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The Year In Beer 2025: National Trends
2 Playsin 1 hour
“This has been a year of holding patterns, of people trying to work out how they fit into the new reality.”
If you’ve read The Year In Beer 2025: National Trends article, you already know many of the topics that are the starting points for discussion as we kick of our end-of-year podcast series. If not, you can check it out here.
This episode gives us an opportunity to expand on many of the trends and issues raised there, as well as a chance to look back at the news of the past week and our most read articles of the past 12 months.
When it comes to the news of the past week, the main talking point was the change in ownership of GABS and the subsequent decision to cancel all 2026 festivals with the intention of returning with a refreshed concept in 2027. The other story we discuss is one that hasn’t made it to the pages of The Crafty Pint, but has taken up much of our time: the launch of the Daughter beer brand by Chuck Hahn and his family.
In terms of the articles that were read most widely in 2025, it goes without saying that the vast majority occupying the upper echelons involve sales, VAs, openings, closures and mergers, but elsewhere it’s encouraging to see what topics really engage readers: travel articles; deep dives into styles; features on fascinating folks doing cool things; awards winners and more.
The show features another Bintani Brewery Booster as well as James and Will’s hopes for beer in 2026, and acts as the precursor for our state by state by territories shows kicking off next Tuesday and running through until just before Christmas.
Start of segments:
- 07:58 – National Trends
- 34:26 – Bintani Brewery Booster
- 38:36 – Biggest Stories Of 2025
- 47:24 – Hopes For 2026
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
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Transcript
Will's Return and Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Crafty Pine podcast. I'm Will. I'm James and welcome to the beginning of the end, um as in the beginning of our end of year podcast series. um Welcome back Will, you had a week off and were ably replaced by Guy Southern for ah for one ah episode.
00:00:22
Speaker
Yes, up front. Apologies for my voice, it's it's never that good but it's it's quite bad at the moment. At the end of my holiday I was at some very dear friends' weddings and I guess I yelled and celebrated too loudly and as a result I've lost my voice. Well, you know, it's it wouldn't be the first time we've recorded a podcast after a big weekend and been a little bit little bit croaky.
Reflecting on the Year in Beer
00:00:44
Speaker
um But yeah, so this is going to be the podcast where we reflect on the year in beer on of national scale. um We'll get to that shortly. yeah and Before we get to that, I guess um it is still a weekly podcast, so we we're keen to reflect on the news of the past week and I guess the biggest news actually um dropped this morning which pushed the start of our recording back
GABS Festival Changes and Future
00:01:06
Speaker
a little bit. Yeah, so no Gabs in 2026 already. They said they weren't going to do Brisbane and now Melbourne and Sydney aren't happening. And with that news comes the revelation that one of the owners of the festival has taken over it in its entirety, which is Jerry Swartz and his company who in the craft beer space own Sydney Brewery, has been an investor in Gabs since... 2023 and has also had a longer involvement in beer festivals that through the one they love around in the hunter valley and in canberra as well yeah yeah so um yeah dr jerry swartz owns a number of hotels um as well as you know his own sydney brewery origin schwartz brewery And, yeah, I think the rumours started swirling last week that something um was awry. And, yeah, they've decided just to take stock and look at what works and what doesn't work. um I guess it's not the first major festival to fall by the wayside. It's something that we know we'll be talking about in the in the... discussion of the national picture, I suppose. It is a very turbulent event space out there. um But they are promising to be back and the Holest 100 is still going ahead. The the voting opened this week. um
00:02:15
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I guess we can see from the early response on social that some are quite shocked. But I think some people also were aware that yeah know any ah any event of that size has been facing challenges. you know Gabs is certainly in Melbourne, has had to move around a number of different sites. And you know you've seen...
00:02:31
Speaker
Sponsors you know disappear over the years, which isn't uncommon in the event space or in the beer space at the minute. um And you know some of the breweries choosing not to attend. So you can see maybe that this was sort of on the cards um and yeah hopefully they can have a look at it and come back with something that does work.
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I think this is the best thing for it to be framed, Clark. I think it's probably needs to take a break and reflect. it It's probably has become in some ways too big. And it was built at a time when craft beer looked different. And now craft beer is is what it is. And so it it needs sort of marquee or large festivals to reflect that.
Festival Pint of Origin and Budget Insights
00:03:08
Speaker
yeah yeah i should say however that um crafty pints festival pint of origin will still be going ahead in melbourne in may um the great survivor the great survivor may 15th 24th we changed the dates a little bit this year and just to start the day after the the beer awards um but yes that most definitely uh going ahead we'll announce the the lineup in march and uh the full program in April. um So if you are still looking, if you're a Melburnian looking for a big beer week, that'll still be taking place. And if you do plan, if you do like to come to Melbourne once a year for beer shenanigans, then that is most definitely um still happening. Or if you want to sponsor us, sponsor it, let us know. Yeah, you don't want us to fall by the wayside. Although I have to say, we've sort of run the festival on oily rag for such a long time. That's probably one of the main reasons why it has been a great
New Beer Brand 'Daughter' and Industry Concerns
00:03:55
Speaker
survivor. um Another, I guess, news from this week, something that's sort of been discussed around the industry, a bit of some stuff online.
00:04:02
Speaker
We haven't run a story on it yet, but I felt it was worth sort of discussing here, maybe in part because we haven't run an article. um It was the launch of a new um beer brand um from Chuck Han and his family last week called Daughter, um which i guess I guess raised a few heckles for certain people. um For us, um you know we' spoke we've had some back and forth with the family, um i guess raising some of our concerns. and We can see that you know some of the imagery that was there around the launch, some of the messaging has certainly changed as people people are listening. We've had a lot of conversations with other people in the industry with the Pink Boots Society.
