Radio Brews News

This week on Brews News Week Matt flies solo but discusses the news of the week with the people making news. First up, he chats with Anton Szpitalak from Tribe Brewing about Tribe’s  announcement this week that it has signed an agreement to brew Pabst Blue Ribbon. Anton and his family formed Brewpack in 2012 when they acquired the assets of collapsed contractor Australian Independent Brewers. Later the business added its proprietary brand Stockade and this year changed its name to Tribe when it took on investment from Melbourne-based private equity firm Advent Partners to fund its current expansion plans. And Pabst Blue Ribbon is a venerable old beer brand that has been resurrected as an ironic alternative to the US’s mainstream staples. The brand is owned by a Eugene Kashper and private equity investor TSG Partners, which also happens to own 23% of Scottish brewery BrewDog. The Pabst brand, which is currently contract brewed by SAB Miller in the US, won Large Brewing Company of the Year at the 2016 Grea

This week on Beer is a Conversation, Matt chats to Larry Meagher, Regional Sales Manager for food flavouring business, Amoretti. One of the promises that craft beer hold out is more flavour than the beers Australians have traditionally consumed and brewers have been in an arms race to push the boundaries of what malt, water, hops and yeast can lend to their beers. We have also seen a variety of adjuncts being used to generate even more flavour in beer. Amoretti has entered the market with a range of purees and syrups designed to let brewers easily and consistently add flavour to their beers. But is it craft? In this episode we discuss flavour, brewing and the pursuit of craft. Enjoy the conversation.

This Good Brews Week Pete and Matt are joined by Pia Poynton, beer writer and Business Development Manager at Nowhereman Brewing Co. They discuss the news of the week, including: Barrow Boys Falls while West City Rises Us versus Them  Is Canarchy a Duck

This week on Beer is a Conversation we meet Bill Savage from Goose Island. Bill came to brewing having taught himself to make mead while studying classical language and literature at college. He went on to make wine and mead professionally, before joining Goose Island in 2013. He is now Lead Brewer in the Goose Island Barrel Aging Program. This conversation coincides with the launch of Goose Island’s Sour Sisters range in Australia and we speak with Bill about Goose Island’s barrel program, the growing popularity of barrel-aged beers and the challenges of scaling up esoteric beer production to meet global demand. In the interests of full disclosure, this was a sponsored podcast. We were offered a chance to speak with Bill but we had interviewed Ken Stoutand Dave Tohtz from Goose Island late last year and with so much happening on the beer scene here we initially declined the offer. But they were keen for us to speak with Bill and offered to sponsor the episode. It turned out to be a really interesting chat

This week on Good Brews Week, Matt and Pete chow down on a few Dagwood dogs while discussing the news of the week from the Ekka in Brisbane. This weeks top stories are: Stone and Wood settle trademark dispute case and announce plans for Brisbane venue Mornington Peninsula Brewery joins Tribe Great Northern Brewing raises $1 million for farmers  

This week on Beer is a Conversation Matt is joined by Diarmaid O’Mordha, Quality & Sustainability Manager at Endeavour Drinks Group, the business that runs Dan Murphy’s and BWS. These retailers hold an interesting place in the Australian drinks world. On the one hand they are held up as giants shading out small independent bottleshops and skewing the shape of the drinks landscape. On the other, they are outlets where more Australians buy alcohol than any other, and they are increasingly major partners to some of your favourite craft beer brands by becoming their defacto distributors. With such an influence on the beer marketplace, Endeavour can have a major effect on the beers that you drink. Freshness and drinking quality are increasingly becoming a talking point around the craft beer community and the major retailers exert a huge influence over the market.  As Quality & Sustainability Manager, Diarmaid is at the centre of the decisions that BWS and Dans are making in the beer space, so this is a fascinat

This week Matt and Pete are in Brisbane for the Ekka. They discuss what the vibe is like at Queensland's royal show and news of the week including: Gage Roads kicks goal in nib Stadium Newstead Brewing Co partners with Surf Life Saving Qld

