Radio Brews News

The Hottest 100 is the biggest celebration of craft beer nationally each year, but last year's "We Love Good Beer" campaign from Balter was another huge celebration of beer. While an ad for Balter, it was also one of the best category celebrations as well. We wanted to hear from Stirling about what drove it, and what we should be doing to get people talking about good beer. Leave us a voicemail that we can share on the podcast brewsnews.com.au/get-involved 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!

With competition for a place in the H100 fiercer than ever, we speak with two of the most influential beer in craft beer, Nick Murphy & Katie Greenleaf the Category and Assistant Buying Managers, Craft Beer at First Choice Liquor Market. We talk current beer trends and the impact that they see the Hottest 100 results see for breweries in-store. Leave us a voicemail that we can share on the podcast brewsnews.com.au/get-involved 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!

Ed Jamieson, who joined us last year to talk about Stone & Wood post-sale, joined us to talk about the beer that topped the very first Hottest 100 poll, Little Creatures Pale Ale. At nearly 25, we were keen to hear what the business' plans are for the venerable craft beer. Leave us a voicemail that we can share on the podcast brewsnews.com.au/get-involved 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!

Ben shared his thoughts about being the most successful indie brewer over the 16 GABS Hottest 100s, the value of the poll and also the challenges of staying 'hot' in the annual popularity contest. Leave us a voicemail that we can share on the podcast brewsnews.com.au/get-involved 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!

Strap in for a long listen. Here's Part 1 of the five hour Hottest 100 Countdown live stream, presented by First Choice Liquor Market. Leave us a voicemail that we can share on the podcast brewsnews.com.au/get-involved 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!

This week we have a very interesting chat with a young brewer by the name of Tim Burkardt. Tim reached out to me to tell me about the brewing apprenticeship that he undertook in Germany and the things that he observed about the differences between learning brewing in Germany and in Australia, as well as a whole host of other differences between the two industries. In the past when we've talked to brewers about cultural differences we've had a great response from our audience and so I thought it would be a great one, particularly with so many young brewers looking at pursuing careers and getting skills in the brewing industry. It's a great chat with an interesting young brewer and I hope you enjoy just as much as I did. As we discussed Tim has returned to Australia and has set himself up on the Sunshine Coast as a consultant brewer but also filling in for breweries that need additional expert hands or replacement brewer. His business is Meister Brewing Solutions. We’ll be back this Thursday with our discussion of the news of the week, and don’t forget this Saturday is our annual Hottest 100 Craft Beers live countdown. We’ll be coming to you live from the First Choice Liquor Market store in Ashfield, Sydney counting down Australia’s hottest 100 beers and meeting the people who make them and a whole lot of other great guests. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week we catch up with Matt Hepburn and Christen McGarry from Your Mates Brewing. Late last year - 2023 that is, given this is the first episode of 2024 - Your Mates celebrated its 10th anniversary, and it’s been quite a ride for the business. Both Christen and Matt are pretty open about the mistakes and learnings that they had as the stereotypical two mates bonding over homebrew, however, they have also learned a lot - and a lot of that has come from seeking and taking advice. I thought it would be worth checking in on the pair and seeing how things are going, and what more they have learned as they celebrate the decade of mateship. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week we meet Craig and Lance Masterton from Heads of Noosa Brewing. We first met the brothers almost five years ago when the brewery opened. For a start-up, it was an impressive setup, especially when the business was running very counter to what were then the predominant craft trends. While hops and haze were the norm, Heads made a Japanese Lager as it's flagship beer and also put its beers in bottles. In a small brewing industry that is tended to follow the trends it was very interesting to watch the way this business has evolved and grown. Five years down the track, and with the brewery at least giving the appearance of growth and success, I wanted to catch up with Craig and Lance and find out whether the reality matched the appearance, whether they would have done anything differently and what it was like to be ahead of the present lager wave. It's a great chat and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week I speak with Brendan day from WA’s Cheeky Monkey Brewery. With the entire industry looking at ways forward and industry consolidation a very hot talking point this week Cheeky Monkey and announced that it was acquiring Sound Brewing Company which is currently in administration. Brendan and I discussed that and Cheeky Monkey's plans for the newly combined businesses, but we also go back and talk about the origins of Cheeky Monkey, the state of brewing in Western Australia and the opportunities for and challenges around growth more generally This is a terrific chat one that I now wish that I'd had much much sooner given his Insights and thoughtfulness. As we often say on the podcast, answers can be had to come and are often very subjective but in this conversation Brendan generously shares his calculations and working that are relevant to all. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week I speak with Paul Bowker, Managing Director of Brick Lane Brewing company. The small brewing movement was built on a lot of romantic ideas about brewing that were born from a reaction to a brewing duopoly that didn’t offer consumers a lot of choice. The craft narrative was small, traditional and independent, it initially eschewed a lot of brewing techniques and business strategies that were seen as not being craft…and in doing so spawned a million discussions about what the term craft meant. In this world, a brewery such as Brick Lane - well-resourced from the outset with the help of business people and celebrities, and openly adopting the modern brewing techniques that its resources provided - was viewed by a craft industry with some cynicism. And yet, in 2023, the brewery has won a swag of major awards for beer quality and - in world where so much news is on craft businesses struggling - Brick Lane appears to be going from strength to strength. These are the observations that continue to fascinate me, and I always enjoy discussing Brick Lane’s role in the brewing industry with Paul Bowker as a result. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. Entries for the 2024 Awards are now open. Visit brewingawards.org for more information and to enter. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week I speak with Chris Pisney and Jen Blair from the Cicerone Certification Program. Chris is Program Director for the program, and Jen is the Exam Manager…and Jen has just attained the highest accolade for Cicerones, becoming a Master Cicerone, joining a group of only 22 other individuals worldwide to achieve that title. Education has always been in short supply in the brewing industry, and as beer styles have changed and evolved dramatically over the course of the last two decades, making beer service and consumer advice relevant to the highly diverse market has never been harder. In this conversation, I discuss with Jen and Chris how to make beer relevant to the market, improve service and ask what breweries and venues need to do to be better. You can find out more at Cicerone.org, there’s also an Australian Certified Cicerone group on Facebook that you should consider joining for support in your Cicerone journey. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. Entries for the 2024 Awards are now open. Visit brewingawards.org for more information and to enter. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts

This week I speak with Peter Filipovic, who is part of a consortium that has purchased Jetty Road from Might Craft. Peter, or Flip as he’s better known, is something of a white whale for me. He spent 25 years with CUB, finishing as CEO and - in that position - was high on my list of people I very much wanted to interview. Today I get me chance. We have a great conversation about his decision to get involved in the purchase of Jetty Road, as well as his confidence in the market that led to it. We discuss a lot about the role of craft and whether small breweries should tackle the majors had on. It’s a great chat with someone who knows that industry better than most. FEEDBACK: If you'd like to post a question or a voicemail for us to play on an upcoming podcast, you can leave a 90 second message for us here. This episode of Beer is a Conversation is proudly brought to you by Bintani. Entries for the 2024 Awards are now open. Visit brewingawards.org for more information and to enter. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts