The Crafty Pint Podcast

For the third instalment of our Year In Beer 2024 series, we head west to catch up with two of the people behind one of the state's brightest new breweries and the brothers who run a business that's been watching the state's craft beer scene grow for two decades.The first of those are Terri and Trav Moore, part of the team behind Phat Brew Club, which has risen in next to no time from homebrew competition winners to pro brewers without a home to operators of one of Perth's largest and liveliest brewpubs. They've enjoyed yet another banging year in 2024 and are set to open a second venue in 2025.The brothers are Jose and Nelio Pestana, founders of one of WA's finest indie retailers of top-notch booze, Copper & Oak. They opened their first store more than 20 years ago, saw the way the market was heading early, now operate a second store and have a third on the way.As well as selling one of the widest selections of beer in WA, they're arch-collaborators who've released a series of consistently excellent beers with some of the state's finest. Full disclosure: Crafty Pint contributor Guy Southern is part of the Copper & Oak team these days and picked up one of the outfits' three major awards in the past two years.Prior to catching up with our guests, Will and James pick the brains of both Guy and our writer in the South West, Jono Outred. Across the three segments, we discover what's been going down in WA over the past 12 months – the noteworthy trends, the hottest breweries, the most delicious beers, and more – as well as looking ahead to 2025.NB There was an internet connection issue that kicked in towards the end of the chat with Terri and Trav that affected their video; the audio is fine throughout, however.Start of each segment: 1:36 – Jono and Guy 17:03 – Terri & Trav 32:03 – Jose, Nelio & Guy The Crafty Pint's 2024 Year In Beer series is proudly presented by Mogwai Labs, leaders in liquid yeast solutions. For the perfect pitch every time, visit mogwailabs.com.au. Relevant links: The Crafty Pint's Year In Beer 2024: The National Picture Phat Brew Club Copper & OakTo find out more about supporting the show or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

As 2024 comes to a close, The Crafty Pint Podcast is hitting the road, taking a trip across Australia as we try to make sense of how this dramatic year has impacted people in different parts of the industry. Our annual Year In Beer article explored the national trends and tumultuous nature of making and selling beer in 2024, but how do things look at the state level?To find out, we’re asking people from across the industry how they’ve navigated the past 12 months: their standout moments, plus the beers, breweries, venues and events they loved most. We also ask them to look ahead to 2025: who and what to look out for, as well as their hopes and wildest dreams for the future.First up, James and Will drove from Melbourne to Adelaide for conversation with long-term Crafty Pint writer Matt King, who’s been covering the South Australian scene for us for a decade. He recently decided to call it a day when it comes to beer writing to focus on his job and family so the chat doubled up as a trip down Memory Lane through that decade spent covering beer in SA. (Before anyone asks: sorry, we won’t be burning fuel to make it to every capital city for this series!)Following Matt, we’re joined by Briony Liebich and Steve Brockman. Briony runs Flavour Logic where she specialises in teaching sensory skills to brewers and anyone else in and around the industry, while Steve is an experienced brewer who switched from Brightstar Brewing to work for AMSAT Character Malts in 2024. The chat with the first of our guests starts at 9:00. Prior to that, James and Will chat about our Year In Beer: The National Picture article. The Crafty Pint's 2024 Year In Beer series is proudly presented by Mogwai Labs, leaders in liquid yeast solutions. For the perfect pitch every time, visit mogwailabs.com.au.Relevant links:Year In Beer: The National PictureFormer Staff Return Tumut River Brewing To Its RootsFOUND.Subiaco OpensUraidla win at the Indies Suburban Scoop SA's Best Beer TrophyFlavour Logic’s website AMSAT Character Malts’ website

