Upcoming Events

It's fair to say Cheeky Monkey are enjoying a fine old time.

The brewing company with two breweries and further expansion plans in the Margaret River region have been making a habit of winning major awards on a state, national and international level.

They've been winning over fans aplenty with everything from hazies to high ABV smoothie sours, and they've been doing all this with one of the most carefree – and meme-heavy – approaches to social media.

If you'd like to hear more about their story to date, their plans for the future, and their approach to beer, one of the most colourful characters in the WA beer scene, operations manager Brendan Day, will be at The Dutch Trading Co from 7pm on Wednesday, February 9, for a special member's event.

Guy Southern will be hosting the tasting and Q&A in the back room, also featuring brand designer Jarrod from Zendoke, as you enjoy some of the brewery's core range beers and fruity limited releases. We'll put on some accompanying nibbles too.

Spots are limited and cost just $10pp, so if you want to be entertained and enlightened in equal measure by one of the state's best brewers, get in quick!

It's fair to say Cheeky Monkey are enjoying a fine old time.

The brewing company with two breweries and further expansion plans in the Margaret River region have been making a habit of winning major awards on a state, national and international level.

They've been winning over fans aplenty with everything from hazies to high ABV smoothie sours, and they've been doing all this with one of the most carefree – and meme-heavy – approaches to social media.

If you'd like to hear more about their story to date, their plans for the future, and their approach to beer, one of the most colourful characters in the WA beer scene, operations manager Brendan Day, will be at The Dutch Trading Co from 7pm on Wednesday, February 9, for a special member's event.

Guy Southern will be hosting the tasting and Q&A in the back room, also featuring brand designer Jarrod from Zendoke, as you enjoy some of the brewery's core range beers and fruity limited releases. We'll put on some accompanying nibbles too.

Spots are limited and cost just $10pp, so if you want to be entertained and enlightened in equal measure by one of the state's best brewers, get in quick!

UPDATE: Due to the fast-developing situation regarding Omicron, and the impact it's having on the hospitality industry, we've been asked to postpone this event until there is more certainty. We'll be in touch direct once we've locked in a new date.

Ahead of the opening of their new brewery and venue in Geelong, we joined the Blackman's team for a brewery tour, Q&A and tasting of some of their hoppiest beers with Cabalistas.

We filmed the Q&A and tasting (although had to chop the first 90 seconds as I forgot to plug the mixer back in...) and you can check it out below.

It covers the family-run brewery's history as well as their beers and looks at what they've got planned for the future too.

VIEW STREAM HERE

It's that time of year again – the end, which means the world is about to be swamped by Best Of lists.

And, while we typically avoid listicles like the plague at The Crafty Pint, we do love putting together articles together at the end of the year that capture the best of the year in each state / territory.

Given the ridiculous breadth of the local beer world today, we're once again inviting Crafty Cabal members to assist us in the mammoth undertaking.

Tell us your best new beers and breweries of 2021 by December 13, which is when we'll pick one Cabalista to receive a merch pack featuring Cabal glassware and stubby holders, plus a mixed case of beer from the Crafty collection.

The four mates behind CoConspirators are finally about to throw open the doors of their brewery home in Brunswick.

It's set to welcome the public for the first time just before Christmas and they're keen to show Cabal members around.

At 3.30pm* on December 22, they're inviting 30 Cabalistas for a tour of the brewpub and a guided tasting of some of their beers.

Given there's just 30 spots and we're sure heaps of you will want to be there, we're going to allow you to register your interest then email everyone on the list at 9am on December 8 (two weeks out) when we put the ticket link live.

Black Arts are part of a small but magical cohort of Aussies playing in the world of wild ales, barrels and blending.

They produce refined and delicious beers at their Williamstown home, often in truly tiny batches.

They also only open their venue a few times each month and can have a mere 15 people in attendance for each session, which makes it particularly exciting they've agreed to dedicate two of those on February 6 to Crafty Cabal members.

You'll be able to join main man Joshua Murnane for a journey through the Black Arts story, barrels and beers, and we'll be putting on some suitably fancy platters for guests too.

Given how few spots there are and how quickly they're likely to be snapped up, we're going to get a list of those keen to come first then shoot an email out at 9am on December 15 to give all of you as good a chance of attending.

The Crafty Pint's founder and his family got lucky and found themselves outside Victoria when lockdowns five and six kicked off.

However, with schools in Melbourne returning on October 18, the extended trip around SA soon has to come to an end – but not before a visit to Adelaide.

We'll be at The Wheaty from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday, October 10, shouting a few beers for our industry and Cabal mates.

The 3 Ravens story has been one of the beer world’s best over the past half decade or so.

At one point it looked like Melbourne’s longest-established indie brewer would fold, even while they were claiming major trophies, before a couple of changes in ownership, the signing of a new brewing team, and a freeing of reins around beer styles and events saw them become one of the most innovative and award-laden breweries in the land.

If you’d like to hear all about it from the horse’s mouth (or raven’s beak), head brewer Brendan O’Sullivan is back in his home state of WA and hosting an event showcasing some of their rarest and biggest releases at The DTC.

The epic lineup of beers features:

• Choc Coconut Shake
• Methode Ravens 2021
• Woods of the North II
• Solera Stock Ale 2021
• Barley Apera
• Barrel Aged Peated Imperial Oatmeal Stout

The DTC crew will be putting on some nibbles too, while Brendan has plenty to talk about besides the beers with heaps of new projects underway at the Thornbury brewery.

There’s a ridiculously good price for Cabal members, too: tastings of all the beers and nibbles for…. $5.

It takes place at 6.30pm on July 27.

The 3 Ravens story has been one of the beer world’s best over the past half decade or so.

