez, founder of one-man-band Evil Mega Corp [https://www.evilmegacorp.com.au/home].

He takes us into the thinking behind his unique operation, one that allows him to explore any avenue that piques his interest [https://craftypint.com/news/4095/keeping-the-beer-gas-tax-conversation-going], and move more nimbly than pretty much any brewing operation on the planet. We also delve into the pre-EMC – and pre-beer – career of one of the most loquacious and thought-provoking characters in the industry.

This week’s intro sees James rejoin Will as he prepares to fly back from the UK, with the former recapping his brushes with the beer and whisky worlds in England and Scotland.

It’s been something of a back-loaded week in terms of articles on Crafty, with news of Six String’s return from administration [https://craftypint.com/news/4132/six-string-brewing-emerge-from-administration-as-creditors-approve-restructuring-plan] landing as we were chatting, and articles on Malt Donkey’s “Fine Ales” and Shapeshifter’s exciting plans for Adelaide Central Market potentially not landing on the site until after this episode enters the ether.

We also look ahead to this weekend’s NZIPA Challenge at Rocky Ridge [https://craftypint.com/event/14122/the-inaugural-australian-nzipa-challenge] and upcoming events we’re involved with at Bracket Brewing [https://craftypint.com/event/14132/southern-hemisphere-hop-showcase-and-masterclass] in Marrickville and CoConspirators [https://craftypint.com/event/14119/beer-club-exclusive-ten-years-of-coconspirators] in Brunswick.

Start of segments:
 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 18:17 – Special Deal from Price Screen & Digital [https://pricescreen.com.au/get-a-quote/] (use code PINT)
 * 19:18 – Rhys Lopez Part 1
 * 43:59 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines]
 * 45:06 – Rhys Lopez Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Another Round: The Art Of Being Evil

With some in The Crafty Pint Podcast team spending much of winter travelling, we’re tapping into a few past episodes for July.

For round two of Another Round, we head back to the Riverina to revisit our chat with Brad Woolner and Stu Whytcross from Voyager Craft Malt [https://craftypint.com/business/1319/voyager-craft-malt]. The best mates and business partners have helped pioneer small-scale malting in Australia, including through the launch of Grainstock [https://www.grainstock.com.au/],  Stu’s passion project.

The industry event returns in October, so we felt it was a fitting time to highlight where the idea came from as well as Voyager’s wider story, which we recorded at the Whitton Malt House last year.

Before that conversation, Craig and Will caught up to chat about the week’s news. They discussed Jono Outred’s story [https://craftypint.com/news/4123/from-paddock-to-plate-to-pint] on CBCo’s paddock to plate to pint approach in Margaret River, Will’s piece on the delightful Otter’s Promise [https://craftypint.com/news/4126/behind-bars-otters-promise], and Mick Wüst’s latest book [https://craftypint.com/news/4128/whisky-and-cocktails-from-the-mind-of-mick-wuest], Whisky & Cocktails.

Start of segments:
 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 12:25 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines]
 * 13:31 – Voyager Part 1
 * 45:14 – A Special Deal From Price Screen & Digital [https://craftypint.com/business/1505/price-screen-and-digital]
 * 46:13 – Voyager Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Another Round: Voyager's Vision

In this exclusive series - The New Hop Order, presented by HPA - The Crafty Pint Podcast explores what’s happening on the cutting edge of hop innovation from breeding and processing to brewing. In this episode, we’re talking with BarthHaas Customer Solutions Expert Christina Schönberger and Jopen’s Head Brewer Daniel Schappert about using Prysma™ to craft hop flavour that lasts a shelf lifetime.

THE NEW HOP ORDER: Prysma:tm:: Impactful flavour, lasting freshness

Something a little different from The Crafty Pint Podcast this week – and for the rest of July too.

As flagged in recent episodes, we’re taking a short break from running new full-length interviews. All three key players in the production of the show are on back-to-back overseas trips and a major new project is coming to fruition soon.

The beer news keeps coming, however, so we’re still recording fresh reviews of the week in beer. And, given we’ve got so many great chats to dip into from the past couple of years, we’re taking the opportunity to go another round with some of our favourites.

First up is Jade Flavell from The Wheaty in Adelaide. Few will need any introduction to Jade, given the pioneering role she has played in defining high-end, craft beer-focused hospitality at the Thebarton pub, then more latterly turning it into an award-winning, ever-innovative brewpub [https://craftypint.com/brewery/264/wheaty-brewing-corps].

