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Research case study

The Australian Craft Beer Survey

How we used research to understand Australian craft beer drinkers and give the industry something useful to share.

By Richard Kelsey. Published 7 October 2026. This case study covers the six public survey editions from 2016 to 2022; the 2022 results were published in March 2023.

Start with questions worth answering

At Beer Cartel, we wanted to understand how people chose craft beer: what they bought, where they bought it and what mattered to them. Both my co-founder Geoff Huens and I had worked in research before starting the business. A survey gave us a way to apply that experience to the market we served.

The project belonged to Beer Cartel and involved our team and industry partners. The Crafty Pint's account of the first survey describes our research backgrounds and the questions we set out to answer.

Make the research useful beyond the business

We asked about drinkers' preferences, purchasing habits and views of the industry, then published the results for others to use. Breweries, retailers and writers could draw on the same report. The value came from answering questions they already cared about.

Industry participation also mattered. The Crafty Pint contributed questions to the 2017 edition and helped tell readers about later surveys, including the 2019 survey. The reports and coverage reflect that shared effort.

Keep the original reports available

These are the six public editions listed by Beer Cartel. The links go to the original reports. The edition year and publication date are separate, so the 2022 report is shown with its March 2023 release date.

Give journalists a clear story and a source

The research created stories about drinkers and the industry. The Crafty Pint reported the 2019 survey results and the 2020 results. Those articles let readers check the reporting against a public source.

The project also became part of the business story. SmartCompany's 2018 interview connected the research to Beer Cartel's Online Retail Industry Awards recognition. That award went to the business; it is separate from my personal Top 50 People in Ecommerce recognition.

Separate the research from commercial claims

The survey supported our marketing and gave people a reason to hear from Beer Cartel. I discussed that approach in episode nine of The Inside Word. The episode includes a publisher transcript.

Survey respondents chose to take part. The results describe those respondents and should not be treated as a random sample of every Australian beer drinker. Likewise, business outcomes reported in interviews or vendor case studies are accounts from the people involved. They do not prove that the survey alone caused growth, or that another business would get the same result.

What I carry into consulting today

The useful habit is to ask a clear question, collect evidence, explain how it was collected and publish enough detail for someone else to assess it. My earlier research experience is also discussed in Inside Retail's 2022 article on retail careers.

I use the same discipline in current ecommerce and AI work. My 123-store AI readiness study states what was checked and what the results can tell a store owner. For more independent coverage of the survey and Beer Cartel, browse the media archive.

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