Radio Brews News

This week we speak with Nick Leach, a passionate home brewer, craft beer drinker, trained brewer and also HR professional, initially about his path into the industry. As you’ll hear we can potentially chalk Nick up as one of the people we have talked out of the industry, but not quite. Nick has blended his professional expertise in recruitment with his love of the industry, into a side hustle brewstaff. With so many of our listeners looking to enter the industry - or recruiting - Nick’s journey is an interesting one not to mention the discussion about employment in the brewing industry. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest brewing ingredients to help brewers create the foundations of a truly excellent beer. Your premium brewing partner - and our premium podcasting partner - Cryer Malt is proud sponsor of this

This week, the team make time during Good Beer Week to catch up over the weeks news including new labelling conditions which could be imposed on brewers. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! More labelling conditions set to be imposed on brewers Deeds Brewing long-awaited venue to open its doors Kinks to iron out in Queensland’s artisan licence NZ beer industry condemns racism following brewer’s comments ‘High-risk activities’ again discussed by ABAC Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest brewing ingredients to help brewers create the foundations of a truly excellent beer. Your premium brewing partner and proud sponsors of Brews News. Mailbag brought to you by the New Zealand Ale Trail. Head to www.nzaletrail.com or @nzaletrail on social media to find the best beer experie

Pete Mitcham is no stranger to listeners, but at the same time, his involvement is usually speaking with others, rather than talking about himself and his background. Last night the team at Bad Shepherd recognised Pete’s long and surprisingly unsung contribution to the Indie beer movement. Matt was thrilled to be present to see Pete be recognised because of all he has contributed to the industry, often very much behind the scenes. We thought this would be a good way to share a little more of Pete himself with our listeners and give you the sort of background to Pete that we give of brewers and other beer personalities. Enjoy the conversation. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest brewing ingredients to help brewers create the foundations of a truly excellent beer. Your premium brewing partner - and our premium p

This week the team discuss all things federal budget, crowdfunding and seltzers. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Expansion for IronBark Hill Brewhouse Young Henrys solar crowdfund Exit Brewing rebrand marks new growth phase Windfall for shareholders in Endeavour Drinks demerger The pains and perks of barrel ageing facilities Our partners Your brewing buddies, Cryer Malt, are back at Good Beer 2021 with the Cryer Malt Trade Hub, located upstairs at Beer Deluxe. From hop sensory sessions to start-up panels, Cryer Malt invites you to come along to taste a few delicious brews, make some new mates and broaden your knowledge of our amazing industry. Learn more at www.goodbeerweek.com.au/stream/trade-hub Mailbag brought to you by the New Zealand Ale Trail. Head to www.nzaletrail.com or @nzaletrail on social media to find the best beer experiences in New Zealand We thank Rallin

This week we speak with Chris Kelly from East Coast Canning, buts it’s not really about canning it’s a genuinely free-ranging conversation about the industry. His role as founder of East Coast Canning gives Chris a unique overview of the brewing industry, and his thoughtful approach and honesty ensure his insights are worth capturing. We hear how his COVID year went, being the pivot point for many a pivot but we also look at so much more that is happening in the industry. We last spoke to Chris in early 2018 where we looked at his background and how he came to get started at East Coast...even if you are a long time listener it might be with revisiting that conversation before you listen on because it is evergreen and this builds on in some ways. Enjoy the conversation. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest

This week on the podcast, the team discuss updates to the excise rebate for small brewers and the ups and downs of Broo. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Budget to increase excise rebate to small brewers Losses continue but revenues up at Broo Dave Macgill set to open Deep South Brewing Co. Growth slows at Coles Liquor and Endeavour Drinks Beerfarm expanding onto the Central Coast NSW Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking your brews to the n

