As part of the tiny team of volunteers buzzing around in a self-made maelstrom ensuring everything’s in place for Good Beer Week, it feels like the festival is all-consuming. So it’s reassuring to find out we’re not alone. Walking into one of the participating venues, the owner approached clutching a copy of the program in his fist.
“It’s much bigger this time,” he said. “It’s everywhere!”
With blackboards, A-frames and posters bearing the festival logo appearing at venues across the state, media coverage online and in print cropping up with increasing regularity, a serious Good Beer Week buzz in the social media world, and posters and ads beginning to appear on walls, trains, in magazines and elsewhere, it should be starting to feel that way.
With just a month to go, the first events have started selling out. If you were hoping to attend the Brooklyn Brewery Dinner at Beer DeLuxe – bad luck, as all 80 tickets have gone, while Bright’s Brewer for a Day in the High Country is full and the Cantillon evening at the Belgian Beer Cafe Eureka is down to the very final few. The Good Beer Week Team will let you know as and when others get close to try and make sure no one misses out on their dream ticket. That said, if you do, the chances are there will be something else to ease the pain – at the very least one of the many free showcases around the city all week.
We can also confirm that, after a few months of back and forth, the US Brewers Association confirmed it is coming to Melbourne for the week. It’s bringing its Export Development Program – in other words, heaps of good beers from American breweries you’ve probably never seen before – to showcase at the AIBA World of Beer event. Here’s hoping Melbourne puts on a great show and they tell their members to send more over in the future.
With Steve Grossman from Sierra Nevada returning and Brendan Moylan confirming he’s bringing along his head brewer, Denise Jones – the woman behind the beers that saw the Californian brewery named Champion Exhibitor at the Australian International Beer Awards last year, there’s a good showing from the States. Who knows what Brendan, Denise and Kjetil from Ní¸gne í will come up with for their beer at the Masterclass of Champions; having been party to their ongoing discussions, it appears the sky’s the limit, with questions being asked of how far the Hargreaves Hill brewhouse can be pushed, just what exotic sugars are available, whether they can get their hands on new hop varieties and so on. With The 36 Collective – the team that presented the food in fine style at our Gypsy & The Goat event – confirmed as providing the degustation lunch we can’t wait. We’re in the process of finalising a few details with the participants ready to release the full lowdown early next week, but we’re confident the woman who bought a ticket for her husband “to give him the best 60th birthday present possible” will be welcoming home a happy man at the end of the day!
On the subject of new beers, brewers across Australia and New Zealand have been busy with their Great Australasian Beer Spectapular brews (see the Little Rabbit – Little Creatures / White Rabbit dream team in action above). The organisers of the event at the Royal Exhibition Building are after more than beers, however. They need volunteers. If you’re keen on helping out, head here to find out more.
Australia’s first beer of the people – The People’s Pint – is also taking shape. The beer that won the most votes in our nationwide competition was the Double Hoptendre concocted by Leo Hede from Brisbane which, following a chat with head brewer Ron Feruglio at Temple Brewery & Brasserie, is taking shape as a double hopped, spicy affair with a reddish hue apparently. Bintani has supplied the ingredients free of charge, with Grain & Grape contributing some yeast, ready for the brew to take place any day now. We’ll be there when it happens – to be there when it’s launched, head here.
So, the clock is well and truly ticking. Thanks to all the events who’ve been pushing the festival hard and to those who are keeping the Good Beer Week Team abreast of developments with their events. If you’re keen to keep in touch with the latest, check out the festival on Facebook and Twitter or sign up for the newsletter on the website. There will be competitions and giveaways via all three starting next week.
