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Year In Beer 2024: National Trends & South Australia
415 Plays18 days ago
As 2024 comes to a close, The Crafty Pint Podcast is hitting the road, taking a trip across Australia as we try to make sense of how this dramatic year has impacted people in different parts of the industry.
Our annual Year In Beer article explored the national trends and tumultuous nature of making and selling beer in 2024, but how do things look at the state level?
To find out, we’re asking people from across the industry how they’ve navigated the past 12 months: their standout moments, plus the beers, breweries, venues and events they loved most. We also ask them to look ahead to 2025: who and what to look out for, as well as their hopes and wildest dreams for the future.
First up, James and Will drove from Melbourne to Adelaide for conversation with long-term Crafty Pint writer Matt King, who’s been covering the South Australian scene for us for a decade. He recently decided to call it a day when it comes to beer writing to focus on his job and family so the chat doubled up as a trip down Memory Lane through that decade spent covering beer in SA.
(Before anyone asks: sorry, we won’t be burning fuel to make it to every capital city for this series!)
Following Matt, we’re joined by Briony Liebich and Steve Brockman. Briony runs Flavour Logic where she specialises in teaching sensory skills to brewers and anyone else in and around the industry, while Steve is an experienced brewer who switched from Brightstar Brewing to work for AMSAT Character Malts in 2024.
The chat with the first of our guests starts at 9:00.
Prior to that, James and Will chat about our Year In Beer: The National Picture article.
The Crafty Pint's 2024 Year In Beer series is proudly presented by Mogwai Labs, leaders in liquid yeast solutions. For the perfect pitch every time, visit mogwailabs.com.au.
Relevant links:
Year In Beer: The National Picture
Former Staff Return Tumut River Brewing To Its Roots
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Transcript
Epic South Australia Road Trip
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Crafty Pint Podcast. I'm Will. I'm James and we're ah freshly back from SA. Quite the trip wasn't it Will? It was a whirlwind trip with a lot of K's covered but we also had a great time and recorded a lot of podcasts that you'll hear next year. eight podcasts, four of which will go out next year.
The Podcasting Grind & WeTV Gratitude
00:00:25
Speaker
Two and a half thousand Ks, five days, lots of... relent it was It was like the marathon that's also a sprint, I think, which is probably how you could describe but um this year. um Yeah, so thanks to everyone that hosted us over there. Thanks to everyone that came to the event we did at the WeTV. And yeah, we look forward to sharing some pretty fun interviews that we recorded both there and on the way back through Victoria.
Crafty Pint's 'Year in Beer' Initiative
00:00:48
Speaker
i'm And yeah, it's a bit of a different episode this week. and We're into December now. We haven't you know haven't put baubles up or Christmas trees yet, like they've been appearing on high streets everywhere. But I guess the crafty part and equivalent of that is our year in beer, best of beer roundups, which this year, and we're delighted to have Mogwai Labs, provides a liquid yeast on a sponsor. So cheers to Josh and the team. um But yeah, we decided to something a bit different with it rather than printed articles this year. So what's the what's the plan, Will? Yeah, so we're going to, we may regret doing this. We'll see if it it feels like a lot of work at the moment. if it were If it wasn't enough doing a podcast a week with video, having never done a podcast before, why not do two a week in the next Christmas?
Spotlighting Breweries Across Regions
00:01:31
Speaker
So, we're going to start with the South Australian Wrap, because we've just been there chatting to people there. We're then going to go state by state.
00:01:38
Speaker
and do the territories together where we'll chat to some people that have had, we think have had interesting years or we just thought we'd be good to chat to. So it's sort of a bit of a trip around Australia. Hopefully everyone will get a lot out of it hearing what's been going on in other parts of the country. I think what is is essentially what we've done in previous years in print, but this time around we thought as we're doing the podcast, it's a chance to get sort of different people's voices on. So still, you know, standout breweries, best beers, trends or whatever. um But yeah, in audio and visual form this year.
00:02:09
Speaker
Yes, yes, and that means we'll be running more podcasts than usual. Tuesdays and Thursdays mostly, few complexities in there because of Papa Cold Day's and Christmas and all that. I don't know how many people if so wake up on Christmas desperate to hear about what's happened in Tasmania over the previous year. Surely by boxing, dad that's all we can think of. um yeah i Obviously the way to find out, they'll pop up as new episodes on the various platforms. that We'll be putting reels out and posts out across our socials as ever. um And the aim is to keep them nice and tight, different voices.