00:04:38
Speaker
who obviously are in conversation as well. And it does appear that the process is moving. I think a lot of people were upset that it felt like by saying there'd never been a beer for women before or, you know, trying to bring women into beer with this new style of beer, that it was kind of erasing a lot of the work that the likes of Two Birds and Pink Boots and other people industry and we've been also done for hundreds if not thousands of years as well yeah exactly so i think you know you know we we haven't published anything as yet we've had a lot of conversation think you got back from holiday yesterday and was straight on the phone go will sorry your brain might be a bit fried after 10 days away but we need to discuss this um and and yeah i think it's something that um it was unfortunate to see and you something like that made it to you know thinking that that was the way to launch a brand but it does appear to be a moving piece and concerns seem to have been listened to so that's one we'll be keeping an eye on but certainly was a just something you didn't really expect to see in 2025 so no or in 2026 which we're almost in which yeah I guess how we're going to wrap up this year similar but a little bit different to last year
Year in Beer Highlights and Future Hopes
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. So today, just with you and I are talking about, um i guess, what we think have been the key takeaways from the year in beer. Also having a look after the break at some of the most read articles on the website. And I guess our own personal sort of hopes, dreams, whatever it might be for... 2026 and beyond. um And then from next week, um sorry, Matt, our producer, where the plan is to go Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then the last Tuesday before Christmas, where we'll travel around each of the states and the territories with a chat with our contributors in each state to kick everything off. And then we've got two guests that we think have had a pretty interesting standout um year, just having a chat about what they've got up to in 2025 and what they've got planned for the future. Yeah, so that kicks off on Tuesday December 9 so if you don't already sort of have your settings set up so that it automatically downloads episodes and pushes it to you or gives you notifications as soon as you wake up now is the time to subscribe like the podcast comment head by other people find it but make sure you're getting our our podcast because it is a bit of a there's to be a Thursday podcast but there's so much more for two weeks Yes, and I'm hoping Matt had remembered that while he was away in the States and hasn't, he isn't listening to this while he's editing this podcast to go out on December the 4th going, Christ, I've got a lot to do. um But anyway, before we get to that, I guess um we're still going to have time for um some more Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month um announcements before the end of the year, as well as Habi Duna Relling's celebration of Good Beer Citizens. So if you'd like to end the year by giving either your favourite brewery or your favourite person the beer industry a pat on the back and you know app prize in the case of Bluestone Yeast, one of their zinc boosters for the Brewery of the Month, or in from Rallings Labels and Stickers, um a voucher to use, well I guess with whatever you want from Rallings, then please do jump online at either craftypint.com slash bluestone or craftypint.com slash rallings and get your nominations in before the end of the year so we can include them in some upcoming shows. um So we'll be getting to the'll get we'll get to the start of the end of year review shortly, but um Will?
00:07:54
Speaker
ah Make sure you like, subscribe, leave us a review. Cheers. Excellent. um And straight into
Economic Challenges and Industry Adaptations
00:08:00
Speaker
it. So um this is something that I guess we've sort of pulled together chatting to our contributors around the the country over the last few weeks. Try to narrow it down to what we think have been, i guess, some of the key trends or takeaways from what has been um another challenging year. um i you know I sort of ah said in the intro to the piece, I think you know it's hopefully it's the tail end of the bad time, but it is still tough. like you know Things haven't improved in the wider economy significantly, while there are some people doing well. i think
00:08:30
Speaker
My main takeaway is I think this has been a year of almost holding pattern, but people trying to work out how they fit into the new reality. um And, you know, yeah yeah i think that's kind of where where we're at sort of going, okay, this is what we have to play with. how do we How do we survive? How do we work within these parameters? Yeah, people, your breweries working out where they are and exactly how they operate. I think we've seen them either dive into sort of certain things, certain trends, which we won't maybe get into a bit and really sort of run with them. like Like, I don't know, there's still no slowdown in innovation or exciting things going on, but there has definitely been a, I think, inward pulling back and and whether that's
00:09:11
Speaker
moving away from distribution or moving into certainly only brewing beers you know you can do i think we're no longer at that point where it's like well everyone's got to do continual hazy ipas or something like that because that's what everyone was doing for a long time you knew that you had to get them to move it's very much a different landscape now Yeah, yeah I think with Hospo as well, you you know, but I guess some places have probably gone, okay, we need to be going back to the staples of like, you know, Tuesday state night, you know, trivia, whatever it might be, just this sort of, I guess, added enticements to get people through the door, a value offering, you know, and obviously, you know,
00:09:47
Speaker
I guess it was highlighted in the secret sales rep piece. Some people have perhaps moved away from some of the craftier beers, but certainly, yeah, it feels like things haven't necessarily got, you know, significantly worse and it hasn't made maybe been quite the bloodbath of 2023 and 2024. But yeah, definitely, um i guess people adjusting to to a new reality. But in terms of, I guess, the the trends we we pulled out, um one of the entries that you put together, and we call it sort of Industries
Industry Collaborations and Government Support
00:10:14
Speaker
United. do you want to tell us about that, Will? Yeah, well the IBA has long sort of pointed to the importance of supporting indie beer and they've got their seal and they've tried to give this met ah drive this message at home and they've also they're a um You know, they're the body that's able to talk to the federal government and and they've had a lot of success for that even if the federal government isn't always listening They're still able to I think and and they are effective at least being in the room and taking from that we've seen
00:10:42
Speaker
Sort of other suppliers more or less come together and band together We wrote a story about how western australia's micro molsters small molsters have all joined forces to um, there's four of them across a very large state and they um, they decided to come together and and you know, one of the immediate benefits of that is that they felt they could be listened to by the state government it means the state government knows who to talk to and go okay, this is what ah Barley growers potentially or at least barley growers this size and molsters need from us or or how they could potentially thrive and of the other side of that is there is the marketing side of it um and we've seen this in New South Wales as well with rye field hops Voyager Mogwai Labs who produce yeast all coming together to tell the story of that their New South Wales producers and a family run and that kind of thing they sort of point to the message that well if
00:11:37
Speaker
independent breweries really want people to drink independent beers, then you'd hope that they would also make that decision when they're buying their ingredients as well. Yeah, yeah if i find a way to support them and whether you know you know they can choose to go all in on those products or whether it becomes for specialty beers or just you know showing some support you know at different times of year. I think it all makes it makes a difference. and you know These small suppliers can't satisfy the whole industry. But, you know, they are offering something unique and a story, you know, a selling point for a particular beer could be this has been as has been done by many breweries already. Could be that we've worked with, you know, whether it's in in Victoria, it could be, you know, using Victorian malt hops and bluestone yeasts, and you know, products as well. So it's it's
00:12:22
Speaker
there is that marketing side to it as well as supporting indie, um I think, which is which was good to hear and come across. And I think, you know, you mentioned that the WA Maltzer is coming together. I think, know, in WA, there's, while the WA Brew Association is by far the longest established, longest running body of its source. i you know, I think they're still kicking goals, achieving things, which um I guess has maybe been an example for them to follow.
00:12:46
Speaker
um Which kind of leads on to another point we made, which I guess is kind of similar, but um we've seen, you know, while the IBA is operating on a national level and doing a lot of advocacy with, you know, federal government and looking at, I guess, issues that affect all of the members across the country, and we're seeing lots of so smaller groupings coming together, like the Inner West Association.
