From Hero To Zero: The Rise Of Non-Alc Beer

From Hero To Zero: The Rise Of Non-Alc Beer

“I don't see any ceiling for non-alc beer.” It’s fair to say there were plenty of skeptics when non-alcoholic beer first started to appear in earnest in the local beer scene. Yet, in the half-decade-plus since we ran a blind tasting featuring early entrants to the market, the sector has grown and grown. While some brands have come and gone, there’s a growing number of established brands and many other breweries for whom their non-alc range forms a significant part of their sales. What’s more, Bridge Road Brewers and, more recently, Heaps Normal have started putting non-alc beer on tap [https://craftypint.com/news/3981/tapping-into-non-alcs]. To assess where the market sits, where it could be heading, and why it’s come so far already, we pulled together a panel from different facets of the beer world. Molly Rose [https://craftypint.com/brewery/457/molly-rose-brewing] founder Nic Sandery is the brewer behind both Molly Rose and Hiatus non-alcs, Sam Bethune is a former brewer who’s now a technical sales specialist at Bintani [https://craftypint.com/business/581/bintani-australia], and former Fixation main man Tom Delmont brings a sales and brand perspective from his role at Hop Nation [https://craftypint.com/brewery/285/hop-nation], who produce a broad range of alcohol-free beers. We look at advances in technology, processes and ingredients, the dos and don’ts of non-alc brewing, take lessons from overseas, and attempt a spot of crystal ball-gazing. This week’s opening is a global affair with James recently landed in London amid a European heatwave that looks a lot like Australia in January – albeit without aircon... We discuss two venue openings in the Yarra Valley [https://craftypint.com/news/4111/the-beer-slingers-woori-yallock-tap-house] and the Sunshine Coast [https://craftypint.com/news/4112/10-toes-reach-for-the-loft], the relaunch of the Tasmanian Beer Trail [https://craftypint.com/news/4110/tasmanian-beer-trail-to-be-relaunched-by-the-iba], and our plans for a hiatus of sorts of our own. Throughout July, we’ll still be reviewing the week in beer on the show, but instead of featuring new longform interviews we’ll be running some of our favourites from the past two years. With James in the UK and our producer heading to the US soon – plus a major new project coming to a head – we didn’t want to risk breaking ourselves any more than we already do! Start of segments: * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty * 16:21 – Price Screen & Digital [https://craftypint.com/business/1505/price-screen-and-digital] * 17:26 – Non-Alc Panel Part 1 * 39:08 – Industry Insights With American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines] * 40:15 – Non-Alc Panel Part 2 To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

A Brave New World For Beer Awards

“Year one for us is proof of concept.” In January, we unveiled plans [https://craftypint.com/news/3975/leading-figures-in-aussie-beer-to-launch-new-awards-competition] for a new form of beer awards being conceived by industry titans Justin Fox and Jayne Lewis. Five months on and submissions are now open for The Beer Championships [https://thebeerchampionships.com/brewer-hub], so we invited them to join us on the show to find out more. We delve into the genesis for this new approach to assessing and celebrating greatness in beer, their reasons for heading down this path after years spent judging across the world, and their desire to achieve significant commercial benefits for finalists and champions. We also tease from them the Oscars-inspired name for the trophies they’ll be handing out in October. It would be remiss of us to have two such respected individuals, with rare breadth of knowledge across many facets of the beer community, on the show and not ask more of them. So, in the second half of the main chat, we invite Justin and Jayne to tell us what they’re seeing and hearing about the beer world’s health and prospects, and to share their personal feelings on where the industry sits as we approach the midpoint of 2026. Talking of that, we’ll be taking a short break from running new extended interviews from the end of June. We’ll still publish weekly news updates; however, throughout July, these will be paired with some of our favourite shows from the past two years. Fresh long-form interviews will return at the end of July. We’re working on a major new project that’s launching in the second half of 2026, and Will, James and Matt will all be overseas for stretches between now and September, hence the short change in transmissions. In terms of this week’s news, we cover a VA on the Central Coast [https://craftypint.com/news/4101/central-coast-pioneers-six-string-enter-voluntary-administration], the opening of a European-style beer hall [https://craftypint.com/news/4107/hobarts-new-bierhalle] in Hobart, the final leg [https://craftypint.com/news/4106/crafty-crawls-the-86-tram-plenty-road] of our 86 tram Crafty Crawl, and the launch of our competition to find the dream Aussie Beer XI now the World Cup is underway. Start of segments: * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty * 12:30 – Industry Insights with American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines] * 13:40 – Justin & Jayne Part 1 * 38:47 – Enter The Beer Championships * 39:39 – Justin & Jayne Part 2 To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Serving With Style(s) ft Tito Orellana

