The Crafty Pint Podcast

“Be kind to people and treat your beer well.”
It’s been an emotional few days for Nemesia Dale-Cully – or Meesh as she’s known to most. For almost half a decade, she’s been running the venue at Wildflower in Marrickville, where they bade farewell to their last customers on May 31.
We took the opportunity to chat to Meesh ahead of the closing weekend, not just to reflect on her time at Wildflower but also to find out what she believes goes into creating a great hospitality experience – both for staff and customers.
Her insights have been earned over a period in which she swapped running events at libraries for bar shifts at Sweet Amber in Adelaide, which led to working at Pirate Life as the brewery swapped its OG Hindmarsh home for its Port Adelaide behemoth, then being headhunted by Shapeshifter as they set up home, before swapping Adelaide for Sydney’s Inner West.
Her advice ranges from the importance of respect, kindness and “meeting people where they are”, to cleanliness and theatre. And we go deeper too, with Meesh one of the most respected voices in the beer community on diversity and inclusivity, not least when businesses or individuals – on either side of the bar – fail to meet even basic standards of civility.
There was big news in the world of big beer this week, with Lion announcing they’re to cease brewing at James Boag Brewery in Launceston, while in the world of indie beer, the IBA revealed they‘re switching the focus of their Indies awards from liquid to people, and our Building A Brewery series returned for a third chapter.
With Pint of Origin wrapped up, we’ve lined up a bunch of new specials for members of our Crafty Cabal beer club, so if you’d like to boost your beer experience while supporting us on our good beer mission, feel free to sign up. And, of course, feel free to like, subscribe, rate and review the show so we can reach more people.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
13:48 – Meesh Part 1
35:35 – Driving Footfall & Loyalty with GoTab*
41:24 – Meesh Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].
*To book a demo with GoTab, email [email protected].

"People use it to learn English, and I think that's spectacular."
Em Sauter is an American drinks communicator, international beer judge, podcast host and writer who specialises in visual education. To Australian beer fans and those working in beer, she's best known as as the person behind Pints and Panels, an award-winning website focused on "Visual Drinks Education" which launched in 2010.
Em returned to Australia earlier this month to judge at the Australian International Beer Awards – and to enjoy the country's XPAs, Cherry Ripes and coffee culture.
We caught up with her at Carwyn Cellars, where she held a pop-up stall during Pint of Origin, for a chat diving into the history of Pints and Panels. It covers the rise of AI, her experience travelling the world as a beer judge, and Em’s take on the state of beer in the US.
There's a bit to get through in this week's show before we get to the main event too – not least as it's the 100th full episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast.
We look back on the biggest Pint of Origin to date, discuss features on newly-crowned AIBA Champion Nomad Brewers Shack Bay and Goons Brewing, who opened their brewery venue on the Central Coast right at the end of 2026, and revisit one of the topics from Episode 099 that's been attracting a lot of attention on socials: container deposit schemes.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
15:56 – Australia's Biggest Beer Fan
17:06 – Em Sauter Part 1
42:35 – 100 Years of Roasting at Joe White Maltings
43:32 – Em Sauter Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“It's so great to see that people care, that there is still interest in the movement.”
Fresh off the back of the Australian International Beer Awards and both the federal and Victorian state budgets, we invited the CEO and chair of the Independent Brewers Association (IBA) to join us on the show.
There was plenty to reflect on and project from in the respective budgets, as well as the ongoing conversations around excise that have been capturing headlines and the public’s attention alike, not least off the back of Independent Senator David Pocock’s campaigning.
Those discussions form just part of the episode, with Sabrina and Evin offering insight into the IBA’s key priorities, the real costs to consumers of the various container deposit schemes across the country, the impact of non-payment of bills across the industry, funding to reboot the Tasmanian Ale Trail, and plans to replace the Indies with awards that celebrate the people of the indie beer community.
James sat out the main chat due to his position on the board of the IBA, but joins Will for the intro. As well as looking back on a booming opening half to Pint of Origin, they summarise this week’s features on two of the country’s independent breweries: Mog Brew and the rebirthed Zig Zag Brewery.
If you enjoy the show – or have enjoyed any past episodes – we're really appreciate it if you could like, subscribe, rate, review or tell your beer-loving mates too.
Start of segments:
0:00 – The Week On Crafty
9:39 – Are You Australia's Biggest Beer Fan?
10:46 – Sabrina & Evin Part 1
38:49 – 100 Years of Roasting at Joe White Maltings
39:57 – Sabrina & Evin Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“This was our goal, and we achieved it today, which was phenomenal.”
A bit of a change for this week’s episode, not just because it’s going up a day later than usual. We recorded it straight after the Australian International Beer Awards 2026 had wrapped up – in the canteen next to the main hall.
James had just finished co-hosting the awards with Kirrily Waldhorn, while Will was armed with his third Best Media trophy as they cast an eye over the winners – which you can read about here.
We also sat down with Tyler Little and John Marcus from Froth Craft Brewery in WA, who had entered the AIBAs for the first time in their tenth year with the goal to win Best New Exhibitor – which they did!
As well as reflecting on their triumph, we get some insight into what it was like living in Exmouth – home of Froth’s original venue – as Cyclone Narelle came through, plus the camaraderie they enjoy in the WA beer scene.
Prior to that, our discussion of the week’s news takes in the global travels of quality guru Bradford Tetlow, 100 years of roasting at Joe White Maltings, two more of our Pints of Origin preview articles, and a feature on Froth Craft Brewery’s collab with WA hop and malt industries celebrating the state’s flavours.
Start of segments:
0:00 – The Week On Crafty
8:59 – Double Vision Brewing & SURE on their Fresh Drop #PoO26 collab
16:12 – The AIBAs 2026 Results
26:29 – Froth Craft Brewery
35:59 – Australia's Biggest Beer Fan competition
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

In this exclusive series - The New Hop Order, presented by HPA - The Crafty Pint Podcast explores what’s happening on the cutting edge of hop innovation from breeding and processing to brewing. In this episode, we’re talking with Haas’ Sensory Manager Jeff Dailey and HPA’s Australia & New Zealand Sales Manager Michael Capaldo about Sensory Plus™ – a proactive quality assurance process they apply during hop harvesting and processing for more consistent performance in beer.