Radio Brews News

This week we have an interesting chat with Bucket Boy Johanthan Hepner. This conversation arose from an article on the beer blog SydneyBeer titled Buyer Beware: The Real Cost of Buying Beer From Overseas. In it, Johanathan raised the apparently growing trend of consumers looking to directly purchase beers from overseas and the impact that it was having on businesses such as Bucket Boys. The Bucket Boys Johnathan Hepner and his business partner Clint Elvin are mainstays of the Sydney beer scene. They run a temple of good beer, that is dedicated to supplying beer lovers with a huge selection of local beers and hard to get imports. They are also passionate about beer education. However, Johnathan’s call for the pointy end beer geek to stop skirting around specialist retailers in their search for the latest and rarest beers because of the potential impact on businesses such as his raised a number of interesting questions. Bucket Boys goes to great lengths to have rare and imported beers in stock, sometimes s

Two become four today as Matt and Pete are joined Zoe Ottaway from Totem Marketing and Megan Sahli, Writer at Australian Brews News, live from Burnley Brewing. The team take an in depth look at why New Belgium Brewing has opened its Colorado brewing facility to an upstart lager brand. Other top stories include:  Gage Roads partners with Western Force Lion acquires stake in Four Pillars Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All l

We finish our sweep through Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and visit Your Mates Brewery to meet one of the mates, Christian McGarry. In an increasingly common story, Christian and his mate Matt Hepburn quit their jobs five years ago with the dream to open a brewery. In the intervening years through a mix of contract and gypsy brewing, running their own taproom and a lot of clever self marketing that included an appearance on TV show Shark Tank, they have managed to build a brand big enough to attract investors to financially back their vision of opening their own brewery and taproom. We chat about the origins of their, literally, characterful beers, entrepreneurship in the increasingly crowded beer world and how you make beer relevant to your mates when your circle of mates expands beyond those you can fit in your backyard. Enjoy the conversation. For the last time, we thank Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours for putting together our tour. Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt.

Zoe Ottaway from Totem Marketing joins Matt and Pete as a special guest, with perfect timing as discussions take place around women in beer advertising. This weeks stories include: Townsville Brewery and Bintani launch The Big Wet Beer In Cider festival Lion banishes blokes and banter in Hahn Ultra Crisp beer campaign The growing prominence of mid-strengths, fruit sours and even low bitterness juicy IPAs Pirate Life brews beer for MCG members Tooheys Extra Dry commercial Want to learn more about marketing? Here are Zoe's podcast recommendations: Mumbrella Back of House (listeners will recognise the first guest they had on their podcast!) MarCast Seize the Yay Coffee Pods with Holly Ransom Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call R

We continue our sweep through Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and visit the recently opened Glasshouse Brewery. It was a four year ordeal for Simon Michelangeli but late last year he opened his brewery and Italian-inspired eatery in the shadow of the region’s famous Glasshouse Mountains and we find out from Simon what he learned through the fraught process, and why he chose his regional location. We also meet his brewer, Brendan Chan, who left his long-term role at Brisbane Brewing to head for the coast and the fishing - and brewing - it offered. Enjoy the conversation. Once again, we thank Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours for putting together our tour. Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more

Matt and Pete are in Queensland for the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show Beer Awards. They also discuss the weeks top stories in a big week for beer news.  CUB bans plastic six-pack rings IBA secures support pledge in NSW election Bud Light Lemon Tea seeks cash in on Bud Light losses Great Northern to feature women on it’s billboards Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle o

This week we visit soon-to-open Boiling Pot Brewery and get to meet owner John Scott Madill and his brewer Pedro De Luca. Scott’s family are well known for their car dealerships across the Sunshine Coast, but this is his first foray into beer. He has been contract brewing and building his brand across the region for a little over a year and his brewery and taproom are on the verge of opening in behind Noosa. John discusses his background which he describes as the cliche of ‘two mates and their dog brewing under their house’ before he made the ‘mistake’ of declaring he was going to open a brewery. We learn of his path to being on the verge of  opening a brewery and the challenges along the way. And we also meet his brewer, Pedro Bevilacqua De Luca, and hear about his journey from Brazil to training in Germany to brewing in Noosa. Once again, we thank Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours for putting together our tour.  Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in

