Founded in 2005 in Beechworth, north east Victoria, Bridge Road Brewers is currently celebrating its 18th birthday. This is a significant milestone for any business, let alone a craft brewer. And it’s particularly momentous for Bridge Road, which is currently poised to open a brewpub venue in East Brunswick, Melbourne, following a successful $1.5 million crowdfunding campaign in 2022. Founder Ben Kraus is with us this episode for a really interesting discussion about the challenges of...

How to drink Australian is a landmark wine book by American sommeliers Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross. Jane and Jonathan have intimate knowledge of the wine scene in Australia, having both worked professionally here; Jane as wine director at renowned Melbourne restaurant Attica, and Jonathan as beverage director at Rockpool Dining Group. Jane and Jonathan were so blown away by the wines they experienced during their time here that upon returning to the US in 2020 they founded Legend, a wine...

When Seb Costello opened the cocktail bar Bad Frankie in Melbourne in 2014, he did something that was almost unthinkable at the time; creating a drinks menu comprised completely of Australian craft spirits. Seb understandably became known as a champion of Australian distilling. This, coupled with his sensory skills and broad appreciation for different spirits categories, saw him appointed chief judge of the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards in 2020. At the time of this episode going to air,...

We previously met Holly Klintworth on the Drinks Adventures podcast back in March 2021. So if you’re keen to get the back story on Holly’s distillery, Bass & Flinders, head on back to that episode in Season 8. Holly’s back with us having recently returned from a six-week internship in Cognac, supported by a Churchill Fellowship. The trip had the objective of learning the art of brandy production from leading cognac producers, so that she could share her findings with the Australian...

We’re joined this episode by Stone & Wood head brewer Caolan Vaughan, to get an update on recent goings on at the company. And as always, there’s plenty happening. Like the rebranding and reformulation of Cloud Catcher, now known as Cloudy Pale Ale; and the launch of its new Australian Hop Series, starting with the Hinterland Hazy. We get the latest on the Counter Culture label, reserved for left field and inventive beers. And I ask Caolan what happened to Forest for the Trees, the saison...

Tasmania is the birthplace of Australian whisky in the modern era, with unique positioning as the country’s only island state. For some time now its distillers have entertained the idea of protecting these attributes with a geographical indication or appellation ensuring that products labelled ‘Tasmanian whisky’ meet certain standards.  Recently on the Drinks Adventures podcast we met Cam and Suzy Brett of Spring Bay Distillery in Tasmania. Cam is also president of the Tasmanian Whisky and...

Welcome to another edition of the news on Drinks Adventures. Coming up this bulletin: Langtons Barossa wine auction nets $200K;Lark investors meet new CEO Satya Sharma;The Gospel unveils a tribute to Maryland-style rye whiskeys; andSouth Australian Parliament honours distillers on World Gin Day. Click here to open episode in your podcast player.

Established in 2015 at Spring Beach in Tasmania, Spring Bay Distillery is the realisation of a dream for whisky-loving owners Cam and Suzy Brett. We’ve actually heard from Cam a couple of times previously on this podcast; in one of my news bulletins back in 2021, and in the special Lark 30th anniversary episode in 2022. So it’s long overdue I invited Cam and Suzy on for an in-depth chat about Spring Bay. While it’s definitely single malt whisky that inspired their distillery, Spring Bay has...

Speyside is the absolute epicentre of Scotland’s distilling industry, and now there’s a Speyside gin to complement the region’s famed whiskies. Created by wine and spirits company Stoli Group, Tulchan Gin is a small batch gin with distinctly local flavours inspired by the terroir of Tulchan Estate. Surrounded by 22,000 picturesque acres of lochs and glens, Tulchan is a famous sporting estate in Speyside long frequented by European royalty, US Presidents and titans of industry. This is a...

Chandon Etoile is a new ultra-prestige sparkling cuvee from Chandon Australia in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. It’s a multi-vintage blend comprised of eight Chandon Vintage Brut reserves – which together represent hundreds of base wines – rounded out with extended ageing. With us this episode to discuss the groundbreaking project is Chandon Australia winemaking director Dan Buckle, who has been guiding the company’s traditional-method winemaking since 2012.  Through our conversation about Etoile,...

Allan Border’s Maiden Tonne is a limited edition shiraz released by the legendary cricketer in partnership with Sanguine Estate, the Heathcote, Victoria winery owned by the Hunter family. Allan is with us this episode along with Sanguine winemaker Mark Hunter. I’ll leave it to them to share the back story of this wine, which Mark hopes will elevate Heathcote’s reputation as a region synonymous with premium shiraz.  Also in the interview, Allan reflects on his maiden tonne in cricket. I ask...

The Bird is a new single malt Australian whisky created by renowned entrepreneur and media personality Mark Bouris in collaboration with Andrew Nugent and Paul Giles of Adelaide Hills winery Bird in Hand. Mark joins us this episode for what turned into quite a wide-ranging and insightful interview, starting with his personal journey of whisky appreciation that inspired The Bird. We talk about the decision to produce the whisky in partnership with South Australia’s Fleurieu Distillery, which...

