The Crafty Pint Podcast

“I can kind of do whatever I want and two or three weeks later send the beer out and see what happens.”
In the third of our Another Round episodes, in which we dip into the 100-plus past shows of The Crafty Pint Podcast throughout July while various team members are overseas, we return to our chat with Rhys Lopez, founder of one-man-band Evil Mega Corp.
He takes us into the thinking behind his unique operation, one that allows him to explore any avenue that piques his interest, and move more nimbly than pretty much any brewing operation on the planet. We also delve into the pre-EMC – and pre-beer – career of one of the most loquacious and thought-provoking characters in the industry.
This week’s intro sees James rejoin Will as he prepares to fly back from the UK, with the former recapping his brushes with the beer and whisky worlds in England and Scotland.
It’s been something of a back-loaded week in terms of articles on Crafty, with news of Six String’s return from administration landing as we were chatting, and articles on Malt Donkey’s “Fine Ales” and Shapeshifter’s exciting plans for Adelaide Central Market potentially not landing on the site until after this episode enters the ether.
We also look ahead to this weekend’s NZIPA Challenge at Rocky Ridge and upcoming events we’re involved with at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville and CoConspirators in Brunswick.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
18:17 – Special Deal from Price Screen & Digital (use code PINT)
19:18 – Rhys Lopez Part 1
43:59 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines
45:06 – Rhys Lopez Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

With some in The Crafty Pint Podcast team spending much of winter travelling, we’re tapping into a few past episodes for July.
For round two of Another Round, we head back to the Riverina to revisit our chat with Brad Woolner and Stu Whytcross from Voyager Craft Malt. The best mates and business partners have helped pioneer small-scale malting in Australia, including through the launch of Grainstock, Stu’s passion project.
The industry event returns in October, so we felt it was a fitting time to highlight where the idea came from as well as Voyager’s wider story, which we recorded at the Whitton Malt House last year.
Before that conversation, Craig and Will caught up to chat about the week’s news. They discussed Jono Outred’s story on CBCo’s paddock to plate to pint approach in Margaret River, Will’s piece on the delightful Otter’s Promise, and Mick Wüst’s latest book, Whisky & Cocktails.
Start of segments: 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
12:25 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines
13:31 – Voyager Part 1
45:14 – A Special Deal From Price Screen & Digital
46:13 – Voyager Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

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 BarthHaas Customer Solutions Expert Christina Schönberger and Jopen’s Head Brewer Daniel Schappert about using Prysma™ to craft hop flavour that lasts a shelf lifetime.

Something a little different from The Crafty Pint Podcast this week – and for the rest of July too.

As flagged in recent episodes, we’re taking a short break from running new full-length interviews. All three key players in the production of the show are on back-to-back overseas trips and a major new project is coming to fruition soon.

The beer news keeps coming, however, so we’re still recording fresh reviews of the week in beer. And, given we’ve got so many great chats to dip into from the past couple of years, we’re taking the opportunity to go another round with some of our favourites.

First up is Jade Flavell from The Wheaty in Adelaide. Few will need any introduction to Jade, given the pioneering role she has played in defining high-end, craft beer-focused hospitality at the Thebarton pub, then more latterly turning it into an award-winning, ever-innovative brewpub.

Jade is as passionate about supporting independent arts and live music as she is about indie beer – and whisky for that matter – and has plenty of insight to offer on those topics and many more.

Before we revisit the chat recorded at The Wheaty, James joins Will from Oban on the West Coast of Scotland, where he’s combining visits to small breweries and historic distilleries with a family adventure.

They look back over seven days in which Will has spoken to two people working sober in beer and hospitality, and we preview the opening of an ambitious new brewery in WA as well as the latest evolution of Prancing Pony in the Adelaide Hill.

Beer travel of two kinds – a new Crafty Crawl in South Sydney and a champion brewer’s exploits in South Korea – also hit the site, while hop fiends can also look forward to the inaugural Aussie version of the NZIPA Challenge coming to Melbourne later this month.

Start of segments:
0:00 – The Week On Crafty
13:57 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines
15:06 – Jade Part 1
41:34 – The NZIPA Challenge
42:18 – Jade Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

“I don't see any ceiling for non-alc beer.”
It’s fair to say there were plenty of skeptics when non-alcoholic beer first started to appear in earnest in the local beer scene. Yet, in the half-decade-plus since we ran a blind tasting featuring early entrants to the market, the sector has grown and grown.
While some brands have come and gone, there’s a growing number of established brands and many other breweries for whom their non-alc range forms a significant part of their sales. What’s more, Bridge Road Brewers and, more recently, Heaps Normal have started putting non-alc beer on tap.
To assess where the market sits, where it could be heading, and why it’s come so far already, we pulled together a panel from different facets of the beer world.
Molly Rose founder Nic Sandery is the brewer behind both Molly Rose and Hiatus non-alcs, Sam Bethune is a former brewer who’s now a technical sales specialist at Bintani, and former Fixation main man Tom Delmont brings a sales and brand perspective from his role at Hop Nation, who produce a broad range of alcohol-free beers.
We look at advances in technology, processes and ingredients, the dos and don’ts of non-alc brewing, take lessons from overseas, and attempt a spot of crystal ball-gazing.
This week’s opening is a global affair with James recently landed in London amid a European heatwave that looks a lot like Australia in January – albeit without aircon... We discuss two venue openings in the Yarra Valley and the Sunshine Coast, the relaunch of the Tasmanian Beer Trail, and our plans for a hiatus of sorts of our own.
Throughout July, we’ll still be reviewing the week in beer on the show, but instead of featuring new longform interviews we’ll be running some of our favourites from the past two years. With James in the UK and our producer heading to the US soon – plus a major new project coming to a head – we didn’t want to risk breaking ourselves any more than we already do!
Start of segments:
0:00 – The Week On Crafty
16:21 – Price Screen & Digital
17:26 – Non-Alc Panel Part 1
39:08 – Industry Insights With American Canning Machines
40:15 – Non-Alc Panel Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.