The Crafty Pint Podcast

“I really get a buzz out of looking at flavours and the way things interact with each other.”
If you’re a consumer of beer, rather than someone working in the industry, there’s a fair chance you won’t have heard of this week’s trailblazing guest. After all, Tina Panoutsos doesn’t own a brewery, brew beer, pour beer, sell beer, or run a festival. However, over more than 35 years in beer, she’s become one of the key figures in the Australian industry and an inspiration to many.
We caught up with Tina at Melbourne Showgrounds ahead of this year’s Australian International Beer Awards judging, where she’s once again taking a lead role – as she has at countless beer competitions both here and across the planet – to look back over an extraordinary career.
Since joining CUB in 1989 – “a short little Greek girl”, as she puts it, with a chemistry degree and post-grad in teaching – Tina has transformed the world of sensory analysis, smashed through glass ceilings, and helped make the beer world an increasingly diverse space.
Over the course of our chat, we dive deep into the worlds of sensory and beer judging, discuss cellar palates, super tasters and standout beers, learn how small breweries can set up their own sensory programs on a tiny budget, and explore ways in which beer can reach new audiences.
There was plenty to discuss in the intro too: the results of the 2026 Perth Royal Food Awards – Beer; what One Drop’s OG brewer Nick is doing in Singapore; new owners with a new vision for one of Australia’s first craft breweries; a funding boost for Victoria’s indie brewers; ten years of one of the country’s most colourful craft beer pubs; and our second Pints of Origin preview.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
12:18 – CoConspirators & 10 Toes on their #PoO26 collab
17:06 – Tina Panoutsos Part 1
42:19 – Tina Panoutsos Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

"We never stopped experimenting. That's in our DNA.”
Stone Brewing are one of the biggest names in American craft beer: a bold, brash brand with a fondness for IPA that helped drive the rise of the industry in the US and played a key role in the growth of the San Diego scene.
So we jumped at the chance to sit down with Jeremy Moynier when he was in Beechworth recently to deliver the keynote speech at The High Country Hop. He’s now more than two decades into his time at Stone, where he’s focused on new releases, pilot brews, quality and sensory, among other things.
He was in Australia wearing two hats as Jeremy is also currently chair of the Hop Quality Group, whose work – and recent success in bringing new public hop variety Thora to the world – is part of our chat.
As well as hearing about his career, from arts degree to wine to beer, and his experiences as both Stone and beer in San Diego were exploding, we explore the brewery’s approach to hops and experimentation, navigating the ups and downs of the beer world, reworking the iconic Stone IPA to feature Aussie hops and more.
It’s worth noting that this was recorded before Stone’s recent sale to Firestone Walker and Duvel USA. As such, we’ve cut the parts of the interview covering the brewery’s prior sale to Sapporo without losing any of the insight and considerable charm Jeremy brings to the show.
Before we get to Jeremy, Will and James celebrate yet another World Beer Cup medal for TWØBAYS, discuss Spinifex Brewery’s innovative new wastewater pilot project, part two of Will’s reworked Crafty Crawl along The 86 Tram, and the impending arrival of Pint of Origin 2026.
If you enjoy the show, be sure to like, subscribe, rate, review and tell your beer-loving mates so we can reach more people. Cheers
Start of segments:
0:00 – The Week On Crafty
13:41 – Jeremy Moynier Part 1
32:18 – GoTab on maximising taproom revenue
42:09 – Jeremy Moynier Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“I do still wake up at night and think of beer recipes and beer names and what I could do with certain hops.”
Time for the last of the interviews recorded while we were in New Zealand for hop harvest in March. And, while Kelly Ryan works for Freestyle Hops, the reason we were keen to chat with him wasn’t so much to pick his brains about his current role as to enjoy time in the company of one of the beer world’s most gracious and charismatic figures.
Prior to swapping the mash tun for the hop bine, Kelly enjoyed a fine career in brewing. It started out at DB Breweries – one of New Zealand’s largest – before he spent a few years in the UK, most notably at Thornbridge in the brewery’s earlier years, where he worked alongside BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie as the unique, game-changing operation transitioned from a tiny space in an outbuilding of a 14th century mansion to their current production facility.