Year in Beer: Market Trends & Challenges
00:02:46
Speaker
from people in around the country just saying what they've really enjoyed and what they're looking forward to so the first one of those is coming up today but I guess prior to that what we have done which we published on the site this week is our I guess our overall year in beer roundup so we have kept that one in print um I guess sort of 10 of the the main trends or sort of reflections that we've had um for the year in beer in Australia um I think it would have been very easy certainly I look i looked back at the first line of last year's and went for we thought it was bad then probably been very easy to focus i think on
00:03:19
Speaker
i guess a lot of the you know the challenge this year and i guess some some of the trends we talk about do you reflect or you know and do reflect that that in fact it has been a challenging time and and that's probably going on What we have found i think is that a number of those things that we've chosen to highlight it's Yeah, it could be sort of summarised by necessity as the mother of invention. Yeah, it feels like people have sort of found cut through in certain ways. We talk about live music and and sort of performance and things like that connecting with craft beer. I think there's a lot of that going on where people are looking maybe smaller looking within. working out where to place themselves, even in terms of classic styles. You know, we have seen this slowdown in limited releases. um Maybe there's not as much of a market for that, although some people are doing it quite well, but also, you know, English styles. Is it what people want because the state of the world's a bit worrying and and and they like the comfort of a mild? Or is there also some brewers making slightly cheaper beer that are still delicious yeah and needing that profit margin more now, never?
00:04:19
Speaker
Yeah, thing I think that's it. A lot of it, once we actually looked at but the list of finalised R10, it was like, are all of them... can be seen as brewers trying to find innovative ways or new ways just to sell some more beer, essentially, or get people through the door. So, yeah, you'll find that article on the website. It's the Year in Beer 2024. And then, yeah, the podcast's kicking off with this one. And then every few days until the end of the year.
Tumut River Brewing's Revival
00:04:42
Speaker
um In terms of the events of the last week, other than us hitting the road and having lots of delicious Bangladeshi food at the Lavon Cafe, what else have we been covering, Will? Yeah so this ties into one and really helped crystallize I think the first entry which we talk about musical chairs that you know there's been a lot of change and not everything's been a closure and not everyone will potentially have a seat at the end but but there has been all this change in ownership that sort of talking about the downturn in craft beer maybe doesn't cover as well and I mean this was an incredible story Tumut River Brewing regional brewery on the towards the border of New South Wales and the
00:05:20
Speaker
base of the Snowy Mountains, three former staff members, and I guess a few others as well, have come together to take over Tumor River Bronco. They went into liquidation a few months ago, you know. So it's it's really interesting to have seen that. It was great to talk to them. Talking to Michael in particular, he's one of the new owners. He's been at that brewery for a long time, been working there. So I don't think he's going into that business with his eyes closed or anything like that. I think he knows what it needs, how hard it is for one, how hard the industry is at the moment as well and sort of they know how they want that burrito. And they know that but they've still decided to reboot it. which Exactly. Positive sign I think. And you know it's similar we we spoke to about Sex and Family last week with Keeper taking over the temple space Rocky Ridge, found Subiaco as well open last week that's in the site of Gone West. so Yeah and one of the guests we're chatting to for the Queensland Wrap has been through the same sort of process as well so
00:06:14
Speaker
um Yeah, so it's it's certainly, we're we're aware of more, I guess, positive noises, and hopefully some more stories to run before the end of the year of a positive nature as well. um Then again, it is summer, which is generally when but when people feel best about things are in the beer industry. um' But aside from that, I guess, on to the guests for the South Australian
A Decade of SA's Beer Scene
00:06:36
Speaker
Roundup.
00:06:36
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So first up we have Matt King who has been a Crafty Pine contributor, the Crafty Pine contributor in South Australia really for the last 10 years. He, Matt's also a teacher as a lot of people who know him would know he's continually gotten promotions in his his job because he's an excellent teacher and he's he's obviously with his own children as well. He's gotten to the point where he's like,
00:06:58
Speaker
writing about beer occasionally in my spare time which I don't really have is probably not something I can do. Yeah yeah and I see Kevin joined us I guess as much for a reflection on you know 10 years of covering the SA beer scene um as well as what he's seen over the last year um and then after that we chat to Steve Brockman who many people around Australia will know he's brewed at a number of places both here and overseas Most recently on the brewing front he was the foundation brewer at Brightstar making some amazing lagers and sort of a European style beers. He's since left to join AMSAT which is sort of and new but not necessarily new sort of malting company. New in the specialty malt game in a degree and so he's working obviously closely with a lot of South Australian brewers and on top of that is he's very ingrained in the IBA as well. he's he
00:07:47
Speaker
been pushing the, fighting the good fight over there for a long time. So if he doesn't know what's going on in South Australia, I don't know who does, but then filling the gaps. The other guest will. It's, um, yeah, Bryony Leibich. She's the founder of Flavor Logic. She's written a bit of stuff for us and we'll be doing more stuff for us over time as well.