Jade is as passionate about supporting independent arts and live music as she is about indie beer – and whisky for that matter – and has plenty of insight to offer on those topics and many more.

Before we revisit the chat recorded at The Wheaty [https://craftypint.com/bar/250/the-wheaty], James joins Will from Oban on the West Coast of Scotland, where he’s combining visits to small breweries and historic distilleries with a family adventure.

They look back over seven days in which Will has spoken to two people working sober in beer and hospitality [https://craftypint.com/news/4117/dry-for-july-and-for-good], and we preview the opening of an ambitious new brewery in WA [https://craftypint.com/news/4121/ambitious-wa-brewery-long-point-brewing-co-launches-this-week] as well as the latest evolution of Prancing Pony [https://craftypint.com/brewery/239/prancing-pony-brewery] in the Adelaide Hill.

Beer travel of two kinds – a new Crafty Crawl in South Sydney [https://craftypint.com/news/3158/crafty-crawls-south-sydneys-breweries] and a champion brewer’s exploits in South Korea [https://craftypint.com/news/4119/brew-and-a-kenny-doyle] – also hit the site, while hop fiends can also look forward to the inaugural Aussie version of the NZIPA Challenge [https://craftypint.com/event/14122/the-inaugural-australian-nzipa-challenge] coming to Melbourne later this month.

Start of segments:

 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 13:57 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines
 * 15:06 – Jade Part 1
 * 41:34 – The NZIPA Challenge
 * 42:18 – Jade Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

 Another Round: Everything Indie, All The Time

“I don't see any ceiling for non-alc beer.”

It’s fair to say there were plenty of skeptics when non-alcoholic beer first started to appear in earnest in the local beer scene. Yet, in the half-decade-plus since we ran a blind tasting featuring early entrants to the market, the sector has grown and grown.

While some brands have come and gone, there’s a growing number of established brands and many other breweries for whom their non-alc range forms a significant part of their sales. What’s more, Bridge Road Brewers and, more recently, Heaps Normal have started putting non-alc beer on tap [https://craftypint.com/news/3981/tapping-into-non-alcs].

To assess where the market sits, where it could be heading, and why it’s come so far already, we pulled together a panel from different facets of the beer world.

Molly Rose [https://craftypint.com/brewery/457/molly-rose-brewing] founder Nic Sandery is the brewer behind both Molly Rose and Hiatus non-alcs, Sam Bethune is a former brewer who’s now a technical sales specialist at Bintani [https://craftypint.com/business/581/bintani-australia], and former Fixation main man Tom Delmont brings a sales and brand perspective from his role at Hop Nation [https://craftypint.com/brewery/285/hop-nation], who produce a broad range of alcohol-free beers.

We look at advances in technology, processes and ingredients, the dos and don’ts of non-alc brewing, take lessons from overseas, and attempt a spot of crystal ball-gazing.

This week’s opening is a global affair with James recently landed in London amid a European heatwave that looks a lot like Australia in January – albeit without aircon... We discuss two venue openings in the Yarra Valley [https://craftypint.com/news/4111/the-beer-slingers-woori-yallock-tap-house] and the Sunshine Coast [https://craftypint.com/news/4112/10-toes-reach-for-the-loft], the relaunch of the Tasmanian Beer Trail [https://craftypint.com/news/4110/tasmanian-beer-trail-to-be-relaunched-by-the-iba], and our plans for a hiatus of sorts of our own.

Throughout July, we’ll still be reviewing the week in beer on the show, but instead of featuring new longform interviews we’ll be running some of our favourites from the past two years. With James in the UK and our producer heading to the US soon – plus a major new project coming to a head – we didn’t want to risk breaking ourselves any more than we already do!

Start of segments:

 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 16:21 – Price Screen & Digital [https://craftypint.com/business/1505/price-screen-and-digital]
 * 17:26 – Non-Alc Panel Part 1
 * 39:08 – Industry Insights With American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines]
 * 40:15 – Non-Alc Panel Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

From Zero To Hero: The Rise Of Non-Alc Beer

“Year one for us is proof of concept.”

