Western Australia's brewing scene, with writer Guy Southern
We’re joined this episode by West Australian beer writer and retailer, Guy Southern, winner of the Beer Media prize at the Australian International Beer Awards 2025.
Guy may be familiar to you from his regular reporting for The Crafty Pint, where he’s covered the West Australian beer scene for well over a decade.
And he was also lead researcher and writer for a recent documentary
detailing the history of beer in Western Australia, which was screened at the exhibition Liquid Gold: A Taste of WA Brewing History - held last year at the WA Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle.
Coming up, Guy shares how the project reshaped his own understanding of WA beer history — particularly in uncovering early examples of brewing that predate much of the accepted historical record.
We revisit how WA sparked the first wave of Australian craft beer, as well as finding out how the local industry is faring today, and getting some of his recommendations on the breweries and beers we should be keeping an eye out for in years to come.
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Beer entrepreneur Steve Jeffares on his next chapter
We’re joined this episode by Steve Jeffares, co-founder of The Local
Taphouse and Stomping Ground Brewing Company in Melbourne, as well as GABS, the Great Australian Beer Spectapular festival.
Steve’s new solo venture is Happy Camper, a community-focused
venue in Glen Iris, Melbourne, in the site formerly occupied by Deeds Brewing, which ceased operations last year.
As you’ll hear, it’s a deliberate step back from scale and spectacle — and a return to Steve’s roots in hospitality and curating great drinks experiences.
Coming up, Steve talks us through what inspired the concept and how it reflects his evolving relationship with beer and hospitality.
We also get into the changing landscape of Australia’s beer industry — from the early days of craft, to the maturing market we see today, and what he thinks the next generation of breweries will need to get right if
they’re to survive and thrive.
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Australia's forgotten spirits, with historian Luke McCarthy
In this episode, we welcome back Australian spirits writer and historian Luke McCarthy to discuss two new books he has published in 2025.
The first is Forgotten Spirits: A History of the Distilling Industry in Victoria — a landmark publication commissioned by Spirits Victoria and supported by funding from the Victorian Government.
This is the first time anyone has attempted a comprehensive historical account of distilling in Victoria.
And what Luke uncovered is an industry far older and more dynamic than many of us would have assumed.
Distilling in Victoria dates back to the 1830s, and by the early 1900s the state was producing spirits on a truly global scale, only for Federal Government policy decisions to ultimately bring the industry undone later that century.
The second book is St Agnes Distillery: The First 100 Years 1925–2025. It celebrates the centenary of St Agnes – one of Australia’s most iconic spirit producers – which featured on this podcast back in 2022 when the company launched its new Camborne Single Malt Whisky.
Through family archives, historic photographs and in-depth interviews, Luke chronicles how the Angove family built the St Agnes brandy house from the ground up in Renmark, South Australia – enduring fires, floods, economic upheaval, and even the existential threat of changing consumer tastes.
It’s a pleasure to welcome Luke back to Drinks Adventures for a timely conversation that connects the past, present and future of Australian spirits.
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Taking Tasmanian whisky global with Greenbanks
We’re joined this episode by John Slattery, co-founder of Greenbanks
Tasmanian Whisky Co.
Greenbanks started production in late 2023 with Tasmania’s largest capacity still that is fully optimised for producing whisky of all
styles.
In fact, the capacity of the production still at Greenbanks exceeds the combined capacity of all other whisky distilleries on the island.
This scale is designed to support Greenbanks’ goal of producing a Tasmanian whisky that can hit shelves at the globally competitive price of around $80 for a 700ml bottle.
And this scale, combined with other efficiencies, means Greenbanks can offer accessibly priced contract production services to its fellow Tasmanian distillers, along with aspiring whisky brands.
This is a special episode of Drinks Adventures, produced in partnership with Greenbanks.
Coming up, you’ll hear from John how he, Hugh Roxburgh and Tim Salt came together to found the business.
First up though, I wanted to find out a little bit more about how John originally found his way into the whisky industry.
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How Fielden is championing English rye whisky
We’re joined this episode by Charlie Echlin and Chico Rosa from Fielden
Whisky of England, which has recently launched its range in Australia.
Fielden began life in 2017 as The Oxford Artisan Distillery, a company focused predominately on white spirits that it distilled from scratch using historic grain varieties.
But it also laid down for maturation small quantities of grain spirit that underpinned its relaunch as Fielden Whisky and relocation to Yorkshire with the target of having 30,000 casks under maturation by 2030.
This is a special episode of Drinks Adventures, produced in partnership with Fielden Whisky.
Coming up, you’ll hear about Fielden’s differentiated approach to English whisky, championing rye, first and foremost, and highlighting the benefits of regenerative farming, working exclusively with heritage grains that have been grown entirely without chemicals.
Just like several other brands we’ve previously featured on this podcast – Starward, Westward and Stauning – Fielden Whisky received a minority investment from the Distil Ventures accelerator program.
Spirits giant Diageo recently announced it would no longer fund Distil Ventures, so later on in this episode I ask Charlie and Chico what this means for their business.
We get their thoughts on some of the recent economic malaise surrounding the whisky industry globally.
And, even though they’re focused on making rye whisky, Charlie
and Chico give their view on the definition of ‘single malt’ in the proposed
English whisky geographical indication that has caused quite a bit of controversy in recent months.
About Drinks Adventures - Wine, beer, whisky, gin & more with James Atkinson
Wine lover? Craft beer fan? Drink whisky, bourbon, cognac or rum? Or maybe it's gin or vodka or mezcal you're into? Based in Australia, but globally minded, Drinks Adventures covers all these drinks and more: Japanese sake, cider, tequila, champagne, cocktails... we could go on! Listen in as award-winning drinks writer James Atkinson interviews the world's biggest names in craft brewing, winemaking, distilling and mixology, along with sommeliers, mixologists, sake samurais, masters of wine and certified cicerones.
Tags: wine, beer, brewing, gin, whisky, whiskey. bourbon, cognac, rum, tequila, mezcal, champagne, cocktails, cider, Japanese sake
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