Sydney Beer Week is about to kick off, and David sits down on the Hotel Sweeney’s rooftop with the man running it, Pete Anstey. Pete is the General Manager of Hotel Sweeney’s and Managing Director of Sydney Beer Week. He’s fresh off Oktoberfest in Munich, wearing lederhosen, and pouring fiestbiers on tap.

Pete explains how he and his partner Josh run a 10 day festival around full time jobs and young kids. They do it for the love of the industry, not to make money. They cover what’s on, why it’s built to include everyone, and why most events are free.

In this episode

• Pete’s Munich Oktoberfest trip and the Hofbräu fest beers on tap at Sweeney’s
• How Hotel Sweeney’s built its craft beer reputation, from a table of unknown bottles to a weekly tap takeover
• The Two Birds Taco keg record: 45 minutes
• How Sydney Beer Week came about
• The return of the Beer & Brewer Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement and Rising Star awards
• The Pro Am: home brewers compete, winners brew commercially with a partner brewery, and the public votes on the final beer
• The Beer Olympics (darts, can stacking and more) and the Sunday final with a $1,000 bar tab
• Pints & Plaits, a gluten-free Two Bays tap takeover, whiskey masterclasses and beer cocktails
• Why October is the sweet spot for a beer festival
• Why the Hotel Sweeney’s cellar capacity is four people

Timestamps

• 0:00 Welcome and meeting Pete Anstey
• 0:28 Oktoberfest, Munich and the Hofbräu beers
• 3:14 Hotel Sweeney’s rooftop and its craft beer history
• 5:39 The 45-minute keg record
• 6:28 How Sydney Beer Week started
• 8:41 The Beer & Brewer Awards
• 11:09 The Pro Am explained
• 14:26 Beer Olympics and 10 days of events
• 17:03 Pints & Plaits and the gluten-free activation
• 19:15 Whiskey and cocktails
• 20:43 Sydney as a beer destination and why October
• 23:00 The cellar capacity question
• 24:08 How to get involved (most events are free)

• Sydney Beer Week: https://sydneybeerweek.com.au/
• Hotel Sweeney’s: https://hotelsweeneys.com.au/

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Episode produced by: WHEN Studios
Follow: @WHEN.Studios,

Insta: @chatontap

Tiktok: @chat.on.tap

YouTube: @ontapchat

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Host: David A. Lennon – @davidalennon
Website: chatontap.com

Weihenstephaner has been continuously brewing beer since 1040 — and David wants to know how you keep a brewery going for almost a thousand years.

In this bonus episode of Chat On Tap, David chats with Marcus, Vice President of Weihenstephaner, during his visit to Australia.

They talk about the brewery's monastery origins, the evolution of brewing, yeast, the German Purity Law, experimentation, Belgian beer collaborations and why the humble lager might be the ultimate test of a brewer.

Marcus also shares what he's enjoyed about Australia's beer scene and the Australian craft breweries he's visited.

Support the show

Episode produced by: WHEN Studios
Follow: @WHEN.Studios,

Insta: @chatontap

Tiktok: @chat.on.tap

YouTube: @ontapchat

Got a Story?

Wanna help us Tap In to a great venue, deal, beer?

Interested in sponsorship?

email us!

Email: hello@chatontap.com

Host: David A. Lennon – @davidalennon
Website: chatontap.com

Coopers Vintage Ale is made every year with one simple challenge: make the best beer the brewing team can make that year.

But what happens when you put five years of it side by side?

For this one I brought along an older vintage of myself… my dad. Together, we cracked open 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 Coopers Vintage Ale for a proper vertical tasting.

Five vintages. Five different years. Five very different beers.

We taste through each vintage, compare how the beer has changed over time, and find out what happens when Vintage Ale gets a few years in the cellar.

Because that's the thing with Vintage Ale: Always Different. Never the Same.

And with the 2026 release, there's a new way to look at it: Ages Tastefully.

So which vintage came out on top? And does older really mean better?

Grab a beer, pull up a chair and join us for the tasting.

Support the show

Episode produced by: WHEN Studios
Follow: @WHEN.Studios,

Insta: @chatontap

Tiktok: @chat.on.tap

YouTube: @ontapchat

Got a Story?

Wanna help us Tap In to a great venue, deal, beer?

Interested in sponsorship?

email us!

Email: hello@chatontap.com

Host: David A. Lennon – @davidalennon
Website: chatontap.com