00:08:05
Speaker
um Basically a sensory flavour judging specialist doesn't just judge beer but also cider, olive oil and I was intrigued to discover as well um and so yes so we sat down with them at the wheaty admittedly under the flight path.
00:08:20
Speaker
um of the airport the Adelaide Airport. Yeah, so between those three guests, we'll get some great insight into the highs and lows in South Australia this year, what to expect in the future, um which I guess we should probably get into the chat other than Will. Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Cheers. Cheers.
00:08:41
Speaker
Our year in beer series is presented by Mogwai Labs. Mogwai works with many of the leading brewers in Australia, including working title, Ether, Seeker, Bracket, One Drop, Slow Lane and many more to provide custom liquid yeast solutions. If you're looking for the perfect pitch every time, hit up MogwaiLabs.com.au or give Josh a call.
00:09:02
Speaker
Matt, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Yeah, a momentous time, Matt. So we're here to talk about the year in beer in SA for 2024, but also 10 years of you covering the beer industry for us and also through your own blog and social channels. Sadly, from our perspective, you are hanging up your pen or keyboard, whatever you want to call it. Now you've had another promotion at work, but congratulations on that. Thank you very much. But starting off maybe, how has the year in beer been in SA in 2024?
Emerging Breweries & Beers in SA
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, well, I mean, I started off a bit younger in the whole thing. And so and I was actually injecting myself into the industry quite a lot. But last couple of years, I haven't really been in the industry as much. So it's been watching it for more of a far this year for myself, to be honest. But obviously, it's been quite a challenging year across Australia and the world, I suppose, in the beer industry. And
00:09:50
Speaker
But there's always seems to be, you know, new people coming out of it and you see new successes and things like that. So while there is a bit of a challenge still in South Australia still, we still had some success as a new e new breweries pop up and things like that. I found I think that the limited release kind of beer market has kind of dried up a little, not dried up, but the breweries seem to be releasing less. And I think there's more going back to the fridge filler kind of setup. And it seems like that will seem to be the trend a little bit and in South Australia. um A few of the festivals are still going ahead and things like that, albeit with some are not as successful and dying off a little bit as well, which we had gotten news about the Fleurieu Beer Festival finishing up this year okay for the last time. Haven't that been going? I think it was about three or four years. They had a year or two off of Covid and things like that and a few other challenges. But ah yeah, they had got back up this year, but unfortunately wasn't it successful. but
00:10:42
Speaker
beer and barbecue still kicking on quite strong. and Yeah, we've heard great things about when he went to Mount Gambier as well, that that was a roaring success. So that's great. Yeah, yeah and I think they're going planning to do it again next year as well. And I actually got butterfly effect in there next year as well. So I might take a bit of a trip out to Mount Gambier for beer and barbecue next year. But that's still going strong, which is good. So as I said, like, it's it's been really, really successful in some areas. And then you can see that the challenge is it's challenging um elsewhere as well. So And you mentioned new breweries, any he sort of notable ones that you want to sort of showcase for us? Yeah, so um there's Gala River have opened up. um I know that tops and they're not having a brewery as such, but they they have tops draft that they have out there. They have the one beer, but they've just really focused their attention on that and the vintage kind of label and things. And for listeners who might not know gaul where Gala River is, where where's that brewery?
00:11:29
Speaker
It's probably like it's weird. It's gone on the way to like Barossa Valley kind of area. and Not too far. Yeah. city Yeah. I mean, I've been in South Australia for 11 years. My geography is not 100% great. So of course, because you're a Queensland. queensland Yeah. Regional Queensland boy originally. Yeah. So please take that direction with a grain of salt. I suggest you recommend. good Go look at Google Maps before you're going out that way. Yeah. or There was the Little Blessings though. Was that new? Oh, yes. Yes. so Little Blessings was new um in Laura. So they opened up in the church.
00:11:57
Speaker
And also, I suppose, recent news would be that Alice Springs Brewing, buying beer garden brew, which have been on the market for a long time. So that would be pretty exciting news if you were in Port Lincoln and and who like holidaying down there, knowing that there's going to be a fresh little lease of life on on that brewery. Yeah, I mean, it's a fantastic little brewery down there as well. um There's also like Jumpship down that way as well. So it's two really good breweries in in this that area now.
