Radio Brews News

Balter Brewing Co has been acquired by Carlton and United Breweries as Australia’s big brewers engage in another wave of craft acquisitions. The sale, announced today for an undisclosed sum, sees the Currumbin-based brewery join 4 Pines and Pirate Life in the existing CUB stable. If the Asahi acquisition of CUB is allowed to go ahead, they also join Green Beacon which was acquired by Asahi back in...

This week is our last chat from BrauBeviale where we learn a lot about history and brewing traditions and a little bit about malt with Dr Axel Gohler from German maltster Bestmalz. So much has happened in the craft brewing industry in a short time in Australia with new breweries, beer styles and business models, that sometimes it can be easy to forget that these things have come and gone before, e...

Matt is back in Brisbane with his review of BrewDog Berlin and to discuss the news of the week with Pete. Nominations now open for GABS Hottest 100 BrewLab set to launch in 2020 IBA moves to its next phase of growth 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 p...

This week we chat hops with the team at Yakima Chief Hops. We're joined by Ryan Hopkins - Chief Sales Officer, Patrick Smith - Vice President Loftus Ranches and Joe Catron - Operations Manager, Yakima Chief Ranches. A few weeks ago Matt was in Nuremberg to check out BrauBeviale. While there he was struck with the presence that US hop growers had. Hop forward US style beers hardly have a presence i...

This week Matt is calling in from Amsterdam to cover the news of the week.  BrewDog Taproom Opens in Brisbane  Lion Australia snaps up New Belgium Brewing ABAC upholds One Drop Kellogg’s IPA complaints Beer Cartel recalls Black Hops Extra Eggnog (Beer #25 of Beer Cartel's 2019 Advent Calendar) Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt has been...

Last week Matt was in Nuremberg to check out the mother of all brewing trade shows, BrauBeviale, and while there he ran into Bridge Road Brewers founder Ben Kraus who is currently a few months into a 12 month hiatus from the brewery which he and his family are spending in his partner’s native Austria. We learn how Ben, who has very much been central to Bridge Road’s brand, vision and personality,...

This week Matt joins Pete all the way from BrauBeviale in Nuremberg, Germany. Brewdog Brisbane taproom opening 21 November Slipstream Brewing partners with Founders First Pirate Life sour beer complaint dismissed by ABAC Coopers reports 2% sales volume growth Stewards wanted for Royal Queensland Beer Awards Terella Brewing experiments with sustainability on Sunshine Coast Save the date for the IBD...

Beer is a Conversation is our weekly sit down with some of the people who make the beer industry the interesting and dynamic thing that it is and through these conversations we dig a little deeper into the stories behind the business of beer and brewing. Over the last few months we have jumped into the wayback machine and talked about the early days of what we now call craft beer. This has been mo...

The broadsheet is rather thick as Pete and Matt cover a huge week in beer news. Gabs Hottest 100 sale Ballistic partner with Founders First Indie Brewers Association looks to join ABAC Happy hour over as craft brewer Broo's shares go flat Keg thefts prompts WABA initiative NSW container scheme accidentally releases commercially sensitive data Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. Wi...

As part of the 2019 northern hemisphere hop harvest we joined Bintani as they travelled to the US to make their final selections from the Autumn crops. We headed north from Portland, Oregon to the Yakima Valley in Washington State just after the competition of the harvest and were granted a rare insight into the wonderful world of hop breeding and development and the process by which the harvested...

As Matt and Pete discuss the news of the week, they discover they've been the target of a few memes.  Non-alcoholic beer in smaller brewers’ reach ABAC rules on Little Fat Lamb and Pirate Life complaints It's unfair to lump craft brews in with mass-produced alcohol Licensing disadvantages Qld brewers says industry BrewDog Brisbane readies for opening with new appointments Save the date for the IBD...

As part of the 2019 northern hemisphere hop harvest we joined Bintani as they travelled to the US to make their final selections from the Autumn crops. We headed north from Portland, Oregon to the Yakima Valley in Washington State just after the competition of the harvest and were granted a rare insight into the wonderful world of hop breeding and development and the process by which the harvested...

This conversation is a very deep dive into the industry and the stories behind it as we chat with Doug Donelan, who recently retired from his role as CEO at New Zealand Hops. After a varied career, that included falling in love with home brew, Doug got his start as an apprentice brewer under Chuck Hahn at the original Hahn Brewery in 1990. He saw the triumphs and the challenges that saw the busine...

