“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make good beers. That’s not to say we don’t try.”

There’s little like Moo Brew in the Australian beer landscape, however you look at it.

The brewery blazed a trail for craft beer in Tasmania and remains something of a figurehead for the state’s beer scene as one of the few breweries with a presence on the mainland. The unique bottles and John Kelly artwork on their labels marked them out as something different from the off – and that was before founder David Walsh carved the world-famous Mona into the rock underneath the original brewery.

You could argue their refusal to bend from a dedication to finely-honed, classically-minded styles while the rest of the beer world was losing its mind also marks Moo out as different. Meanwhile, making it to this month’s 20th anniversary with just three head brewers – all of whom still meet up in Hobart – is pretty extraordinary too.

Ahead of their birthday celebrations, we were joined by the latest of those three, Jack Viney, to look back on two decades of Moo Brew. The chat covers the brewery’s ethos and evolution, distinct brand and place within the Walsh empire, Moo's pioneering role within Tasmania, the arrival of Manky Sally’s brewpub in Salamanca, Jack’s career in beer, and the state of affairs for beer today.

There’s plenty to cover before we get to Jack too: Grifter becoming the latest local brewery to secure B Corp status; little Central Coast bottlo Oldfield Cellars beating all-comers to an ALIA trophy; a collab ten years in the making; and a look at the ins, outs, magic and mishaps of beer advent calendars.

We also unveil the latest winner in the Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month – nominate yours here – and hear about the opening of submissions for the 2026 Royal Queensland Beer Awards.

Start of segments: 

• 13:45 – Jack Viney Part 1
• 37:11 – Bluestone Yeast Brewery of the Month
• 40:24 – Jack Viney Part 2

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