00:13:07
Speaker
ah Brewers Association isn't new and neither is the Inner West Ale Trail. We focused on that in last year's um equivalent of this article. But they secured a hefty chunk of money to support that trail, you know, to the point that they have people working, you know, permanent part time on it. They recently installed Road signs around the inner west telling you exactly where every brewery is, like things like that are pretty fantastic. There's been good support for the Brookie Collective, of the Brookie Trail. The Wollongong Brewers have formed an association, as you'll hear when we get to the South Australian episode. There's a lot of work going on to form BRSA because they've seen other... similar industries getting a lot of support whether it's tourism wise or just a lot of money yeah out of state government. Joss who runs Hopon Brewery Tours said that there was a there was a town hall in Queensland last month not just brewers but venue operators, retailers, tourism um operators came together looking at doing something similar in Queensland and I think um you know you kind of like it's it's death by too many associations but I think it's very hard for individual businesses to get support from you know grants or funding or government or it ought to be heard i mean you can you can lobby your local MP um but it's a different thing I think you kind of need to have an association some sort of wider body to have certain conversations and unlock certain doors um and it's been interesting to see more of that happening um something that sort of occurred to us while we're putting this together is that in Victoria, where we are, with one of the largest um you know state beer industries in the country and one that I guess in many ways is pushing things forward for a long time, and when I was starting Crafty Pint, and had the Victorian Association of Microbreweries Incorporated or VAMI, there's nothing.
00:14:45
Speaker
There's probably like three WhatsApp chats or something like that. Yeah, and I understand it's hard, but you think in many ways the Victorian industry has probably been hurt You know, hardest, you know, we had a series of long lockdowns. um You know, there's a lot of um sort of punitive taxes on on hospitality as well as breweries. And I think um you'd think of all the states that sort of could do with pulling together yeah and actually trying to have those conversations. It would probably be Victoria. And at the minute, it feels like there's a big vacuum there.
00:15:16
Speaker
I'm not putting my hands up to it. to pull things together but you wonder whether there'll be some new leadership will come through whether it's from sort younger generation of brewers or hospo people or someone who's been around long time and maybe from the VAMI era and knows what worked and what didn't work but I'd certainly love to see something happen in Victoria in 2026 so get your asses in here Victorians There you go there There's one of your wishes and speaking to people in spirits as well. My understanding is in Australia, this is very much how the spirits industry is going. There's state-based, um, organizations that have, even in Victoria, have actually had a lot of success getting funding from the state government.
00:15:54
Speaker
Um, none of that applies to crap worries, but there it is really like, yeah, if you're not there, if you're not having the conversation, other people are having that conversation and they're getting the money or they're getting the wins. You kind of have to be there. And even if it feels like it's, Slow and a long slog and and I know this is what the RBA has to deal with a lot If all of a sudden that stuff would have vanished It's there's other people occupying that space who are getting hurt and and and no one in beer will yeah will get hurt So yeah, it's hugely problematic as well for the industry Yeah,
Mergers, Acquisitions, and New Brewery Models
00:16:24
Speaker
for sure. And I guess um another entry that you put put together is something that I guess is a continuation of what's been happening for a number of years now, whether it's merging, consolidation, acquisitions. and There may not have been as many quite as noisy as sort of VAs and sort of liquidation stuff in as in previous years, but certainly it did continue. And yeah, anyway.
00:16:44
Speaker
Yeah, well with mergers, so we're we're really not people to um you know apply this very hard from January 1 and start of the year to the end of, that they're more sort of multi-year trends, but you know mergers and acquisitions, we saw White Bay and Hawkers, that was a pretty high profile one early in the year. um They've formed the Social Drinks Group and that that entity closed the White Bay Brewery, which had then been taken over by Sydney Brewery. Jerry Schwartz has had a very busy year. 2025, considering he also owns a whole lot of hotels. um
00:17:19
Speaker
ah So we had that, and then there's this sort of ah the the Powder Monkey Group as well. So Kastner and Wayward merged. ah That new entity was then sold to Powder Monkey Group. and um Which already owns Southern Harlem Brewing Co. and Willie the Boatman. Yeah. Plus a number of other brands in the UK with its UK wing. Yeah.
00:17:38
Speaker
Yeah, they decided close Wayward Tatroom as well. You had three breweries come together, go into that mismatch. That lasts about a month. So there's been a lot of movement in in that space. I think um people still working out maybe how to...
00:17:53
Speaker
differentiate each brand as well. I don't think that's an easy thing. well that was something that you addressed in one of our Beer by Design series articles earlier in the year on on rebrands. Yeah, exactly. Kota, they said, that oh they're seeing a huge amount of it in America. They're an American-based graphic design company and and sort of working out. They're very excited by them. They think there's a lot of opportunity to have sub-brands and different brands within breweries. I think there's a way to do it. I don't know. I i just I'm convinced because I always think you've got it.
00:18:20
Speaker
It's hard to show a lot love to a lot of people, but I suppose people used to have 10 children and it worked out for them. Yeah, we have we have a few now. That's a pretty ambitious. um Approach take, yeah yeah. And I guess on side with acquisitions, or you know I guess it is acquisition, but um yeah amalgamation, you've got you know Mountain Culture now have a number of additional venues and breweries after buying Fox Friday out of liquidation. um We do believe that they've closed their brewery in Hobart since taking over or still operating the taproom down there in the moona hotel um and and Cellars.
00:18:57
Speaker
And at the same time, you know, they sold that the they sort of, I guess, passed on the Fox Friday in Perth, the Rocky Ridge, who is another brewery that's had a huge year. We're actually chatting to Hamish and Mel from Rocky Ridge for the, as one of the guests on the WA episode, you know, so they now have their original, they've got their farm, you know, Jindong where they make most of the beer. They got their tap house in Busselton and Hamish's grandparents' old house, i believe it is. Much changed, I'm sure, from when they were in there. i pretty sure they didn't have 30 taps on the wall at the front of the house. um And now Duncraig, beautiful tap house that Guy, Southern Perth based writer is very much in love with and now Birdswood as well and then next year bootleg brewing. So yeah, we're definitely seeing, um yeah yeah, obviously the multi venue, multi sort of space thing isn't new, but we're seeing you know more of it. and you like say, we wouldn't be surprised to see more businesses come together in some form in the future. Yeah, I think so. I do still wonder.
