The Crafty Pint Podcast

Gillian Letham only stepped behind the bar of The Mill on Constance to help out her partner and his mate. Eleven years later, while that venue – one of those that helped build Brisbane’s beer scene – is long closed, she now oversees three venues around the city.

They’re all found in Brisbane’s ‘burbs – The Oxford Tap House in Bulimba, The Woods in Mitchellton, Clover in Holland Park – leading our feature writer Mick Wüst to tag her the Queen of the Suburbs.

Just weeks after she opened Clover, she joined Mick and Craig Williams at The Woods for a chat about her unplanned move into craft beer bar operator, her role in helping to create and build Brewsvegas, and much more, including insights into the unique challenges that come with running suburban venues.

Links relevant to or referenced in the show:

Details of the ATO’s proposed changes: https://craftypint.com/news/3582/submissions-open-on-atos-excise-draft

IBA launches Economic Data Needs Analysis: https://independentbrewers.org.au/2024/09/23/iba-launches-economic-data-needs-analysis/

Phenomenal Phat To Phire Up Hillarys Boat Harbour: https://craftypint.com/news/3580/phenomenal-phat-to-phire-up-hillarys-boat-harbour

Gillian Letham's entry in our end of 2010s Advent Calendar: https://craftypint.com/news/2250/craftys-advent-calendar-gillian-letham 

There’s a good chance you’ve heard or read the word terpenes being bandied about the beer world of late. If you haven’t, there’s a very good chance you will at some point.

What we can confirm with certainty is that you have definitely had them in a beer – they’re aromatic compounds found in most plants and herbs, including hops. The reason they’ve become one of the hot terms of 2024 for brewers, suppliers and beer geeks, however, is the way they’re now being provided to and used by brewers in beers.

Without giving too much away – not least because you’ll gain a much better understanding from listening to the experts in this podcast episode – brewers now have access to terpenes in concentrated form which allows them to add specific characters to their beers, whether that’s enhancing a particular fruitiness in a pale ale or giving an IPA an aroma very much like the one emanating from the cupboard of your uni weed dealer.

They’re one of a growing number of new tools at the disposal of brewers, so we invited one who has been among the first to jump on them in Australia, Scott McKinnon of Wolf of the Willows, and Sam Bethune, who handles technical sales for Bintani, onto the show to tell us all about them: what they are, where they come from, how they’re used, and why they like them.

That’s only part of the discussion, however. Before we get to the technical stuff, they share their stories: how they fell in love with craft beer and later ended up making it their livelihood.

Scott’s story starts out as a ski bum on the slopes of Colorado, while Sam’s begins while touring the States in another guise – with a mate who’s also now in beer. With Wolf of the Willows’ tenth anniversary coming up, we chat about their XPA – one of the very first in Australia – and their evolution as a brewing company, while Sam takes us back to his days as Fixation’s first head brewer at the Incubator and to the High Country and the small hop farm he’s nurturing.

Come for the knowledge, stay for the laughs!

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:

Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Awards winners: https://craftypint.com/news/3575/more-trophy-success-for-esker-beer-co-in-sydney

Last Rites & T-Bone Move In Together: https://craftypint.com/news/3569/t-bone-and-last-rites-move-in-together

A Taste Of Old Blighty: https://craftypint.com/news/3572/a-taste-of-old-blighty

Turning Towards Terpenes: https://craftypint.com/news/3363/turning-towards-terpenes

Wolf of the Willows’ terpene beers: https://craftypint.com/beer/10433/wolf-of-the-willows-gelato | https://craftypint.com/beer/10259/wolf-of-the-willows-king-louis-xiii | https://craftypint.com/beer/10189/wolf-of-the-willows-pineapple-express-california-ipa

In Hop Pursuits: A Guide To New Hop Products: https://craftypint.com/news/3559/in-hop-pursuit-a-guide-to-new-hop-products

Australia’s Generation XPA: https://craftypint.com/news/2844/australias-generation-xpa

Sydney Beer Week: https://sydneybeerweek.com.au/

Derek Lacey is a former medical researcher who, while spending time as a stay-at-home dad, had a "Eureka!" moment that led to the creation of Melbourne-based Bluestone Yeast.  

The business launched in 2018, providing local liquid yeasts for brewers, and has been growing ever since to the point that, at time of writing, Derek and his team are putting the finishing touches to a new, far larger production facility. Given said facility is around 800m from Crafty Towers, we felt it was the ideal time to invite him onto the show.  