Last Saturday news broke that in the upcoming Federal budget brewers are going to get a significant boost through changes to excise. These changes have been long lobbied for, and it’s a big boost for the IBA to have brought it home. At the same time, there was a touch of irony as the announcement was made at Canberra’s BentSpoke Brewery - the irony being that BentSpoke founder Richard Watkins has been on this very podcast a number of times, during which he has sometimes voiced a measure of concern about that very measure. Today I speak with IBA Chair Peter Philip and Executive Director Kylie Lethbridge about the changes and the IBA’s lobbying efforts that brought it about. We talk about what it means for brewers, and also whether concerns about a brewing gold rush are founded. Needless to say being beer is a conversation we discuss a whole lot more besides over the next 50 minutes. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for a

This week the team discuss Stone & Wood's expansion plans and the latest news from the 2021 hop report. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Stone & Wood confirms expansion plans Making it official: Moon Dog’s Game of Thrones beers Record revenue growth for Mighty Craft Strong growth at Good Drinks despite COVID Cryer Malt invests in major warehouse expansion Boortmalt NV set to reopen South Australia malthouse Galaxy shines in HPA hop report NZ distributor Quench Collective enters liquidation Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen

This week the team discuss Victoria's plan to get people excited about locally produced drinks and new research showing risky drinking is down. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! $1.5m program to get Victorian beer into local bars Risky drinking and alcohol consumption down says AIHW Philter teams up with the Newtown Jets Queensland CDS scheme lowers prices GABS gives sneak peek of 2021 Festival beers Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking you

This week we roll out the barrel and meet Ballistic's Jake Harrison. Recently Brisbane’s Ballistic Beer launched its Bunker Project, that will focus on mixed fermentations and barrel-aged beers. It follows similar moves from breweries across the country to create dedicated spaces for beer in barrels. With Ballistic already on a tear as a business, recently announcing the purchase of its third and fourth brewing venues, and having a significant focus on more excitement-driving styles such as hazies, fruited sours and dessert styles, a small, intensive barrel project seemed to be a potential distraction from the brewery’s main game. To find out a little more about the project I caught up Jake, who is tasked with developing it. We talk about what led Jake from a career as a town and environmental planner to brewing, via the old kit and kilo inspired by his dad, and also where beer is at and where it’s heading, including will some of the fads go the way of the disco era Bee Gees and become tragically unhip.

This week the team discuss what constitutes "illicit" alcohol and look at some rather interesting press releases.  Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! SA’s Beer Garden Brewing up for sale ATO clamps down on ‘illicit’ alcohol TV ads, billboard and social media in front of ABAC St Andrews Beach expands after reaching critical mass Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking your brews to the next level. There’s a lot at stake when running a brewery. Fr

This week we meet Alistair Turnbull from Lobethal Bierhaus. This is a fun conversation. As you’ll hear, Alistair gave up a banking career to open a brewery in 2007 - and worried he had already missed the boat when it came to craft beer. Fourteen years later, he says he is working 100 hours a week, humping kegs to local venues around Lobethal and making less money than he did in banking with no plans for a cashed up exit… But as you’ll hear - Alistair couldn’t be happier doing what he’s doing and has a viable and sustainable business and late last year took home three of the top trophies in the Royal Adelaide Beer and Cider Awards, including Champion Beer. It’s a great chat about knowing what you want to do in your business and focussing on that, despite what else is going on around you. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to provi

This week the team chats all things beer packaging and whether a tax break would be a good or a bad thing for the industry. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Endeavour to hold EGM as shareholders await accounts Black Hops invests $3m in packaging expansion Brick Lane delivers fresh growlers to Dan Murphy’s GABS Festival is back for 2021 Australian breweries push for tax break similar to wine industry Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking you

This week, we're chatting about hops as we catch up with journalist, author and industry legend, Stan Hieronymus. Stan is a professional journalist and amateur brewer who has made beer his beat since 1993. He is perhaps best known here for influential books Brew Like A Monk: Trappist, Abbey and Strong Belgian Ales and How to Brew Them; Brewing with Wheat: The "Wit" and "Weizen" of Wheat Beer Styles and For The Love of Hops: The Practical Guide to Aroma, Bitterness and the Culture of Hops. He also maintains one of the surviving high quality beer blogs, Appellation Beer, and his hop specific newsletter Hop Queries. Enjoy the conversation. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest brewing ingredients to help brewers create the foundations of a truly excellent beer. Your premium brewing partner - and our premium podc