At one point it looked like Melbourne’s longest-established indie brewer would fold, even while they were claiming major trophies, before a couple of changes in ownership, the signing of a new brewing team, and a freeing of reins around beer styles and events saw them become one of the most innovative and award-laden breweries in the land.

If you’d like to hear all about it from the horse’s mouth (or raven’s beak), head brewer Brendan O’Sullivan is back in his home state of WA and hosting an event showcasing some of their rarest and biggest releases at The DTC.

The epic lineup of beers features:

• Choc Coconut Shake
• Methode Ravens 2021
• Woods of the North II
• Solera Stock Ale 2021
• Barley Apera
• Barrel Aged Peated Imperial Oatmeal Stout

The DTC crew will be putting on some nibbles too, while Brendan has plenty to talk about besides the beers with heaps of new projects underway at the Thornbury brewery.

There’s a ridiculously good price for Cabal members, too: tastings of all the beers and nibbles for…. $5.

It takes place at 6.30pm on July 27.

Bendigo On The Hop returns to the regional city on August 28 after skipping 2020 due to COVID.

It's going to be a little smaller than usual due to ongoing restrictions, but no less splendid, as anyone who's been in the past will be able to tell you, with nine venues, 18 breweries, and 36 beers this time around.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on June 25, but Cabal members have a chance to get hold of theirs early via an exclusive pre-sale link.

The festival sells out early every year so, with less tickets available in 2021, this is your chance to guarantee a spot!

To access the link, click the button on this screen and we'll send it to you via email.

Pre-sales will open at 9am on June 22 and close on the night of June 24.

UPDATE: Due to the unfolding COVID situation, the decision was taken to postpone the original event. Existing purchases are still valid; if anyone who'd booked a spot can't attend the rearranged date, we'll refund purchases in full.

It's been a long time coming, but persistence is set to pay off for Deeds Brewing as they finally prepare to open the Taproom at their Glen Iris brewery.

We can't say too much about it at this stage, other than they're not holding back with the beer and food offering, or the venue itself.

The Taproom has been four years in the making and is designed to be a super slick and modern space to explore and experience everything Deeds Brewing – from joining a brewery tour and tasting or settling in for a meal to popping in to load up on take-home beers. 

If you'd like to check it out for yourself before the venue opens to the public, they're inviting 40 Cabalistas to join them for an exclusive tour, guided tasting, and Q&A on June 23.

It kicks off at 6pm with a complimentary drink on arrival – one of their new Taproom only releases – before guests get to enjoy a welcome from the team, a brewery tour, a guided tasting with share platters, and a Q&A session hosted by The Crafty Pint team before the bar opens for beers and takeaways.

It's not long now until Good Beer Week rolls around and with it Pint of Origin, this year showcasing beers from across the planet at 14 venues.

As in 2019, we're putting on a Pint of Origin IPA Blind Tasting Championship on May 21 featuring beers from each of the regions as well as some special guests.

The concept is simple: attendees will be served the IPAs in flights without knowing which one is in each glass, receive some tips on how to judge / assess beers, then go to work deciding which are their favourites. If you've not done a blind tasting before, they're entertaining and enlightening all in one!

At the end, we'll tally the scores while you enjoy some finger food, before declaring the overall winner – more details here.

We're keen to fill the last few spots ASAP so we can lock in everything with our host venue, The Palace in South Melbourne, so are offering Cabalistas that chance to snap tickets up for $39 instead of $49.

They might have missed out in 2020, but Good Beer Week is back for a tenth time this May.

And we're back with another opening night special for Cabal members in the Atrium section of the Festival Hub, Beer DeLuxe Fed Square.

We'll be inviting a trio of brewers to showcase their beer and tell you their story, with each attendee getting a schooner or can of each brewers' beers plus some finger food.

UPDATE: We've locked in the brewers! You'll be able to drink with and hear from:

• Two Rupees – West Coast IPA
• Black Arts – Bière de Coupage
• Exit – Red IPA

Attendance is free but there is a limit of 100 members so get in quick. Also, please don't register if you can't make it as we don't want people to miss out.

It kicks off at 6pm on May 14 and will wrap up around 7.30pm so you can join in the Opening Party shenanigans in the main bar too.

We're making a dash for it...

Yes, we're trusting hotel quarantine will work well enough for the team at Crafty Towers to make it across the border to ACT for the beer festival in March and figured we should put on something extra for Cabal members while there.

So we're inviting any Cabalistas who can make it along to join us at Capital's Fyshwick brewery home on the evening of March 19 for a behind-the-scenes tour before joining the brewery team and Crafty crew for dinner and beers.

It's a rare, money-can't-buy chance to get up close with the legends who've helped put ACT well and truly on the beer map in Australia.

In fact, it's so money-can't-buy it's free. We'll bring along some goodies and, who knows, there might be the odd special guest too...

Blackman's Brewery have enjoyed great success since opening their brewpub in Torquay, winning major trophies, opening a burger bar in nearby Ocean Grove, and, most recently, announcing a new production brewery in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong.

They make fantastic beers in an array of styles, but their IPAs have frequently caught the eye, not least in the Same Day and Needs More... series.

So we've decided to celebrate their hoppy side with a twin-pronged event for Cabal members.

On March 31, you can join us at the Grovedale brewery for a tour with the team. Or, if you're elsewhere in Australia, you can beam us into your home from the brewery for a streamed Q&A and guided tasting.

The tasting will be based around the following:

• Needs More Amarillo IPA (NEW)
• Needs More Mosaic IPA (NEW)
• Reginald IPA
• Mervyn Pale Ale
• Juicy Banger IPL
• Ernie Tropical Hazy

Members can opt to attend the brewery and pick up the beers (and a stubby holder) on the evening, or pre-order the beers and stubby holder to be delivered ahead of the stream.