Pete and Matt are pushing the Cook limit this week and they pack plenty in. The big stories of the week are:  AB InBev say 8% of beer volumes come from no and low alcohol beer Bird state finalist in business awards comes as Brews News prepares to celebrate International Women’s Day  Breweries represented in Australian Tourism Awards 2018 results The Portman Group is trying to destroy Britain’s proud history of strong ales Following Test Drive, Craft Brew Alliance Formally Establishes ‘pH Experiment’ Business Unit 26 Page definition of a biscuit Bonus Reading What the ABAC code says about minors: "A Marketing Communication must NOT... (ii) depict a person who is or appears to be a Minor unless they are shown in an incidental role in a natural situation (for example, a family socialising responsibly) and where there is no implication they will consume or serve alcohol."  And must not "depict an Adult who is under 25 years of Age and appears to be an Adult unless: • they are not visually prom

This week we continue our tour of the Sunshine Coast with a visit to the region’s latest brewery - Heads of Noosa.  We catch up with Craig and Lance Masterton, who gave up stock trading to open their brewery in Noosa. And it’s no bootstrap operation either, they have made a significant investment in what they are doing.  Unlike many craft breweries, they have opened with a Japanese lager, that’s light and crisp and the samples we tried we very well made.  We talk about their backgrounds, the place they see for a craft lager brewery and especially how they see they will compete again both the scale of the large lager breweries and also the many craft breweries on the Sunshine Coast that are seeking to push the bounds of flavour. Enjoy the conversation. Once again, we thank Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours for putting together our tour.  Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and import

Pete and Matt are back from their road trip and get stuck into the beer news of the week including: Smaller is better as craft beer booms Experts advise brewers on product recall liability Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle opener and go into the draw to win a mixed six-pack thanks to our good friends at Beer Cartel who sponsor our letter for the week.

The first stop on our sweep through the Sunshine Coast with Sunshine Coast Craft Brewery Tours is to Eumundi Brewery to talk with head brewer, Chris Sheehan. We have talked a bit about Eumundi recently and what ‘local’ means when you’re part of a much larger business and can scale production to breweries across the country. And also why multinational breweries are thinking small.  We chat with Chris about that, but we also learn about the background to the resurrected Eumundi Brewery, what it means for the local community and what he and his assistant brewer Allan Tilden are creating in the Sunshine Coast hinterland with local ingredients. Once again, we thank Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Brewery Tours for putting together our tour.   Brews News Week is Proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers 

This week on a bonus episode of Beer is a Conversation, Pete and Matt are on the road with Josh Donohoe from Sunshine Coast Craft Brewery Tours. The recent GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers poll shone a spotlight on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and its brewing scene. Listeners will know our goal for 2019 is to get out more for Beer is a Conversation, so we approached Josh to help us to put a trip together to check see first hand a few breweries on the Sunshine Coast, and meet the people behind them. You will get to hear our conversations with Heads of Noosa, Boiling Pot, Glasshouse Brewery, Your Mates and 10 Toes over the upcoming weeks, starting with Eumundi this week. As a bonus episode this week, we bring you a chat with Josh while we were between breweries. We find out about how he came to be running Sunshine Coast Craft Brewery Tours, as well as get his thoughts on the scene and why it’s growing so strongly. Find out more or book a tour with Josh at Sunshine Coast Craft Brewery Tours. Brews News Week is P

Pete and Matt are on the road to the Sunshine Coast this week. They sit down together to discuss: What it means for a beer to be truly local Endeavour hitting its crowdfunding target Our writer Megan asks the question "Have you noticed any changes in the number or prevalence of pokies machines in your area in pubs? If so, has craft beer had anything to do with the change?” And we have a full mail bag. The letter of the week is from Luke Pomery: Hi Guys, Have been listening to and enjoying your show for quite a while now so thought it was time to send you a quick email. Recently I was on my honeymoon and whilst at a stopover in Antwerp I found something I thought was amusing. There in a train station convenience store in Antwerp, Belgium was none other than Australia's own Pure Blonde. Except this wasn't the regular Australian Pure Blonde as released by CUB, this was branded as Pure Blonde by Jupiler. Not sure if this is the same stuff made in Melbourne, re-sleeved for a Belgian audience or if Jupile

