Following a successful launch last year with Sierra Nevada, Sydney’s International Brewers Collective gala dinner will return in 2024, with a guest speaker from the “world’s oldest brewery”, Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan. Australian and international brewers will meet on 30 May at ICC Sydney’s Parkside Ballroom for the gala dinner, with a keynote address from Weihenstephan’s Vice President Sales Export, Marcus Englet. With almost 1,000 years of brewing history, Weihenstephan continues to impress, winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2023 World Beer Awards. Since joining the ..read more

The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) welcomed five new members to its Board of Directors at its 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) this week. The newly elected Directors include Tom Champion, Felons Brewing Co (QLD), Annelise Nijskens, Madoke Brewing Co (QLD), Glen Brasington, Hawkes Brewing Co (NSW), Helen Black, The Coastal Brewing Co (NSW), and Paul Maley, Shelter Brewing Co (WA). They join Callum Reeves (Kaiju! Beer) and Evin Craney (Bright Brewing) who will continue on the Board. Richard Watkins has stepped down from his position as Chair of the Board, a position he has held since 202 ..read more

What makes an international beer competition truly global? Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe looks at the latest World Beer Cup. There are many international beer competitions around the globe today all purporting to find the best beers in the world. This is a bold claim to make if the competition itself does not attract a truly international list of entries or is not judged by an international jury with eclectic palates and different perspectives.     The World Beer Cup, organised by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trad ..read more

Though Better Beer continues to show promise, Mighty Craft is in a difficult position, with a decrease in revenue and currently unsustainable levels of debt. Mighty Craft’s Q3 FY24 report indicates that revenue fell by 22 per cent compared to the prior corresponding period, with an unaudited total revenue of $19.8m. This revenue includes approximately $6.1m sales from discontinued operations. However, the like-for-like decrease in revenue is lower, at 11 per cent, which is adjusted for the impact of asset sales over the last financial year, such as Jetty Road Brewery, Hills Cider, and Slipstre ..read more

Fermentis is delving into all things lager in the latest instalment of its live Homebrew Hangout events, which will be held on Friday 3 May. With a growing interest in lagers among craft brewers, the webinar will cover the history of the style, its market positioning, and insights into lager brewing. Fermentis will also tease the release of its new, lager-optimised yeast strain, SafLager E-30. Hugo Picard, Home Division Manager at Fermentis, will lead the panel, with Technical Project Manager Eduardo Liza-Diaz and Southern USA Regional Sales Manager Mohsen Saade joining as guest speakers. Liza ..read more

Following his success at the Queensland Royal Beer Awards, Slipstream Brewing’s Daniel Thomsen spoke to Beer & Brewer about his passion for craft beer and his dedication to learning that earned him the accolade. Thomsen, who was recognised with the Emerging Queensland Brewer award, is originally from Darwin and says he was initially drawn to home brewing because of his love for craft beer. “Good craft beer was pretty hard to find in Darwin, but for whatever reason, I was always drawn to drinking something different than everyone else. On the rare chance that a craft beer would come up, I’d ..read more

To celebrate the annual Australian hop harvest, breweries from across Australia are creating fresh brews, bringing the farm-to-glass experience into their breweries and into the glasses for consumers to enjoy responsibly. In Sydney’s Inner West 10 breweries have joined forces for the Inner West Hop Festival which takes place from 24 to 28 April. Over 100 kg of fresh hops were rushed from the Victorian high country straight to the brew kettles of each brewery to create unique beers showcasing the just-picked flavours and aromas. Hop lovers are invited to pick up a passport from any of the parti ..read more

Following 10 amazing years, which saw them as one of the pioneers of turning Brookvale’s gritty industrial hub into a thriving brewery precinct in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Kerrie Abba and Johnny Latta have put Nomad Brewing Co up for sale. Kerrie Abba and Johnny Latta One of the main reasons Kerrie and Johnny set up Nomad Brewing Co was to help change the landscape of beer in Australia after being turned onto a world of diverse styles on their European travels. In turn, Nomad has consistently been as innovative as beer gets here, by dishing up styles, and utilising ingredients that are anyth ..read more

Nine craft breweries from four states have jumped on board a unique collaboration with Australian trivia company Quiz Meisters, launching a series of innovative beers with unusual flavour combinations. The collaboration was initiated by Quiz Meisters as a celebration of its 20th anniversary, marking the occasion by inviting its brewery partners to showcase limited-edition releases at participating venues. Since Quiz Meister was founded in 2004, the organisation has had a special interest in breweries after CEO Steffan van Lint observed an overlap between quiz fans and craft beer consumers. In ..read more

CBCo Brewing is celebrating its 20th year of operation, and Beer & Brewer spoke to CEO Lawrence Dowd about the quality beer and conscious business planning that has been keen to the brewery’s success. CBCo Brewing started in 2004 as a microbrewery in Margaret River, of which Dowd was a small investor from the beginning. In 2008, the original owners came up against some economic difficulties, at which time Dowd took financial control of the brewery. “Starting as a microbrewery, we’ve seen it all. In the beginning, if we sold 10 kegs in a week, we thought it was great. Eventually, you set yo ..read more