00:12:20
Speaker
um But yeah, it's very exciting because I know that that was on sale for a long time. So it was really good. Someone stepped up and bought it out and kept it kept it going because it's great to have two breweries in Port Lincoln. yeah Cool. And what about beers? i Any beers that have stood out for you, even if you're not going out as much? um Well, I looked at my list the other day and um I mean, I still enjoy like the hop-driven Uradler beers. There's quite a few of my lists from Uradler that have ah made them up this year for me. um Personally, and I know this one's probably a common trend across Australia, I have been getting back into the lagers a little bit as well. I can't really think of particularly which particular lager I've what enjoyed the most of, it but I've just been drinking a lot more of it. I've seen a lot of good ones locally as well.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, a lot of good ones. locally I mean, always going to Bright Star and getting yourself a lighter from them is great. um But I've also what I'll be doing after this for the first time. at this time very exciting Yeah, they've got a really good range um and really well made European beers. So I mean, we were at the wee the other night and they have some great live is going on there. And you also like a mix of them as well. It's not just your traditional live is, you know, we're going through the west coast and cold up. Yeah, it's also cool.
00:13:27
Speaker
ah Just to the lager. Yeah, Collier. Yeah. So, you know, um there's a lot of mix and things like that around different lagers as well. so um Excellent. And in terms of, I guess, stepping back, um you know, ah away from 2024 and looking back over your, I guess, career in beer in SA, looking back to sort of 10 years ago when you and I first started talking,
00:13:52
Speaker
What do you make of the evolution of craft beer and essay over that over that decade of of being one of the prime people um
Enhancing Beer Quality
00:13:58
Speaker
documenting it? Well, the beer quality has improved a lot. I remember ah back and back when I first started, I was going through like a bit of beer training and thinking about faults and things, and there was probably you know three or four out of 10 where you go, I think I can pick something up there. Whereas now, you know the quality has really, really improved. and i think that's come largely because of you know Steve Nelson at TAFE SA. There's a lot of people going through that course and a few other courses and tasting sensory courses and things like that so I think that's really improved. And for the uninitiated Steven Nelson he's like he's a true icon in
00:14:32
Speaker
SA, can you give us a bit of, ah you know, Phyllis is a bit of a potted, um I guess, bio of why he's so important to the SA Pearson? Yeah, so I think initially when the craft beer industry in South Australia was really starting to get up and running, where kind of likes of Big Shed were getting up and running and Pirate Life and Wolf Shed even in the Renmark, ah Stephen Nelson was really instrumental in starting a lot of those brew boys. He would always go out and help them kind' not prior live as such But the others, we'd go out there and help them set up their brew houses and and really tune them in to make sure they're right. And um he also helped with the technical work. And he also was a teacher of um bre brewing at TAFSA, so he used to run the courses there all as well. Yeah. Yeah. And he's ah he's a real, he's a character yeah as well, a real character. yeah And any sort of um
00:15:18
Speaker
personal highlights or just sort of beer industry highlights from over that decade, you know, maybe great events you've been to or or moments with breweries or particular beers that have, you know, really stuck in the memory from that decade. Sure all that are at the Weedy? Yeah, like, yeah, so I mean, one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon was to ride to the Weedy.
00:15:36
Speaker
have a have a beer there, and write my book as well, which is a good segue for that. Pretty much 90% of my book, The Chronicles of Nelson Smart, was written at the Weedy and edited there, hence why there's still a lot of mistakes in it. So yeah, the Weedy was definitely ah a very fun place for me. Great fun. um I mean, there was a lot of destination breweries as well, but the one that probably really stands to mind is the Woolshed Brewery in Renmark because they used to have the houseboats,
00:16:05
Speaker
Still do. Yeah. um So, you know, you can rock up to the brewery on a houseboat. It's great. And we took a houseboat out there once in the winter. And that was just the most fantastic experience. We had ah a keg of 19 litre keg of their IPA on tap on the actual houseboat rolling down the Murray. That was his mum and dad, wasn't it? Yeah. true yeah yeah Great family experience. Yeah. Yeah. Mum, dad, my now wife, and also my cat. Yeah. We took the cat on board. And yeah, it was a really great roll up in the afternoon. A lot of fire in the bank and then back in and cooked dinner. It was fantastic. I think I've used one of the photos you took on that trip many, many times on the website. so It's probably every app we do. We'll share it as well. Yeah, just the beautiful red, red rock the cliffs on the far side of the the river. Yeah. Yeah, so yeah, the destinations, I mean, there's also like Parachilna in the Flinders Ranges. It's such a remote brewery, but again, it's such a great place to be and, you know, destination brewery. They probably the most unlikely brewery in Australia, like I've been lucky to spend some time in the Parachilna Gorge and Bratjana Gorgeous saying that part of the country and is so remote, like the Northern Flinders Ranges, if anyone's not been there and you have the
00:17:11
Speaker
desire to experience like real Outback Australia. It is just a phenomenal, very powerful, very spiritual place. yeah And then you've got this pub in a town of like five people yeah and they've now put a brewery in. yeah Yeah. So many challenges, um but Locky just goes, yeah, whatever. You'll get over it and get to get some beer out. So yeah, it's it's just a great place to be and the story behind it's fantastic and the people are great out there as well. So yeah, we usually do our camping trip once a year in the Flinders Ranges and we always make sure we get to Parachillana. The restaurant itself serves some interesting food. yeah They're known for their sort of every type of sort of bush animal, aren't they? Yeah, it's like a feral menu, essentially. So yeah, I don't venture down that track too much or you just stick with the beef burger.
