In volume four we had a yarn to Charles Pates of Pates Tapes, who is digitising and streaming his entire mixtape collection for your listening pleasure.

While trout fishing in pure waters, with a bottle of scotch in hand and lush barley fields before him, Bill Lark decided that Tasmania should really be making its own whisky.

As Oscar Wilde opined, "An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." Now in its fourth year, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, a joint venture between the Sydney Opera House and St James Ethics Centre, pays wide-ranging, controversial and sometimes funny homage to Wilde's dictum.

Charles Bukowski was a man who gave hope to us all; despite his almost crippling alcoholism he was still one of the most significant artists of a generation.

We've long planned to extend key Smith stories off the printed page, and the smokehouse story in volume four provided a top opportunity.

It's time to head to your local newsagent and crack open a copy of Smith volume four - on sale around Australia today. Here's a quick look at what's inside.

Smith Journal volume four will be on shelves in Australia on Monday and to mark the mag's first anniversary we're trying something new.

Faced with a shortage of their favourite hand-pumped English ales, in 2003 a group of passionate engineers built a microbrewery beneath their office in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury.

That's right, Smith volume four is rolling off the presses as we type, which makes it an excellent time to pre-order your very own copy.

Jamieson brew one of the most distinctive and tastiest Australian IPAs. The Beast is a hop-bomb of a beer as aggressive as its name would suggest.