00:19:50
Speaker
i understand the multi-tap room approach because it's so hard to get taps. And that's another trend of this year that we've just seen get harder and harder. Ausvenuco have switched a lot of their taps away from beer, even towards cocktails that they just seem to keep buying pubs. You have CU BNSR here, I think, leaning harder on their TAP contracts. We'll get to it in a bit, but there's also the popularity of Guinness, which line sells in Australia, has made things hard too. but um was fact You mentioned AusVenueCo there, so BITLUX was, what I guess, one of the high-profile early venues they bought. um And I guess the the state of the ah the TAP lineup there reminds me... of Russell Gosling, last week's guest on the show, talking about when he first moved to Australia and going into but you know most pubs in WA and seeing a bank of 15 taps and 13 of them were lagers. And it feels like that's, to an extent, what AusVenueCo is doing with a lot of its you know hundreds of venues around the country. um yeah It might not all be lagers now. There'll be some easy-drinking pale ales in there, but it does feel like that sort of homogenisation is happening throughout these big groups you know who are are working less and less with smaller breweries.
00:21:01
Speaker
yeah definitely and um you know so so it's understandable craft breweries need to respond to that and i think getting together merging is a way to do that i kind of still think and and this goes into styles as well when you're trying to do the same thing the big breweries are doing it's you're still a long way from getting the economy of scales that they've got to see be abbotsford so where does that sort of go or or you know to look at it in a i guess more negative light are we sort of seeing that turning point that people would have seen half a century ago when all of a sudden these breweries in Carlton started uniting and then all of a sudden we end up with two breweries. Yeah, seven breweries and one family owned one in Cooper's. Like, yeah I don't know. I think there's too many craft breweries for that, but this is what has happened before effectively. Yeah.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah.
Trends in Low/Non-Alcoholic Beers
00:21:47
Speaker
um And I guess aside from that, on in terms of, i guess, trends within beer, um I guess that hasn't necessarily been anything dramatic dramatics we've seen in in previous years. you know We have done some style pieces over the years. um One thing we have noticed, I mean,
00:22:03
Speaker
Non-Aux and sort of low alcohol beers have been around for a while, but its it seems people are still trying to find gaps within that to put new products out. We've seen Hawkes Brewing in Sydney have launched a second 1.75% beer, and the idea there is that it's half a standard drink per can. um you know Young Henry's with a lower alcohol of their Newtowner, filter XPA light at 2%, and then also more low-carb, low-calorie beers as well. That's one thing that certainly, I guess, when the non-alc thing started, everyone was like, no one's going to go for this.
00:22:38
Speaker
They very much are. um And it seems that you know there's still more people playing around in that health-conscious lifestyle brand kind of space as well. Yeah, definitely. I believe heaps normal will have their brewery sort of finally opened to the park. They've already had open days and things like that to it. Um, they're expanding their range as well. So, um, you know, I think maybe not everyone, there was a sense that a lot of people rushed into that space early on and and maybe there was a bit of a pullback, but I think it's still very much alive and and other people moving into it or those that, got in early and and sort of made the right product and have the right marketing and and campaigns around it have sort of risen or or become solidified in our drinking culture. yeah And I guess in a completely different part of the market from that, you were saying that just, you know, it's not everyone looking to make sort of cheaper, more approachable beers or to, you know, make health conscious stuff. There's still a lot of fun out there.
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah, I first wanted to call this treat breweries for for people have been brewing for a long time. But if you look at like Evil Megacorp, i know, so I believe I've said this before on the podcast, Evil Megacorp or FAF, which Lockie Crothers, formerly of Ballistic, is doing like these breweries that are really about Being really really small and flavor intense beers and sort of selling them pre-sales and direct consumer direct to drinker campaigns and things like that I know i literally had an instagram open this morning and lucky sold out a batch two and three of faff like this kind of approach where it's like We can still make very flavor forward but beers do it at a smaller scale and really excite people and drive excitement ah That's definitely going nowhere We spoke to the guy, as twin brothers and and Seeker a little while on the podcast a couple of months, or a month ago, I don't know, I've lost track. Who knows? At some point in the past. But that was the point they made that when they saw everyone going into this more health trend or kind of draft beer and cheaper beer, they're like, well,
00:24:35
Speaker
We don't want that. That's not the beer we want to make. So let's find out a way to make sure we're still making hugely favour for it. Beers, mountain culture is huge. It's a really popular brewery. It's not like they're dialing back what they're doing. They do have accessible beers, but they've got very big, a lot of what they're producing very large. I mean...
00:24:52
Speaker
One drop is still going hard on smoothie sours. Good land brewery. They're they're um good friends of the team. I'm good friends of the team there. They've just installed some new tank set of summer. They're pretty heavy on the hazy triple IPAs, smoothie sours, adjunct barrel aged out. So that kind of thing. That's what they love doing. So people are still finding market for that. Well, I guess it's a case of yeah more people. And we think we talked about it last year has been one of the sort of maybe silver linings of the challenges of yeah know the post pandemic and then the cost of living thing. It's like, hang on, you know it's harder the harder out there. what Why am I trying to sort of put things in all these directions? what
00:25:32
Speaker
what what what What sort of got me into the game? What what is my brand about? you know What beer should I be making? And I think this is almost an extension of that going, ah you know we could do that, but this is what we really love. And if it's hard surviving at the minute, why make it hard doing stuff we're not really into? Why find it hard but do the stuff we really love and find the people who love that want to find it, you know? so yeah, i think it'd be interesting to see if, you know, we' realize we have been seeing it for a while, but if if more people do go, i don't need to do this anymore. This is what I, this is, this is who I am, what I am, you know? And let's, let's stick to that. um And I guess and then the other thing that, I guess the other element we looked at in terms of, beers specifically.
Sustainability and Market Adaptations
00:26:13
Speaker
And we mentioned it before, and you know Guinness was it a couple of years ago it rose to become the biggest selling beer in the world. So it's a couple crops a few times in our conversations for this end of year series about brewers putting out dry Irish stouts, putting out nitrile Irish stouts in cans. There's been a number of Queensland. You know, Slipstream, when we chatted to them, they mentioned and that was one of their highlights the year. Guy mentioned it is something he'd seen around WA. And I guess on our home turf, like Hop Nation really went big with with Melbourne Black. You know, they had a lot of fun with the promo going around pouring pouring pints on the back of the the ute around town. Yeah, and getting into, I think, the right venues, i I think part of where that came from was the fact that people are going into pubs and they're asking for Guinness, and they're younger drinkers as well. So we kind of missed that, that it's actually a really exciting thing about beer overall as a category. Young people are interested in beer. They're interested in one beer. So there's people going into pubs, one in Guinness. There were plenty of
00:27:12
Speaker
venues that maybe haven't stocked line before, were hesitant to, and to have have a local option that they can pour and and and serve with that kind of theatre as well, I think has been really important. It's worked well for them. It's in more venues than they thought would be at this stage, and they've literally just released it in cans as well.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So and that was interesting. So i think that, you know, we did talk about some of the styles in the article, but but we'll we'll link to that in the the show notes anyway. um I guess on a less positive note is it going back to uh the secret sales rep um death of relationships article we wrote sort of linked to that and some conversations we had with jane lewis and formerly of two birds now full color life and what she's doing in the industry um i think you called this section you know will the last person to leave the industry please turn out the lights yes thanks for allowing me to do that that's uh that's a bit of uk political history uh the one of murdoch's papers ran that ahead of an election and they they say it stopped
00:28:09
Speaker
uh it gave the tories one more term after after many terms of that charge when john major was still running the show but yeah i i mean it's also an observation i think people have been in the industry for a while will notice that a lot of people who have been in the industry since its early days have left and and they've left either because they've been made redundant and they know that they're not going to be able to find role they search for it um So they're finding ways out and frankly into better paid jobs as well and jobs that look more secure. and and you know And these are conversations, these things we've really tried to focus on the last few years in terms of burnout as well and the damage that does.
