The Crafty Pint Podcast

“The whole craft beer industry is built around community.”We wrap up The Year In Beer 2025 series with a look at what’s been going on in the Canberra region and the Northern Territory.The episode kicks off with James and Will joined by Mat Farrington from CanBEERra for a discussion about openings and closures in and around the capital, some of the festivals large and small he’s enjoyed in 2025, the growing prevalence of terpenes in beer and more.Sticking in Canberra, James is then joined by Paul Docherty from craft beer and pizza joint To All My Friends at the end of a year in which he and the team have created a number of collabs with some of their favourite brewers.The final stop for the series is at Purple Mango, a brewery and café set in bushland just over an hour from Darwin on the way to Kakadu. Co-owner Adam Asanovski reflects on their ongoing expansion, use of local ingredients, and the challenge of trying to secure tap points in the Top End.We also reveal the final winner of the year in our Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month campaign, with the podcast now taking a break until the second half of January. Thanks to everyone that’s watched and listened; if you’ve any feedback, we’d love to hear from you via this survey.Start of segments: 2:45 – Mat Farrington 20:09 – Paul Docherty 34:07 – Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month 37:36 – Adam AsanovskiTo find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“That nostalgia is really hitting super-hard after COVID because everyone really misses going to the pub.”Regular podcast hosts James and Will are on home turf for the last state-based episode of The Year In Beer 2025 series before we wrap up the series in the Territories.While trying not to retread topics covered in the National Trends article and episode, we discuss the year’s openings, closures, sales and expansions, the success of smaller festivals, good pubs and taproom activations, acknowledge the breweries in or entering their third decade as independent small businesses, awards triumphs and more – while also doffing our caps to all the people who’ve helped make the show possible in 2025.James is then joined by Ben Carwyn and Ben Duval from Carwyn Cellars to hear about their ongoing efforts to recover from the collapse of Fox Friday and their plans for 2026.Last but not least is Conna Mallett, one of Love Shack’s founders, who joins us from the front bar of his Castlemaine brewpub hot on the heels of a highly entertaining collab with Tropical Fuck Storm. We touch upon luck, nostalgia, branding, community, good hospo and more.Mid-show we also unveil the identity of the last good beer citizen to be crowned this year in Have You Done A Rallings? And as the podcast wraps up for the year, we’re keen for feedback via this survey.Start of segments: 0:00 – James & Will 27:27 – Ben Carwyn & Ben Duval 43:53 – Have You Done A Rallings? 47:30 – Conna MallettTo find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

"Breweries who are spending time and effort on making their venue really good and increasing the quality of their beers are doing really well."Our audio-visual travels across the country continue as we reach Queensland in The Year In Beer 2025 series.First up, Will Ziebell is joined by Craig Williams and Mick Wüst, both of whom work with The Crafty Pint. Mick has long been a Crafty contributor, at one point based in Sydney but more recently back in Brisbane, while Craig looks after partnerships for the site as well as working with several indie brewers on the Sunshine Coast. The three of them discuss some of the highs, lows, trends and changes in Queensland’s beer scene.James then speaks to Deale Stanley-Hunt and Gavin Croft from Slipstream Brewing. Slipstream have enjoyed an incredible couple of years with several major trophies taking up residence in their Yeerongpilly brewery and taproom. As well as reflecting on another successful year, they talk about the impact of the taproom they opened on the Sunshine Coast late in 2024, their recent rebrand, favourite styles, and hopes for the future.Then it’s back to Will, who catches up with Ivy Macario from Fortitude Valley’s good-times haunt, the craft beer bar-meets-arcade-meets-diner that is Netherworld, for a chat about their year in beer and ongoing efforts to support artists.In the middle of the show, we hear from Beer30 with more of their tips for brewers. If you enjoy this episode, please like, subscribe, rate and review on whichever podcast platform you use.Start of segments: 2:01 – Craig Williams & Mick Wüst 24:12 – Deale Stanley-Hunt & Gavin Croft 29:04 – Beer30 37:12 – Ivy MacarioTo find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“I’d love to see craft beer become a little bit more approachable.”We turn our focus to New South Wales as we hit the midway point in The Year In Beer 2025 series.Crafty Pint contributor and one of the key players in the Inner West Ale Trail, Jason Treuen, kicks things off. As well as discussing the role trails and tourism can play in the local beer world, we cover diversification, rightsizing, openings, closings, mergers and more.From there, we head to the north of the state for a chat with Bec Read of Curious Craft to hear who’s been impressing there in what's been another roller-coaster year. Bec also shares her fears for the future of larger beer festivals, notes on changing tastes, and a desire for craft – or indie – beer to tell its story better.Our final guests are Sunday Road Brewing founder Brad Walker and head brewer Mick O’Rance, who’ve enjoyed another awards-flecked 12 months. They’re in the middle of a significant expansion and upgrade to their brewery and venue in The Shire ahead of the brewery’s tenth anniversary in 2026.In the middle of the show, we hear from Beer30 with some more tips for brewers, while there’s still time to get nominations in for our final Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month and Have You Done A Rallings? celebration of good beer citizens of 2025.Start of segments: 2:01 – Jason Treuen 24:12 – Beer30 29:04 – Bec Read 37:12 – Brad Walker & Mick O’RanceTo find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].

“People are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”Having leapt all the way south and east from WA to Tassie, we find ourselves back in the middle of them for the third instalment of our state by state by territories tour of Australia for The Year In Beer 2025.Beer gurus Briony Liebich (Flavour Logic) and Steve Brockman (AMSAT Character Malts / Tour Dad) reprise their starring roles from 2024, casting their gaze far, wide and deep across the state’s scene.While acknowledging it’s been another tough year – Big Shed’s announcement they’d been locked out of the brewery by their landlord came just after we recorded the chat – there’s plenty more to cover, from the rise of small, often collaborative events to the growing popularity of local ingredients and advanced hop products.They’re followed by Alex Marschall and Josh Talbot, who this year oversaw major expansion of Bowden Brewing on the one hand and celebrated ten years of indie-supporting beer bar NOLA on the other. They discuss the changing beer scene, exploring new styles, and hopes to see indie brewers lead the next generation of beer festivals.Speaking of which, the duo behind Adelaide’s biggest beer festival, Beer & BBQ, are our final guests. Gareth Lewis and Aaron Sandow look back at the event’s tenth anniversary, drop hints about its potential future, praise the loyalty of beer fans, and offer some tips for ways state governments can easily throw their weight behind local producers.This episode is presented by Mogwai Labs.Start of segments: 1:40 – Briony & Steve 21:05 – Alex & Josh 37: 36 – Aaron & GarethTo find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact [email protected].