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This week, what happens when your brewery is bought out as we catch up with Balter’s Scott Hargrave and Stirling Howland. This week marks the first anniversary since Balter’s sale to CUB. For some the announcement wasn’t a surprise. The prominence of the personalities behind the business seemed to create an expectation that an eventual sale was the obvious outcome. At the same time, with all of its advantages, Balter could have chosen a much easier path to that end. Instead Scott & Stirling and their team created beers that weren’t just good in quality terms, they were beers that I think could fairly be described as having integrity. They didn’t go after the low-hanging fruit in style terms, especially when you recall that the brand’s second release was an Alt Brown Ale. Never a huge crowd pleaser. The same could be said of the brand as well as the beers and the way it seemed to genuinely engage with consumers, rather than merely sell to them. Even so, or perhaps because of these things, the reaction to the sale announcement felt a little different to ones that went before. In some ways the craft beer community was becoming used to these sales, but this sale seemed to be taken a little more personally. Even the Independent Brewing Association’s statement on the sale felt a little more grudging and a touch more pointed than others. So 12 months after the sale, we wanted to touch base with the two people most visibly associated with the business operations to see what has changed over the first year. Enjoy the conversation. Our partners Radio Brews News is proudly presented by Cryer Malt. With over 25 years in the field, Cryer Malt are dedicated to providing the finest brewing ingredients to help brewers create the foundations of a truly excellent beer. Your premium brewing partner and proud sponsors of Brews News. and this is Brews News Week. And as a guest on Beer is a Conversation, Adam also receives a new piece of exclusive merch for guests on the podcast...a branded Yeti Rambler mug, thanks to our good friends at Yeti. Every chat show has a branded mug and so when Yeti approached us to be part of the show, the Rambler mug seemed the perfect partnership. This is me speaking, not a paid plug and I am a huge fan of these for their build quality and how efficiently they keep beer cold when I am camping and not that worried about having the perfect glass for instagram. And they’re a really cool thing to give our guests to thank them for being on the show. If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out by: Sponsoring the show Reviewing us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service Emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au to share your thoughts