What a wild ride it’s been. The Australian beer landscape has changed beyond recognition over the last ten years. The number of breweries and craft beer brands alone has increased five-fold, from around 100 at the beginning of the decade to well over 500 today. The diversity of craft beer styles on offer has exploded, too, with the rise and fall of everything from super-hoppy IPAs to sour beers packed with fruit and flowers, from hazy New England IPAs to funky wild-fermented, barrel-aged ales.

With craft booming locally but national sales of traditional commercial beers in decline, the big multinational-owned brewing companies – which still account for over 90 per cent of Australia’s beer production – have in recent years gobbled up some of the most successful larger independents, including Mountain Goat, Four Pines, Feral, Pirate Life, and, just this month, Balter.