00:28:49
Speaker
um i just think that it seems to be a shame that Yeah, we are losing people who have a lot of skills and are really quality whether it's on that sales rep side or brewers, you know People who pick their lives up to move into state and then brewery goes into administration These are this is still happening yeah all the time. I mean it happens in other industries as well i don't think crap is special in it, but When it comes to time for the growth, I don't think you can expect those skills, Brewers to, to want to come back in because they'll be used to better hours. They'll be used to better pay and all those kinds of things. and And they'll be used to their new life. So, um it will be a problem when people turn the corner. And I think we've also spent so much time talking about education and training people, things like that. um
00:29:34
Speaker
we probably almost, I, I don't know if if that's turned out to be as necessary now, because I don't know, we could be facing a skills glut. Yeah, and I guess what's ah and the message there is that what sort of owners, you know, senior people in business need to be aware of this. And I guess it's hard if your belt if your belts are really tight, you know, to sort of, you can't necessarily, you know, fix it with money, whatever, but you If you're aware of it and you're thinking about it on a sort of holistic you know in a holistic manner and just be aware of you know i guess the general well-being of your team, yourself, your business. Because it's about sustainability. Not sustainability in terms of being better for the planet, but sustainable business and sustainable lifestyle for for your team as well.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You look after the people in the business and look, the good breweries do. Like at the end of the day, there's a lot that have had staff for a very, very long time. And it's not like business owners necessarily, you know, they don't go into a position thinking that they'll look,
00:30:32
Speaker
they're about to go under anything like that but it's just um worrying to see how many people who used to be so passionate about it and are ah no longer around. Yeah, yeah for sure. um And I guess so the like the last couple of points we've put in the article, um what one one refers to events, I guess we've talked about Gabs earlier, you know, That that was something that we we were writing this article, but but we were writing this piece before we even knew about Gabs, just talking about how it remains very turbulent out there. you know We spoke to the guys from behind Beer and Barbecue Festival in Adelaide for the SA podcast episode in this series. um They celebrated 10 years but said, hey, this is going to be the last one in its current format. um
00:31:15
Speaker
I don't think it's gone for good. we you know We'll see what comes from him it. But obviously, you know they got to a certain point where you know they were getting tens of thousands of people through the door every year. This isn't working for us anymore. Froth Town, I think, is a bit as sort of a standout going well in WA, and maybe they'll look to go us elsewhere. But I think it is it's a turbulent time on that level. I think you know there's few...
00:31:35
Speaker
um festivals or few major events of any sort level that are sort of going well and I think even at the smaller level you know that piece you did on and brew pubs and venues looking to have a ah relatively full events calendar to get people into the venue even then they they try and avoid selling tickets for anything yeah and anything that has a sort of price point attached to it seems to just be an instant you know it's an extra hurdle to get people over Yeah, yeah,
Humor and Trends in Beer Industry
00:32:03
Speaker
it's it's so hard and and whether or not people would actually come they don't buy tickets early enough as well for you to be feel confident that they'll come and and you know, you s sink money and and it all evaporates pretty quickly but yeah, I think like that there'll be plenty of more small festivals absolutely in 2026 There's gonna be quite a small number of large ones um Whether or not yeah that those ones come back smaller in 2027 maybe like breweries they can come back and be smaller and more profitable like like these are all things we sort of need to wait and see
00:32:37
Speaker
Yeah, and i and the and the last one, perhaps a little bit different. A shout out for Oat Cream, which to which to the uninitiated is an anonymous, still to this point, um in Instagram account, a bit like Work Wrangler or Don't Drink Beers, American accounts. I guess bringing a bit of humor to the to the industry, a lot of sort of, you know, very funny and and often quite pointed posts. um But also, it's only been going since last year, but I feel like a lot of people industry look out for their take on certain things that may happen. And I think that to an extent they have like a freedom to sort of say things or do things in a kind of quick turnaround manner that sort of punctures certain things that maybe aren't right or have just been presented the wrong way. And I think they it's got to the point now, I think, where people are like, I'd be interested to see what Oat Cream's take is on this. And they certainly bring, i think, a lot of laughs to people um you know when they really nail the gags.
00:33:34
Speaker
nail the gags Yeah, yeah. So shout out to Agcreme. It's not me, by the way. I get accused of being Agcreme very often, but I'm neither that funny or and understand memes well enough. That would all be about Arrested Development if it was me. Well, and I was thinking you you were the sort of the resident sort of guy that would be able to sort of, you know, take an old man like me approaching his 50th birthday, you know, give me a guide to the world of memes. But um yeah, and if you if you haven't if you haven't seen it already, um check it out. It's oat underscore cream with a K on Instagram and you'll have a good laugh there. And if you're in the beer industry, you may find yourself or your business has been pilloried in the past with it ah without you being aware of it. I think you'll know. So let's take a quick break and chat about some big yarns from the year.
00:34:18
Speaker
Yeah, cheers. Cheers.
00:34:26
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another Bintani Brewery Booster. I'm joined by Sam, Technical Sales Specialist at Bintani. Thanks Will. Thanks for joining us again, Sam. We're here to chat about recipe revaluation and continually improving your beers. So say brewery's got an award-winning beer, why would they change something that's a good thing?
00:34:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's important as as brewers, we generally want to put out a consistent beer and certainly our customers want to have a consistent experience when they're enjoying our products. Got to keep in mind we have seasonal ingredients, not just hops, which everyone's aware of, but certainly malt year to year and also varietal change that happens with malt. So it's important to be looking at our beers year on, year out and make sure they're still delivering what we hope to to achieve from them. And also in another way, the market as well will change over time. So the same beer that we've had two or three years ago might be perceived differently through ah consumers' ah responses in different times. And certainly sometimes you notice in competition where the beer you've had that's been, you know, either winning gold medals or silver medals and then sort of drops out and you say, I'm brewing it the same, but what's going on? There's yeah certainly a reason to to look into that.