She's finally back! Zoe Ottaway from Totem Marketing joins Matt and Pete this week and weighs in everything from pregnancy warning labels to the 2019 Australian Craft Beer Survey.  Indie Beer Day Indie brewers face $100m bill for pregnancy risk labels Consumers want larger packs finds Beer Cartel survey Beer on the agenda at Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show Radio Brews News is proudly presented...

This is part two of our special edition of Beer is a Conversation, a chat with Akasha’s Dave Padden recorded live at My Beer Dealer. Thanks to Antoinette, Matt and Les at My Beer Dealer for hosting us - and congratulations on your first year. We will be recording more live chats there, so please let us know how the live chat translates to podcast so we can continue to improve how we do it. Enjoy p...

This is part one of our special edition of Beer is a Conversation a chat with Akasha’s Dave Padden, to borrow a phrase, recorded live in front of a studio audience This conversation took place as part of the first birthday celebrations at Brisbane’s My Beer Dealer, one of Brisbane’s best bottleshops. We were invited to record a live chat with Dave to discuss many things, including a special two-wa...

Thanks to Bintani this is a special edition of Beer is a Conversation. As part of the 2019 northern hemisphere hop harvest, Matt and Pete went with Bintani to the US to make their final selections from the autumn crops. While there they made a visit to the Portland HQ of Indi Hops. A relatively new kid on the block, Indi Hops is an overnight success story 10 years in the making. The company began...

Several beers receive ABAC's judgement as Pete and Matt discuss the news of the week.  Craft pioneer returns to helm of Matilda Bay ABAC rules against Joker-themed beer and citrus IPA Spike in packaging complaints dominates ABAC report Colorado’s oldest craft brewery is downsizing, ending distribution and laying off 21 employees Pure Blonde goes organic with transparency campaign Radio Brews News...

Thanks to Bintani we were able to take Radio Brews News to BrewCon and capture a little of what was on offer to those who were lucky enough to get to Australian craft brewing’s annual conference and trade show. In this episode we chat with Ruth Leary from Fermentis. Ruth holds a Bachelor of Science degree in food science from Otago University and also an IBD Diploma in Brewing. Ruth studied fermen...

Thanks to Bintani we were able to take Radio Brews News to BrewCon and capture a little of what was on offer to those who were lucky enough to get to Australian craft brewing’s annual conference and trade show. In this episode we chat with Kegstar's Kevin Dinn and Andrew Higginbotham. There has been a lot of talk about smart kegs over the last few years - kegs that are able to report back to base...

Beer is a Conversation is our weekly sit down with some of the people who make the beer industry the interesting and dynamic thing that it is and through these conversations we dig a little deeper into the stories behind the business of beer and brewing. This week we chat with Luke Corbin who is brewing with Myanmar’s first modern brewery, Burbrit Brewery. This conversation came out of a chance me...

In one of the biggest news stories of the year, Phil Sexton is returning to take control of the Matilda Bay brand nearly 30 years after leaving the brewery he founded. Sexton, who founded Matilda Bay Brewing in 1983 before seeing it purchased by what is now CUB in 1990, has announced plans to open a Matilda Bay brewpub in Healesville, an hour east of Melbourne, in partnership with CUB. You can rea...

The boys are back in Oz this week discussing all the big news stories.  James Squire and Pirate Life face ABAC panel Hard Seltzers and Small Brewers  Link to Brewbound Brew Talk 'Spirits are seen to be sinful': Gin and vodka taxes pay for cheap beer and wine Baltimore brewers clap back at review culture with ‘2 Stars Not My Style’ sour  Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With ove...

Thanks to Bintani we were able to take Radio Brews News to BrewCon and capture a little of what was on offer to those who were lucky enough to get to Australian craft brewing’s annual conference and trade show. In this episode we chat with Colonial Brewing's Marketing and Communications Manager Jenna Godley. Jenna has extensive experience in sponsorship and communications and has brought that back...

Pete and Matt coming to you direct from San Francisco with the big news of the week. Drinks companies worldwide could lose more than US$430 billion in brand value if plain packaging laws are extended to alcohol Good Beer Week 2020 open for business Nostalgia and the rise of Reschs and Emu Export Greg Koch responds to UK watchdog group's "feelings" towards Arrogant Bastard Ale Radio Brews News is p...