00:17:54
Speaker
But yeah, the beer is actually really quality as well. So considering all the challenges of like transport and things like that and water and electricity, because they hold breweries and restaurants run off of generator so that the brewery can't operate when the restaurant's actually operating. um That's it's just amazing. Yeah. And I guess, you know, the story of pirate life, it will be pretty stand out in that time. I guess that I remember when you first told me about them and we're doing sort of a bit about the design of the cans and how the ingredients on the labels or whatever.
00:18:24
Speaker
And they exploded you know but very quickly in a way that no one else in SA had done before. And then, obviously, you know it's a different Beast Now part of, you know, see, VSR, he will have you. But that must have had a huge impact on the BSC in various ways, I guess, over that time. Yeah, absolutely.
Pirate Life's Big Leap
00:18:40
Speaker
um The very first article I wrote for Crafty Pine was the year of the pirate. It was ah yeah literally, I think believe I called, I gave you said you an email and said, Hey, pirate life starting up, would you like me to go down there? And and you didn't know who I was at the time. Yeah, I was thinking about calling them, but sure, if you wouldn't mind. So I went down and had a chat and introduced myself. And yeah, I mean, they led with ah what a double IPA, I think it was, so um which was very bold at the time, but... they Still be bold now. Yeah, they yeah executed it very well. And they yeah, they just absolutely took off, didn't they? They did a fantastic job just exploiting. Yeah, yeah, for sure. um And in terms of sort of looking ahead, I know, yeah you know, it's more family and and school and sport now, but, you know, looking at, I guess,
00:19:23
Speaker
where the industry is now, particularly with an SA filter on, you look and had what would you like to see for the beer scene, whether it's hospital or retail or brewing in SA? Yeah, I mean, I don't get out heaps at the moment, and I'll definitely be around. I've made a lot of friends in the industry, so and everyone's so friendly, so I definitely would be out and about still trying to drink as many of the good beers as possible. but um I mean, just going from strength to strength, I suppose. Beer quality has got a lot better and just keep it interesting and and just making sure everyone keeps successful. and We can continue to have great you know independent beer especially and everyone's supporting their their local side. Yeah, just with locals. I mean, the locals I have, I've got yellow matters down the road for me. I've got um bright stars, a right-of-way, weedy, suburban.
00:20:05
Speaker
They're the ones that I frequent all the time and if they can stay around, I'll be very happy. so a Great. Well, on that note, I want to say thank you for 10 years of dedication to Crafty Pine and keeping us you know up to date with everything that's going on at SA. You're passing the baton on to Brian Lee, who we'll be chatting to after the break.
00:20:26
Speaker
um But yeah, all the best in the future. and I'm sure we'll see you many, many times for for beers at beer and barbecue or wherever it might be. yeah um But yeah, it's been awesome working with you over the years. Yeah, and I thank you as well. It's been a great experience. I've learned so much, yeah not only with the beer scene, but also about my writing ability. And now I can teach English better also. yeah So thank you for that. and The kids are aware that you've done a whole bunch of beer writing as well. i try Try to keep it a bit down low. all day so you never know. Every time if Mr. King's my teacher or I'm going to Google him. No, they're not aware. But no, i thank you. as It's been a fantastic 10 years. It's a bit of a shame I have to bow out, but just the last got a bit busy. so yeah And I have to really concentrate on the new promotion. So and thank you very much. No worries. Awesome. Thanks man. Thank you. Cheers.
00:21:13
Speaker
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00:21:38
Speaker
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00:22:08
Speaker
Stephen Bryony, thanks for joining us on the podcast. Thank you very much for having us. Thank you. It's great to
Bryony Leibich's Sensory Workshops
00:22:13
Speaker
be here. So we're here to have a discussion about the year in beer in SA for 2024, but first, you know, maybe let's hear a bit about your own personal years. and Maybe start with you, Bryony. How's the world of education and sensory training been?
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah, I know this was an exciting year, something a bit different for me. um At the start of the year, I was certified as a beer educator for WSCT. That stands for Wine Spirit Education Trust. um And yeah yeah, they need to include beer in their title now. um And Succare. They do Succare courses. So yeah, I've been um yeah privileged to launch some new beer courses um in Australia, and particularly in Adelaide.