“The human component sometimes goes beyond the beer component of working in this industry.” Tito Orellana arrived in Australia from Chile with his interest in beer already piqued. Upon arriving in Melbourne in the midst of craft beer’s explosion – with signs blaring: “GOOD BEER WEEK” plastered on walls across the city – his interest soon became a full-blown passion. In the decade-plus since those early days, he’s moved from basic hospo roles through some of the country’s best beer bars and breweries to become an Advanced Cicerone and judge at major beer competitions on both sides of the equator. Today, Tito is the beer ambassador at Carwyn Cellars – an incredibly rare role in hospitality and retail that speaks volumes of both employer and employee – and one of the most respected beer educators and event hosts in the country. He’s also launching a new project, Edubeer [https://www.instagram.com/edubeer.au/], designed to make life easier for any Aussies wanting to understand how beer styles are supposed to look, taste and smell. He’s a wonderfully charismatic guest who touches upon his travels and love for music as well as his specialist subject, and offers some lovely insights into his first experience judging at the World Beer Cup in Colorado earlier this year. Before we get to this week's main chat, we cast an eye over the week's news: a new collab in WA designed to keep the beer gas tax conversation going [https://craftypint.com/news/4095/keeping-the-beer-gas-tax-conversation-going]; the crafty rebirth [https://craftypint.com/news/4099/all-smiles-the-friendly-societies-hotel-opens-in-abbotsford] of an historic Melbourne corner boozer; entering the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Awards [https://craftypint.com/event/14100/deadline-to-enter-the-2026-sydney-royal-beer-awards]; and our latest guide to enjoying beer at its best [https://craftypint.com/news/4098/beer-basics-buying-storing-and-drinking-beer-at-its-best]. Start of segments: * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty * 13:52 – Tito Part 1 * 40:51 – Industry Insights from American Canning Machines [https://craftypint.com/business/1465/american-canning-machines] * 41:57 – Tito Part 2 To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.

Creating Kind, Considered, Comfortable Community Spaces

“Be kind to people and treat your beer well.” It’s been an emotional few days for Nemesia Dale-Cully – or Meesh as she’s known to most. For almost half a decade, she’s been running the venue at Wildflower [https://craftypint.com/news/3982/episode-084-ten-years-walking-on-the-wild-side] in Marrickville, where they bade farewell to their last customers on May 31. We took the opportunity to chat to Meesh ahead of the closing weekend, not just to reflect on her time at Wildflower but also to find out what she believes goes into creating a great hospitality experience – both for staff and customers. Her insights have been earned over a period in which she swapped running events at libraries for bar shifts at Sweet Amber in Adelaide, which led to working at Pirate Life [https://craftypint.com/brewery/255/pirate-life-cub-asahi] as the brewery swapped its OG Hindmarsh home for its Port Adelaide behemoth, then being headhunted by Shapeshifter [https://craftypint.com/brewery/680/shapeshifter-brewing-co] as they set up home, before swapping Adelaide for Sydney’s Inner West. Her advice ranges from the importance of respect, kindness and “meeting people where they are”, to cleanliness and theatre. And we go deeper too, with Meesh one of the most respected voices in the beer community on diversity and inclusivity, not least when businesses or individuals – on either side of the bar – fail to meet even basic standards of civility. There was big news in the world of big beer this week, with Lion announcing they’re to cease brewing at James Boag Brewery [https://craftypint.com/news/4092/lion-to-cease-brewing-at-james-boags-visitor-centre-to-remain-open] in Launceston, while in the world of indie beer, the IBA revealed they‘re switching the focus of their Indies awards from liquid to people [https://craftypint.com/news/4091/revamped-indies-to-focus-on-the-people-of-beer], and our Building A Brewery series returned for a third chapter [https://craftypint.com/news/4093/building-a-brewery-iii-spirits-and-scissor-lifts]. With Pint of Origin wrapped up, we’ve lined up a bunch of new specials for members of our Crafty Cabal beer club, so if you’d like to boost your beer experience while supporting us on our good beer mission, feel free to sign up [https://craftycabal.com/]. And, of course, feel free to like, subscribe, rate and review the show so we can reach more people. Start of segments: * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty * 13:48 – Meesh Part 1 * 35:35 – Driving Footfall & Loyalty with GoTab* * 41:24 – Meesh Part 2 To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com. *To book a demo with GoTab, email nathan@gotab.io.

A Pint With Pints And Panels

"People use it to learn English, and I think that's spectacular." Em Sauter is an American drinks communicator, international beer judge, podcast host and writer who specialises in visual education. To Australian beer fans and those working in beer, she's best known as as the person behind Pints and Panels [https://www.pintsandpanels.com/], an award-winning website focused on "Visual Drinks Education" which launched in 2010. Em returned to Australia earlier this month to judge at the Australian International Beer Awards – and to enjoy the country's XPAs, Cherry Ripes and coffee culture. We caught up with her at Carwyn Cellars, where she held a pop-up stall during Pint of Origin, for a chat diving into the history of Pints and Panels. It covers the rise of AI, her experience travelling the world as a beer judge, and Em’s take on the state of beer in the US. There's a bit to get through in this week's show before we get to the main event too – not least as it's the 100th full episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast. We look back on the biggest Pint of Origin to date [https://craftypint.com/news/4086/pint-of-origin-2026-how-did-we-do], discuss features on newly-crowned AIBA Champion Nomad Brewers Shack Bay [https://craftypint.com/news/4085/nomad-no-more-aiba-trophy-winners-shack-bay-secure-a-home] and Goons Brewing [https://craftypint.com/news/4088/who-brews-goons-beer], who opened their brewery venue on the Central Coast right at the end of 2026, and revisit one of the topics from Episode 099 [https://craftypint.com/news/4081/episode-099-the-state-of-play-for-indie-beer] that's been attracting a lot of attention on socials: container deposit schemes. Start of segments: * 0:00 – The Week On Crafty * 15:56 – Australia's Biggest Beer Fan [https://beervana.co.nz/australias-biggest-beer-fan] * 17:06 – Em Sauter Part 1 * 42:35 – 100 Years of Roasting at Joe White Maltings [https://craftypint.com/news/4072/roasted-and-toasted-100-years-of-joe-white-specialty-malts] * 43:32 – Em Sauter Part 2 To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.