This week we have a great conversation with brewer Matt Brynildson. 

Matt is Brewmaster at California’s Firestone Walker Brewery. He is one of those brewers that is quietly revered by other brewers and we were lucky to get to catch up with him advance of his upcoming visit to Australia. He will here for HPA’s hop harvest and, of interest to Australian brewers, speaking at the High Country Hop Technical Symposium where he will be speaking on the topic of Hop Quality and Optimising Hop Impact - A field to glass approach.

Matt is perfectly placed to speak about this. He moved into brewing from a job as a hop chemist and has been heavily involved in teaching about hops through the Master Brewers Association of America and the US-based Hop Quality Group…something that we discuss in this conversation. 

Such is a life of and commitment to hops, last year he was awarded the Order of the Hop at the at the International Hop Congress in Prague, only the second US brewer to be so honoured. 

In this conversation you will hear Matt talk about that, and so much more about the evolution of hops in brewing and some thoughts on where we are and where brewers are headings. More than anything, it will give you a taste of what you will hear if you’re lucky to hear him speak at High Country Hops. 

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This week the team discuss growth up but profits down for Good Drinks, Tribe enters administration and how you can leave us a voicemail for the podcast.

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English beer writer Pete Brown probably needs no introduction to our listeners. Apart from having been a guest on the podcast a number of times, his many books would be well known to anyone with an interest in beer. 

Earlier this year, Pete tweeted about the dire state of craft brewing in the UK and the number of breweries closing. I wanted to hear more about the challenges being faced there to see what was relevant in our own market. We also talk about the evolution of the craft beer market and how we got to this point in the craft beer cycle. We also discuss his latest book, Clubland, looking at the intoxicating history of the working men’s clubs in the UK.

As always with Pete, it’s a very thoughtful conversation about beer.

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This week the team discuss how container deposit schemes could be better and a great new ad for the industry.

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This week we catch up with Paul Daley, Craft Beer Ambassador Leader, Education & Experiences at Lion.

Paul recently travelled to the US where he passed his Advanced Cicerone exam, making him one of the handful of advanced Cicerones in Australia. 

As you’ll hear, Paul has had a lengthy career in hospitality and liquor, but he is one of those people that has found a passion for beer and craft beer in particular and is a tireless advocate for changing the way people think about it.

I never tire talking beer with Paul, and his enthusiasm and drive to share the best of what beer can be often reignites my own enthusiasm and I wanted to capture a little of that in this conversation.

This episode of Beer is a Conversation is presented by HPA. Australia’s leading hop grower offers a huge range of Aussie, international and innovative hop products that can help breweries of all sizes become more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable. Check out their new product catalogue at www.hops.com.au/product-catalogue/

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This week is a big one for news including Konvoy's equity raise, and market fears end the Stomping Ground, Good Drinks deal.

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Mountain Culture rocketed to the top of the GABS Hottest 100 just a few weeks ago, but that was the latest achievement for a brewery that has been exceeding expectations ever since it launched in late 2019, just before the world felt the grip of COVID.

COVID put a huge dent in what were initially outlined as modest plans for a humble Blue Mountains brewpub. Their covid pivot seems to have paid off and they have been on a tear ever since, one that has seen contant expansion of their expanded brewhouse.

Managing growth is often seen as big a challenge for craft breweries as not growing, and I really wanted to find out what the Mountain Culture secret sauce is…especially as to the outsider Harriet & DJ give off some pretty laid-back, it’s all fun craft beer vibes that feel the opposite of a serious, growth-minded businesses negotiating a maturing market place.

It’s a great chat and I hope I managed to get a look under the hood of of the engine that’s driving the business.

This episode of Beer is a Conversation is presented by HPA. Australia’s leading hop grower offers a huge range of Aussie, international and innovative hop products that can help breweries of all sizes become more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable. Check out their new product catalogue at www.hops.com.au/product-catalogue/

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This week the team discuss the Better Beer v Brick Lane court battle, the downside of Dan Murphy's price promise and the latest update in the Ballistic Beer situation.

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Just about everywhere we go, we hear opinions on the IBA. How it’s doing, what it should be doing, what it shouldn’t be doing and what it should be doing differently. 

We have opined on this ourselves.

But we also hear a lot about why breweries consider it’s not worth joining or why they are leaving, and this often involves suggestions that the association isn’t doing enough in some areas, or is focusing on the wrong areas. Often there’s little understanding of the enormity of the association’s task just in dealing with governments at all levels on issues that are critical to the daily operation of every brewery, whether a member of the association or not. 

While we were in Canberra for the Hottest 100 Countdown, we took the opportunity to sit down with Richard and Kylie to try to understand what the IBA does, outside of its most visible work on the Indie Seal, the Indies and BrewCon just to give listeners an understanding of why having an association that represents the interests of brewers is so important.

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This week the team discuss the grant to keep Boags alive, growth for Mighty Craft and the Brewing in New Zealand report.

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