He joined us in the studio for a chat about how he came to swap medical research for his new career, the challenges and triumphs he and the brewers he works with have experienced along the way, what it's like operating as a small indie producer supplying craft brewers and those making beer in their homes, his future plans to diversify, and the lessons learned along the way.  

As someone who was born in Ireland, albeit having moved to Australia as a child, he has the gift of the gab and shares as many stories as he does insight on life at a yeast manufacturing business. 

In the intro to this episode, we also discuss the latest news, including new openings and the ongoing travails of some local businesses.  

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:  

The Mill at The Bendigo Hotel: https://craftypint.com/brewery/394/the-mill-brewery-at-the-bendigo-hotel  

The latest changes at Dainton Beer: https://craftypint.com/news/3562/daintons-taphouses-reopen-weeks-after-their-sudden-closure  

James discussing beer on ABC Brisbane, around 1h23m here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/brisbane-afternoons/afternoons/104277890  

Bluestone Yeast: https://craftypint.com/business/1312/bluestone-yeast-co  

Breeding new yeasts: https://craftypint.com/news/3511/the-breeders-bringing-new-brewing-yeasts-to-life

FOUND. only launched in 2023 but the story behind one of WA's rising stars goes back far longer and takes in many of the state's best-known breweries and best-loved beers.

We sat down with two of the brewery's key players, Steve Finney and Will Irving, at the former Golden West brewpub in Subiaco as they were midway through turning it into a home for FOUND. It's due to open to the public for summer 2024, with the first brew taking place onsite the same week this episode was published.

Once open, it will give the team three venues in WA. Faced with ongoing delays to their original plan to open a sizeable production brewery and hospo venue in East Perth, they instead started out with FOUND.LAB in Byford, a 45-minute drive south of Perth, and have since opened a pop-up bar in Maylands.

This episode of the podcast covers their respective backstories, their first meetings at Feral's brewpub in the Swan Valley and subsequent time together at the iconic brewery, their vision for FOUND. – including how they're trying to create the ideal beer business and conceptualise what a modern Australian brewery venue should be, their thoughts on the future of beer in WA and further afield, bringing new people into the world of craft beer, and plenty more besides.  

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:  

FOUND.LAB: https://craftypint.com/brewery/819/found-lab  

FOUND. Taking Over Former Golden West Site In Subiaco: https://craftypint.com/news/3443/found-taking-over-former-golden-west-site-in-subiaco  

Brew & A ft Will Irving from his time at Feral: https://craftypint.com/news/1086/brew-and-a-will-from-feral-brewing  

The Story Of Hop Hog At Ten: https://craftypint.com/news/1921/the-story-of-hop-hog-at-ten

Rocky Ridge gave the beer lovers of Melbourne a boost midway through 2024 with the news they had acquired Thunder Road Brewery in Brunswick in order to establish an East Coast outpost.  While availability of their beers in the eastern states has been relatively limited, in their home state of Western Australia the brewery took little time forging a fine reputation after launching in 2017; today, they're well-established as one of WA's finest.  

They've picked up a stack of trophies over the years, have a tight core range, produce a phenomenal amount of limited releases, and are in no way afraid to experiment – nothing, it seems, is off limits.  More than that, however, is their approach to brewing, business, community and the planet. Born on co-founder Hamish Coates' family farm in Jindong, not far from Busselton in the South West, the brewery he launched with partner Mel Holland operates off grid, is always exploring ways in which to brew more sustainably, has been involved in multi-partner projects to develop new products, and is a shining example of how breweries can lead the way.  

Even the decision to buy Thunder Road was driven by a desire to stop sending beer across the Nullarbor and instead produce beer for customers in the east in the east.  We sat down with Hamish in the bluestone cottage attached to the Brunswick brewery the day before they signed the deal for a conversation covering all of the above and more. The chat was recorded before we'd set up our podcast studio so is audio-only.  