This week for Beer is a Conversation, we are joined by Chris Sidwa. Chris is probably best known as co-founder of Sydney’s Batch Brewing. We caught up with Chris and his partner Andrew Fineran late last year during our swing through the breweries of Sydney’s inner west. This time we chat with Chris about his new book, Brew a Batch: A beginner’s guide to home-brewed beer. As a beginners guide to getting into homebrew, Brew a Batch is a recommended read. But where the book really comes into its own is where Chris infuses homebrewing with a wider meaning. He weaves in to the guide much of his brewing philosophy and his approach to sustainability in away that shows how small batch brewing can be - arguably should be - part of a broader consumer movement. His book is Brew a Batch: A beginner’s guide to home-brewed beer. You can get it online at the Batch store, and in bookshops nationally.

This week on Good Brews Week Matt and Pete discuss the news of the week, including: AB InBev buys online retailer BoozeBud Lion buys NZ’s Harrington’s What’s the true cost of a keg of beer?

In the third and final Brews News Live, from BrewCon 2018, our special guest is Jason Perrault, CEO and head breeder at the Select Botanicals Group, part of Yakima Chief Hopunion. This week we do something a little different and turn the microphones over to Balter Brewing's Scott Hargraves and Van Dieman Brewing's Will Tatchell to host the conversation they wanted to listen to. It’s riveting listening as a couple of great brewers chat with a very passionate hop breeder. Enjoy the conversation.

This weeks Beer is a Conversation is with Lachy Crothers, head brewer at Brisbane’s Ballistic Brewing. Regular listeners will know that freshness has been recurring topic on the podcast channel and so when Ballistic released a beer with a ‘Dead by’ date, our interest was immediately piqued. The Sleep When You’re Dead range, is a series of one-off hop-driven limited releases which are launched with a two month best before date that the brewery calls a ‘Dead By’ date because after that date passes they retrieve any unsold beer from trade. It’s a gutsy move and one that cynics may say is about marketing, but it also carries a strong educational message about how long some beers can sit on shelves and still convey the brewer’s promise of quality. Enjoy the conversation.

This week on Good Brews Week we welcome Pete back from the US and get his take on what's happening in the home of craft beer.   We also discuss the news of the week including: Beer features big at Regional Flavours Trade mark squatters could cost brewers Coopers Pale Ale in cans Lagunitas drops ABV of IPA in UK

In the second episode of Brews News Live, from BrewCon 2018, Matt speaks with Dick Cantwell.  Dick co-founded Elysian Brewing Company in 1996, where he served as head brewer until its sale to Anheuser-Busch in 2015. During his tenure, Elysian was named Large Brewpub of the Year three times at the Great American Beer Festival® (1999, 2003 and 2004), and in 2004, he received the BA's Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing. Dick was at the conference to present about the history and technical brewing practices of brewing eclectic IPAs, based on his book of the same name. Dick has also written or co-written books about Barley Wine, The Brewers Association's Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery, Second Edition, and Wood & Beer with New Belgium's Peter Bouckaert. It’s a great chat about the evolution of the use of hops and the growth IPA and his views about the many variations of the style, including NEIPA. Enjoy the conversation.

This week on Beer is a Conversation, Matt catches up with Grant Wearin, who together with his wife Jaz, launched Modus Operandi almost exactly 4 years ago. From the very start, Modus has had a major effect on the beer market with the brewery winning a swag of trophies, including being named Champion Small Brewery at the then Craft Beer Industry Association awards, within months of opening. They were at it again this year, being named the champion large brewery at the newly renamed Independent Beer Awards in June. As the team that now comprises 30 people celebrates its fourth birthday this week, we chat with Grant about their journey, including their commitment to quality, look at the importance of fresh beer and cold distribution and the challenges they face with growth. The Brews News team send Jaz and Grant our very best wishes as they count down to the birth of their first child. Enjoy the conversation. You can try the Limited Release Cascadian Howl released to mark their fourth birthday at the follow

In this special Brews News Live, recorded at BrewCon 2018, Matt Kirkegaard chats with New Belgium co-founder Kim Jordan Since it’s beginnings 1991, Kim has been instrumental in developing a business and a culture that has driven one of the most respected craft breweries in America. This chat covers New Belgium’s early days, whether a business could start the same way today and still grow to the scale that New Belgium has achieved, notions of craft and also her views on the move to brand independence in Australia.  It’s a great conversation with someone who thinks very deeply about beer.

