Great to induct another overseas visitor into the Back of the Ferry family. Sydney turned on a winter’s day for the ages (surprising given how sh1t) the weather has been lately. Today’s induction a little bit unusual. On the induction committee were #1 and #39. No surprises with #1 being involved, but the last time #39 was on the Back of the Ferry she was inducted. Almost 12 years ago to the day, Linda got lucky with the weather in a twilight induction. 12 years later Linda got to induct her husband Ron. Favourite beverage: Old Peculiar Favourite sport to spectate: American Football (which wa ..read more

International air travel in Asia is always pretty straight forward – touch wood. Passport booths are staffed and most countries are keen to get travellers in so that they can start spending their hard earneds in the local economy. The complete opposite happens at places like LA or London where you queue for a long time and you are treated like excrement. Not sure why we are allies. I’m sadly leaving Cambodia after a week in Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh. It has been great. Not my last visit. I’m at the Heineken Bat called Le Mekong. I haven’t seen the slogan “Same Great Taste in 192 C ..read more

After a solid session with my good friend Patrick in town we were riding home in a tuk-tuk. Pat pointed out “Duckmart”, which looked like a convenience store but is actually a 24/7 bar, pool hall and convenience store. I said “we have to have one”, but Pat’s a responsible person these days and needed to be up early – so he threw me out of the tuk-tuk and said “I’ll leave the door open”. I did just have one that evening, but returned the next day to get a better perspective on the joint. It is quite a big place with at least two pool tables. Nagui from Siem Reap Craft Brewery confessed that h ..read more

I enjoyed one of my more intimate craft beer experiences at the tiny Siem Reap Craft Brewery. I was able to sample almost all their beers whilst chatting away to the very friendly brewer. Siem Reap Craft Brewery opened in 2023, and it is tiny. It is operated by Nagui, who is French and whom I met and his partner Malis. They’ll be changing their name shortly to Krama Brewing, which is a cracking name. Krama is a multi-purpose scarf worn by all Cambodians, and I foresee unique merch opportunities down the track. Nagui is a cracking brewer. He took me through a “degustation” of his beers. Summe ..read more

Across my various social media channels, I cop tips from time to time. “If you are in so-and-so, try so-and-so”. My good friend David (an extremely well travelled gent), suggested Raffles in Siem Reap. Now, I don’t mind 5 star, but I’m in Siem Reap the home of the 50c beer. But good on Raffles – they provide a Yum Cha of beer snacks to go with a USD$6 bottle of Hunaman. So there is some small value in paying the most overpriced beer of my trip. I must say that the banana chips are a very good beer snack. I could get used to this. Nah – who am I kidding – next – DuckMart and happy hour ..read more

I am in Bangkok for a short break. I love walking when I am in a city. Bangkok has just about got me beat, though, and thank heavens for the ferries along the Chao Phraya river. After a walk through Chinatown, which would probably look excellent at night, I spotted a sign saying “Craft Beer here”. What I’d stumbled across was one of the more unusual craft beer experiences I’ve had. Remedy’s is not only a small craft beer bar, it is also a Weed shop. As I learnt from all my walking, a weed shop is not all that unusual in Bangkok. They are everywhere. I’ve just never seen it alongside a rack o ..read more

I hate writing these posts, but it is important to acknowledge those that have had a crack in a tough industry and that have given pleasure to many. I visited Temple Brewing in 2012 all too briefly, as this blog explains and didn’t make enough of a dent on the 20 beers (according to @Untappd) that they ended up brewing. Their Bicycle Beet was a solid flagship and the Okinawa Sour was an early exposure to a sour for me. All the best to Temple Brewing folk. You had a go and for that we are grateful. A 2012 roadie ..read more

In a tumultuous week for the craft beer community it is great to see events like Pint of Origin continuing to turn up year after year. As a Sydneysider, my participation depends on fortuitous visits to Melbourne. Pint of Origin is a testament to the persistence, resilience and loyalty to the craft beer cause of Crafty Pint, who created the concept of Pint of Origin in 2012 as a part of Good Beer Week – another great Melbourne craft beer event. Crafty now stands head and shoulders above all other beer blogs/sites/writers for staying the course and supporting craft beer in Australia. We hat ti ..read more

It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Deeds Brewing will not be exiting Voluntary Administration. Today Deeds Brewing shared the news via a Facebook update shared here. We visited Deeds taproom on a couple of occasions and always enjoyed the visit to Glen Iris. They made big beers and weren’t afraid to experiment with different flavours. They were willing contributors to Canvent as well. According to Untappd, 326 beers over 12 years. They’ll be missed ..read more

After the gleaming mega breweries of Perth & Freo it was a nice change of pace to experience the more local, community vibe of a regional brewery. Don’t get me wrong, drinking on the mouth of the Swan River, watching the sun set into the Indian Ocean is a wonderful experience, but so is sipping an IPA amongst the tanks and locals of Ulladulla. They are bloody friendly at Wombat Brewery which is in an industrial area just to the South of Ulladulla. I was wearing a Thirsty Devil Brewery cap from Albury (a post still to be written). “Gidday – are you from Albury?” from a bloke sipping a sch ..read more