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:  

Froth Town 2024: https://www.froth.town/ 

Phat Brew Club: https://craftypint.com/brewery/731/phat-brew-club 

Ten Lessons From Ten Years: Bendigo On The Hop: https://craftypint.com/news/3558/ten-lessons-from-ten-years-bendigo-on-the-hop 

Rocky Ridge Buy Thunder Road: https://craftypint.com/news/3468/rocky-ridge-buy-thunder-road 

Brewing A More Sustainable Future: https://craftypint.com/news/3202/brewing-a-more-sustainable-future  

24 Hour Barley People: https://craftypint.com/news/2864/24-hour-barley-people

Rocky Ridge Brunswick Pre-Opening Drinks: https://craftycabal.com/member-events  

Meet The Brewer Oktoberfest Special: https://craftypint.com/event/13406/meet-the-brewer-oktoberfest-special-ft-king-river

Few venues have made an impact on their city's beer scene quite like Brewski, the Brisbane venue opened by Antoinette Pollock and Matt Emmerson back in 2013. 

It was one of the first to wholeheartedly embrace craft beer and, along with its notable peers and the teams behind each of them, helped create one of the most colourful, creative and welcoming beer communities in Australia. Fired by a love of big beers and outlandish events, Brewski's reputation spread far beyond Brewsvegas, becoming a second home for many.

In July 2024, Matt and Ant announced they'd made the hard decision to close; changing economic realities meant continuing to operate such a venue in the heart of Caxton Street was no longer viable. 

Given all they'd brought to the local beer world, we asked them to join us for a chat about the Brewski years, their approach to running multifaceted beer venues, the rise of craft beer, the future for beer bars, marketing and plenty more.

Then, two days before this show was published, we learned there was a silver lining: they're opening another My Beer Dealer bar-bottleshop in Fortitude Valley and have, of course, grand plans for their new baby: they want it to be one of the biggest drink-in bottle shops in the country.

Also discussed in the episode are the collapse of Valhalla Brewing and associated beer distribution business Lotus, plus the news that Brisbane brewers Slipstream are opening a venue on the Sunshine Coast.

NB: The main interview was recorded prior to The Crafty Pint Podcast launching and is audio-only. There's some inconsistency in the sound, in part due to recording in the venue, but there's much to enjoy in the discussion too, hosted by Mick Wüst and Craig Williams.

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:

Valhalla Liquidation Impacting Multiple Indie Brewers: https://craftypint.com/news/3552/valhalla-brewing-to-be-liquidated-multiple-indie-brewers-counting-the-cost

Slipstream Opening On Sunshine Coast: https://craftypint.com/news/3549/slipstream-to-open-a-venue-on-the-sunshine-coast

Brewski To Close: https://craftypint.com/news/3507/brewski-to-close-after-a-decade-of-beers

Ten Lessons From Ten Years: Brewski – https://craftypint.com/news/3288/brewski-ten-lessons-from-ten-years

Bendigo On The Hop 2024: https://www.bendigobeer.com/both-2024 

The Crafty Cabal: https://craftycabal.com/

Few people in Australia have put as much craft beer into as many venues as Tom Delmont.

He was Mountain Goat's first ever sales rep – forcing his way into the role and leaving the world of entomology behind – before moving on from the Melbourne icons when they sold to Asahi, later founding IPA-centric brewing company Fixation with the founders of Stone & Wood. 

He left Fixation a few weeks prior to recording this show, joining carbon accounting platform Zevero, and on the podcast shares stories from his colourful career in beer as well as insights into the art of selling beer and building beer brands. 

Anyone that's met him over his two decades in beer will know he's a great storyteller and has a genuine love for good beer that surpasses pretty much everyone else on the planet. 

As an aside, hours after we recorded the show, both he then we learned that Lion had taken the decision to close the Incubator – Fixation's brewpub in Melbourne – hence the late insert into the show. The brand and IPAs will live on, however. 

Links referenced in or relevant to the show: 

Froth Town 2024: https://www.froth.town/ 

Bendigo On The Hop 2024: https://www.bendigobeer.com/both-2024  

Lord Nelson sold to Laundy Hotels: https://craftypint.com/news/3545/laundy-hotels-buy-the-lord-nelson  

Burnley Brewing to close their Richmond taproom: https://craftypint.com/news/3548/burnley-brewing-to-close-their-richmond-taproom  

Zevero launches in Australia: https://craftypint.com/news/3539/zeveros-mission-to-help-breweries-cut-emissions

NB: around 47 minutes in, you might pick up a slight buzzing sound coming and going. We're not sure what's caused this given we didn't pause or restart the recording before that point, but we'll attempt to find out what caused it before the next show...