This week on Beer is a Conversation Matt Kirkegaard has a long over due chat with brewer Michael Capaldo. In a career spanning more than a decade Michael has gone from working as a packaging assistant with Little Creatures to a production brewing role with Gage Roads while completing a Graduate Diploma of Brewing through Edith Cowan University. He then took the reins as head brewer for Sydney Brewery and Lovedale Brewery where he led the team to winning trophies at the Australian International Beer Awards and Royal Sydney Show within it’s very first year of operation in 2014. In 2017 Michael moved from the production side of the industry to take up a sales role at Hop Products Australia working to provide on-the-ground support to brewers across News South Wales and Queensland. Enjoy the Conversation.

This week on Good Brews Week Matt is playing the role of Pete Mitcham who is overseas. He is joined by Zoe Ottaway from Totem Marketing and Steve 'Hendo' Henderson from Rockstar Brewer to discuss the beer news of the week. This week sees us discuss: ABAC and the fine line brewers walk between fun marketing and marketng to children London has called Lion and it has bought Fourpure Lion returns Swans to Perth with Bevy Beer labels and augmented reality  Get more Brews News.

Part 3 of this weeks chat with Teri Fahrendorf is all about her latest passion, malt. She believes malt will be next big trend and shares her thoughts on where Australia is headed in terms of flavour.  Matt was lucky enough to have the chance to chat with Pink Boots founder, Teri Fahrendorf recently at BrewCon. Teri’s background as a brewer is of considerable experience and the beginnings of the Pink Boots Society is a must hear story. The conversation was so engaging and interesting that Matt and Teri ended up chatting for almost two hours. We’ve broken up the podcast into 3 sections, all available now, so you can listen at your leisure. The first part covers Teri’s background and career, the second, Pink Boots and how that came to be and then Teri’s current position as the first Malt Innovation Centre Manager for Great Western Malting Company in Vancouver, Washington. Enjoy the chat with Terri and let us know your thoughts. 

Part 2 of this weeks chat with Teri Fahrendorf covers the story of Pink Boots and how its creation was somewhat of an accident.  Matt was lucky enough to have the chance to chat with Pink Boots founder, Teri Fahrendorf recently at BrewCon. Teri’s background as a brewer is of considerable experience and the beginnings of the Pink Boots Society is a must hear story. The conversation was so engaging and interesting that Matt and Teri ended up chatting for almost two hours. We’ve broken up the podcast into 3 sections, all available now, so you can listen at your leisure. The first part covers Teri’s background and career, the second, Pink Boots and how that came to be and then Teri’s current position as the first Malt Innovation Centre Manager for Great Western Malting Company in Vancouver, Washington. Enjoy the chat with Terri and let us know your thoughts. 

Strap yourselves in for Beer is a Conversation this week, you’re in for a ride. Matt was lucky enough to chat with Pink Boots founder, Teri Fahrendorf recently at BrewCon. Teri’s background as a brewer is of considerable experience and the beginnings of the Pink Boots Society is a must hear story. The conversation was so engaging and interesting that Matt and Teri ended up chatting for almost two hours. We’ve broken up the podcast into 3 sections, all available now, so you can listen at your leisure. The first part covers Teri’s background and career, the second, Pink Boots and how that came to be and then Teri’s current position as the first Malt Innovation Centre Manager for Great Western Malting Company in Vancouver, Washington. Enjoy the chat with Teri and let us know your thoughts.