Drinks Adventures - Wine, beer, whisky, gin & more with James Atkinson

We’re joined this episode by Steve Jeffares, co-founder of The Local Taphouse and Stomping Ground Brewing Company in Melbourne, as well as GABS, the Great Australian Beer Spectapular festival. Steve’s new solo venture is Happy Camper, a community-focused venue in Glen Iris, Melbourne, in the site formerly occupied by Deeds Brewing, which ceased operations last year. As you’ll hear, it’s a deliberate step back from scale and spectacle — and a return to Steve’s roots in hospitality and curating great drinks experiences. Coming up, Steve talks us through what inspired the concept and how it reflects his evolving relationship with beer and hospitality. We also get into the changing landscape of Australia’s beer industry — from the early days of craft, to the maturing market we see today, and what he thinks the next generation of breweries will need to get right if they’re to survive and thrive.

In this episode, we welcome back Australian spirits writer and historian Luke McCarthy to discuss two new books he has published in 2025. The first is Forgotten Spirits: A History of the Distilling Industry in Victoria — a landmark publication commissioned by Spirits Victoria and supported by funding from the Victorian Government. This is the first time anyone has attempted a comprehensive historical account of distilling in Victoria. And what Luke uncovered is an industry far older and more dynamic than many of us would have assumed. Distilling in Victoria dates back to the 1830s, and by the early 1900s the state was producing spirits on a truly global scale, only for Federal Government policy decisions to ultimately bring the industry undone later that century. The second book is St Agnes Distillery: The First 100 Years 1925–2025. It celebrates the centenary of St Agnes – one of Australia’s most iconic spirit producers – which featured on this podcast back in 2022 when the company launched its new Camborne Single Malt Whisky. Through family archives, historic photographs and in-depth interviews, Luke chronicles how the Angove family built the St Agnes brandy house from the ground up in Renmark, South Australia – enduring fires, floods, economic upheaval, and even the existential threat of changing consumer tastes. It’s a pleasure to welcome Luke back to Drinks Adventures for a timely conversation that connects the past, present and future of Australian spirits.

We’re joined this episode by John Slattery, co-founder of Greenbanks Tasmanian Whisky Co. Greenbanks started production in late 2023 with Tasmania’s largest capacity still that is fully optimised for producing whisky of all styles. In fact, the capacity of the production still at Greenbanks exceeds the combined capacity of all other whisky distilleries on the island. This scale is designed to support Greenbanks’ goal of producing a Tasmanian whisky that can hit shelves at the globally competitive price of around $80 for a 700ml bottle. And this scale, combined with other efficiencies, means Greenbanks can offer accessibly priced contract production services to its fellow Tasmanian distillers, along with aspiring whisky brands. This is a special episode of Drinks Adventures, produced in partnership with Greenbanks. Coming up, you’ll hear from John how he, Hugh Roxburgh and Tim Salt came together to found the business. First up though, I wanted to find out a little bit more about how John originally found his way into the whisky industry.

We’re joined this episode by Charlie Echlin and Chico Rosa from Fielden Whisky of England, which has recently launched its range in Australia. Fielden began life in 2017 as The Oxford Artisan Distillery, a company focused predominately on white spirits that it distilled from scratch using historic grain varieties. But it also laid down for maturation small quantities of grain spirit that underpinned its relaunch as Fielden Whisky and relocation to Yorkshire with the target of having 30,000 casks under maturation by 2030. This is a special episode of Drinks Adventures, produced in partnership with Fielden Whisky. Coming up, you’ll hear about Fielden’s differentiated approach to English whisky, championing rye, first and foremost, and highlighting the benefits of regenerative farming, working exclusively with heritage grains that have been grown entirely without chemicals. Just like several other brands we’ve previously featured on this podcast – Starward, Westward and Stauning – Fielden Whisky received a minority investment from the Distil Ventures accelerator program. Spirits giant Diageo recently announced it would no longer fund Distil Ventures, so later on in this episode I ask Charlie and Chico what this means for their business. We get their thoughts on some of the recent economic malaise surrounding the whisky industry globally. And, even though they’re focused on making rye whisky, Charlie and Chico give their view on the definition of ‘single malt’ in the proposed English whisky geographical indication that has caused quite a bit of controversy in recent months.

We’re joined this episode by James Brindley and Anubha Sahasrabuddhe of brewer Lion Australia. After his previous 28-year stint with Lion finished in 2021, James surprised the industry when he announced his return as managing director in May 2024, under a somewhat unorthodox arrangement where he would share the leadership with Anubha. With a background in CPG – consumer packaged goods – Anubha held senior leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Mars Wrigley across Asia Pacific and North America, prior to returning to Australia to join Lion in 2021. Anubha’s title now is chief growth and commercial officer, and coming up, we’ll hear a bit more about the unique co-leadership arrangement she has with James, which is just coming up to its 12-month anniversary. This is a special episode of Drinks Adventures produced in partnership with Lion’s Ultra Zero Carb range that has been rolled out across the Hahn, XXXX, Tooheys and Byron Bay Brewery brands. But the interview was also an opportunity for me to ask Anubha and James about some of the challenges and trends currently confronting the brewing industry, like the struggles of the craft beer sector, the rise of premix spirits, the future of the non-alcoholic segment and more.