It's a special treat as we are joined by Jade Flavell from Adelaide's Wheatsheaf Hotel to hear all about her amazing journey running the venue and brewing some truly amazing beers.

We are all sold out on beers for this tasting session but you can always visit the Wheaty to grab some great takeaway brews or find the tasting packs for our upcoming sessions here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/

Jade has so much enthusiasm and knowledge about the industry that we've had to turn this into 2 episodes - if you enjoy what you hear please share our social media posts about them or tell your friends to listen in.

In this episode we learn how Jade got her start in hospo, what inspired her to take on the Wheatsheaf Hotel as a project and some of hurdles and highlights in her journey.

We start our exploration of lagers and find out how Adelaide's craft beer scene has grown and changed alongside the Wheatsheaf over the years.

It's a packed episode and we dive straight into things with Tom Madden from Ballarat's Obsidian Beer Festival giving us a sneak peek at what we can look forward to in the 2025 edition.

You can grab your tickets for the festival here: https://hullabalooevents.com.au/obsidian-dark-beer-fest and don't forget to follow their socials for more announcements as we get closer to the date.

Then we return to our chat with Cornella Brewery and this time it's their dry Irish stout. Don't forget you can grab that beer and the others we discussed in the previous episode from our online store here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/cornella-brewery-mixed-9-pack

Matt and Spencer discuss all things stout including what it's like to make a style that has such iconic versions as Guiness and other malt driven styles that inspire them.

We get the scoops with our traditional Coolroom questions and then it's over to the audience keep the questions coming!

It's the first of two episodes with Cornella Brewery and luckily Warren Wu is back in the Coolroom to help out with tricky questions about wineries and terpenes!

Matt and Spencer take us on a guided tour of some of their best beers while telling us all of the stories behind them - you can buy a tasting pack of the beers we discuss with them here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/cornella-brewery-mixed-9-pack

We learn about the inspiration they took from their overseas travels, their origins with the real ale movement and how Cornella has evolved as a destination and venue.

We learn more about terpenes and how to use them in brewing and how all good beers begin with a punny name before they're even brewed!

It's a packed show as Evin Craney returns to the Coolroom to discuss his role as Chair of the Australia's Independent Brewers Association and Jonathon and Leo from Westside Ale Works wrap up their tasting with a delicious Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout.

You can grab the stout as well as the other Westside beers that we discussed in our previous episode from our online store here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/westside-ale-works-mixed-6-pack

With a Federal election around the corner Evin explains what the IBA is talking about with Australia's politicians and he sees as the opportunities and challenges for the country's craft beer industry.

But it wouldn't be a Coolroom episode with a tangent or two and Davydd immediately gets things offtrack by asking about Bright Brewery's recent purchase of the Prince Alfred Hotel in Carlton and what made that the right choice for their expansion into Melbourne's hospo scene.

We then pick up the conversation from last week with Westside hearing about all the fun collaborations they are undertaking with local businesses, their experiences in coolrooms and Davydd plays "Guess the Nut".

There's been a lot of change in and around Melbourne's Westside Ale Works lately and we get to explore it all in this episode with Jonathon and Leo.

You can buy all the beers we discuss in our episode here: https://the-coolroom-podcast.myshopify.com/products/westside-ale-works-mixed-6-pack

We last had Westside on back on Episode 103 with Casey but today we learn all about the new owner Jonathon and his journey from keen home brewer to making the leap to actually buying a brewery.

What made Westside the right fit for him, what will change and what will stay the same under his ownership and how does he feel about the current state of Australia's craft beer scene?

But the change doesn't stop there! We also meet new brewer Leo who has journeyed from winemaker, to spirits distiller to now being a brewer? What has she learned at each stage along the way, where does she get her inspiration from and what made her the right choice for Jonathon?

After a little taste on our Bendigo on the Hop visit, Brett from Brewers Collective joins us for a full episode to discuss everything about his journey from home brewery to living the dream of running a brewery.

We discuss how Bendigo's craft beer scene has come on in leaps and bounds and how the Collective has been part of that push alongside many other friends of the podcast!

We hear about the years of planning that preceded the opening of the brewery, and how the plans compared to reality once the doors had opened.

We hear about his favorite brewing gadget, his efforts to make great tasting lower alcohol beers and all about a large pig in a small Coolroom...

It's the second part of our January live show at Subculture Brewing where owner/founder Luke shares more of the story of his journey from home brewer to professional!

In this episode we learn more about the local breweries who have helped out in his journey, the lessons he's learned and the collaborations he's been part of.

We find out which bits of equipment make him happy, and which bits make him sad and discover more than we ever knew about buffer tanks.

And for reasons that remain remarkably unclear Warren wants to put a bowling ball into liquid nitrogen...

It's the third and final instalment from our live show with Maz at Hawkers and we're into the audience QandA session with questions about "Hopefully Beirut", his karaoke skills and the Henty St Ale.

Make sure you check out the previous 2 episodes with Maz and don't forget you can buy their beers online here: https://hawkers.beer/collections/our-beers

But first Davydd and Warren head out with the Coolroom faithful to visit a new Melbourne brewery - Subculture!

We meet the owner/brewer Luke Forster and hear all about his journey from homebrewer to to professional with all of the ups and downs along the way.

We learn about the hidden secrets in the brewery's logo, what styles inspired him to brew and we call get a bit confused about the space/time continuum.

PS We've done our best to clean up the audio in this episode but with a live recording things can go a little quiet from time to time...]