00:22:52
Speaker
Yeah, great. And Steve, tell us about your new role. Yeah. So start of the year, obviously at Bright Star Brewing and then transitioned over to AMSAT Character Maltz, which is a small maltster just north of the port here in Burton. So um now just a completely different mind frame. No longer making beer on the day-to-day basis, but I'm really involved in ah malt production, finding the barley out in the fields. It's a, yeah, complete change, which is great. It's been really good.
00:23:18
Speaker
ah good I think between the two of you will get a great sort of broad perspective on, you know, I guess that the year in big and you've seen it from, I guess, two different perspectives and you work with a lot of breweries, both here and elsewhere. And I guess also people within hospitality taking training, what have you. um So I mean, in terms of each of you, there'll be any sort of personal highlights.
00:23:39
Speaker
ah yeah For myself, um this year I've done more collaborative workshops, so I've got different breweries together to represent. One example was Local Bee Day, my first Local Bee Day event, using eight breweries from western suburbs of Adelaide, near where I live.
00:23:56
Speaker
And other collaborative workshops with breweries. um A lot of breweries in SA are very small. So I decided to do workshops where they could send two or three staff and I get a group together and they all get sensory training. I just have people understand, you know, when you say sensory training, if you'll come in at the start of the course, what have they gained by the end of the course?
00:24:18
Speaker
ah Well these have been little two-hour workshops where people improve their tasting skills um and the industry specific ones have been awesome for collaboration and networking across different regions in SA. Great and I guess the main highlight for you Steve is going to have been the welcoming of your first child into the world. Yes I was just about to say if I don't mention that Steph and I welcomed Ren into the world so she's 12 weeks old at the moment so yeah yeah no it's been pretty spectacular to have the kid but Definitely cut down on my beer drinking time.
Regional Beer Festivals' Success
00:24:50
Speaker
But no, there's been some highlights this year, for sure. um I thought the beer and barbecue going down to the southeast, which steps hometown, um was a really good move and really enjoyable down there. Except they just managed to find the three hottest days that Mount Gambia's had on record. All in a row, all 40 degrees plus in Mount Gambia. So it was pretty warm. Good beer drinking weather, but maybe not so good. Spectacular. Yeah, spectacular beer drinking weather. But um yeah, no, it was a bit hot.
00:25:15
Speaker
so yeah know I was speaking to a mate from Noodle Doof who they had a stall there and it was their most successful beer festival ever in terms of takings, the one in Mount Gambier. They've had a good time when it's been here in Adelaide but they said the Mount Gambier one just went off for them. so Well I think the lesson there and probably the lesson for the industry as a whole was it was actually because it was just a smaller lineup of breweries so there wasn't you know heaps and heaps of different breweries there's more of that niche beer festival and I went off without a hitch like most breweries are like oh I need to get hold of more product and I think there's a couple of brewers that had to like leave Mount Gambier drive but all the way back onto Adelaide grab some more beer and bring it down so yeah that's a commitment for a beer festival. Yeah and do you think it was also good because it went somewhere that wouldn't have had an event like that as well? Yeah I think supporting the regional towns is always going to be an important thing so South Australia in particular has heaps of regional breweries
00:26:04
Speaker
Pretty much all of our small towns have a small brewery in there now, so and more opening every day, which is really exciting. so and And more broadly, have you sit noticed any trends, whether it's in beer styles or what breweries are doing over 2024?
Hard Sodas & Lager Trends
00:26:17
Speaker
yeah Um, I would say, yeah, like as a whole, as you know, where the industry got the economic challenges, I've seen less new releases, lower production, um, volumes, but the trend I see is not in beer. It's the hard soda style of products. Uh, there's a lot of South Australian breweries with really popular hard lemonades.
00:26:40
Speaker
some new releases I've seen in ginger beer and also things like hard creaming soda. Okay. Yeah. There's been a bit of history there. I'm thinking bullshit. Like they've had ah a good following for their hard lemonade for a long time, for example. So I guess there's maybe been more of a history of that here than like.
00:26:56
Speaker
You don't really see it in Victoria at all, do you? It's at Heart Lemonade. it's It's come more recently. it's It's definitely been something of a trend this year, but I would say it doesn't have the history it's had around here for sure. No, I think it's an essay thing and it's what I've noticed at festivals. The non-beer drinkers, the lineups, for huge lineups for Heart Lemonade. You're very parochial about your your sodas and your soft drinks and your flavoured milk. South Australia, you've got a very strong passion for them, I know. Well, we have the best. The whole of the country, all the subsets. so so Steve, um maybe with your IBA hat on, you know, what about conversations you're having with brewers and other people in the industry?