This week we chat with Shawn Sherlock from Newcastle’s Foghorn Brewhouse. In January it was announced that Founders First had invested in the brewery, buying out co-founder James Garvey’s share of the business. Last week we heard from Mark Haysmen from Founders First, and this week we discuss the partnership with Shawn.   Of course, that’s far from all we chat about. In this episode we go way back before the days of Facebook beer pages, before ubiquitous craft breweries to a time before craft beer was even called craft beer to learn how this aspiring academic fell in love with home brew and changed his career course forever. Enjoy the conversation. Brews News Week is Proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to

Matt and Pete bring you the top beer news stories of the week including: Craft beer waits for more consumers to join its movement Eumundi Brewery goes National  Craft needs to rethink attitudes to pastuerisation Social media concerns continue for ABAC Brews News Week is Proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle opener and go into the draw to win a mixed six-pack thanks to our good friends at Beer Car

Matt meets Mark Haysman, CEO of craft business accelerator Founders First for this weeks Beer is a Conversation. The craft beer industry has been evolving rapidly over the past decade with a flood of new entrants. As craft beer grows, many breweries have had to grapple with the issues of growth and how to fund their expanding businesses and capital requirements. Traditional bank finance, private equity investments and crowd sourced funding are some ways that breweries have funded their growth, and Founders First has now stepped in with what they say is a new approach. Founders First grabbed headlines in the past fortnight when it announced it had invested in Newcastle's Foghorn Brewhouse, taking up the share that majority stakeholder James Garvey was selling. The accelerator has also funded the rapid growth of Victoria’s Jetty Road Brewery. With a lengthy background at both Lion and CUB, as well as a stint as CEO of the Port Adelaide Football Club and 7 years at Deloitte, Mark has an extensive business

Matt and Pete have fun calling out advertising faux pas while discussing this weeks biggest news stories.  Flagship February Strong Growth for Gage Roads Foghorn bags a backer Hey kettle, you need a wash: Pot Brews News Week is Proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt have been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle opener and go into the draw to win a mixed six-pack thanks to our good friends at Beer Cartel who sponsor our letter for the week.

Ash Cranston and Tom Champion from Brisbane’s Felons Brewing join Matt as the brand new venue explodes in popularity.  Brews News readers will know that Felons opened as part of the city’s Howard Smith Wharves precinct just before Christmas, and promptly ran out of beer such was the immediate popularity of the venue. Ash and Tom are both Little Creatures alumni, Ash from the hospitality side of that business and Tom as a brewer. In this conversation we find out a little about their backgrounds and the varied paths that brought them into beer and ultimately to Felons. We discuss what they learned working for a business such as Little Creatures, which really set the standard for brewery hospitality - and for beer - when it opened in Fremantle, and what they have carried with them in opening Felons. We hear what they wanted to achieve with the beer and the venue, and how you cope when demand far exceeds even your most optimistic projections...and your capacity. Enjoy the conversation. Brews News Week is Pro

With the GABS Hottest 100 Australian Craft Beers announced last week, Pete and Matt look at some of the misconceptions and criticisms about the poll that have been expressed on social media. Please let us know what you think of the new theme music and if there is such a thing as "too much polka". Brews News Week is Proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt have been bringing you the world’s best local and imported malts. Your premium brewing partner and proud supporters of Brews News. We thank Rallings Labels and Stickers for sponsoring this podcast. Call Rallings on 1300 852 235 to discover a more efficient way to get your small batch canning labels done. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle opener and go into the draw to win a mixed six-pac

Now in its eleventh year, the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll shines a powerful spotlight on the trends, brands and breweries shaping the booming craft beer industry. The 2018 edition saw a record 31,000 beer lovers place more than 155,000 votes for their favourite craft beers of the year. Enjoy the full countdown hosted by Matt and Pete live from last years winners Balter Brewing.