There was quite the choice for beer lovers this November when it came to beer events. There were concurrent beer weeks in Canberra, WA and Hobart plus the Beer Day Out, Beers By The Bay, Fremantle Beerfest and the Tasmanian International Beerfest all taking place.
Given we’d been approached to offer some advice by the guys behind Hobart’s Beer Lovers Week and were keen to check out the hugely popular Tasmanian International Beerfest (and had been told that if we ever headed to WA again without Mrs Pint in tow, there would be no more Mrs Pint), we headed south for a high intensity 60 hours of touring, event hosting, meeting, greeting and tasting. Here’s what we found – plus the thoughts of the event’s respective organisers…
What was it all about?
The Tasmanian International Beerfest has grown over the past few years into one of the biggest beer events in the land. No longer just the preserve of Tassie micros, as it once was, but instead mixing craft breweries from Australia and overseas with a few mainstream brands, it attracts thousands of visitors to the impressive Princes Wharf on Hobart’s waterfront for a mix of beer, food and live music.
Inspired by beer weeks elsewhere – and a desire to try and bring some of the talent and attendees from the Beerfest into Hobart’s growing number of craft beer supporting venues, Beer Lovers Week was created in no time at all by a handful of passionate beer lovers and home brewers. More than a dozen events sprung up at venues across the city in the lead up to the Beerfest, including our first public Blind Tasting.
Which breweries were there?
At the Beerfest, Tasmania was represented by Morrison, Moo Brew, Iron House and Van Dieman, while there were stalls from the likes of fellow Aussies Mountain Goat, Moon Dog, Two Birds, Little Creatures and Feral. Internationals were well represented too, with Palais Imports pouring Brooklyn, Phoenix showcasing Weihenstephan and Sierra Nevada, Bravo bring a host of British and Americans to town and the likes of Rogue cropping up elsewhere.
Moo and Prickly Moses were among those running events at Beer Lovers Week while we looked to involve every state at our Tasting and Tap Takeover, bringing in beers from the likes of Murray’s, 4 Pines, Bacchus Brewing and Lobethal.
Who was there?
For the most part, it seems the fledgling Beer Lovers Week saw venue’s regulars and the city’s hardened beer aficionados making up most of the numbers at events, although a few brought their mates along to our event too.
The Beerfest, with its eye-catching central location (helped by awesome weather), big publicity, longstanding reputation and mixture of brands like Corona alongside the craftier breweries, brought in all and sundry. The fact that, unlike most beer festivals of its ilk, you can move on to buying whole beers or bottles once you’ve exhausted your tasting tickets means that it’s treated by many as a day out drinking as much as a sampling festival.
Highlights:
The results of the Blind Tasting, with a couple of little known breweries attendees didn’t know finishing higher than many they did and highlighting the effect branding can have on enjoyment.
The weather for watching bands at the Beerfest on the Saturday afternoon.
Moon Dog selling all 20 cases of their 15.4 per cent Jumping the Shark at $20 a pop by midpoint of the second day of Beerfest, suggesting there are plenty out there willing to try something different.
Discovering more good venues bringing great beer to Hobart, including the marvellous Winston.
The butter chicken pie at the 24 hour bakery in Salamanca.
Seeing a beer week started by passionate beer lovers whose concern is first and foremost the growth of a better beer culture in their hometown rather than making a fast buck.
The breakdown of Little Creatures' Milo Ute outside Hobart making to the local paper.
Killer beers
Morrison Brewery from Launceston is, in its own way, rather radical. Brewer Paul Morrison eschews modern fashion for New World hops and instead brews traditional, predominantly British styles. And everything he brews is clean, balanced and moreish. Hopefully, some might start sneaking outside Tassie.
The Crafty Pint is all about promoting Aussie craft beer, but we have to admit everything we’ve tasted from Wild in the UK is pretty bloody awesome.
Summarise the event in three words:
From little things…
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Tasmanian International Beerfest organiser Ben Hickey
How was it for you?
Organised! I even got the opportunity to try out a few brews myself. The biggest variety of beers we have been able to put together so far.
Personal highlights
The amount of happy faces, the Chuck (Hahn) and Cheese Master Class, a never to be repeated Moo Brew aged Imperial Stout vertical tasting from head Brewer Dave MacGill, Melbourne funk and souls maestros The Bamboos carving up Friday night, drinking Rogue Dead Guy on tap and the lamb ribs from Smolt restaurant.
Plans for 2014
Bigger and better has always been our motto. Better beer, better food and better music. We will be sticking with the Friday evening and all day Saturday format – you will know the dates as soon as we do.
Beer Lovers Week founder Ryan Morgan
How was it for you?
Brilliant and hectic! I managed to make it to 12 of the 16 events during the week, so I saw first hand how much effort the venues put in to running the events. They all did an outstanding job and the feedback reflects that. I must admit I started out the week with a fair amount of pre-festival jitters, but as the first couple of events progressed and I saw how well they were being received, those jitters disappeared and were replaced by excitement. In the end I am really happy that Hobart got behind the week and especially grateful that the venues put their own spin on the festival.
Personal highlights
It’s hard to isolate one event and say “that was the best”, because honestly I enjoyed every single one. A few times I caught myself so engrossed in learning or talking to someone about a beer that I forgot that I had helped organise the week. I think that would be my personal highlight: feeling like it had taken on its own vibe and I was along for the ride.
Plans for 2014
Obviously there are a few things to digest from this year’s festival and that will feed in and inform how we go about organising the 2014 Beer Lovers Week. We have a few major ideas that we would love to put in place, so we will be fleshing those out over the Christmas ? NYE break. The most important thing will be following up with the venues and attendees, to get an understanding of how they found the 2013 BLW experience.
We pulled the 2013 festival together very quickly, so having a whole year to plan sounds like a dream!