Economic Hurdles & Resilience
00:27:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a tough year. You can't sugarcoat it at all. I think it's been a tough year for a lot of different people. and
00:27:42
Speaker
Obviously this year we had Big Shed gone to voluntary administration and come out of it. um But the way that the industry kind of rallied around all of those guys when they were in it was really heartening to see. Brand SA even came to the party yeah and helped us out a bit with the buy SA for SA campaign and then put some funding into recording some ads and stuff for that. So that was really exciting. um But yeah, it's not just, you know, Big Shed that's gone through some tough times. They've obviously gone through a lot of different breweries have gone through small business restructuring as well. um It's probably not hit the i hit the headlines, but um I think everyone's looking forward to a pretty exciting and hopefully fruitful summer. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah for sure. um I think that's been the case for a fit for a few years now. i'm andnna Have there been sort of trends within beer? You know you talk about the non-beer side of things as well.
Australian Ingredients & Lagers' Popularity
00:28:32
Speaker
I guess, it's as you said, there's been less limited releases potentially, but we've talked about the rise of lagers for a few years. Is that continuing or anything else we've seen?
00:28:40
Speaker
Yes, definitely the lager space, helping promote these beer courses, taking me to lots of bottle shops and venues and bars and hotels and pubs. And yeah, I see everyone tells me their biggest sellers are lager or it kind could be labelled. Some people use session ale on the label or um draft and yeah, all those kinds of forms. There's still plenty of people who often tell me or I hear anecdotally, don't like fruity beer.
00:29:09
Speaker
It's true. So yeah, they are the biggest sellers at venues. Yeah. We're seeing quite a few drafts kind of pop up from different brands, especially new brands. There was a new brand this year called Topps being brewed out of Yellow Matter that kind of hit the zeitgeist. And yeah, they were a really popular brand in there. So it's pretty exciting. I think a lot more brewers as well are starting to turn towards Aussie ingredients. So that's been an exciting one and exactly the right time for me. So I'm pretty proud of that one. But yeah, we're seeing a lot of local breweries kind of start to do all Aussie ingredients as much as they can. Have you been going around bad mailing? No. Well, we've got some spectacular malt slides. Not only do you have AMSA who did the character malt, you've got Coopers, who's one best maltster in the year of the year back in 2018, I believe. So some really high quality malt coming out of South Australia.
Coopers' New Venue & Tourism Boost
00:29:58
Speaker
And on the Cougars from, was that a pretty big event within the state when they opened their brew, brew pub? Yeah. A new venue. I mean, $70 million. dollars So yeah, um it's a bit of money. I only went in there yesterday, actually. It was pretty spectacular. So they've got a whole new brand home. um I think it's really good for the state as far as tourism and stuff goes. It was there this week too. Yeah. Spectacular. What do you have on the menu? A lot of people think it's huge, but I i think it's a really good space. I could imagine on a weekend. Yeah. though It's 10 minutes drive out of the city and a really quick road and it's on the way to the Barossa Valley. m so It's a huge draw cut. Yeah. And the food was excellent. Food is amazing. And there's a couple of seasonal beers, including a smoked porter and a hefeweizen.
00:30:41
Speaker
And what about in terms of beers? Any beers that stood out for you guys? Yeah, I think, um, probably worth mentioning at this point, uh, Suburban's Sunday session. Al actually took out the best beer of show at, uh, the Royal Late Late Beer Show. Um, which is pretty spectacular to win both the session hour category against some much bigger, much more well-funded breweries. Um, so that was pretty exciting for the suburban crew. Um, I've been drinking a lot of that with the baby.
00:31:05
Speaker
What does she make of it? Bren loves it. That's great. ah Steve and I both went over to Indies. Yes, yes. Perth. And, yeah, SA did really, really well at that competition, as did WA beers as well. But I was, remember, the two trophies from Yeraidla, which took out Best of Show, Vampiric Throne, Red IPA, and also Loop Hole, their Stout Porter. Yeah, that was awesome too.
00:31:34
Speaker
I was not surprised to see those essay brewers over in Perth. Yeah, particularly something like Champion Beer as well. yeah and I was talking to them a day before and they were wondering whether or not to fly over, so it was all or worth it in the end. Perfect. um And in terms of breweries, whether existing breweries or new breweries that been have had particularly great years, whether it's expanding or you're just doing impressive stuff across the board.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah, well, there's definitely been a lot of breweries open. So I think since your last yearly wrap up, you've had Unit 3 pop up. um Up in Laura, Little Blessings is opened up in an old church, which is a really awesome. So another example of a regional brewery starting in a community that really needs it.
00:32:13
Speaker
And Gaula River Brewing. Yep. Gaula River Brewing has been doing really well from the get-go. I would say the opposite of expansion. Breweries are just generally keeping small, um keeping on top of the production volumes, just looking after their local communities. Yeah, that's main the main thing I see.