The 2024 Indies awards took place in Perth for the first time on August 2, and The Crafty Pint was there to enjoy the celebrations that took place a few hours after the WA Beer & Brewing Conference.

The following morning, we sat down with new Independent Brewers Association chair Callum Reeves, also co-founder of KAIJU! Beer, for a wide-ranging chat about the awards, his new role, the challenges facing indie brewers – including insight on the impact of bi-annual excise tax hikes, new partnerships and key goals for the IBA.

There's also reaction from some of the Indies winners on the night, a look back at our event with FOUND., and a look forward to upcoming Crafty events featuring Phat Brew Club and Rocky Ridge.

If you'd like to find out more about partnering with The Crafty Pint Podcast, contact [email protected]

Links referenced in or relevant to the show:

Indies 2024 winners: https://craftypint.com/news/3538/uraidla-win-champion-beer-at-the-2024-indies-with-a-ripa-of-a-beer

Max Bowering Slays Beer: https://craftypint.com/news/3532/max-bowering-slays-beer

Episode 002 featuring Lindsay Astarita: https://craftypint.com/news/3534/episode-002-lindsay-astarita-of-stomping-ground

WA Craft Beer Strategy: https://www.wabeer.com.au/wa-craft-beer-strategy/

IBA's call to the Federal Government on excise tax: https://craftypint.com/news/3540/the-iba-asks-how-much-more-can-we-pay-for-beer

FOUND.'s plans for Subiaco: https://craftypint.com/news/3443/found-taking-over-former-golden-west-site-in-subiaco

Boundary Island: https://craftypint.com/news/3168/who-brews-boundary-island-beers

Alice Springs: https://craftypint.com/news/3233/alice-springs-brewing-co-five-years-in-five-beers

Phat Brew Club event: https://craftypint.com/event/13346/pre-froth-town-frothies--feed

Point Break Brewery International: https://www.blackmansbrewery.com.au/point-break-brewery-invitational/

Lindsay has developed the sensory and quality program at a brewery that has a happy knack of winning major trophies. The tale of how she ended up in that position, after years spent travelling the world seeking out good beer wherever she went, is an excellent one. She's about to head back to her home country, the US, so we needed to get her on quickly. As with many of the ongoing series on the main website, we're keen to use the podcast as a platform to shine a light on people in all parts of the beer world, not just owners or founders. And, as a mutual friend from outside the beer world put it, Lindsay is a superstar.

So, following our debut episode with Sailors Grave, here she is as the star of the second show.

Our chat with Lindsay features insights into how installing quality programs can help breweries produce consistently great beer, the importance of beer education, and the day in the life of a beer judge – as well as Lindsay's personal journey from beer-loving traveller working front of house to someone who's just landed a gig judging at this year's Great American Beer Festival.

Chris and Gab Moore are the visionaries behind Sailors Grave Brewing, the East Gippsland brewery that's different in pretty much every way you can imagine: from the artwork designed by a British children's book illustrator and unusual ingredients to the amazing partnerships they've forged throughout their home region and further afield.

We invited them on to tell us about the impending arrival of Dunetown – the brewery and venue on their farmland near Cape Conran that will see them bring their original vision to life – as well as their pre-brewing life in Sydney hospo, their focus on sustainable practices and the importance of staying true to yourselves.

Before the chat with Chris and Gab, we outline our intentions for the weekly podcast and have a chat about some of the latest news from the Australian beer scene. Look out for a special guest who's very excited about the upcoming Blackman's Point Break Brewery Invitational too!  

Links referenced in the show:  Two-part mini-series on voluntary administrations: https://craftypint.com/news/3489/the-secret-brewer-voluntary-administration & https://craftypint.com/news/3490/the-secret-brewer-voluntary-administration-part-ii  

Article on the state of play in beer, Shift Happens: https://craftypint.com/news/3500/2024-mid-year-report-shift-happens  

Seeker's Tiny Tins: https://craftypint.com/news/3522/seeker-take-flight-with-tiny-tins  

Holgate Brewhouse's People's Choice: https://craftypint.com/news/3521/vote-for-holgates-25-years-of-beers-peoples-choice 

Sailors Grave Brewing: https://sailorsgravebrewing.com/  Point Break Brewery International: https://www.blackmansbrewery.com.au/point-break-brewery-invitational/