Back in New Zealand, he burnished his reputation as a brewer at the likes of Epic, Good George, Fork & Brewer and Boneface, while his finely-tuned palate saw him invited to judge across the globe.
As thoughtful and engaging as anyone you’ll meet in beer, our conversation travels far and wide to the extent that we could probably have recorded a six-part series with him and still not come close to exhausting his breadth of knowledge or anthology of anecdotes. He’s simply a delightful human so we’re sure you’ll enjoy the chat.
There's a bit of a difference to this week's intro, as it features snippets of a chat between Will and two of the collaborators on a beer debuting at this year's Pint of Origin: Jack from Mr West and Chris from Banks Brewing, who've created a new IPA with the UK's Cloudwater. It formed the basis of article one in a new series, The Pints of Origin, highlighting some of the key beers appearing at May's festival.
Other new stories to hit the site this week include features on the Gold Coast's newest brewery, Padre, a Canadian brewer who recently joined Ocean Reach on Phillip Island, and a piece on serving beer which will hit the site before the weekend.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty Part 1
2:57 – Banks & Mr West on their Cloudwater Pint of Origin collab
6:16 – The Week On Crafty Part 2
16:04 – Kelly Ryan Part 1
44:06 – Entering the Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards
45:35 – Kelly Ryan Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“You’ve got to be open to opportunities.”
Earlier this year, Cheeky Monkey announced they were opening a venue in the heart of Perth’s CBD. It will give the Margaret River-based brewery four homes in WA – and they’re not done yet, according to their director of operations, Brendan Day.
He’s our guest on this week’s podcast, beaming in from their main production facility in Vasse for a chat about the expansion of their hospitality footprint, how hospo has been in their DNA from day one, and how they’ve adapted their business strategy over the years.
We also discuss the challenges and opportunities for breweries competing against both major hospitality groups and multinational brewers, how the breweries in WA’s South West have gone from disruptors to a harmonious part of the region’s global appeal, and his desire to see greater professionalism throughout the beer industry.
Of course, this being Brendan, we also discuss Big Dumb Beers – and how they arguably need to be Big Smart Beers these days, and attempt to entice him to get the gang behind the Beer Sucks podcast back together.
First up, James joins Will from the banks of the Lower Glenelg to discuss the week's news on Crafty, including a deep dive into AI art in beer, the impending arrival of a gluten-free venue in Collingwood courtesy of TWØBAYS, and the launch of this year's Pink Boots Society Mentor Program.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
12:52 – Brendan Day Part 1
38:16 – Bowimi on brewery field sales
43:38 – Brendan Day Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“What excites me is all the small players who are setting up in a brewpub and running their own race.”
Just like the industry it covers, the beer media world has taken a fair few hits in recent years. Publications – online and in print – have folded across the planet, yet there remains a core of true believers keeping the flame, and the stories, alive.
In New Zealand, nobody’s flame burns brighter than that of Michael Donaldson. These days, he’s the owner and publisher of The Pursuit Of Hoppiness, the country’s leading publication on all things beer, while also one half of The Third Pint Theory podcast with Martin Bridges.
We sat down with Michael at Mac Hops during NZ Hops’ recent Harfest to trace a life in journalism as well as beer. We learn that it was while in Australia – covering sport for New Zealand’s press in what was something of a golden age for print media – that he experienced his beer epiphany, one that led to him pitching a beer column to his editor once back on the other side of the Tasman.
The award-winning beer writer and fine conversationalist, is as well-placed as any to cast an eye over the craft beer era in NZ, and shares his take on its evolution, its key styles, its contribution to the wider beer world, and where the industry sits today.
The Easter long weekend means less new stories to discuss in the intro, with Will and James returning to Dollar Bill’s decision to sell up after getting hold of the Nolles earlier in the week, and also discussing the inspiring tale of Jacob Viel, the founder of Blind Boy Brewing. We also look ahead to the almost sold-out Pint of Origin Launch Party and a couple of events we’re co-hosting with Benchwarmer and Whisky & Alement in Melbourne and Flavour Logic in Perth.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
12:15 – Michael Donaldson Part 1
41:36 – GoTab
47:37 – Michael Donaldson Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].