00:32:35
Speaker
And is there good support you for local breweries in general around out of Adelaide and and the rest of the state? Is there ah awareness amongst consumers of the importance of supporting local breweries? I think it's more and more every day. People are starting to realise that. So that that big bush with that brand essay that we talked about before, um definitely a lot of people are starting to recognise that the more money they spend within their local breweries.
00:32:56
Speaker
the more that money stays in the community, which is always good. um and Yeah, more of my friends have talked about it. They're not in the beer industry, but since Big Hashed hit the headlines, it's been a centre of people's minds, I think, more this year.
00:33:11
Speaker
And you know how we're with milk and cordials and all the other stuff. Just the same with our beer. We're very biased for them. Frog cakes, which I didn't know were a thing until Partner of Origin this year. Yes, exactly right. Mismatch did the frog cake, was that right? Yeah. and And they actually got some frog cakes into Melbourne. It's the first time they've ever been sold in Melbourne at the SA venue for Partner of Origin. What did you think of frog cakes? Pretty sweet. Yes. Quite odd looking. Yes. It's a flavour.
00:33:37
Speaker
It's a local delicacy. It is, it is. And looking ahead to next year, anything you're sort of looking forward to or hoping for or anything
Future Consumer Engagement Hopes
00:33:45
Speaker
like that? I'm really looking forward to both the beer and barbecues. Again, that one down south has said that they'll go ahead. Pirate Life has a 10th anniversary party, which will be a big one with Pennywise and Mel and Colin being the headliners. So very excited for that, um which would be good. Anything you're looking forward to?
00:34:03
Speaker
Oh, nothing in particular. Just yeah spreading the word on beer education, more tastings. Yeah. Always the more people appreciate what's in their glass, um whether it's not just beer I work with. um Yeah. More judging on the cards too. Yeah. That was good.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah. And with the judging, you get a fair bit of travel out. That was changed a while ago and you've been like judging cider, but you had saying you olive oil as well. So it's a pretty colorful ah kind existence. South Australia produces outstanding olive oil. I get to judge that. Is that parochialism? Yeah. Locally. ah um Yeah. National competition for that. Yeah. And yeah, just promoting a good quality food and drink across the board. And I know this is a tangent, but when people do beer judging, sometimes they'll judge up to like 60 or 80 beers in a day. Do you sample 60 to 80 olive oils in a day? No, maximum 25 to 30 is ideal. Then you get palette fatigue. yeah
00:34:59
Speaker
And I've had a go at spirits judging this year and last year. And, um, yeah, uh, up to 35 was ideal for that for me. Sip and spit, sip and spit. That's all good. And also looking ahead, whether for 2025 or further ahead, do you have one hope or yes so something you'd love to see for beer in general?
00:35:21
Speaker
Steve, you're not allowed to say more malt. I want to answer from a consumer perspective. I've been thinking about just more in consumer engagement. Just, yeah, engage the consumer. Don't just tell people what's on at your tap room, you know, promote things in the community, promote your local events and festivals, ah get beer on the table at wine events, spirit events. I just think bigger than beer. Steve, anything? ah Yeah, I'll follow on from that. I think breweries maybe have to go back to doing on the basics well. like I think we've all in our own little bubble gone a lot long way down the road and gone, oh, everyone just knows this. And I'm like, there's still people discovering craft here today. So I think um
00:36:06
Speaker
As breweries, we can all get together together and ah be a bit better in that ah consumer education space. You know, could be some example, hold a lager masterclass or, you know, get a couple of your stats together from either your own brewery or a couple of other breweries and put them all together and have a bit of a taste off. um I think consumers really get behind that kind of stuff. So, and obviously I'd like to see more breweries supporting local ingredients.
00:36:27
Speaker
And I guess also yeah maybe listing more venues to be bought into that side of things and education as well and having a better understanding. I think sometimes the beer restricted or the brewing industry can forget, there's that very important sort of tier of the industry that actually deals with consumers directly far more. And I think it's really important that we engage venues like, well, the Wheatie does a fantastic job of it, but other venues, you know, to actually yeah be selling that message to to consumers as well. For sure. Yeah.
00:36:56
Speaker
Fantastic. Thank you both so much for joining us. No problems. Thanks for having us. Cheers. Thanks for coming, Dadelay. yeah
00:37:05
Speaker
The Crafty Pints Year in Beer series is proudly presented by Mogwai Labs, leaders in liquid yeast solutions. For the perfect pitch every time, visit MogwaiLabs.com.au. That's M-O-G-W-A-I-L-A-B-S dot.com.au.
00:37:24
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.
00:37:38
Speaker
good 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. 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.