00:35:28
Speaker
Right, Sam, I imagine it's not all about just more hops all the time. Like, where do you think breweries should look at recipe development? Or that the answer? Yeah, no, as much as yeah we we, you know, wish in in the sales sort of worlds of of our jobs, you know, more and more and more. But um that's not the reality for for brewers and also what what our customers are looking for.
00:35:46
Speaker
ah In some instances in in a flavor shift, it might be ah a change in hop lot or sourcing. So you might have a profile that changes year on year and want to be using from a different area or a different growing region. Sometimes on ah a pricing basis, there's different pressures as well. Something we're seeing a lot at the moment is in a base malt for customers where there might have been a ah larger range in the past to be more consolidated in the use of base malt. and also a bit more domestically focused, particularly on you know a high cost, high use ingredient to make sure you're understanding what you're using consistently and making sure your bottom line's in order.
00:36:21
Speaker
And Sam, do you see breweries often trip up in certain places when they are working on their recipe? ah Trip up, maybe not so much, but we do notice sometimes that they're often within particularly craft beer industry. Sometimes there's a restlessness to change things for the purpose or just for, you know, things have been the same for so long, wanting to just change things up and keep them keep them interesting, which can work, but it sometimes, you know, can throw throw a bit of a spanner in the works. And the other time also is when breweries will change on a cost exclusive basis, looking to understandably in some ways reduce costs in different ways, but how that impacts the beer that they've been working on can have a different effect on the beer output and how they're perceived, you know, or how those beers are perceived by their customers and that sort of thing. It's important, like most things, to look holistically at any of these changes and I guess work out what the intent of these changes is and your starting point, finishing point, and yeah, what you're hoping to achieve.
00:37:12
Speaker
yeah and are you seeing any sort of wider trends in terms of breweries that are looking to re-evaluate or develop their recipes in different ways what's sort of happening out there so a couple of ones we're sort of seeing more broadly is certainly um hop usage and profile changing as there's more sellers on the market and more diversification of of growers uh brewers looking to change and get much more in tune with the hot profiles they're looking for that's also not always about using more there's some great great ah knowledge in that area of hops that can be used at a lower rate but with a similar outcomes and that sort of thing. Also, as we have now in our books more advanced hop products able to tweak and change profiles of hops, delivering yield and also reducing cost of the the beers on that sort of front. um
00:37:58
Speaker
Finding also as well breweries now reassessing their ranges in core range, being a little bit less hands on heart potentially to those beers that have worked for them forever and looking where those calls are needed to make the hard call, reduce the beer from the range, change it into a seasonal, change it with something else out, keeping the messaging on strong for the whole brand, but making sure that the range is working for everywhere it needs to work for those breweries. Fantastic. Sam, if people wanted to contact you, how do they find you? Hit us up, ah sales at bintani.com.au and ah me or one of the team will be happy to be in touch.
00:38:29
Speaker
Great. Thanks for joining us again, Sam. Thanks. Welcome.
Reflecting on Major Beer Stories of the Year
00:38:37
Speaker
Welcome back. So as well as our national trends, we thought it would be worthwhile looking at some of the big stories from the year, particularly the ones that caught a lot of attention. No surprise that one of the biggest stories of the year is always at the start of the year with the Hottest 100. We'll see how that goes in 2026. Yeah, and I guess we well this year and we did the the live stream from Humdington Studios, had the you know the big the big stage sets. so So maybe that helped bring more people to the website. But that's, you know once again, as it tends to be... one of the, is but was I think our most read article of the year, which I guess will, you know, bring some hope to the the new owners of of get the Gab's Holiest 100, as, you know, as the yeah voting takes place for that one. um Yeah, always a big one. I've always liked to say that, you know, unfortunately, the the biggest or the most read stories tend to be either lists,
00:39:29
Speaker
um bad news or um you know sales closures, that kind of thing. Or good news. Someone buying something is often treated quite well too. Yeah, yeah and that's been reassuring actually. is Certainly in terms of engagement, our socials, which I didn't didn't take as close a look at for this, I also looked more at traffic to to the website. It was very noticeable when we had stories, um you know so whether it be a Rocky Ridge taking over a new venue, um Stuff like that, which which was genuinely sort of good news that they would would get amazing engagement. yeah know people are, you know, people might say, oh, it's, you know, it's been a tough few years. But I think a lot of people out there are still looking for good news from good people. and But certainly, you know, in terms of it, when I sort of ran down the most read articles, um you know, having looked at everything, all of our news stories over the year. it's takeovers, mergers, closures, VAs and openings that they're they're definitely up there. You know, that they would take up, I'd say something like sort of 70% of probably the top 50, you know, yeah or 30 or 50 articles on the website. So that that's certainly um no no change there.
00:40:36
Speaker
But then sort of below that, you know, there was some sort of interesting stuff as well. um It was really good to see the the piece you did on the Auslan, the Auslan beers guys and featuring really well. Yeah, that's awesome. um There was a shorter story. i I loved doing it. It's one of the favorite pieces I've ever written purposely but personally. I mean, yeah, getting to understand Auslan a bit more um and their language use in Communicate and also how beer can be a better place and sort of um these passionate beer people who who want to make a more open and inclusive community. I just loved everything about talking to them.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yeah, so that was good. And I think often these sort of people stories do well, whether it's a brouhonnée with the piece did on Charlotte Freeston becoming head brewer at Ferrell, for example, the real writing of Ferrell. People just loved hearing about her inspiring story. I mean, she's a relatively well-known person with industry, especially in WA. But it was kind of encouraging to see lot of those sort brouhonnée or sort of real people focused. Here's a character. Here's a good person in the industry doing good stuff. doing well.
00:41:40
Speaker
um And something that always seems to go well for us, also sort of the the crafty crawl articles we do, focusing on on a particular suburb or ah a region or the wider of beer travel articles. Perhaps no surprise that the one that seemed to attract the most eyes this year was our update on Marrickville.
