Between Two Rocks by Rocky Ridge Brewing Co

Everyone wants their beer on the shelf, but what actually gets it there? Hamish chats with Nelio and Guy from Copper and Oak about what they look for in a brewery, the pitches that miss the mark and why customers are the ones who decide what's cool. They talk about the changing world of craft beer, the resurgence of lagers and Pilsners, the challenges of no-alcohol beer and why a good independent bottle shop offers a whole lot more than somewhere to grab a carton.

Rocky Ridge and Shelter might share a hometown and a spot on the Busselton foreshore, but any talk feuds or rivalries has been greatly overblown. Hamish sits down with Jason from Shelter Brewing to talk about building two very different breweries in the same corner of WA and why they’d both rather see people drinking local than fighting over who gets the pint. They also get into family-friendly venues, business partnerships, thick skin and what it takes to stick around when the industry inevitably changes.

What does it take to grow hops commercially in a place where almost nobody else is doing it? Hamish chats with Dirk from Margaret River Hops about bringing hop growing back to WA, learning the process from scratch and slowly building an industry around it. They get into the challenges of WA’s climate, harvesting and processing, the importance of brewers backing local producers, and Dirk’s plans to take Margaret River Hops to the next level.

Steve Finney has been around WA beer long enough to have seen plenty of trends come and go. In this episode, Hamish chats with the Found co-founder about his path through Matilda Bay, Little Creatures and Feral, and how those years shaped his approach to finally building something of his own. From creating a brand people actually want to connect with to opening venues, making balanced beer and resisting the urge to grow too quickly, it’s a conversation about knowing what you want to be and sticking to it.

Beer starts long before it reaches the brewery. In this episode, Hamish follows the journey of Rocky Ridge’s malt from the paddock at Tolga Farms, through the malthouse of Joe White Malting and into the brewhouse with help from Bintanti. Meeting the people who helped rethink the process along the way. Four years in the making, it’s a conversation about sustainable farming, quality, some surprisingly complicated logistics, and proving that doing things better doesn’t have to mean making worse beer.

Most beer drinkers never think about the work that goes into their delicious Rocky Ridge Beers, but that's where the magic is.

In this episode, Hamish is joined by Head of Quality and Safety at Rocky Ridge Drew to unpack the science of keeping beer fresh, stable, and tasting exactly as intended. From oxygen management and sensory panels to microbial testing and the lessons learned from a brewery-wide recall, it's a behind the scenes look at the relentless pursuit of quality at Rocky Ridge Brewing Co

Big beers. Big opinions. Bigger tangents. Hamish sits down with Rhys from Evil Mega Corp. to talk experimental brewing, the future of craft beer, AI, politics, and why the best conversations usually start over a pint. It’s an episode that wanders well beyond the brewhouse in the best possible way.

In this week’s episode, Hamish sits down with Rocky Ridge Brewing Co's Head Brewer, Ross Terlick, to explore how a brewer’s mindset shifts between styles at opposite ends of the spectrum—from a crisp Premium Pilsner to a fruit-packed sour. Ross shares how he approaches problem-solving across the brewery, from expanding Rocky Ridge’s core range to recounting one of the brewery’s earliest and most infamous challenges: a brief laxative issue that had surfaced before he joined the team—and how it was quickly identified and resolved.