The small Scottish coastal town of Campbeltown was once home to over 30 distilleries, and it was known as the “Victorian Whisky Capital of the World”. Today, Glen Scotia is one of three surviving distilleries in the region. And both Glen Scotia and Campbeltown are developing a strong reputation among whisky enthusiasts in spite of the region’s production output, which ­is tiny in the context of Scotch whisky. Today, Glen Scotia is owned by the Loch Lomond Group and a continuing program of...

Banks and Bloom Distillery + Lab is a West Australian company founded by biochemist Elaine Darby and winemaker Trent Carroll. Trent’s name might be familiar to some of you from his earlier AFL career at Fremantle and West Coast. But it was Elaine’s background that caught my eye when a media release came through recently announcing that Banks and Bloom Ice Vodka had been awarded Doubled Gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Between 2015 and 2018, Elaine was managing director of...

There’s been a groundswell of new Irish whiskey brands in recent years, which we explored in late 2022 in a special episode supported by the Irish Whiskey Association. Royal Oak Distillery predates many of the newcomers. It was founded in 2012 by the late Augusto Reina of Illva Saronno, the Italian company that owns renowned liqueur brands Disaronno and Tia Maria. Located on an 18th century estate in Ireland’s Ancient East barley growing region, Royal Oak is home of The Busker Irish Whiskey,...

Hawke’s Brewing was founded by advertising creatives Nathan Lennon and David Gibson, together with former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, in 2017. Bob Hawke passed away in 2019 but his legacy lives on at Hawke’s Brewing through a unique arrangement that diverts his royalty share in the business to Landcare Australia, the environmental charity he founded in 1989. We’ll talk about that later on in this interview with Nathan and head brewer Brodie French, as well as reflecting on some key...

Season 16 of Drinks Adventures starts this week! Here's a sneak preview of some of the outstanding episodes coming up featuring all your favourite beverage categories: Wine, whisky, beer, gin, vodka and more.

Welcome to another edition of the news on Drinks Adventures, as we get Season 16 of the show underway. Once again, we’re catching up on the news from the last couple of months. ‘Insolvency armageddon’ hits drinks industry;Mighty Craft acknowledges difficult market;Hahn bets big on Ultra Low Carb beer;Fever-Tree overhauls Australian operations; andBrown Brothers launches Extended Lees Patricia Sparkling Wine. Click here to open episode in your podcast player.

Sydney’s Akasha Brewing Company was founded by former IT professional and passionate homebrewer Dave Padden in 2015. It has quietly grown into one of the inner west’s larger independent breweries, having quickly developed a reputation for high quality, hop-driven beer styles.  The year 2022 was pivotal for Akasha. The company undertook a $1.7 million equity crowdfunding raise that supported its diversification into barrel-aged beers, as well as funding the addition of two hospitality venues;...

After almost five years and coming up to 200 episodes, perhaps it’s time for you to hear a little bit more about me, how I started Drinks Adventures, and where it might be headed. Recently Andrew Graham from Kaddy – the wholesale beverage marketplace – asked to interview me for its industry news pages, Kaddy Community. To which I said, ‘sure! But if we’re going to do it, we may as well record the interview properly so I can share it with my listeners’. So here it is, an edited version of that...

Kentucky-based Michter’s Distillery was named World's Most Admired American Whiskey and second Most Admired Whisky overall by Drinks International in 2022. We'll find out the story behind its incredible trajectory from master distiller, Dan McKee, in this interview produced in partnership with Michter's. Born and raised in Indiana, Dan McKee moved to Kentucky to pursue his dream of making whiskey, beginning his career as a distillery operator at Jim Beam. Two years later, he was promoted to...

Jota Tanaka has worked for Kirin Brewery Company for 34 years, leading its whisky business as master blender since 2017. He’s had a really interesting career path through the Kirin business to arrive at his current role, including stints in winemaking, wine marketing and leading product development for Four Roses Distillery in Kentucky. We’ll get into some of that in this interview with Jota, who was inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame in 2022, one of many career accolades he’s...

James France is a 30-year veteran of the spirits industry in both Australia and abroad. In 2008 he founded the Sydney-based distribution business Vanguard Luxury Brands with the objective of bringing the best brands to the best bars, liquor stores, restaurants and hotels across Australia. He ultimately sold Vanguard in 2019 to Lion, which simultaneously acquired the biggest brand on Vanguard’s roster, Four Pillars Gin, as we previously explored with Four Pillars co-founder Cam Mackenzie on...

The news returns to the Drinks Adventures podcast for the first time since 2021! This first edition for 2023 is using the term ‘news’ a little loosely, as I’m catching you up on some of the stories that have been on my radar since the beginning of the year: Lark dismisses buyout talk; and Sullivans Cove speculation;Pernod Ricard's first new brand in 20+ years;Indie bottler Boutique-y returns to Oz;Australia gets its second Advanced Cicerone; and Bentspoke collaborates with Teeling Whiskey for...

Steve Roennfeldt, better known as Steve the Bartender, has been sharing easy-to-follow cocktail videos on YouTube since 2017. He’s based in Adelaide, South Australia, but he’s built a global community of cocktail enthusiasts. As at the present moment Steve has nearly 700,000 subscribers, which means he’s the country’s leading cocktail Youtuber and one of the top cocktail-related accounts globally. His debut book, Steve the Bartender's Cocktail Guide, was released in 2022. And he also co-owns...