In January, we unveiled plans [https://craftypint.com/news/3975/leading-figures-in-aussie-beer-to-launch-new-awards-competition] for a new form of beer awards being conceived by industry titans Justin Fox and Jayne Lewis. Five months on and submissions are now open for The Beer Championships [https://thebeerchampionships.com/brewer-hub], so we invited them to join us on the show to find out more.

We delve into the genesis for this new approach to assessing and celebrating greatness in beer, their reasons for heading down this path after years spent judging across the world, and their desire to achieve significant commercial benefits for finalists and champions. We also tease from them the Oscars-inspired name for the trophies they’ll be handing out in October.

It would be remiss of us to have two such respected individuals, with rare breadth of knowledge across many facets of the beer community, on the show and not ask more of them.

So, in the second half of the main chat, we invite Justin and Jayne to tell us what they’re seeing and hearing about the beer world’s health and prospects, and to share their personal feelings on where the industry sits as we approach the midpoint of 2026.

Talking of that, we’ll be taking a short break from running new extended interviews from the end of June. We’ll still publish weekly news updates; however, throughout July, these will be paired with some of our favourite shows from the past two years. Fresh long-form interviews will return at the end of July.

We’re working on a major new project that’s launching in the second half of 2026, and Will, James and Matt will all be overseas for stretches between now and September, hence the short change in transmissions.

In terms of this week’s news, we cover a VA on the Central Coast [https://craftypint.com/news/4101/central-coast-pioneers-six-string-enter-voluntary-administration], the opening of a European-style beer hall [https://craftypint.com/news/4107/hobarts-new-bierhalle] in Hobart, the final leg [https://craftypint.com/news/4106/crafty-crawls-the-86-tram-plenty-road] of our 86 tram Crafty Crawl, and the launch of our competition to find the dream Aussie Beer XI now the World Cup is underway.

Start of segments:

 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 12:30 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines]
 * 13:40 – Justin & Jayne Part 1
 * 38:47 – Enter The Beer Championships
 * 39:39 – Justin & Jayne Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

A Brave New World For Beer Awards

“The human component sometimes goes beyond the beer component of working in this industry.”

Tito Orellana arrived in Australia from Chile with his interest in beer already piqued. Upon arriving in Melbourne in the midst of craft beer’s explosion – with signs blaring: “GOOD BEER WEEK” plastered on walls across the city – his interest soon became a full-blown passion.

In the decade-plus since those early days, he’s moved from basic hospo roles through some of the country’s best beer bars and breweries to become an Advanced Cicerone and judge at major beer competitions on both sides of the equator.

Today, Tito is the beer ambassador at Carwyn Cellars – an incredibly rare role in hospitality and retail that speaks volumes of both employer and employee – and one of the most respected beer educators and event hosts in the country. He’s also launching a new project, Edubeer [https://www.instagram.com/edubeer.au/], designed to make life easier for any Aussies wanting to understand how beer styles are supposed to look, taste and smell.

He’s a wonderfully charismatic guest who touches upon his travels and love for music as well as his specialist subject, and offers some lovely insights into his first experience judging at the World Beer Cup in Colorado earlier this year.

Before we get to this week's main chat, we cast an eye over the week's news: a new collab in WA designed to keep the beer gas tax conversation going [https://craftypint.com/news/4095/keeping-the-beer-gas-tax-conversation-going]; the crafty rebirth [https://craftypint.com/news/4099/all-smiles-the-friendly-societies-hotel-opens-in-abbotsford] of an historic Melbourne corner boozer; entering the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Awards [https://craftypint.com/event/14100/deadline-to-enter-the-2026-sydney-royal-beer-awards]; and our latest guide to enjoying beer at its best [https://craftypint.com/news/4098/beer-basics-buying-storing-and-drinking-beer-at-its-best].

Start of segments:

 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 13:52 – Tito Part 1
 * 40:51 – Industry Insights from American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines]
 * 41:57 – Tito Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Serving With Style(s) ft Tito Orellana

“Be kind to people and treat your beer well.”

It’s been an emotional few days for Nemesia Dale-Cully – or Meesh as she’s known to most. For almost half a decade, she’s been running the venue at Wildflower [https://craftypint.com/news/3982/episode-084-ten-years-walking-on-the-wild-side] in Marrickville, where they bade farewell to their last customers on May 31.

We took the opportunity to chat to Meesh ahead of the closing weekend, not just to reflect on her time at Wildflower but also to find out what she believes goes into creating a great hospitality experience – both for staff and customers.