This week the team get fired up in defence of ABAC and rejoice over a new recycling scheme.  Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! ABAC refutes pandemic marketing criticism Indie brewers bring $1.9 billion to economy: IBA Industry body applauds government drink roadmap Craft beer community group brews collab beer Beer trail grants for Collingwood and Inner West Bright launches Paktech recycling scheme Program launches for Good Beer Week 2021 Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer

In this special edition of Beer is a Conversation, we talk about beer money. As we recorded this, the Batch Brewing crowd-sourced funding campaign has been open for a day and has exceeded its minimum target, and is halfway to the $1.5 million full raise. Incidentally, it has nearly raised more in a day than BrewDog has in four months. While the expression of interest phase has been going for a few weeks, we hadn't covered the raise until now as the company’s financials and valuations hadn’t been available which we considered important to any meaningful discussion of the investment raise. Now it’s out, we get to discuss the Batch business and its valuation with Chris Sidwa and Andrew Fineran. As you’ll hear it’s a pretty robust discussion, as we talk about the - arguably - inflated valuations that crowdsourced funding permits for businesses and the prospects that they will be able to execute their expansion strategy in a highly competitive marketplace. Matt is a big fan of Batch and Andrew and Chris, and

This week we catch up with Oscar McMahon and Dan Hampton from Young Henrys. Young Henry’s is one of those brands that just stands out in the Australian brewing industry. There are few breweries with a stronger brand identity, or identifiable corporate culture. In terms of size, they are one of the largest independent brands and their presence can’t just be seen on tap handles, but pub walls across the country. Perhaps because of this presence Young Henry’s is one of those brands that gets talked about, sometimes with a note of jealousy. It is one of the breweries that is perennially part of the ‘word on the street’ talk of sales, as well as featuring in discussion about tap contracts and private equity investment. We talk about all of this and more. It’s a great conversation - a long one that had to be recorded over two sessions. Its a conversation that really gives an insight into the Young Henry’s approach to beer, independence and the art of motorcycle oil maintenance. Our partners Radio Brews News is

This week the team have some good news on sponsorship deals and expansion plans for Your Mates and White Lies. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Your Mates plans expansion after major growth Second brewpub in the works for White Lies TAFE brewing students win beer medal Sponsorship deals for Mismatch and Willie Smith’s Historic brand Brehenys Bros. Brewing returns ‘World-first’ for NZ hop oil extracts Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking

This week we catch up with Russ Gosling, head brewer at Little Creatures Fremantle. Regular listeners will know that Matt holds a special place in his beer drinkers heart for Little Creatures Pale Ale and the venue in Fremantle. With this podcast being a decade old, and Russ having been with the brewery for 17 years it seems a statistical anomaly that we haven’t spoken with Russ before. But now we have and it’s a great chat. As always we learn how Russ came to be a brewer, and then move from the UK to Australia to brew for Little Creatures. We tackle the widespread perception that Little Creatures Pale Ale has ‘changed’ somehow, we discuss classic and emerging hops, beer styles and the challenges of staying relevant in a dynamic and rapidly evolving beer market. It’s a great chat with a quietly passionate brewer talking about what he loves. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt, who we are thrilled to announce are back supporting us for another year of conversations. With over

This week the team discuss BrewDogs new expansion plans and the disappointment over Colonials sponsorship loss. Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. It costs nothing and helps other beer lovers discover the podcast! Colonial ‘disappointed’ after sponsor deal loss BrewDog outlines ANZ expansion plans Alcohol Beverages Australia to drive jobs growth in 10-year plan Meet Queensland’s best new craft brewer Hill Farmstead founder endures iso for NZ hop selection Our Partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Cryer Malt is proud to team up with Yakima Chief Hops to bring the very best Pacific Northwest hops to Australian and Kiwi brewers. Yakima Chief Hops’ new proprietary hop Talus™ is bursting with big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage. Rumoured as the new Queen of Hops, Talus™ is available through your mates at Cryer Malt, so contact them to start taking your brews to t