00:41:58
Speaker
um And I'm sure that's not because the Interwest Brewing Association paid for a Russian bot farm to send people to the website because we don't we cut bots out of our traffic stats. um The one on Cairns performed well. We had a series of ones on Tasmanian beer scene that went really well. But also um Georgie Preston's two pieces, um Georgie being the daughter of John Preston, who's well known in homebrew circles around Melbourne. um She spent some time in Canada, and but her articles on the Quebec and Montreal beer scenes all... did really well as well which was um good to see yeah definitely um unfortunately we we can only do so many of those stories because it kind of relies on someone choosing to go somewhere and then wanting to do it um neither you or i james travel internationally quite enough but we'll have to work out a way to know but if there's some travel agency out there that would like to sponsor the crafty pint so that we can you know do more of these pieces and you know big you up while we're doing them then please get in touch with craig at craftypine.com
00:42:57
Speaker
and I guess that maybe this falls into listicles but you know awards articles tend to do well. i think the best performing of them this year was Ebers. I guess in part that would have been because there was the you know the amazing win for Wedgetail small brewing company um in WA who took out the the champion beer. left left the um the the founder and brewer completely speechless and gobsmacked on stage. But also the piece we did on um Voyager Craft Malt, winning another gold um in the the Malt Cup in the States, performed very well.
00:43:29
Speaker
Yeah, and likewise, I'm always keen to know this, that the articles we do on styles are actually really popular. um I loved talking to Kaiju about the Gnat's sort of quest for this yeast and sort of perfecting making like lagers in Australia. You kind of get a bit, I don't know, there can be negative um negativity under there about innovation in beer sometimes, and people like, oh, well, it's all this or it's all that, but... You know when you have the time to talk to people and how they do it in their process and that kind of thing We always find that readers are really drawn to it And I think sometimes that he's maybe even leech over a bit for an international audience as well We want to read about it and likewise, um Robin who pitched us sometime last year an article on like, you know people making
00:44:15
Speaker
Belgian beers in Australia was very much about his love of those styles and people's love for it like like that's actually over some months has kept picking up a lot of views so it's always good to know that you assume that means that we're talking to people outside Australia maybe as well and people are always rediscovering it. Yeah, I think so. And that's the start of a series that may be sporadic, but his idea there was to look at how global beer cultures have been brought to Australia, how they might have made an impact here, how people are interpreting those beers and those cultures over here. It was interesting to see the hot waters piece, what exactly hot waters are. do well. I must issue another apology to all the producers of Hot Waters that sent us samples to do a blind tasting of those earlier in the year before I ran out time to do it. I will say that I did thoroughly enjoy drinking them on a road trip around parts of the country with my family and hopefully we'll get around to doing that at some point but things have got no less busy since I returned. And even though I guess something that's a bit like beer styles
00:45:22
Speaker
Bryony from Flavor Logic who's been writing a number of articles for us. She's, I guess, a professional beer educator, beer judge. She did one about tasting beer like a pro that has gone really well as well. So I think she's got a bunch more articles like that in mind. So hopefully they'll well popped into parent's winery, by the way. Oh, how was it? In South Australia. It was wonderful. Yeah, it was a great experience.
00:45:44
Speaker
ah Big reds, big red wines or all sorts? Yeah, and fortified mostly, but got to meet a Janet and her mum and it was ah yeah it was great, tried a whole bunch of port. Maybe that was the start of you losing your voice. Yeah, um And yeah, I mean, it goes without saying that obviously the the secret sales rappe article went
Branding, Design, and Business Practices
00:46:01
Speaker
really well. you know i think any time we have, I guess, the time to dedicate to sort of working up these sort of bigger pieces that address major issues in the in the industry. and that They go well. and I'd like to think you know I'll have time to do a few more of those next year as well. um
00:46:16
Speaker
And also, I guess, another sort of ongoing series that you know we put a lot of time and effort into was the Beer by Design series, which was one that came from Craig, who so does a lot of our sort of partnerships and podcast sponsorship kind of stuff. And he's he's sort of from a marketing background. he' It wanted us to drill down into you know not so much the liquid, but how you know the can in your hand comes about. So you know it was it was rebranding. It was talking to graphic designers, looking and even even even right down to the digital printing machine, digital printing printing machines that are sort of the cutting edge of that technology now that we presented in partnership with OnPak. So that that series went really well as well. um
00:46:54
Speaker
So I think, you know, despite the the fact when you do look down the top of that list, it seems to be fairly, ah okay, takeover, acquisition, closure, blah, blah, blah. There is, you know, a diversity of interest in in what we're putting out there, which is kind of reassuring to keep us going as we're now into our 16th year of doing what we do.
00:47:12
Speaker
Great, great. um So we'll need to wrap up. ah James, I was thinking before this, and I said, you know, that you'll hear, um so we'll be back on Tuesday, December 9th, importantly.
00:47:22
Speaker
Don't wait till Thursday, listen to it on Tuesday. But one of the questions we asked a lot of guests, hopefully this isn't too much of a spoiler of, you know, what they're hoping for in the future of beer in 2026. So I thought it was only fair that if maybe we reflect on that a little bit about ourselves. i don't know, do you have anything?
00:47:37
Speaker
As in, so what's the one see? Yeah, what would you hope, yeah, hope C? I've got a personal one that I think a lot of people would, I guess... Is American Brown Ales or something? No, no, no. Real nerdy like that. it's a bit darker than that.
00:47:51
Speaker
And it's that think a lot of people will um sort of recognise as well. I'd like people to start paying their bills. um At the end of the day, you know if you go into a shop and you pick up some groceries, you walk out and you pay for them. I thought, if you go into um a bar and you order some drinks and some food, you pay for them. If you don't, you're a shoplifter and you've committed a crime. and However, you know from my perspective, and I'm sure I'm not alone here, there'll many businesses out there, people aren't paying their bills, and I'm denied about whether i was gonna say anything about this, and then I woke up this morning to an email that my wife had sent in the middle of the night, about many things that have been worrying her, but one of them was, I think we should have a conversation with the kids before Christmas and tell them to tone down their expectations.
00:48:35
Speaker
And that's pretty shit, to be perfectly honest. And I think I won't be alone in this. And I'm not saying, you know, but things aren't desperate. I went spent three months going on a road trip around parts of Australia with my family. We're still paying rent. The business isn't going to collapse in the next couple of months. But you know we're we're way better off than a lot of people. But at the same time, I'd be in a much better position if people actually paid their bills. And I think, you know I understand it's very tough out there.
00:49:03
Speaker
and But I see this from other other businesses out there who I know are good people that are trying to do you know do do the right thing and pay their bills you know in a timely manner. And their cash flow is being impacted because other people aren't paying them down the line. And I think um you know if you can't afford to pay pay for something or you don't intend to pay for something or you are...