“I think the thing that’s really important for consumers and the industry writ large to know is how many forces are currently at play that are going to make being a small brewer more challenging.“We call this the death by a thousand cuts.”If 2023 was a rough year for the indie beer world, 2024 has been worse – brutal doesn’t seem too harsh a term to describe the conditions faced by many in the industry. And those challenges have also been faced by the Independent Brewers Association (IBA), the body representing Australia’s indie brewers.In the face of a major drop in income, they’ve been forced to tighten their belt in terms of what they’ve been able to offer. And, as with many businesses in beer and hospo, have reduced the size of their team. At the same time, faced with such challenges, they’ve kept fighting the fight on as many fronts as they can – “we’re small but scrappy” is how they put it.So, before we switch to a series of state by state by territory podcast episodes reflecting on the year in beer, we invited IBA CEO Kylie Lethbridge and head of industry development Sabrina Kunz to join us on the show.As you can imagine with the indie beer world fighting battles on so many fronts, it’s a seriously wide-ranging conversation. We start by looking back on a year in which VAs, closures and business restructuring have dominated many of the headlines but during which there have been new arrivals, expansions and growth too.We discuss the major uptick in honest, respectful coverage of the beer world by mainstream media, the challenges and opportunities when it comes to state and federal governments, building long-term relationships and partnerships around the country, the biggest issues on the table for 2025, and how to build consumer awareness and support for the industry.The chat with Kylie and Sabrina kicks off at 7:40. Prior to that there's just the briefest of intros as we had to record this week's early prior to hitting the road for SA before dawn on Wednesday for a sold-out event at The Wheaty and a bunch of podcast recordings you'll get to enjoy over the coming weeks and months. We discussed the return of one of craft beer's key figures, Phil Sexton, to brewing alongside son Harry with the launch of Keeper Brewing at the former home of Temple, as well as our upcoming event with Molly Rose. Thanks to show sponsors FOBOH and The High Country Hop. Relevant links: That's A Keeper: Sexton Family Turn Temple Into A Shrine To PilsThe Molly Rose Story – Distilled: Independent Brewers Association website: https://independentbrewers.org.au/ To find out more about supporting the show or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

"I'm still passionate about what I do, I still love what I do, and I still think I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. I get to make beer for a living and, especially taking the step coming here to Bali, I get to mentor people that might not have necessarily ever had an opportunity like this before, so I feel really lucky that I have the power to be able to do that and pay it forward."Given her fondness for travel, adventure and life on the ocean, perhaps it was destiny that Sam Füss would end up brewing in Bali. Certainly, more than two years after moving to the island's northwest – the "real Bali" as she puts it – she's embracing every opportunity that has come her way.Sam was enticed to move there with her partner Dani by the founders of Beaches Brewing Co back in 2022, and in recent weeks oversaw the release of their first two beers, Pale and Cerveza. The switch of scenery gave her the chance to help build another brewery after being involved in the early stages of a number in Australia, including Little Creatures in Freo and Philter in Marrickville.She joined us from her beautiful home – ocean views on one side, volcano on the other, a pool a few metres behind her, the call to prayer carried on the wind outside – to take us inside the experience of getting Beaches off the ground, training up locals with no prior experience, educating people who've never encountered craft beer before, and working in a beer culture that, in its own way, is like the Australian scene when she moved from the bar at Little Creatures to the brewery around a quarter-century ago.We also trace her career from those early days through building a race track inside Matilda Bay's former brewery in Dandenong to True South, Young Henrys, and the trophy-laden days at Philter prior to the big move. Sam reflects on lessons learned and wisdom gained, on the characters who mentored her, and on the rewards she now finds in mentoring others.And, as anyone who knows Sam would expect, we have a good laugh along the way, with the main interview kicking off at 11:47. Prior to that, we discuss the week's news, including the sale of Westside Ale Works to new owners who plan to keep things as Casey Wagner had them, the impending launch of Vegan a la Beer, a guide to pairing beer with plant-based food, Seasonal and Whitelakes' success in the WA Beer of the Year awards, Burleigh Brewing's 18th birthday re-brews, the epic lineup for High Country Hop 2025, our upcoming event at Molly Rose, and GABS nominations.Relevant links from this week's show:Westside's sale:https://craftypint.com/news/3636/westside-ale-works-sells-but-the-future-still-looks-hoppyVegan a la Beer: The Appetiser: https://craftypint.com/news/3631/vegan-a-la-beer-the-appetiserWA Beer of the Year 2025: https://craftypint.com/news/3629/seasonal-win-wa-beer-of-the-year-with-black-oat-cream-ipa-mudiBurleigh Brewing's 18th birthday beers: https://craftypint.com/beer/11067/burleigh-brewing-18th-birthday-re-brewsThe High Country Hop 2025: https://craftypint.com/event/13525/the-high-country-hop-2025Crafty Cabal giveaways: https://craftycabal.com/giveaways-and-merchThe Molly Rose Story – Distilled: https://craftypint.com/event/13532/the-molly-rose-story--distilledNominate your beers for the GABS H100 of 2024: https://craftypint.com/news/3630/gabs-hottest-100-craft-beer-nominations-now-openSam Sets Sail For Bali: https://craftypint.com/news/2922/sam-sets-sails-for-baliBeaches Brewery Bali: https://beachesbrewingco.com/Thanks to Beer30, sponsors of this week's show.To support the show, contact [email protected].