Her insights have been earned over a period in which she swapped running events at libraries for bar shifts at Sweet Amber in Adelaide, which led to working at Pirate Life [https://craftypint.com/brewery/255/pirate-life-cub-asahi] as the brewery swapped its OG Hindmarsh home for its Port Adelaide behemoth, then being headhunted by Shapeshifter [https://craftypint.com/brewery/680/shapeshifter-brewing-co] as they set up home, before swapping Adelaide for Sydney’s Inner West.

Her advice ranges from the importance of respect, kindness and “meeting people where they are”, to cleanliness and theatre. And we go deeper too, with Meesh one of the most respected voices in the beer community on diversity and inclusivity, not least when businesses or individuals – on either side of the bar – fail to meet even basic standards of civility.

There was big news in the world of big beer this week, with Lion announcing they’re to cease brewing at James Boag Brewery [https://craftypint.com/news/4092/lion-to-cease-brewing-at-james-boags-visitor-centre-to-remain-open] in Launceston, while in the world of indie beer, the IBA revealed they‘re switching the focus of their Indies awards from liquid to people [https://craftypint.com/news/4091/revamped-indies-to-focus-on-the-people-of-beer], and our Building A Brewery series returned for a third chapter [https://craftypint.com/news/4093/building-a-brewery-iii-spirits-and-scissor-lifts].

With Pint of Origin wrapped up, we’ve lined up a bunch of new specials for members of our Crafty Cabal beer club, so if you’d like to boost your beer experience while supporting us on our good beer mission, feel free to sign up [https://craftycabal.com/]. And, of course, feel free to like, subscribe, rate and review the show so we can reach more people.

Start of segments:
 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 13:48 – Meesh Part 1
 * 35:35 – Driving Footfall & Loyalty with GoTab*
 * 41:24 – Meesh Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
*To book a demo with GoTab, email nathan@gotab.io.

Creating Kind, Considered, Comfortable Community Spaces

"People use it to learn English, and I think that's spectacular."

Em Sauter is an American drinks communicator, international beer judge, podcast host and writer who specialises in visual education. To Australian beer fans and those working in beer, she's best known as as the person behind Pints and Panels [https://www.pintsandpanels.com/], an award-winning website focused on "Visual Drinks Education" which launched in 2010.

Em returned to Australia earlier this month to judge at the Australian International Beer Awards – and to enjoy the country's XPAs, Cherry Ripes and coffee culture.

We caught up with her at Carwyn Cellars, where she held a pop-up stall during Pint of Origin, for a chat diving into the history of Pints and Panels. It covers the rise of AI, her experience travelling the world as a beer judge, and Em’s take on the state of beer in the US.

There's a bit to get through in this week's show before we get to the main event too – not least as it's the 100th full episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast.

We look back on the biggest Pint of Origin to date [https://craftypint.com/news/4086/pint-of-origin-2026-how-did-we-do], discuss features on newly-crowned AIBA Champion Nomad Brewers Shack Bay [https://craftypint.com/news/4085/nomad-no-more-aiba-trophy-winners-shack-bay-secure-a-home] and Goons Brewing [https://craftypint.com/news/4088/who-brews-goons-beer], who opened their brewery venue on the Central Coast right at the end of 2026, and revisit one of the topics from Episode 099 [https://craftypint.com/news/4081/episode-099-the-state-of-play-for-indie-beer] that's been attracting a lot of attention on socials: container deposit schemes.

Start of segments:
 * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
 * 15:56 – Australia's Biggest Beer Fan [https://beervana.co.nz/australias-biggest-beer-fan]
 * 17:06 – Em Sauter Part 1
 * 42:35 – 100 Years of Roasting at Joe White Maltings [https://craftypint.com/news/4072/roasted-and-toasted-100-years-of-joe-white-specialty-malts]
 * 43:32 – Em Sauter Part 2

To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

A Pint With Pints And Panels

The Crafty Pint is the home of craft beer in Australia.

The online magazine and resource has been crafting beer's best stories since 2010 and, in July 2024, launched The Crafty Pint Podcast.

Hosted by the editorial team behind Australia's leading craft beer media publication, the show features curated discussion of industry news, as well as an ever-changing lineup of guests sharing perspectives from all corners of the craft beer world.

Subscribe now and delve into the fascinating stories shaping beer.

James Smith

Shows