00:49:25
Speaker
you know you are um trading insolvent or you're planning to you know go into va or something or restructure at some point don't ask for a service that you're not intending to pay for like don't drag other people down with you because it's just you know i shouldn't be having to carry this stress my wife shouldn't be awake in the middle of the night worrying about stuff because i'm owed loads of money by people around the industry and so hopefully i'm saying that on behalf a lot of other people but just kind of don't take the piss Like, you would be a shoplifter committing a crime if you did that in another business. And I don't know why people think it's a very different situation when you request a service from somebody but somebody and receive an invoice. So, anyway. But a bit of a bit of a personal one there. But I think one you know a lot of other people will be feeling the same thing. In terms of, I guess, the wider industry, um something I've so sort of talked about for a long time with industry. And i think it's something that was maybe... um
00:50:20
Speaker
A trick that was missed when CBIA and then the IBA was launched and this whole sort of message around independence is that it's one thing to sort of try and talk to consumers about the importance of supporting independent breweries. But the vast majority of people out there don't buy their beer from breweries. They buy their beer from hospitality, from from pubs, from bars.
00:50:39
Speaker
from retailers and you need to have that sort of those those that part of the industry really bought into your story. They need to believe in the story of independent beer. They need to be telling that story for you. um It's something that I think has become even more ah you know i guess acute with the the big hotel chains, buying lots more venues.
00:50:59
Speaker
Not working with indie beer, you know, that I park on about it again, that secret sales rep article, um you know, that sort of highlights how much how tough how much tougher it's getting out there. So I think there needs to be a way of not just celebrating indie brewers, but celebrating the best independent pubs and bars and retailers. You know, i'm not saying, you know, i don't I don't know whether it's, you know,
00:51:19
Speaker
something that is celebrated officially or whether it's just a case of through breweries, socials or whatever, they say, get behind this venue. They you know they only support independent brewers. They pay a fair price for their beer. um It's something that we've talked about. Maybe it's something that we can help celebrate as well through the Crafty Pint in 2026 and beyond.
00:51:37
Speaker
But I've long felt it's something that is a trick that's been missed. And I think if we can, in a positive way, celebrate those pubs, those you know those venue owners that are doing the right thing and are working with the brew you know independent brewers, then that becomes a positive way to try and push back against all the other forces of sort of the walls closing in.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. um ah Otherwise you sort of working with businesses who are doing the wrong thing as well, which which is, i think too often where the industry's found itself and it's that horrible cyclical thing where breweries are giving in to venue groups that have too much power and they're selling their beer for too little and and, And once you sell your beer for that lower price, you're never going to get it back. And yeah, particularly, we talk about a lot, we see it so acutely in Melbourne that the price of independent beer is just far too low and has been for too long. And people have introduced that. and it hasn't... i would ah It hasn't even come from Carlton or anyone else. it's it's an It's an industry decision that players in the industry have decided to do.
00:52:38
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So, Will, in terms of your hopes, I'm hoping I've paid your wages this week. Yes. I don't know you. don't know you're about to mount for expenses. Let me just log on to ADO and double check my super-adiation. No. I think we're all good there.
00:52:53
Speaker
For me, and this probably a bit hypocritical to say as someone who we've just done the reflections and I feel like I wrote most of the negative ones, but I would like a bit less of people who work in the industry, a bit less industry navel gazing maybe. I feel like we're spending far too much time talking about the problems of the industry and not solutions and and the positives of it. um I was just doing a bit of a wine holiday and They don't tell you that at the cellar door, but when you talk to winemakers a bit more quietly in quieter places, they're having a terrible time. You talk to wine communicators, it that they're all stressed about how awful the wine industry is. They got tons of problems. The spirit industry has tons of problems. Construction industry is full of problems.
00:53:35
Speaker
Nurses in this our society don't get paid enough money. like Like there's all these problems around. It's not like the craft beer industry is the only one. So i'd kind of hope we could reflect on that a bit more and not be like so down about the craft beers got too many problems i actually think there's a lot to celebrate there's ah always very forthright in saying the standard would be out there right now is so good and the ability to get good beer is really good um there's challenges but you know there's a lot to still be really excited for and really positive about
00:54:07
Speaker
Yeah, well, I think I mentioned it in the intro to the year and the piece that will be out and while by the time this podcast comes out in that you can jump into almost any of our podcasts. It's a bit of a sort of self self but yeah self-publication or self-promotion here. But almost any of the podcasts go into and listen to them. and there's so many inspiring stories, whether it's people's personal stories or what they're doing within their business. Like it is it is an amazing thing. and And I'm aware, because I've had conversations with a lot of people around the country who are in fairly sort of senior positions within their sort state industry or tell whatever, who've,
00:54:42
Speaker
expressed similar concerns that you know the the overall messaging that's been put out put out about the craft beer industry or the independent beer industry over the last few years has been too negative yes there are those challenges but it's like we want a positive message out there because we don't want people to think oh no let's go and see grumpy guts at the bar and no one's hanging out in brewery if it's full of losers who are miserable like that's it at the end of the day yeah yeah exactly No, I like it. and i think i do I do like to think, you know, you know we do the craft you won yes, we want to tell the real picture that's there and analyse whatever's going on, but we do try and be a positive force for good because this is an industry that is generally a positive force for good that's trying to do...
00:55:23
Speaker
good things and deliver you know and positive things for people. So um yeah, it was a good one there. By the way, neither Will or I had any idea what the other person was going to come up with there. So we left as a bit of surprise for each other. um But yeah, so um thanks to everyone that sort of I guess watched or listened to the podcast over the year and and you know and reads our articles on a regular basis. um As Will has kept hammering home, we'll be starting with the the state by state ones on Tuesday, December the 9th, and they'll be coming pretty hard and fast. After that, we will be taking a break for a few weeks, coming back sort of late in January. Give everyone a bit of a break from us and give our producer, Matt Hoffman, a bit of a break from us as well. um
00:56:00
Speaker
But until then, Will. So thank you for joining us. Obviously, you're still going to hear actually a fair bit of us over the next couple of weeks. So make sure you're tuning in um But yeah, we'll see you on Tuesday. Cheers.
00:56:12
Speaker
Cheers.
00:56:16
Speaker
The Crafty Pint podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman. You can get all your beer-related news and reviews on the Crafty Pint website, craftypint.com, and can stay up to date on future podcast episodes via our socials.
00:56:30
Speaker
We wouldn't be able to produce the podcast or the website, events or festivals we run without the support of the beer industry, whether that's suppliers, bars, breweries or bottle shops. If you'd like to support the show or partner with The Crafty Pine in other ways, please reach out to Craig via the details in the show notes.
00:56:45
Speaker
And if you're a beer lover who'd like to support what we do, you can join our exclusive club for beer lovers, the Crafty Cabal. Visit craftycabal.com for more. And until next time, drink good beer.